Corbin scanned the room, eyes locking onto a rugged
storage unit mounted on a workstation near the back of the library.
"
This’ll do," he muttered, rushing back to the console. He slammed the unit into the port, fingers flying over the controls as he initiated a blind data dump. The system whirred angrily, processing the sheer volume of files being transferred.
"
Two minutes," Corbin called out, sweat beading on his forehead.
Mercer and Douklan took up defensive positions at the entrance while Maya tended to Erin’s injuries as best she could with their limited supplies. Hank kept his eyes on the invisible clock in his mind—they had time, but not much.
Finally, the console beeped. Transfer complete. Corbin yanked the storage unit free and shoved it into his pack. "
Got it! Let’s go!"
They hurried out, sealing the door behind them, and emerged into a large, open chamber—a
gravlev station. The once-pristine facility was now a wreck. But the zero-g tracks, used for smooth personnel and cargo transport, still hummed faintly with power.
Three primary routes branched out from here:
1. One track led into the
main laboratory, its pathway illuminated by dim emergency lights.
2. Another rose upward, leading to the
central spire, a nerve center of the station with the main power plant, engineering and docking ports.
3. If you just crossed it, though, a direct path led toward
Sector L11 and then to Docking Bay 11.
The room itself was eerily quiet, the faint crackle of damaged speakers occasionally spitting out distorted messages. Several grav-sleds were docked at the loading points—some functional, others damaged beyond use.
The terminal to call an automated maglev train seemed to be functional.
