flicked her sideways. She spun and slapped at the bulkhead, righting her trajectory. Ayanna was
right beside her.
Rojas caught Joey’s ankle. The squeal that came through Joey’s spasming throat was like a pig grunting. Then Rojas was clambering along the hyperspace theorist as if the two were
caught in some weird dance move. It quickly turned into a furious wrestling match as they squirmed against each other.
Again, Laura hesitated. Her hand grasped the hatch rim. Ibu was close, reaching forwards. And Ayanna was level with her. ‘Go!’ Laura yelped. Ayanna wriggled through the hatchway with
the agility of an eel.
Joey’s cries of dread were echoing round the hangar. Ibu’s hand clamped round Laura’s shin. She squealed, first at the shock, then the yell grew wilder as she realized just how
tight and painful his grip was. Stronger than any normal human. ‘What the—’
His other hand clamped round her right ankle. She tried to pull herself through the hatch into the silo compartment, but she couldn’t move. Now Ibu began to pull her the other way. She
felt her arms starting to straighten out as his unnatural strength over-powered her, tugging her back. Various ancient unarmed combat routines began to unfold from her storage lacuna, slipping into
the macrocellular clusters. But Laura didn’t wait; she instinctively lashed out with her free foot, catching Ibu on the side of his head.
It had all the impact of hitting him with a feather.
He snapped her ankle. She heard the bone break with a terrible
crack
, and her leg went numb for a glorious instant. Then the incredible pain fired into her brain. Secondary routines
damped down the impulse, reducing it to a manageable level. But Ibu slowly and deliberately rotated her foot. The fractured bone made a fearsome grating sound. Her macrocellular clusters cut the
nerve impulses altogether.
Laura felt sick. But manic strength allowed her to cling on to the hatchway. Through watering eyes she looked back at Ibu, whose face was impassive. He was simply waiting for her to let go, so
he could—
What?
Laura couldn’t understand any of this. Rojas had now subdued a frantic Joey, putting him in some kind of submission lock.
Ibu bent her ankle again. Laura knew she only had seconds before she lost her grip and was drawn back. Then Ayanna was back in the hatch, her telekinesis jabbing at Ibu’s face.
Now he grimaced, his own attention diverted, a counter telekinesis parrying her attack. But he didn’t let go of Laura.
Hanging on grimly to the hatch rim, Laura directed her telekinesis to her breast pocket. The Swiss army knife wriggled free, and she flicked the longest blade out. It rotated in mid-air to point
at Ibu. Laura shoved it forwards with all the power she had.
The blade sliced down Ibu’s cheek and stabbed into the gap between his suit’s helmet ring and his neck. He froze. Ayanna gasped.
Laura’s ESP perceived the blade penetrate a good six or seven centimetres into his flesh just behind the clavicle bone. A dark blue liquid began to pour out along the side of his neck. For
one confused moment, she thought her knife had cut through some kind of coolant tube in the suit. Then she finally acknowledged it was blood – or whatever the Ibu-copy used for circulatory
fluid.
With a yell, she twisted the blade, pouring all her savagery and determination into the thought.
The Ibu-copy snarled as the knife turned, scraping against his clavicle. Laura jerked her ruined foot free of his grasp and tugged herself up through the hatch, with Ayanna helping heave her
along. The pair of them tumbled into the silo compartment. Laura banged into one of the metal silo tubes, rebounded, and grabbed at the first handhold she could see, steadying herself.
‘Move!’ she bawled. And reached for another handhold.
Ayanna raced along the other side of the compartment, heading for the equipment lockers.
The Ibu-copy squirmed through the hatch, his collar still
right beside her.
Rojas caught Joey’s ankle. The squeal that came through Joey’s spasming throat was like a pig grunting. Then Rojas was clambering along the hyperspace theorist as if the two were
caught in some weird dance move. It quickly turned into a furious wrestling match as they squirmed against each other.
Again, Laura hesitated. Her hand grasped the hatch rim. Ibu was close, reaching forwards. And Ayanna was level with her. ‘Go!’ Laura yelped. Ayanna wriggled through the hatchway with
the agility of an eel.
Joey’s cries of dread were echoing round the hangar. Ibu’s hand clamped round Laura’s shin. She squealed, first at the shock, then the yell grew wilder as she realized just how
tight and painful his grip was. Stronger than any normal human. ‘What the—’
His other hand clamped round her right ankle. She tried to pull herself through the hatch into the silo compartment, but she couldn’t move. Now Ibu began to pull her the other way. She
felt her arms starting to straighten out as his unnatural strength over-powered her, tugging her back. Various ancient unarmed combat routines began to unfold from her storage lacuna, slipping into
the macrocellular clusters. But Laura didn’t wait; she instinctively lashed out with her free foot, catching Ibu on the side of his head.
It had all the impact of hitting him with a feather.
He snapped her ankle. She heard the bone break with a terrible
crack
, and her leg went numb for a glorious instant. Then the incredible pain fired into her brain. Secondary routines
damped down the impulse, reducing it to a manageable level. But Ibu slowly and deliberately rotated her foot. The fractured bone made a fearsome grating sound. Her macrocellular clusters cut the
nerve impulses altogether.
Laura felt sick. But manic strength allowed her to cling on to the hatchway. Through watering eyes she looked back at Ibu, whose face was impassive. He was simply waiting for her to let go, so
he could—
What?
Laura couldn’t understand any of this. Rojas had now subdued a frantic Joey, putting him in some kind of submission lock.
Ibu bent her ankle again. Laura knew she only had seconds before she lost her grip and was drawn back. Then Ayanna was back in the hatch, her telekinesis jabbing at Ibu’s face.
Now he grimaced, his own attention diverted, a counter telekinesis parrying her attack. But he didn’t let go of Laura.
Hanging on grimly to the hatch rim, Laura directed her telekinesis to her breast pocket. The Swiss army knife wriggled free, and she flicked the longest blade out. It rotated in mid-air to point
at Ibu. Laura shoved it forwards with all the power she had.
The blade sliced down Ibu’s cheek and stabbed into the gap between his suit’s helmet ring and his neck. He froze. Ayanna gasped.
Laura’s ESP perceived the blade penetrate a good six or seven centimetres into his flesh just behind the clavicle bone. A dark blue liquid began to pour out along the side of his neck. For
one confused moment, she thought her knife had cut through some kind of coolant tube in the suit. Then she finally acknowledged it was blood – or whatever the Ibu-copy used for circulatory
fluid.
With a yell, she twisted the blade, pouring all her savagery and determination into the thought.
The Ibu-copy snarled as the knife turned, scraping against his clavicle. Laura jerked her ruined foot free of his grasp and tugged herself up through the hatch, with Ayanna helping heave her
along. The pair of them tumbled into the silo compartment. Laura banged into one of the metal silo tubes, rebounded, and grabbed at the first handhold she could see, steadying herself.
‘Move!’ she bawled. And reached for another handhold.
Ayanna raced along the other side of the compartment, heading for the equipment lockers.
The Ibu-copy squirmed through the hatch, his collar still
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