Chapter 34 · Neural Storm

"Keep your head down, Kael!" Zero shoved him behind a broken ore hauler as a burst of blue fire tore through the tunnel wall.

Kael hit the metal hard enough to bite his tongue. He spat blood onto the dust and looked past the hauler.

Three of the creatures had climbed out of the lower shaft. They were too tall to be human, too fast to be anything that had grown naturally. Their plated backs scraped the ceiling. Their mouths opened sideways, splitting their faces into wet, clicking jaws.

The first one charged.

Zero stepped into its path.

"Zero, move!"

She drove one boot into the creature's knee. The joint snapped backward with a sharp crack. Before it could fall, she grabbed the edge of its armor and threw it into the wall.

The impact shook loose a rain of stones.

"You said there were two," Kael shouted.

"I was busy being shot at. Count them yourself."

"I am counting! There are six!"

"Then count faster!"

A red warning flashed across the cracked screen strapped to Kael's wrist.

UPLOAD CONNECTION: 11%.

The virus sat inside the stolen control node, compressed into a file no larger than a thumbnail.