For a moment no-one spoke. Amber looked at Hekket but his expression was blank; uncomprehending. She turned her gaze on Darien.

"How do you know?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

He sighed. "Because, long time again, I helped build one."

Amber's eyes widened in surprise. "You did what?!"

"I didn't know what it was at the time," he snapped. "So save the holier-than-thou crap, alright? I was a dumb kid, doing what I had to do to stay alive." But Amber couldn't force the expression of horror off her face, so he continued. "You have no idea what I went through on this rock, okay? Maybe I'll tell you all about it one day, but not today."

"Amber," Hekket said, having moved up close beside him. "Listen to him."

"I ... sorry." Her eyes went downcast and she shook her head. "I didn't mean to ... I'm not judging you."

Darien's face softened, his mouth pressing into a flat line. "Ravine does things to people, and not everyone gets the escape route that I did." Wincing at her own insensitivity, she forced herself to look up and meet his eyes. Her mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out – her head still whirled with the implications of it all.

"Well, I reckon we can rehash all those good times later," Uther interjected, rescuing her from the awkward silence and forcing a jocular edge into his voice. "What's our plan, boss?"

"This means we've got two jobs now," Darien told them firmly. "We'll try and take that woman back to Merlynn, but if we do nothing else, we make sure they don't finish building that bomb. If they finish it – if they detonate it – a lot of people are going to die."

"How big are we talking about here?" Hekket asked quietly.

"If it's built to the specifications I think it is, it would level several city blocks."

"Hell," Uther muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "Well I'm in. Let's put a spanner in the works right now."

Darien nodded and pointed to the security console. "Can you get me a floor plan?"

"On it." Amber had regained control of her surprise and set to work, fingers flying across the controls, digging through the archaic systems of Gartole's security. One screen below the cameras clunked along with line after line of white, blocky text against a black background.

Her eyes flickered over the lines of code as she punched in commands, navigating through the directory as quickly as she dared. It was like walking through a cardboard corridor – one wrong step would put her through the wall and bring the whole thing crashing down on her, more by accident than any actual design. Eventually she tip-toed her way through the myriad of subsidiary systems and accessed the main base schematics from the central computer. With a final push of a button she brought the schematic to prominence on one of the larger security monitors.

"There it is."

"Zoom on the level where the bomb's being held."

The dim blue lattice of the schematic swivelled and zoomed under Amber's commands until it had closed in on the section of the complex in question. The middle level of the five displayed on the screen was their target, but as far as she could see there weren't any easy points of access, or any helpfully secluded spots they could Blink into undetected. She also couldn't help wondering if the people in charge of Gartole had retrofitted their more important areas with advanced security measures.

"Match up the cameras," Darien said, his voice calm. She could sense the shift in him, his mind moving up through the gears that made him such a formidable squad leader. Even here, on Ravine, with all the torrid memories it must have held, he could order his thoughts and focus on nothing but the next objective. His eyes narrowed as he examined the camera screens and the schematic in tandem, looking for a chink in the armour.

It didn't look good. Amber could see half a dozen armed guards just in the vicinity of the bomb room, and even more on rolling patrols on the outskirts. Workers wove in and out of the region, watched every step of the way by the security personnel.

"We're gonna have to go in split," Niamh said, moving up beside Darien. He nodded slowly, still scanning the schematics.

"There are blind spots," he declared eventually. "Nothing big enough for all six of us, but we'll be able to get in scattered."

Hekket gave him a dubious look. "But where? There are six guards in the main room."

"We need to split her away. She doesn't live in that place – she'll leave eventually."

"Well, we can't hang around here forever," Uther put in. "Sooner or later they're going to check in with this station. Then we're screwed."

"We need a diversion." Darien tapped a finger thoughtfully against his chin, spoke into the comm. "Idas, get down here."

A moment later their comrade descended the stairs and they filled him in on what they'd established so far. Then the whole squad gathered around the security console as Darien outlined his plan of attack.

"Once she's out of that room and moving, we keep Blinking. Don't get bogged down in a shooting match with these guys." He turned to pointed out three sections of the central level. "There are power breakers here, here and here. Amber, you Uther and Hekket take one each. Get in quick and quiet and kill the lights. Idas, I need you here." He indicated the level below. "How big a fireworks display can you give me?"

Idas grinned. "I've got enough ordinance blow out the whole level."

"I don't think you'll need to to that. Make some noise and get the guards out of position. We'll kill the lights and get that place rocking. Once they're confused we split up. Uther, you and Niamh are going in to take care of that bomb. The rest of us need to cover the adjacent corridors and make sure she doesn't get away. Stick to volt-guns if you can – use your carbines as a last resort."

