The Gladiators, Part III

Posted on Tue 16th May, 2023 @ 3:42am by Sorra Yarime (Yari) & S'lani

1,815 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Neither Yours Nor Mine
Location: Secret location of the Slaver's Guild
Timeline: MD 3, 2215

Previously ...

"I was taught how to pick a lock, but it has been a while, so there is a 74.32% chance multiple attempts will be necessary," S'lani informed him. "But I will also be in a position to fight if the guards come while I make the attempt." She turned to Yari. "Are you ready to leave now?"

Yari nodded, "I think now would be an excellent time to get out of here. Once we are free of this roo we can decide what to do next." He didn't like the uncertainty of their position, but he felt that it was better than just staying in the room. They would just have to wing it.

And now, the escape begins ....

S'lani nodded. She took the two slivers of metal and went over to the door. First, she listened to make sure no one was approaching, then she carefully manipulated her tools until she heard the soft click that indicated she had succeeded. She slipped both pieces of metal into a small pocket on her calf and eased the door open a crack. There was no sound of movement or voices. She nodded to Yari and positioned herself beside the door.

"That was easy," he said before adding, "Let's get out of here." He waited for her to open the door. He had no weapons except for his hands and feet. He had fighting experience with them and hope that it was enough when he came upon someone, and he needed to use them.

She listened again, then opened the door and stepped out, looking both ways to be sure no one noticed them. She turned to Yari, one eyebrow raised in question. She had no idea where to go from here.

Yari indicated to the left with his thumb and allowed her to lead the way. In this direction, he had no idea where they were going, but at least they were headed away from the arena, or that was Yari's perspective.

S'lani moved silently, listening for any sound of guards. They passed several more cells; some sounded like they held occupants, but others did not. She wanted to release them all, but picking each lock would be problematic, as would a bunch of loose prisoners. Hopefully, if they managed to get out, she could send someone back to release them everyone. At the first intersection, she paused, listening. Then she pointed left. "This way is quieter."

"It's worth a shot, let's try it," Yari said. The odds were better if they took the quieter route. He followed closely behind, not making a sound as they continued down the corridor.

S'lani continued in the general direction, stopping whenever either of them heard a noise or came across another corridor. Each time, she'd take the direction that seemed to lead away from the arenas and from others. In her role as bodyguard, she stayed in front, so she'd be first to run into trouble.

It seemed like an age, but was only twenty minutes when she heard the sounds of footsteps. S'lani went to the nearest door and tested it to see if it was locked. It opened onto an empty room. It may have been a cell, or a storage area before. Now there was nothing. She ushered Yari inside, then took a position beside the door.

Yari remained quiet until the sounds of the footsteps had faded. "Okay, check to see if the coast is clear, then we can continue to ... somewhere." Yari said. He had no idea how much time they had before their absence was noticed, but time was not on their side. They had to keep moving.

S'lani audibly tracked where the footsteps had come from and where they went, so they were less likely to run into whomever that was. Then she opened the door and checked the hallway. "I believe our current direction is sufficient. However, finding something we could use as weapons would be prudent."

"I agree, but they don't leave things lying around that we could use. We'll just have to keep looking as we walk," he said. He agreed with her, but he wasn't willing to change direction just to find a weapon that they could use.

She nodded and continued down the corridor. She paused from time to time to check a room for possible weapons. She wasn't particular. At this point, any weapon would do. She was keenly aware that their luck would not last and they would likely run into someone before long.

They came to a stretch where the doors were few and far between. It was then that she heard footsteps.

Yari also heard the footsteps coming closer and reached for the nearest door, but it was locked. The footsteps were now right on them and they were only hidden because of the corner. There was no time left, so Yari grabbed S'lani and pulled her in tight for what appeared to be a passionate kiss. Just maybe whoever was coming would ignore them if they were in the middle of something romantic or personal. It was worth a try.

It didn't work. The person came around the corner, saw them, and pulled Yari back. One look at their clothing, and he reached for a weapon.

