The Lost Star Episode One by Odette C. Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

problem to add to
B’cal’s list.
    The lifts kept shuddering as they
descended. It sent a nervous worry plunging through his
gut.
    These lifts were operational, right? The
numerous safety mechanisms that would stop the lifts from falling –
or worse, speeding up to their full velocity and slamming into a
wall – were in place, right?
    He caught Ava looking at him.
    He stiffened his jaw and subtly clutched a
hand behind his back, sure that she couldn’t see it.
    He hated not being in control. He hated
facing an enemy he couldn’t see, even if right now it was a goddamn
faulty lift.
    Ava looked like she wanted to say something,
but clearly thought better of it as she turned back to stare at the
doors.
    The lift gave a violent shudder and she was
pushed off balance.
    She tumbled towards him.
    On pure instinct, he grabbed her just in
time, lurching to the side to cancel out the momentum of her
fall.
    She’d fallen towards him face-first, and now
that same face was pressed into his chest as he anchored her to the
spot.
    Before he could push her away or become too
distracted by the soft touch of her hair along his arms, or the
press of her chest against his side, the lift lurched again.
    “ What the hell? ” he barked.
    “ Lift loosing integrity,” the computer
droned in an emotionless tone.
    “Shit,” he swore. “Stop the lift in place.
Now.”
    “Brakes are failing.”
    “ What ?! How can they fail?”
    Ava wriggled out of his arms. He’d been
holding her. Tightly. Without even realizing it.
    She lurched towards the controls, yanked
back the panel, and pulled something out of it.
    Before he could ask what she’d done, the
lift started to free fall.
    He fell from his feet and tumbled into her,
knocking her to the floor. For the second time that day, he fell
right on top of her, chest-to-chest, face-to-face.
    It didn’t count this time, though, because
he was about to die.
    Just as true terror tore through his chest,
the lifts screeched to a halt, violent shudders ripping through the
cabin.
    Without realizing what he was doing, he
pressed against her, fear locking his muscles in place.
    With one more metallic screech, the lift
stopped.
    He let out a tortured, trapped breath, and
it pushed Ava’s hair over her face.
    Though his eyes were squeezed shut, as he
opened them, he realized she was staring at him. “We don’t have
much time.” She pushed into him.
    It was then he realized he was still on top
of her.
    He fumbled to his feet. “What did you do to
the lift?”
    She was still holding onto the section of
neuro wiring she’d pulled from the control panel.
    “I pulled out the primary safety
circuit.”
    “You did what? Why?” he barked, heart
pounding faster than a drum.
    “To force the shaft to engage its magnetic
brakes.”
    He opened his mouth but stopped.
    She’d just saved their lives.
    The shaft had its own brakes to control the
lifts in the case of a hull breach. The harmonic resonance of a ton
of metal thundering down a damaged shaft could do untold
damage.
    Usually the shaft’s mag brakes were
overridden by the lift’s primary safety controls. Controls which
were clearly faulty. If the mag brakes hadn’t already caught the
plummeting lift before Ava had yanked out the safety controls, it
meant they were sending inaccurate information to the
shaft.
    By pulling out the controls, Ava had saved
them both.
    Rather than point that out, he nodded at
the com link. “Put in a call immediately.”
    “We need to get out of here,” she overrode
him.
    “We’re fine now the shaft mag brakes have
engaged. They’ll hold us here until help arrives.”
    “The mag brakes are groaning.” She pointed
towards the door. “Listen carefully.”
    As he calmed his rocketing breath long
enough, he heard it.
    Metal fatigue. There was a fine but
perceptible shudder vibrating through the lift floor.
    “ We need to open those doors.” She pointed
at them.
    “They’ll open onto a shaft wall.”
    “There’s a