ShadowTech

Chapter 6

4: Brice

Brice

Brice was torn. Piran had a point, but Ryann was right too.

And there was nothing he could do to change things. All he could do was sit back and trust Keelin.

She sat rigid, didn’t even look like she was breathing. Concentrating, then. That was good.

The Proteus shook. Brice ignored the terminal by his seat, didn’t want to see how close they were to the rock. Deva sat glued to her palmie, her mouth open in shock, her eyes wide.

That told him more than he wanted to know.

“We out of the water yet?” Piran asked.

Ryann sussed, tight. Didn’t stop Brice catching it, though. Easier when she was so close, sat behind him.

The shaking and juddering of the Proteus rocked Brice’s seat, sent vibrations through his body. He reached out, tapped to wake his terminal, called up sensors.

Maybe seeing what was happening would settle his stomach.

He saw rock, far too close, covered in the green tinge of dark-sight. Wasn’t quite night vision, but close. Didn’t look real. And things weren’t helped by the blurring from the water.

Rock loomed closer. The craft jerked. Metal ground on the tunnel wall.

Keelin flinched. Would’ve felt that on her own skin. Must’ve hurt.

“Too close!” Piran said. “We’re not going to make it.”

Keelin’s arm tensed, where it lay on her chair’s arm-rest. And, once again, Ryann sussed to Piran.

The guy was an i***t! Was he trying to wind Ryann up or something?

Brice gave the back of his chair a kick. Piran spun, scowling.

“Let her concentrate,” Brice said.

Brice kicked the back of the chair again, sneered at Piran. The coward tried to glare back, looked like a startled rodent or something, then swivelled round to face front.

Brice caught half-formed words, insults that rose in Piran’s mind. He breathed deep to calm himself.

Wasn’t like he wanted to catch the b****y fool’s thoughts, was it? No point filling his mind with that inane drivel.

The Proteus lurched to the left. Keelin tensed, rubbed her arm. Sweat ran down her face.

Brice glanced at his terminal, eyes drawn to the murky green image. It wasn’t as blurred now‌—‌Ryann had mentioned they were free of the water, hadn’t she?‌—‌but the rock was still too close.

Impressive, how Keelin navigated. Especially with proximity playing up. Brice didn’t understand the technicalities, but he knew that was something to do with collision avoidance, that its failure meant Keelin had to work from feel alone.

She lifted the craft’s nose, aiming for a c***k in the ceiling. No, not a c***k‌—‌a gash. A hole. The Proteus jerked. Keelin ducked, raised a hand to her head.

“We’re overheating!” Piran said. “Rear port booster. Can’t keep on like this. We need to turn back!”

“Can’t,” Keelin said‌—‌the first words she’d uttered since she’d taken them into the cave.

“What do you mean, you can’t? You said you could reverse.”

“Check for yourself.”

There was a moment of silence, until Piran broke it. “Fore-booster’s gone? How the hell did that happen? Wait‌—‌it was that crunch, back when we left the cave. Thought it was too loud for a scrape. And‌…‌and you carried on? Hell, Keelin! You’re going to get us all killed. Or you’ll get us trapped down here, and we’ll die of starvation or something.”

Keelin growled deep in her throat. Her arms tensed.

And Brice slammed his boot into the back of Piran’s chair. As Piran jerked forward, Brice reached out, spun the chair, grabbed Piran by his collar.

The stupid i***t’s breath was warm and stale. He shook. But there was anger in his eyes. Might’ve been hatred.

Brice brought his head forward, could feel the sweaty heat from Piran’s skin. “Let her do her job,” he said.

The Proteus shuddered and vibrated. Keelin winced and squeezed a hand over her midriff.

Piran’s mouth quivered, and Brice could tell he was about to say something stupid.

“Don’t care if you want to make it.” Brice glared at Piran. “But I do. Let her fly. Or I’ll make sure you can’t distract her.”

In that moment, Brice could easily have punched Piran in the face. Follow up with a fist in his guts, double him over, then punch down on the back of his neck. And if that caused permanent damage‌—‌well, the i***t only had himself to blame.

Piran swallowed, and a half-cough spluttered from his lips. He glanced over Brice’s shoulder, toward Ryann. Then he nodded.

Brice waited, only sat back once Piran faced front, once Keelin’s arms relaxed.

A hand rested on Brice’s shoulder. He turned. Ryann leaned forward.

She nodded, smiled.

Brice turned away, looked down at his terminal and watched the rock walls pass by. After a moment he heard Ryann ease back into her chair.