Since the other man's attention was on Yari, S'lani grabbed the guard's arm and used a Vulcan nerve pinch to drop him. They could ill afford the sound of weapons fire or a fight if they wanted to continue unnoticed. "We need to hide him somewhere."

Yari continued down the corridor trying to open doors until he found one and checked inside. It was a small room with a table and four chairs. Probably a room for the guards to take a break. "In here." he whispered as he snuck back to help her drag the unconscious guard.

When the guard was seated at the chair with his head on the table, S'lani put her fingers on his face, her thoughts melding with his, and whispered one word. "Forget." Then she straightened and turned to Yari. "Shall we continue?"

He nodded, "Yes, we should keep moving unless we want to be tonight's show." He opened the door slowly and peeked out. The coast was clear. "Okay, let's get going."

S'lani took the lead as they continued down the corridor, checking every few feet to make sure no one was coming. Not knowing where they were going, she continued in the general direction away from what Yari said was the arena.

They passed a few more doors and found themselves at the end of the corridor with only a door in front of them. "Now what?" he said out loud. "Should we try this one and see where it leads?"

"This or turn back, and I would rather not unless we have no other option." She was still his bodyguard, even though she'd done a poor job of it so far. "I will go first. If I get into trouble, find a way out." S'lani didn't wait for his reply. She put her hands on the door and leaned close, listening. Although Vulcans had heightened senses, she could only tell there was no one near the door. She opened it.

"What do you see?" Yari asked. He hoped everything was turning around for them, they needed to be free from this place.

Inside was a hanger for small spacecraft such as shuttles. It seemed to be near capacity and only a few humanoids could be seen walking around, probably Security for the area.

"Can we take one and leave?" S'lani whispered. "There are not many guards. But surely the bay doors are secured?" The alarm should be sounding soon, alerting everyone to their escape. To get out, they would need a shuttle with clearance to leave, and the luck not to be noticed. Yari did seem to have that luck at times.

Yari studied the Hanger doors, "I wonder if those doors could be destroyed by weapon fire from one of the shuttles and if any of the shuttles have weapons at all." Then he began to devise a plan 'B'. "I'm sure that we won't be able to capture anyone that can get us clearance to leave, so I have an idea."

She raised an eyebrow. "As we have a lack of information on whether the doors are shielded against weapons fire or not, we will go with your idea."

Yari looked at the door for a few seconds, "I don't think the doors are shielded, I don't see any type of shield generator nearby, but I'm pretty sure that it's sealed so that we can't just open it. We're going to blow the doors."

S'lani nodded. She was a bodyguard, not a pilot, so she deferred to his greater knowledge in this area. She looked around. "Which ship do you prefer?" She would rather get something fast and well-shielded, but again, she would defer to Yari.

"That one." Yari pointed out. "I've sold a few of those, they don't have any type of security to them so they seem to change hands quite often." Yari pointed to another of the same type. "We can use that one to blow the door."

He looked back to his partner in crime, "Do you know how to fly or at least start the engines?" He thought back to when he read her file, and he couldn't remember if that had come up.

"While I have a basic proficiency in flying such craft, I do not consider myself a skilled pilot," she replied. "And you?"

"I have piloted many types of shuttle craft and small ships. Cardassian, Federation, and even some Romulan." Yari smiled, "You'll just have to do. Once you power up your shuttle, I set the reactor of mine to overload, causing an explosion and, in theory, should blow the door for us to escape. You'll just have to beam me to your shuttle before mine explodes."

"Is that all?" she replied dryly. Then she inclined her head in a brief nod. "Very well. As soon as I power up a shuttle, I will get a transporter lock on you. I can calculate the timing necessary to get you aboard, shield, and get out." There was always a margin of error, but she felt that the odds of succeeding were high.

"Okay, then I will see you on the other side." Yari began sneaking off, darting in and out, stopping and hiding around shuttles and even landing gear on the big ships until he got to the one shuttle he wanted. He got aboard without incident and began to power up the vessel. He believed that they had a good chance of slipping away during all the excitement and that they shouldn't be missed for quite some time.

To be concluded ....

 

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