High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,86

remained shut.

There was no handle or button, but there was a screen set beside it.

Hana reached out and touched it, and after a momentary flicker, an outline of a hand appeared in gray.

Hana gasped. Looked over at him.

“I see it.”

She tentatively reached out again, put her hand inside the outline, and with a hiss and a groan, as if in need of lubricant, the door parted.

Hana stepped in, and then reversed out, bumping into him.

She pointed in silence, and in the diffuse light inside he saw two bodies slumped in chairs.

Two skeletons, he should say. There was nothing left of them.

A scrabble of sound came from overhead, and both their heads snapped up.

A crack ran along the ceiling, and Iver realized the air was warmer here and the light seeping in was coming from above.

“This isn't a two-person bridge.” Hana turned her focus from the ceiling to the area around them and Iver played the handlight over the walls and floor for her.

It was massive, with place for at least twenty people.

“These two were the only ones in here when it crashed. Which means they sent everyone else away.”

“We didn't find any other bodies so far. Maybe they managed to get out?”

“Or they died on the journey.” Her voice caught a little. “And these two were all that were left.”

Neither of them said anything for a long time, then she looked up at him.

“If they hit the same shield I did--and given the fact that we both landed in more or less the same spot, I'd say they did--then no one would have had time to evacuate.” She looked out of the now-open door. “If they were alive and on the ship when it hit the shield, they're somewhere in here. Maybe on the flight deck. Scrambling for the runners.”

He thought of that and shivered. “I hope you're wrong.”

She shivered as well, and then ran both hands down her arms, hunching over as she did it.

“We're getting out of here.” He couldn't stand to see her like this a moment more. It was as though she was being tortured by memories that weren't hers.

She took a deep, steady breath. “I want to. I really want to. But my upgrade is telling me there are runners on this ship. Runners that we could maybe use to get to Touka City faster.”

“Runners in the place you think might be a mass grave?” He couldn't hold back the worry in his voice.

She took in another unsteady breath. “Yes.”

He suddenly pulled her into his arms. “Are you sure about this?” His lips brushed her ear.

“No.” She tightened her grip on him. “But I think it’s worth taking the chance. If they are there, their place of rest is going to be disturbed, if not by us, then by the scientists of the VSC. And if there's a runner that will get us to Touka quickly . . .”

“A runner you can fly?” he asked.

“My upgrade says yes. I can fly it.”

“All right.” He knew her plan made sense, but everything in him screamed to get them out and away from here. “We'll look, and if there's nothing to find, we leave.”

She nodded against his chest. Pulled back.

Her hand, when it lifted to her face to push back her hair, was shaking.

“Let's go.”

Chapter 29

It was hard to coordinate her steps.

Hana tried to soothe her upgrade, taking deep breaths as she followed Iver.

He was trying to protect her by going first, trying to see whatever horrific sight he thought was ahead before her, and stop her before she got there.

It made her chest tight.

“I'm glad you're here with me. I can't believe I was planning to do this alone.”

The light in his hand bobbled, and he turned. Stared at her a beat.

“It's not too late to leave now.” He searched her face, the worry on his own clear.

“I know, but I can't. It'll be all right, Iver. There's nothing here that can hurt us, and we might find something to help.” As she said it, the truth of it settled over her, and for the first time, she felt like herself again.

Her upgrade calmed.

You are with me now, she thought forcefully, and felt a rush of gratitude.

Iver gave a slow nod, turned again, but he held his hand out behind him, and she grabbed it and felt a lightness at the contact.

A warmth in this cold, dark space.

“Some of what I've been feeling is an echo from my upgrade.” She spoke haltingly, because she was still