Chapter 18p5 – Dunter’s Office

Haglyn watched the progress of the elevator. “Do we blast ‘em, or dodge ‘em?”

“Er…” Tic yanked open the storage closet door. “In we go!” He pulled the door shut just as the elevator dinged, announcing its arrival. Peeking through a crack, he watched two Liberati and half a dozen of Dunter’s goons storm past towards the docking bay.

The moment the coast was clear, Tic and Haglyn high-tailed it into the elevator. A trailing goon heard the clatter and spotted them. “It’s them!” she shouted.

Haglyn hammered the Close Door button, and the elevator sealed itself just as the goon raised her blaster. Explosive impacts rocked the elevator door—ZAM! ZAM! ZAM!—but somehow it held together.

Tic frantically scanned the floor labels. “Where to?”

“Anywhere!”

“We can’t just run around at random! How about Dunter’s office?”

“Fine! Just get us out of here!”

Tic pressed Floor 165 and the elevator whizzed down 13 stories. With a happy ding, the door slid halfway open and jammed. Tic and Haglyn squeezed through. The doors were pitted and melted from the laser fire.

“Great,” muttered Tic. “Let’s hope we aren’t stuck here!”

Haglyn looked around the small, tidy foyer that led into Dunter’s office. “I wonder why this floor is so easy to get to. If this was my office I’d password-protect the elevators from coming here.”

Tic shrugged and tried the handle of the door into the main office area. A holographic number pad blinked to life. “Ah.”

“Or I’d do something like that,” said Haglyn. “Oh well. They aren’t here, anyways. No lights on. Hey, what’s this?” She leaned out of her GyroCart and retrieved something from the floor.

“What?” asked Tic.

“Oh, wow.”

“What?”

“You won’t believe this.”

“What?”

“I think this is Dunter’s PAI!”

About Tim Sevenhuysen

Tim Sevenhuysen writes sci-fi and other genre fiction. He is a microfiction expert, having written over 600 fifty-word stories. He is also a noncertifiable lunatic.

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