Amber nodded her understanding, quickly familiarising herself with the layout of the section holding her breaker. The schematics were clear enough and the simplicity of the station's power grid meant that if they could get at the breakers they could plunge several levels into darkness. Blink operatives were not assault troops, but they excelled at creating havoc and confusion with their ability to appear and disappear at will behind enemy lines. The darkness combined with Idas's diversion would throw the station into chaos.
She just hoped it would be enough.

"Alright – you know your assignments," Darien snapped. "Everybody check your dark-sight gear and move it out on my count."

*

With her dark-sight goggles perched on her forehead, Amber materialised within the rebel facility, her senses instantly assaulted with the heat and metallic tang of the dam's interior. Ravine lacked the necessary equipment to actually keep the interior cool in any way, instead sporting a mediocre cooling system that could just about keep the whole system from melting down around them. Actual comfort, however, had not been a concern of the dam's builders.

Wiping sweat from her cheeks, Amber tapped her earpiece. "Amber to all units. In position."

A series of responses filtered through from the others as they took up their assigned positions, knifing into the security nets handful of tiny blind spots.

"Amber, Hekket, Uther – move to your breakers and sync up the power outage. Idas, set your charges. When the lights go off I want instant detonation. Darien out."

The crisp orders didn't need to be responded to. Amber checked the sight of her carbine then eased out from her position and into the thin, metal-walled corridor beyond. It was currently empty so she set off, having a series of short twists and turns to traverse before she reached her target. In a crouch, knees close together, she moved silently through the complex, her dark fatigues and body armour blending against the charcoal plating of the passageway.

Twice she slid into shadowed alcoves as guards and engineers working in the complex moved past, eventually edging her way through the proverbial minefield until she made it to the power breaker. The humming L-shaped pylon was embedded into a nook in the wall, looming nine feet tall and webbed with conduits and circuit boards. Dozens of fat wires were plugged into either side of the main pillar, disappearing into the wall behind, while a fat red emergency shutdown lever protruded awkwardly from the middle of the central casing. She could power down the pylon easily enough with that, but there wouldn't be time to disconnect the main wires before someone arrived to investigate.

"I'm in position," Amber said into the comm.

"Copy," Darien responded quickly.

Then she had to wait, concealing herself in the nook that held the breaker, finger resting on the trigger of her carbine as she prayed no-one would come looking too closely. Minutes passed before both Hekket and Uther took up their positions, while Niamh edged as close as she could to the command room, trying to get a vantage point to ensure their plan succeeded in sending their quarry running.

Eventually the others confirmed they were ready and she sucked in a steadying breath, waiting for Idas to sound off on his placement of the explosives – the last piece of the puzzle. When his confirmation came she started, hands tightening around her gun reflexively.

"Idas to all units, I'm set."

"Copy, Idas," Darien replied. "No more waiting around. Kill the breakers on my mark. Three ... two ... one ... MARK."

Amber shuddered then stepped out of her hiding place, wrapping hand around the thick emergency shut off lever for the breaker. In systems like these the simple circuit breakers were necessary, preventing power surges from annihilating entire subsections of power grid throughout the dam. Improper use under normal circumstances would be a fireable offence for anyone employed here, but for the Blink operatives it would be a blessing.

Slipping her dark-sight goggles down over her eyes, Amber pulled the handle with a grunt of effort. The was a dull clunk, then a moment of silence like a held breath.

Then the corridor she stood in was plunged into darkness.

With the dark-sight goggles on, Amber's world turned electric blue. She could pick out all the features of the passageway with ease, and her sharp ears quickly picked out the echoing sounds of panicked voices.

Then Idas's explosives detonated.

The plates beneath her feet shook as muffled thunder erupted through the complex, shortly followed by the pulsing shriek of the dam's alarm system. She spread her feet to keep her balance as the whole structure shuddered from the blast. She could hear footsteps overhead and in adjoining passages as the station personnel burst into frenzied damage control.

"Darien, it worked," Niamh's voice sounded in her ear. "Target's out of the main room moving east into Sector F. Advise there are two heavies with her on guard duty."

"They're coming your way, Amber," Darien said. "Hekket, loop in and meet up with her. I'll move in from the other side. Idas, rendezvous with me in Sector D. Uther, head to the bomb room – link up with Niamh and disarm that thing."

Confirming responses snapped through the Blink comm system as the operatives quickly dispersed into their new assignments. Amber was currently in Sector H on the eastern wing of the dam. She readied her carbine and set off towards the nearest stairwell, picking her way through the darkness with ease. Men and women stumbled through the passages with hand-held torches flickering like knives in front of them, but she had little trouble avoiding them. In their haste they weren't paying much attention to the darkest nooks and crannies of the station.

It wasn't long before she found a gaping bulkhead door that lead into Sector G.

