"Lying bitch," Ray commented, when they were alone.

  "I'm not as good as my friend Christie," Kayla admitted. "But I think I should get a merit badge for that one."

  "Are we welding the doors?" Tian asked.

  "Nah," Kayla said. "I want to give her an obvious way in that she won’t take, so at least I know where not to shoot."

  “No,” Jessica insisted, her voice wavering. “No, we sealed the room. It’s a strong box, that’s what Masey ordered.”

  “With defenders, it would be,” Kayla said. “But without, nothing can stop her breaking in.”

  She turned to see the squad watching her carefully. "But listen, let's not get hysterical, okay? Rayker is not a goddess, she's just super strong. So are we. So…" Kayla stared at her feet, blinked slowly then raised her eyes as her guts twisted like an angry serpent. "I'm going to ask for… three volunteers. The rest—"

  Thandi strode to her side, and stopped, waiting. Kayla stared at her, and wanted to tell her no. She wasn't like the others, she had to live. It was okay for Kayla to die, because her life didn't amount to much. But Thandi was a strong, righteous woman, who could do so much good in the world, and Kayla couldn't bare it if another friend died when she could have stopped it, and…

  And the look on Thandi's face said that Kayla would have to kill her to stop her, and that she would rather die than have another member of the squad do it for her. And that it was okay, because it was her choice, and nothing could make her prouder than dying alongside her friend.

  Kayla swallowed hard as she broke eye contact, then looked back at the others.

  "Well, you're all idiots," Ray said in exasperation. "I can't very well leave you to screw this up, can I? Count me in."

  "Ray…" Jess said in a strangled voice. She was on the edge of tears, shaking as she stared at her mentor. "No… no, we can't…"

  "Yeah, I'll do it," Lyna announced, as though she had been handed a chore. "I'm kind of an evil bitch and I don't need to inflict myself on the world any longer. Plus, I'm plenty scrappy when I need to be."

  "This is bullshit," Tian snapped. "I'm not going anywhere. Are you stupid, or what?"

  "Maybe," Kayla said. She unholstered her sidearm. "But this is an order. I could threaten to shoot you if you don't obey.

  "Oh, please."

  "Four is all we need to keep her occupied until the nerve agent hits," Kayla insisted. "Any more than that and we'll just get in each other's way while she slices us to pieces."

  "I won't hear any more of this," Jess said, her voice trembling. "We will stay together to the end. And… maybe it doesn't have to go that way. We can figure something out, we…" she trailed off, as she glanced desperately around the room. "There has to be a way."

  Kayla caught Tian's eye and gave her an impatient expression. Tian closed her eyes, wiped away tears, then nodded.

  "Can't… can't we try something automated?" Jess said. "We could reprogram the spiders, maybe?"

  "Is that right?" Kayla asked.

  Jess turned an expression of desperate hope on her, but Tian's arm shot across her neck and squeezed hard. Jess's eyes rolled back in their sockets, and her arms flailed for a frantic moment. Then she fell still.

  Tian sniffed. "Idiot girl."

  "You get her to safety," Kayla said. "Find some demo and collapse the staircase. See if you can do anything for the elevator shaft, but move fast.” She turned to Bibi, who hadn’t moved from her chair. “Let’s go.”

  Bibi shrugged. “Tian can carry Jess on her own. Why should I go anywhere? I don’t believe for a second that you’ll shoot me.”

  Kayla inhaled slowly. “You were on your way to a PHD before you joined Valkyrie, and we all know you’d go into the Collective. And you’re going to throw that life away to play hero?”

  “Just taking after my role models,” Bibi said with a sad smile.

  “You’re being selfish,” Kayla snapped. “But I’m not going to die knowing I could have saved another life. Plus your hand to hand skills suck, so I could just throw you out of the room.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  A look of bitter anger passed across Bibi’s face. She got to her feet and faced the others on unstable legs. “Why is this so hard?” she asked, as her tears ran down her cheeks.

  Lyna approached her and took her in a hug. “Just go make it count, alright? And remember what I told you about guys.”

  “Do the opposite of what you do?”

  “Exactly.”

  Then Thandi moved towards her. “I’ll save a spot for you in heaven, you’ll see,” she said with a smile.

  Kayla joined in the tearful goodbyes, but the voices seemed quiet and distant. When the others left, her mind was already flicking through the weak-spots of the room, Rayker’s probable approach path, and how to deal with her up close.

  “How’s our ammo?” she asked Ray, without much hope.

  Ray sighed. “Maybe a mag each. I was hoping someone would stop by, but I guess they took it into the cavern.”

  Kayla nodded. It wasn’t like they had left Rackeye with much to begin with. “Single shots wherever you hear a noise. Should give her something to think about.”

  Several of the consoles lit up, and an alarm blared throughout the room. Lyna moved over to a desk, inspected the screen, then hit a button. Blessed silence returned.

  “Warning for the gas,” she said. “I guess she’s going to be on her way. How’s it going with the other teams?”

