The metal under my palm suddenly grew warm to the touch. At the same time a green light was being brought to life around it. I retracted my hand in an instant, but it was already too late to halt whatever was commencing. The colour dissipated though a rumbling was growing in intensity.

  Great arcs of power surged by the massive antenna besides us, and onto all its identical copies as far as our sight could see!

  The replacement crew were caught at the other end when they came through the delimiting wall, as the arcs of power engulfed part of the catwalk into a growing sphere... No, not a sphere, a shield! It shone a vivid emerald colour before diluting itself as it expanded. Seemingly about to enclose the entire capsule in an awe-inspiring cradle of energy! It separated us from our exit route, and as it was about to complete it's destined function the power suddenly cut off. The field collapsing onto itself as well as our catwalk which was cut in two by the force field!

  -''Hold on to the rails!'' I shouted.

  The catwalk creaked in a sickly and dying way as the furthest point towards the middle started collapsing. Module after module fell into the darkness below, until it mercifully stopped near its end at the junction that we were holding at. The remaining catwalk was slightly inclined at an angle. But all in all Shana's industrial glue was holding the remainder tight against the larger superstructure.

  The great antennas were silent, lifeless once more. The spectacle of lights having lasted no more than mere minutes. But the earth still stirred. As if aggravated by what had happened in its deepest bowels that should have been left undisturbed. The cavern continued to shake long stressful minutes before it stopped. But somewhere, far away, we could hear the rumbling continuing.

  -Crew, report!

  -We have tremors reaching all the way to the surface, our tunnels are holding. We... our scanners picked another shock wave comi-

  A bone shaking thunder reverberated throughout the cavern! As if a massive amount of blast charges sounded off somewhere uncomfortably close! Cutting any semblance of a distinguishable sound from our radios. We were peppered unduly with chunks of valuable ores and minerals. If it weren't for our helmets and protection suits, our lives would have long gone by having our heads cracked at the least!

  All of us continued to hold tight as the incredible earthquake passed its zenith, and it felt too long. The lights inside the chamber were now greatly diminished. Only those on the opposite side still working, as the collapsed catwalk meant our power supply on our end was cut.

  As the tremors subsided we unclenched from the rail to switch our attached flashlights on.

  -''You two alright?'' Asked Shana.

  -Yes.

  -Good, cause we seem to be in a bit of a pickle.

  -''Ain't that the understatement of the century.'' Provence replied.

  -''So, how fast can your team reach us?'' I asked.

  -''About to find out.'' She answered before speaking into her radio. ''Status report and assessment of emergency bridge connection to unknown object.''

  -''Hicks here. That last one messed with our walls. We have water breaches on the third level as well as structural weaknesses that threaten with collapse. Once we reinforce the latter we can bring our crew to get you out.'' The sounds of the man that came through was calm and collected. As if a weathered soldier that endured with stoicism the shower of bullets and destruction around him. However, it couldn't conceal the shouts of panic and the ragged, pained voice screaming in the background.

  -''Injuries?'' Shana asked, having picked it up.

  -Five, they will live.

  -''Shana...'' Provence spoke apprehensively, pointing at the other end of the wall where the entrance back into the cave and our exit was. Both of them looked in silent alarm at what they beheld.

  One of the luminator towers fell partly over the precipice, it's beams now shining straight up and down of the entrance. And we all saw a great crack in the super dense wall of diamonds. Stretching all over many hundreds of meters.

  -Hudson here! Hicks! We are losing pressure in the ventilation! The whole system was shot to Hell like holed cheese in my sector!

  -''What happened, and how soon can you get it fixed?'' Asked the heavy but controlled voice of Hicks.

  -Concentrated pressure blasted through our reinforcements! Fuck man I don't know, at least half an hour, ah fuck, get the wrench!

  -What's happening Hudson? Talk to me!

  -We got damn originum slugs coming through the walls! They look annoyed as Hell man!

  -I'll radio the intervention team, try to keep them clear of the intake!

  -Maverik here. Last sector. We got a situation.

  -''Report.'' Barked Hick's voice.

  -We got a part of our tunnel wall here heating dangerously close towards a red colour.

  -Since when?

  -Noticed the heat five minutes ago... the redness on the wall just now.

