Dark Matters - Michelle Diener Page 0,19
they were almost upon her.
She tensed, unable to see who was coming past the curve in the building that was giving her shelter, but suddenly she was looking at the back of a Tecran carrying an armful of parcels.
He didn't slow down or so much as look her way.
She dismissed him, glad for the deep shadows and her cloak. She'd encountered very few people in the back alleys, but those she had passed had barely looked at her.
She was smaller than them and obviously no threat. And the cloak, something she'd found reminiscent of tragic family sagas set on moors or highway robbers in Regency England--although, come to think of it, also Darth Vader--appeared to be standard dress. It wasn't just the outfit on the massive statue in the square, most people wore one when they were walking out of doors and she wasn't going to complain.
It suited her needs perfectly. It hid her face, her hands, and her body.
A curse snapped her out of her thoughts, and she realized she'd been drifting, not paying attention again. The parcel-carrier was swearing softly as he stood at the back door of the building she was leaning against, fiddling with his access card.
It was similar to the one Farnn had given her at the facility, and eventually he got it close enough to the reader to activate the lock. The door clicked and he shouldered it open, dropping a parcel as he staggered through.
She straightened, watching the door swing closed and then stop just short of shutting completely, with the edge of the parcel in the way.
She tried to run, but it was more a stumbling lope.
She got to the top of the stairs, peered through the crack in the door, just in time to see the Tecran turn a corner with the parcels.
She squeezed through the narrow gap, and stood, panting, in a big open space with a spiral staircase winding above her head.
There had to be a closet or storage room she could find to rest in, just for a little while.
Blood hammered in her ears, and she tried to slow her breathing, make it quieter.
If she was caught . . .
She forced her shoulders up and then down. If she was caught, maybe that would be a good thing. She could ask for help.
But there was a deeply cynical part of her that suspected that was a big maybe.
She looked right, the opposite direction to where the Tecran had gone, and started moving.
He'd be back for the parcel. His curse when it had dropped told her he knew it had, but he hadn't been able to set the others down to pick it up.
She heard footsteps behind her, and moved a little faster, hand out against the wall because for some reason she felt light-headed.
She was suddenly in a small alcove which contained a vending machine, a smaller version of the ones she'd used in the square, and felt a sudden lift in her spirits.
Things hadn't gone her way for hours, but it seemed her luck was turning.
Except, there wasn't a room off the alcove. It was a dead end.
She was stuck.
She drew in a breath, cocked her head to listen.
The footsteps had stopped, and then she heard the faint click of the back entrance closing.
She waited, trying to gauge which direction the Tecran would go next, and when she heard the footsteps coming closer, she wheeled around, desperate to find a corner to tuck herself into.
There was nothing.
Out of options, she stepped up to the vending machine and chose grinabo and another energy bar. Tapped her credit bank against the reader.
A big cup dropped down, filled with hot, fragrant liquid, and the bar was set down beside it.
The footsteps came to an abrupt halt behind her, and Lucy took the grinabo carefully.
She wanted to gulp it down, get a little warmth into her, but this might be the only weapon she had.
She turned slowly, grinabo clutched in both hands, and raised her gaze.
The Tecran stood, blocking the way out, his eyes curious. “I thought I heard someone back here.”
She didn't want to speak, so she flapped her elbows under the cloak in the way she'd seen the scientists and doctors at the facility do--the Tecran version of a shrug.
“Who are you?”
Her response had shifted his tone from curious to suspicious.
Nothing she said would do anything but complicate the situation, so she kept quiet and took a step closer to him, the steam from the grinabo rising tantalizingly in