  Kayla listened in to the growing traffic in her headset and felt her stomach knot up again. “Not good,” she said.

  Lone gunshots were ringing out more frequently as Gucci sprinted to the cavern entrance. The liberated Ranger squad standing guard there gave her expectant looks when she arrived.

  “Did you come to tell us the plan?” their lance-corporal asked.

  “We got ourselves a nice get away,” Gucci replied confidently. “Though things might get a little tight. How’s it looking out there?”

  The Ranger shrugged and pointed. “See those bigger dots up on the machine?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Those are the new spiders. Size of a big truck. They fly by the way, did you hear that yet?”

  “Nope,” Gucci said glumly, as one of the dots detached itself from the distant structure. It fell to earth, before gliding smoothly away at a speed not far off that of a Shrike fighter. Another shot rang out, and a hovering claw-shaped thing dropped out of the air.

  “ODTs are having fun, at least,” another Ranger said, grimly.

  Gucci reached up to her headset, but held her finger off. “Listen, no matter what happens, you are to hold fire, understand? Do not attract them this way.” Then she tapped her radio control. “Tiger six actual, Gucci; sitrep, over.”

  “Oh, Gucci,” Masey’s voice said through the distorted signal. “Are you getting worried? Are the spider’s freakin’ you out?”

  “Masey, we have an exit over at the teleporter. Get your girls moving in this direction.”

  Another shot rang out, followed quickly by a second. “That’s a negative, B-team,” Masey said. “The Doc’s plan ‘ain’t working out. Rayker’s managed to peel off a squadron of her new friends and they are covering her advance on the control room. Tiger’s going to slow her down her some.”

  “Goddammit, Masey,” Urtiga’s voice cut into the conversation. “Don’t play stupid games. Do what you can and work your around to us.”

  “Nope. ‘Aint going to work.”

  Urtiga’s reply sounded weak. “Consider it an order.”

  There was a coarse laugh. “You and what army?”

  There was a horrendous shriek in the middle distance, and a monstrous creature clambered out from behind some pipes. Further off, a surprised group of ODTs scampered out of cover and sprayed it with automatic fire. The thing lunged forward with terrifying power and speed, slashing its blade-like legs.

  Before Gucci could stop her, one of the Rangers dropped to a knee and snapped her long rifle into her shoulder. She fired single shots in a rapid, measured cadence, until the giant spider collapsed in a heap. Four figures popped up, and one waved.

  The Ranger waved back, then turned to Gucci with an unimpressed look. “I guess I did bad,” she said. “What’s the punishment?”

  Gucci shook her head and popped the woman on the shoulder. “You all comfortable here for the moment?” she asked. “It’s going to take a little time.”

  The lance corporal shrugged.

  Gucci returned to the teleporter to find the male prisoners mostly freed and working desperately on the machine while the operators watched them like hawks.

  “What’s it look like out there?” A Raider asked her.

  Gucci shook her head.

  “What’s taking so long?” a harassed Urtiga said. “I thought we just had to switch a key.”

  “Yep,” Track’s annoyed voice came back through the maintenance hatch. She didn’t elaborate.

  “Toughest part, innit?” One of the men said, who was standing by the opening and passing tools inside. “Yer swapping out a wormhole, not changing your knickers.” He leered at the women, and got frosty glares in response.

  “She’s moving this way, with some of the spiders,” Kayla said, and strode towards the bottom of the control room. “Thandi, you and me are going to watch the conduit channels. Lyna, cover the maintenance hallway.”

  “I’ll hang back and watch the ceiling,” Ray added. “Don’t panic shoot. Wait until she’s committed.”

  “Exactly,” Kayla said, as she found a console to hide behind. “Stay sharp, ETA four minutes.”

  The air grew thick with silent tension.

  “Think she’ll send the beasties in first?” Lyna asked.

  “Nah,” Kayla answered. “They’re pretty big, apparently. Not sure they’ll fit through these access ways.”

  “Okay,” Lyna continued, “but what about the smaller ones. Have they turned nasty?”

  “No-one said anything about that, yet.”

  Another silence fell, and Kayla found herself unwilling to let her imagination run riot. She cleared her throat.

  “So, Ray,” she asked, “how old are you?”

  Ray sighed. “Is that really critical information right now, Barnes?”

  “That’s Acting-Corporal Barnes, thank you.”

  “Yeah Ray,” Lyna said. “We’re all about to die horribly, so you might as well give it up.”

  The silence returned with its insupportable weight.

  “Four–hundred and… like, twenty or thirty something,” Ray said eventually. “But you lose track easily.”

  Lyna whistled. “Damn, girl. Sorry, I mean ma’am.”

  Ray scowled. “Don’t start with that.”

  “How the hell do you do this for four-hundred freakin’ years?”

  “I don’t know. One day at a time, same as everything else.”

  Lyna thought for a moment. “You must have heard every joke thousands of times. That must drive you crazy.”