“Fillan, stay,” he snapped.
Fillan looked back towards the deck. Then, without speaking, he stepped closer and grabbed Coll’s hand.
Coll sighed. “Fine. But keep back. I don’t want to trip over you.”
Together, they crept down the steps and into the belly of Raven.
It smelled different to Wolf – different people, different food – and the hairs on Coll’s neck rose. Different was bad. The layout was strange too. The corridors were wider but lower, and painted dark, with flickers of green like leaves. Glimmers of light came from occasional portholes.
The banging came from up ahead, a closed door at the end of the corridor. Coll crept forward and carefully rested his palm against it. Thump. Thump. Whatever it was, it was on the other side of the door. Coll took a step back and then jerked as another face appeared in the gloom. “Argh!”
It was Rieka. “I heard it too,” she whispered.
Coll held his zapper tight. “Fillan,” he muttered, “go back to the end of the corridor.” He nodded to Rieka. “Ready?”
“Do you think we should?” she asked. For once she seemed unsure.
Coll’s heart pounded but he nodded. Carefully he reached for the handle. He waited for the next thump and timed his action.
Thump… Thump…
He turned the handle and wrenched the door open, and a small blue blur hurtled out past him, crashed into the opposite wall and stopped, shaking its head.
It looked up at Coll. “Chick-chick?”
It was an Ant. “Chick-chick?” it said again. Then it seemed to notice Rieka and scuttered backwards. “Chick-chick!” Coll pointed the zapper but the Ant didn’t react. It was quite a small one, just half a metre long. There was a dent on its head and it looked unsteady.
“Chick-chick!” it shouted. It raced up the twisted corridor towards Fillan but slipped, staggered sideways and shook its head. It tried to run on the floor, apparently not realising the floor was at an angle. It tried again and again, and then tipped on to its back.
“Chick-chick!” it wailed, waving its legs in the air. “Chick!” Then it stopped and its legs sagged. “Chick-chick-chick,” it muttered sadly.
Fillan laughed. “That made me JUMP!” he said. “Funny Ant!”
Coll blew out a long careful breath and relaxed. He’d been holding the zapper so hard it was digging into his skin.
Rieka glanced inside the room. “Supply cupboard,” she said. “It must have been scavenging and the door closed.”
“Poor Ant,” said Fillan. “It’s stuck. We should help it.”
Rieka shook her head. “No. If it returns to its nest, it might lead the others back. Leave it here and keep the corridor door shut.”
Coll peered out of a porthole. “It’s getting dark,” he said. “We should eat.”
They returned to the ground and Coll lit a fire and cooked up soup.
“I’ve made progress with the servers,” said Rieka. “I think we can do something.”
“There’s plenty of supplies at least,” said Coll. “It’s strange, though. They brought all these boxes out…”
“Why didn’t they take them with them?” asked Rieka, nodding. “It’s the same in the server room; they haven’t shut anything down. Wolf Tocks would never leave their station like that.”
The sky was clear above them. It would be a chilly night, but no one suggested sleeping on board. The wind was picking up and the grass swished.
“What was that?” asked Coll suddenly.
“What?” asked Rieka.
Coll frowned and stood, staring into the darkness. “I thought I heard something,” he muttered. “Maybe the Ants coming back. Hang on.”
He took a step out into the dark. Was there something? A movement? He lifted his zapper. Another step…
“CAW!”
Col caught a glimpse of metal flickering past and he jerked to the side, swinging his prosthetic arm up in defence. Something clashed against it and he felt warning signals ripple against his stump like sparks.
“CAW!” screamed a voice again, and something leapt at Coll’s head. He staggered and tripped.
“What the—”
“CAW!” A feathered shape loomed over him, dark and fierce, kicking and scratching at his face. Coll tried to defend himself but the shape was everywhere, a terror of whirling limbs striking again and again. Finally he managed to grab one wrist and then the other.
“Stop!” he shouted.
But the creature lowered its head and pecked at him with a hard stabbing lunge, its jaws snapping centimetres from his throat.
“CAW!”
Coll felt his arms weakening. The thing dived for his throat again.
