Vale screamed, fear ripping through her. She scrambled back and stopped when her metal arm groaned under her weight, shooting sparks across the deck. I'm going to set myself on fire before he even kills me! She lost her advantage by stopping. The boy with bright blond hair and dark blue eyes moved over her and quickly knelt on her stomach, his weight trapping her in place.
Vale opened her mouth to scream again, but the boy pushed his hand down across her mouth muffling her scream and filling her nostrils with the smell of oil and grease. The boys blond hair whipped around him as he stared down from her face to her metal arm, his wrench still high above him. Then he brought it down and quickly began to pry at the metal of her spark filled shoulder.
He's trying to rip my arm off! Using her free arm, she shoved him as hard as she could, but he was impossible to move. A solid block of force and muscle. She felt a pop and gasped as she watched her metal arm detach from the rest of her body. No.
The boy moved to his feet and before he could react, Vale stumbled to her feet and ran blindly, deeper into the AI ship. She felt off-balance as she moved. Off-kilter, incomplete. She heard the boy behind her, taking chase.
I need to hide. Taking a sharp corner, she tripped over a box of cargo and hit the ground. A set of dead red glowing eyes peered down at her. A wurring sound filled her ears as the scrap metal face leaned towards her. "Unidentifiable cargo," it gurgled in a strange, warped voice.
Vale tried to scramble back, but found it difficult with her lone arm. She was trapped in place by a single wooden box blocking her exit. "Unidentifiable cargo," the robotic machine chirped again. Holding out small sharp claws, it reached towards her.
"No!" Vale shouted as she swatted at the claws with her only arm. She fell flat on her back, lost her balance and hit her head on the ground with a crack. Vale's head swam, and her world became a swirl of metal and sky. Grey and blue mixing together.
Suddenly the swirl of grey and metal vanished, replaced by a swirl of blue and gold. She felt herself being lifted into the air by a pair of arms and her world went dark.
YOU ARE READING
Lightning Seeker
Adventure#2 Steampunk--- The year 2312. Robots dominate nearly every profession. But eighteen-year-old Vale is determined to prove herself and become a Lightning Seeker. After stowing away on an airship, she proves her worth by doing the impossible: outperfo...
