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knee. The wire bit through meat to the bone below, and the woman’s mouth opened in a soundless scream. Dred ended her pain with one thrust of her blade. Breathing hard, she turned to see how Jael was doing, just in time to see him drop the last of his enemies.
    He’d taken some damage, too, and was liberally smeared with red. He caught her eye, then they both turned to whoever they’d saved. On closer inspection, the person didn’t seem to be human, but she’d never seen anyone quite like him . . . her? Before. Silently, she checked with Jael, and he shook his head. They’d rescued someone just over a meter tall and proportionately delicate, with long, spindly fingers that ended in tiny suction cups. The head was elongated, black eyes set pretty far on either side. No nose, flat features, and a small mouth, almost perfectly round. The alien was pale, somewhere between gray and blue, with lined, hairless skin.
    It was also in a hurry. “We should get the hell out of here.”
    Jael nodded. “Introductions and stories can wait. The first order of business is getting away from Silence.”
    â€œNo shit,” the alien said.
    â€œWhat about the droid?” Dred asked.
    â€œI’ll stay here, return with the battery whenever an RC unit comes back to charge.”
    â€œHow? They’ll be crawling all over this area—”
    â€œI’ll be fine,” Jael cut in with a half smile. “I always am.”
    That was before.
But she didn’t say it aloud. While there might be emotional ties between them, she couldn’t let them interfere with their escape plans. So she only nodded and limped back toward the access panel. It would be better if she could clean up, as the blood trail might give them away, but there was nowhere safe to stop for first aid. Her skin crawled at the idea of Silence’s killers using it to track them.
    The alien waited until they’d retreated to the ducts to say, “Did you know you have a knife stuck in your side?”
    â€œYeah. If I remove it right now, I might bleed out.”
    â€œHuh. But doesn’t it hurt?”
    â€œLike hell,” she admitted through clenched teeth.
    â€œWhere are we going anyway?”
    â€œSomeplace safe, provided I don’t pass out before we get there.” And assuming this creature didn’t eat her brain while she was unconscious. “What’s your name?”
    â€œThey call me Hex.”
    â€œI’m Dred.”
    â€œI won’t say it’s nice to meet you, but I’m glad you came along.”
    â€œHow is it you’ve survived on your own? Didn’t you choose a faction?”
    Hex shuddered. “Hell no. If I explain that, I reveal
way
too much to a complete stranger.”
    â€œThen I’ll ask once you know me better,” Dred said.
    â€œEh. Dunno how long I’ll hang around though I will make sure you get where you’re going. No offense, but there’s trouble in numbers.”
    Famous last words.
    â€œNone taken,” she said.
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    JAEL found a decent hiding spot farther along the corridor. The door had rusted shut, so he had to go in through the ceiling. This room was a scrap heap, with broken furniture and old electronics, probably left over from Monsanto’s day. It didn’t reek of biological waste, unlikely any prisoners had found their way in. Most wouldn’t bother. A cursory inspection wouldn’t reveal his location though if they did an exhaustive search, he’d have to bolt and run.
    His wounds were barely clotted and still hurt like mad; once, they would’ve been healed already. Checking, he found the edges of his chest wound already puffy.
Those rotters like their poison, don’t they?
He’d been paralyzed by one of them and nearly died, but likely not all of the grunts carried the most powerful toxins. Since his nervous system hadn’t shut