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partly supported from below by structural beams. One was a large vertical “X” shaped central beam, which appeared to provide primary support for the ceiling, at a point her memory told her must be under the center of the great hall above. The beam was completely clear of catwalks for three levels below the ceiling, and at its top, there were four smaller angled support beams, which branched away, to distribute ceiling support over a wider area.
    If she reached that upper junction, she would have the four angled beams to use for moving rapidly around the four sides of the central support. The Krall would have to climb straight up to reach her, only a few at a time. When her ammunition ran out, she had her knife, strength, and intelligence, to hold them off longer.
    She started running for the center of the complex, where she could get close to that support beam. She was exposed to view for part of her run, and new calls reporting her sighting reverberated everywhere, which at least refreshed her acoustic map of where things were located. It was nice she could count on that level of support from her would-be-killers.
    She saw a problem as she neared the center, and the resolution improved. Her present level didn’t have a catwalk that came closer than twenty feet of the beam. Krall were now at the stairs she would need to climb, to reach a higher level that came within a few feet of her goal.
    As she neared the edge of the catwalk closest to her target, it w as literally time for a leap of faith over the dark abyss. Running in the pitch dark, she slapped her right foot down less than an inch from the edge, and jumped.
    The distance was well within her ability to leap, even in 1.52 gravities, and she was certain she was on an intersecting trajectory with the beam, arcing over the deep dark chasm. What her mental map could not tell her, was the texture of the beam she needed to grasp in the dark. If it were slippery and damp, she would slide down, unable to reach her intended refuge at the top. Moist wasn’t actually in doubt, not in this dank humid environment. What she needed was a gritty or rusty surface, for a secure grip that would permit her to climb.
    She’d kept her eyes closed for the jump-off, using only the mental map as reference, but now opened them to try to see the details of the beam as she drew near.
    There would be thanks offered to the god of thermal conductivity. Heat from the dome above had crept down the beam, and its edges glowed faintly, where the heat was radiated away.
    The metal had a wonderfully dirty, marvelously coarse, slightly rusty surface for a secure grip! It probably left a red mess on her clothes and hands, and particularly her right cheek, pressed thankfully against the damp coolness. Now she had the means to climb, and tenuously started up, testing her handholds on the rough surface of the edges, and trying out climbing techniques. In only a few seconds, she was moving like a spider monkey up the beam on one bar of the “X,” going hand over hand, using booted feet squeezed in hard for her lower grip.
    She was in clear view of probably every Krall that had been after her, but because they had been in the process of descending to her level, they w ere clustered close to a distant stairway, fighting each other to get down first. She passed the catwalk that extended closest to the beam in a few seconds, even as some of the more fleet footed chasers ran towards her.
    The beam was too sturdy to transmit any vibration of the impact of Krall bodies as they jumped on below her. However, the almost joyous grunts of a close pursuit sounded directly below her, only twenty feet behind.
    Lighter, stronger, and more agile, she outpaced them to reach the four-way junction, where forty-five degree angled smaller beams branched out to the sides, providing a place for her to sit. As she looked down, she could see the body heat of a chain of pursuers climbing after her, the closest one forty feet