Dominion

Chapter Seven: Leave Nothing To Chance

Chapter Seven: Leave Nothing To Chance

My heart pounded as I gave chase, beads of sweat already trailing down the side of my face as I dodged shots from Bask.

The hallway was narrow and the shots were close. But they weren't my biggest problem. Being a Feriik gave Bask an edge I didn't have. His species didn't breath. And they were naturally athletic. He was faster than me, basically. I could lose him as soon as he rounded a corner.

Ahead of him, two people emerged from a room. Two humans. One male, one female. The screamed in panic at the sight at an angry Feriik running at them. Without really stopping, Bask managed to grab the girl and hurl her to the ground behind him, right in my path.

I was running too fast and was too close to slow down. That left me with only one option. As I neared her, I leaped over her as best I could and continued on after Bask.

He was nearing the main entrance. I could see it ahead, the glow of light from the outpost outside illuminating the entrance. Just a faint glow from here, but a victory for Bask if he reached it. I would never find him if he disappeared into the crowd outside.

Dodging a few more shots from him, I focused on the room ahead of him, looking for a way to block his path. And I found just the thing.

Floating through the doors - likely here to investigate the fire fight going on back at the room Vera and I had commandeered - was a Dominion drone. It was in just the right position to give me exactly what I needed. And far enough away that it would never see who made the shot that destroyed it.

I raised my good hand, aiming my gun as best I could while running. My hand shook a little as I went along, making it difficult to line up the shot. But I was more concerned about the timing. My window of opportunity was nearly closed.

Not yet. Not yet.

Bask fired a few more shots, and either didn't notice or care that my gun was aimed in his direction but not firing. Almost...

Now!

I pulled the trigger. A single shot raced past Bask and right into the eye of the drone. The ensuing explosion sent sparks across the room, as well as leaving behind a cloud of smoke and debris. But more importantly, its location right in front of the entrance forced Bask to make a turn down another hallway instead of out the door.

I could hear him cursing from here. I smirked. No way was he getting away that easily.

He still had a good lead on me, though, and the explosion would slow me down slightly. But I remembered what that room had looked like and there was only one other hallway for him to take.

Running into the smoke-filled room, I shoved a few people out of my way, ignoring the curses that followed. I quickly proceeded down the hallway Bask had been forced into.

He stopped and pulled open a door the led into the staircase - he was going for the only other way out of the building. The roof. The door fell shut behind him and it took me a good few seconds to catch up, but I stopped just short of the door.

What would Bask be dumb enough to do? I waited three seconds. The door exploded in a fire of metal, a ball of flame erupting into the hallway air and then fading away. He'd be dumb enough to waste his time planting an explosive.

I quickly ran through the smoke and onto the stairs. Bask, a couple flights up now, let out a frustrated yell and fired a few more shots down at me. I didn't waste time firing back. No one could land a shot on stairs like these.