  -Reinforce with two meters of fast drying concrete and maintain surveillance of that side of the sector.

  -''Hicks.'' Shana spoke softly into the receiver just as a less powerful but longer, more insidious tremor reverberated throughout the cavern.

  -Prepare all teams for emergency evacuation.

  -''We're not giving you up!'' The reply came swiftly.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  -You were always a good man Hicks. Always had an eye for both the big picture and the small details. If anything happens to us, I want you to take over Shana Engineering.

  -Thanks for the thought. But I'd prefer you give me and the team a raise once we get you out.

  -''There's your answer.'' Provence answered me, and I almost gave out a chuckle at how well she was taking the situation.

  -''What if we jump in the water below? That way we could reach the ladder on the lower scaffolding.'' I asked Shana.

  -No way! I told you the water's shallow! We have at least one hundred and fifty meters below us! With that kind of depth the water won't save you from a pair of broken legs, if worse. And neither the hidden holes beneath the surface!

  A sudden tremor, the most powerful one yet threw all of us to the floor of the catwalk. In the next minute we saw a large rock formation falling somewhere from far above near the opposite edge. It grazed our exit and landed right on top of the scaffolding, destroying it utterly. Even if we had jumped first chance we had after we've been cut off we would have never made it up in time. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise we had come to debate this option so late. But at the same time our last feasible way out of here was taken from us.

  -''Evacuate! Evacuate!'' Desperate orders from the rest of the crew could be heard in the background of the radio channel.

  A small rock had hit my shoulder, bouncing off. For some reason I felt a hot sensation where it landed. Inspecting it I saw that the rock was glowing red. I gazed upwards and so did the girls. Above, a great branching vein of vivid red was glowing with intensity.

  ''Oh Christ.'' I spoke to myself. It was an all arresting view as it was deathly. Provence came by my side, grasping my chest.

  -''I love you, Cassiel.'' Spoke an honest voice with a dread barely held back. Nevertheless, held it was.

  As we were peppered with rocks, gems and superheated chucks of precious ore, my temper became as fiery as the lava that was about to make its way over us. I grabbed her with greater strength than I would have wanted upon her, and shoved her being against the glued railing and the smooth surface of the capsule.

  -''We, will NOT die here!'' I shouted inside my mask as I punched the smooth surface besides her head heavily, leaving it there.

  I couldn't see her beautiful visage, nor her bright kind eyes behind her mask.

  A rising glow of emerald green was blooming around my naked fist, growing in bright intensity. I watched it, leaving my hand still clenched where it was this time. And Provence turned to look upon this curiosity. A straight bright line left the emerald circle, going away roughly right and downwards. I continued to track its progress, and it stopped shy of about fifteen meters away from the catwalk's edge. There the line split into a rectangular shape. Before our very eyes we saw as the impenetrable surface gave in on itself. Folding inside the edges of that rectangle. Light came out, and a small ledge cropped outwards.

  -''I don't know what the heck you just did, ''mister Cassiel''. But I think it's worth the risk of breaking our necks in the jump towards it than remain here!'' Said Shana as she bent over the rail to look closer, having obviously heard my name in Provence's confession on our radio channel.

  The tremors were rising in intensity. The sound becoming too crunchy for my liking. As well as the ambient heat which had risen to an uncomfortable level. As we neared the edge to prepare to dare the jump we could see that below, the few lights remaining in the cavern revealed that the water had started to boil furiously.

  -''Better not slip.'' Spoke Provence.

  The shuddering continued to rise, preventing us from our attempt. And we were peppered more and more with rocks.

  -''Look out!'' Shouted Provence too late.

  A massive boulder the size of a truck tire came face to face with Shana's helmet and face cover. Bashing her head hard against the rail, her body going limp. Her trio of lamps were smashed, her visor cracked. And a little trickle of blood could be seen inside, flowing down over her forehead and by her eye.

  Provence, with a swiftness befitting her wolf genes sprinted onto her. Catching her body before she slumped over the railing. We all still wore the health monitors mandatory by Rhodes Island, and Provence quickly flickered through her own wrist mounted mini-tablet. Syncing in with the vitals transmitted by Shana's leg bracelet.

  -She's alive!

  -''We need to figure a way to get her down there.'' I said.

