They lay side by side for a long time. Bay was soon sore. He could barely manage a few hours in these ducts; he couldn't even imagine spending fourteen years in here. Finally the movie ended, and Rowan turned over to face him.
"Well, what did you think?"
"I think I need to pee," Bay said. "That was one damn long movie!"
She nodded, grinning. "And that's just the first one! There are sequels! Oh, and we have to watch the making of documentaries too! We can watch them on your starship, though."
"I'd like that," Bay said. And he meant it. The movie had confused him. In truth, he hadn't paid much attention. In truth, he cared more about lying next to Rowan, hearing her laugh, seeing her eyes shine.
I've been alone for too many years too, he thought. Holographic prostitutes didn't have such light in their eyes. Didn't have such nice smiles.
He held out his hand to her.
"Shall we go on our own adventure, little hobbit?" he said.
Rowan smiled, eyes damp. She reached toward his hand.
Before she could clasp it, a shriek rose, and the ducts jolted.
Rowan inhaled sharply. She reached under her dress and drew a hidden knife.
"Exterminators!" she whispered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The shrieks filled the ductwork.
Rowan winced.
"Exterminators," she whispered. "And big ones."
Bay stiffened. "Muck." He reached for his belt and drew his pistol. "I hate those guys."
He had dealt with exterminators before. Most humans had. Bay had learned not to spend more than a few days at any one place. Sooner or later, somebody called the local exterminators to remove the pest. Some exterminators were woefully inadequate, guys who had never caught anything more dangerous than a cold. Others were seasoned mercenaries who wore human ears as trophies around their necks.
As another shriek filled the ducts, Bay had the sinking feeling they were dealing with the second type now.
The ducts shook. A mad clattering rose. Something was moving through the ducts. Fast.
"Hurry, we can make it to my starship!" Bay said, about to crawl back the way he had come.
"No!" Rowan said. "They're coming from there. I can tell. This way, hurry!"
They began to crawl through the duct. Rowan moved at incredible speed, scuttling forward like a badger. Her dragonfly flew above her, skimming the duct's ceiling.
"Hurry!" she said over her shoulder.
"I'm trying!" Bay said, dragging himself forward.
He managed to rise to hands and knees, but his head and shoulders kept banging against the ducts' steel walls. Every few meters, they passed over a vent, and he glimpsed the various seedy establishments below. A few patrons in brothels and bars raised their eyes, roused by the clatter, and grumbled about pests in the walls.
The ducts rattled. The shrieks drew closer. Clattering echoed like many pounding feet. A stench hit Bay's nostrils, a sickening mixture of burnt marrow and worms after rain.
"They're in the ducts and moving fast," Rowan said, crawling ahead. She kept having to pause and wait for Bay to catch him. "Come on, Bay, hurry!"
"Where are we going?" he said.
"I know another way to the hangar." She looked over her shoulder at him. "Hurry, they're—"
She screamed and pointed.
Bay looked behind him and felt the blood drain from his face.
By Ra.
A creature was racing toward them through the duct.
Nausea rose in Bay's stomach. Cold sweat washed him.
"They hired Ra damn bonecrawlers," he said. "I hate bonecrawlers."
The alien had a body like a python, thick enough to digest a man whole. Its skin was rubbery, pinkish, and marred with moles, liver spots, and thin hairs. That skin was sickeningly human. The ribs were clearly visible, hundreds of them stretching down the serpentine body, pushing against the skin. The alien moved by contracting and expanding those ribs like an accordion.
Its skull too was disturbingly human, draped with skin. There seemed to be no fat, no muscle, just skin and bone. The teeth were long and sharp, and while the tight skin revealed wide eye sockets, the eyes themselves were vestigial, mere splotches on the skin, almost certainly blind. The creature reached out arms tipped with claws like daggers, and it shrieked again, a cry that shook the ducts and nearly deafened Bay.
They use sonar, he realized. They're blind but—
Rowan grabbed him.
"Come on!"
He crawled after her, moving as fast as he could. Too slow! The bonecrawler followed, screeching, reaching out to him. A claw slashed Bay's boot, tearing the sole. Bay cried out and kicked. He hit the creature's face, ripped the skin, and teeth snapped at him. Bay flipped onto his back, aimed his pistol, and fired.
Ringing filled his ears, flowing over all other sounds.
His ears thrummed and ached, and white blood sprayed.
The creature howled, a hole in its head, but still lived. It reached out a claw, and—
Rowan scurried over Bay and stabbed with her knife, shouting. Her blade found one of the bonecrawler's vestigial eyes, puncturing the skin that stretched over the eye socket like leather over a drum.
The creature roared. Rowan kept stabbing, and Bay winced and fired again, hitting its body. The bullet glanced off a rib, hit a joint in the ducts, and a section of duct tore open.
The bonecrawler's lower body fell through the duct and dangled over a casino. Aliens below screamed. The bonecrawler's upper half was still in the duct, and it clawed at the steel walls for purchase. Bay fired again. Again. Finally the creature fell into the casino, shattering a card table. Poker chips scattered and gamblers opened fire, riddling the bonecrawler corpse with bullets.
But beyond the hole in the duct, Bay saw more bonecrawlers scuttling forward, screaming and snapping their jaws.
"Rowan, are you all right? You're bleeding!"
"I'm fine. Hurry! This hole won't stop them."
They kept fleeing. They made their way around a bend and began crawling up a sloping duct, only to see another bonecrawler racing toward them. They spun around. Now Bay crawled at the lead. He reached a fork in the ducts, saw a bonecrawler down one path, and took the other route. He crawled madly, banging his elbows and knees, ignoring the pain. Several bonecrawlers converged behind them, moving fast.
"How far are we to the hangar?" he cried.
"Almost there!" Rowan said, "Hurry, that way!"
A long passageway stretched before them. They crawled. Three bonecrawlers chased, howling, rattling the ducts. A path opened up to their left, and a fourth bonecrawler emerged. Its claws grabbed Bay's arm. He fired. His bullet slammed into the bonecrawler's face, shattering teeth. Rowan screamed, knifing a bonecrawler that dropped from a vent above. Even Fillister was fighting, buzzing around a bonecrawler to distract it, then dipping down to sting it with his tail.
"This way!" Rowan cried, racing along a duct, leaving a trail of blood. Bay followed. A bonecrawler grabbed his foot, ripping off his boot. He kicked again and again, breaking the creature's teeth. A claw scraped his leg, and he fired his last bullet, knocking the beast back. But more bonecrawlers were everywhere. He could see more scampering up a shaft.
"In here!" Rowan said, and Bay followed her through a narrow opening into a wider shaft. A lever rose here, and Rowan tugged it, grunting with effort. A bonecrawler scuttled toward them, only instants away.
"Help me!" Rowan said.
Bay grabbed the lever too. They pulled together, and a metal hatch moved on rusty hinges, blocking the duct.
The bonecrawler slammed into the steel sheet, denting it. Bay pushed against the metal, trying to hold the beast back.
Rowan slumped down, panting. "These levers are used to direct airflow through the system. There are a few more we can use." She grabbed the lever, pushed her feet against a wall, and snapped it off. "Locked."