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Pulling herself down from the ceiling by an improvised grappling hook, a girl settled by the console. She seemed to know what it said.

“I’ll cover you.”

Dropping to one knee, Klein began to sweep the hanger. He had been caught off guard once. Opening the scanners in the helmet, he checked for thermals. Outside of the wrecked machines, everything was cold. Might just mean that the next wave had a surface cooling system to trick out thermals.

Two shots rang out. Handgun. Gravity returned, a gentle hand pushing him lightly to the ground. It wasn’t like the artificial gravity from Atlantis Base. Running in full pack under the steel pull of five times earth’s gravity.

“Touchy! The password was ‘Loco’ by the way. Thought you’d like it.”

“Owwwwwww! Loco? Isn’t that the name of your stuffed cat?” It was a boy about the same age as the girl. The two seemed to stick close together. “Are you ok?”

“Come on, everyone, joyride’s over. Let’s move.”

Quickly standing, Klein switched to a neutral posture.

“I should have shot that earlier. Could’ve save you a little trouble.”