  -I'll do it. But I'll have to detach the oxygen canister.

  -Why would you do such a thing?!

  -I may be swift, but the margin that I have to land on is still slim. Too much weight on me and an unbalanced centre of mass will throw me and her both to our doom. And you are not as agile as lupos to pull it off Cassiel, you know it.

  As much as I disliked the idea she was right. I sighed heavily before I spoke again.

  -Remember what I packed in your right pouch?

  -Yes, the small spare air canister. Heh, never thought this gear would be more than extra dead weight.

  -You have fifteen minutes of breathable air with a regular pace of breathing. Ten on a tenser pace.

  -''Thank you for your care my love.'' She spoke it as if possibly being the last time she might have had the chance to.

  -And leave that do-or-die attitude on the catwalk. You jump knowing you will make it. There is never any trying.

  -''Yes sir!'' She replied amusedly.

  She plugged in and clamped tight the little cylinder in its lock before she detached her back tube. The great hunk of metal slamming onto the steel catwalk. I helped her tie Shana behind her back as she prepared. While the tremors continued to come and go in varying intensities.

  By now the chamber was bathed in a gloomy red glow from above that became brighter by the minute. There was no rope long enough for the backup plan I had in mind. For if I had any I would have tied it to Provence. A last safety line in case she would miss her jump.

  -If I don't make it, try to get inside and find shelter. I think this place might be simply unlocked by touching the surface with your bare hand. So keep that in mind.

  -You will be there to come inside with us.

  -''Yes, I will.'' I said with my mind set.

  In a moment of pause between the waves of earthquakes she prompted herself against the outer rails of the catwalk. Taking a momentary second of calculating her trajectory before she leapt like the incredible beast girl that she was! Her jump arched her with a finesse I would not have been capable of. And she amazingly landed on her feet with only her hands touching the floor below her as she attenuated the momentum of her fall.

  -We're fine Cassiel!

  I prompted myself on the other side of the railing and prepared for my own leap of faith. This moment strangely reminding me of the first time I jumped from the progressive ladder for my training as an airborne certified operative. And then of my first jump on the C-900 Exospheric Rider. Jumping for the first time and straight from Terra's thermosphere at one hundred kilometres of height.

  I felt my heart racing despite my years of living perilously close to death. Now I was faced with Hell from above and Satan's boiling fucking cauldron below if I didn't land on a narrow strip fifteen meters ahead and below me.

  Fate, had a sick sense of humour. That bitch.

  I puffed my chest as a show and gesture to look like a confident alpha male in front of Provence while she watched. And I leaped before I could boggle my mind in thoughts anymore! The instinct came naturally as I controlled my body before jumping. Landing straight on the narrow strip and nearly falling off the edge before Provence grabbed my ass, bringing me inside the alcove. Just in time as a powerful blast was heard somewhere. And the most powerful tremor yet almost threatening to shake us out of our narrow dip in the metal surface.

  We looked outside and saw on our right as a large chuck of the ceiling gave way to a sea of lava spilling in from far away. The chamber, grand as it was, would be filled in mere minutes at that rate. And only if the fissure didn't grew any larger to speed it up even more!

  Provence was already off me and upon the opposite side where a pair of mighty and highly ornamented metal doors stood guard. It was embellished with depictions of Man's ancient past, with well known mythological tales from its long history. They looked as sturdy as the rest of the impenetrable surface. The only other thing distinguishable was a large black panel besides it. Provence had slipped her glove off and was pressing hard onto that obsidian surface as she remembered my words.

  At that, forms started to appear. As if analysing the imprint.

  -''Abominant gene detected. Only trusted blood shall be granted passage.'' Read in ancient Terran dialect.

  -''What the heck is it saying?!'' Provence shouted. On cue as if the device heard and analysed her speech pattern, the sentence changed into the old Italian dialect.

  -''Rilevato gene anomalo. Solo a coloro che possiedono sangue fidato sarà dato loro il consenso di passare.''

  -''Cazzo!'' Provence cussed angrily.

  I raised myself, rushing as the tremors made me unsteady on my feet. My palm landing partially onto Provence's upon the obsidian surface in my haste. I had no time to change my folly before judgement was given.

  But then, the heavy doors were finally opening to us.