I should’ve killed Riccardo when I had the chance, promises be damned. Silva had mutilated my brother. “We will make them pay,” I promised, “but first, we need to get out of here. Are you able to walk?”
Ferdinand grunted, then nodded. I handed him my canteen and he opened it with trembling hands. He drank the water so fast it ran down his face. Apparently the guard hadn’t been joking about dehydration.
I turned and retrieved my blaster while Ian crouched and fiddled with Ferdinand’s shackle. The metal opened with a screech. Ian turned to the remaining four people. “I am going to release you. Do not make me regret the decision.”
The three who were responsive agreed instantly. “Take us with you,” the young woman pleaded.
“We can’t protect you,” I said. “You’d be fodder.”
“But you’ll protect him?”
I tried to cut her some slack because she’d had a shitty few days at the very least, but her tone grated on me. “He’s my brother, so yes, I’ll protect him,” I snapped.
Her eyes rounded and she clamped her mouth shut.
I caught a message meant for Rivers’s com, asking about his status. “They’re going to know the guard is down in about ten seconds,” I told Ian. “We need to move.”
He unshackled the remaining prisoners. The young woman and the middle-aged man shared a look. “Try it and I’ll leave you down here,” Ian said mildly.
They lunged for the lift.
Ian sighed and almost casually hit each of them with the stunstick. They went down with matching screams. The third person, a young man, stood frozen.
Ferdinand moved like someone in pain. He favored his left leg, but he didn’t ask for help, he just hobbled to the lift. Ian gestured the remaining young man in with us. It was a tight fit, but the four of us made it to the top of the pit. After we exited the cage, Ian hesitated for a second, then sent the lift back down.
“Do you think they’ll bring up the unconscious person?” I asked.
“It’s on their conscience if they don’t,” he said. He turned to the unnamed young man with us. “Wait five minutes, then follow us. We’ll make enough chaos that you might be able to slip out.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want out. There’s nothing for me out there. I just want to go back to my usual work group. They never get in me trouble.” He cast a bitter glance at Ferdinand.
I opened my mouth to argue, but then closed it without saying anything. If the kid came with us, he’d likely end up dead. Perhaps he was making the smarter choice.
“Five minutes,” Ian reiterated. “Faster if the others come up before then, but I don’t think they will.”
“Wait,” I said. “How do they get the ore out? They can’t take it up the way we came down. Is there another way out?”
The young man shook his head. “Not unless you want to be liquefied first. They process it down here then pump it up in pipes. I don’t know of any other exits.”
Damn. It looked like we were going back up the way we’d come down.
Ian led us to the square room. The two guards were dead at the table, slumped over in their chairs. I couldn’t see any blaster wounds, but their heads were at odd angles on their necks. I made myself look at the carnage, to acknowledge that these deaths were on my conscience.
I helped Ian search the cabinets on the far wall. We came up with three more blast pistols, a pair of stunsticks, and a few smaller light sticks. Ferdinand and I each got a blaster and a stunstick. I would’ve liked a long gun with a shotgun setting, but the universe didn’t feel compelled to comply.
“Strip,” Ian said to me. “The woman’s clothes will be too big, but it’s better than what you have now.” He peeled off his outer shirt. Apparently we were both getting a wardrobe change.
I tried not to think too hard about what I was doing as I stripped a dead woman of her clothes and equipment. Revulsion welled, but I forced it down. I’d said I would do anything for my brother and it was still true. I didn’t have to like it, I just had to do it.
I tucked the too long pants into my boots and cinched the belt tight around my waist, thanks to a new hole courtesy of the dead woman’s knife. Deciding now was