"Hekket," she whispered into her radio. "Our target's going to try and make her way through the maintenance sub-level in Sector G to get to the vehicle bays. It's the quickest way to get out of here. Meet me at sub-level 26."

"Copy that."

With his confirmation, Amber took a sharp right through the passage and moved quickly and quietly down through the nearest stairwell. More panicked station personnel clattered past left and right, babbling to each other about repairs to the damaged sections.

She let them pass, ghosting her way through the sections as silently as possible until she reached the maintenance sub-level – a cavernous space filled with walkways, gantries and elevator platforms that provided access to dozens of access shafts, in turn leading to the dam's vital systems. Here the dull red hue of the emergency lighting systems was active, so she eased her goggles back up onto her forehead and stepped out onto the main gangway that ran down the centre of the room. A thick lattice of metal, it was bolted in place by two symmetrical rows of thick metal girders, anchoring it to both the ceiling and the floor, with dozens of walkways spilling off of the main structure and out into the peripheries.

Amber started out across the main gangway, but after only moving a few meters forward she heard footsteps and voices echoing down the passage from the far exit. Licking dry lips, she slid into cover behind one of the massive support girders, tucking her body up close to it and peering around the edge to see who was about to enter the room.

She allowed herself a brief moment of smugness when she saw two armed guards enter the passage, closely followed by the female rebel leader. She'd predicted their path perfectly.

However, that sense of satisfaction faded quickly when she remembered she was all alone. Hekket was the closest operative but she didn't know when he'd arrive. Until then, she needed to deal with the guards herself.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her radio channel, not wanting to be given away by a stray transmission. Then she slid her volt-gun from its holster as the guards approached. They were moving in a staggered formation, but they were advancing fast, not checking the sub-level properly, assuming the maintenance sections were empty.

That assumption would be their undoing.

As the first man passed her position Amber didn't hesitate. She blasted him in the back with the volt-gun as he passed and he collapsed twitching to the deck plating, his rifle clattering away off the side of the walkway.

She jerked back into cover, holstering her volt-gun as a storm erupted from the second man's rifle, peppering the plates and girders around her.

Amber closed her eyes, flattening herself against the girder as bullets rattled off the metal around her, counting the seconds. The guard clearly wasn't a trained soldier, spraying most of his bullets in a panic with no real chance of hitting anything. She waited for the gap in fire she knew would come when he had to stop and reload.

When it came, she dropped and rolled out of cover onto one knee, looking down the sight of her carbine at the advancing guard. She had no desire to kill anyone, so in a fraction of a second she adjusted her aim and fired at his leg.

The lance hit the guard in his knee joint as he came forward, piercing a thin gap in his body-armour. The man screeched in pain, dropping his rifle as he stumbled, losing his footing. His arms flailed for a moment, but then the horrible realisation of what was about to happen hit Amber like a brick. Her breath caught in her throat as the guard tottered, then toppled over the side of the gantry with a scream. Seconds later a sickening thud echoed through the chamber that made Amber's skin crawl.

She grimaced, trying not to think about what had just happened, forcing her mind to stay locked on the task at hand, shoving her emotions into a box at the back of her mind to be sifted through later.

Gathering herself, she stood and raised her carbine again, taking aim at the rebel leader.

The woman looked to be in her late twenties, with soot-coloured hair clipped short, just below her ears. One half of her face held the characteristic cracked skin of Ravine's colonists, but the other was a pale mass of scarred, ruined flesh. The right side of her mouth was twisted, immobile, and the eye was a milky, sightless orb. That didn't stop her noticing them, however, and her good eye narrowed with calculating anger. Amber saw her left hand reaching behind her.

"Don't-," she started to warn, but broke off and ducked behind the metal supporting strut as their quarry dragged a snub-nosed handgun from her belt and started firing. Bullets smashed off the plating around her and she winced, tucking her carbine up close against her body and tapping her earpiece. "Everyone converge on sub-level 26, Sector G," Amber yelped. "Target acquired, but she isn't going to come quietly."

"There's a shock," Idas drawled over the comm. "On my way."

"Copy that," Darien spoke next. "Idas, I'm moving to Sector F's maintenance section. Meet me there and we'll head her off."

The sound of running feet filled her with an instant of dread and she looked back down the passage she'd come from with her carbine raised, expecting more guards. She let out a gasp of relief, however, when she saw Hekket bolting across the gantry towards her. He skidded into position at the girder opposite her, carbine hugged against his chest. He risked a swift peek from cover, only to jerk back as a bullet pinged off the metal girder inches from his head.

"Son of a..." He took a deep breath, looking at her. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Amber swayed out from her couching position and loosed a shot from her carbine, aiming slightly off target to put a shot into the ground just in front of their quarry. The woman leapt back as though scalded, stopping her storm of gunfire. She ducked and wove, scampering away from them down the passage.

"Amber, you and Hekket stay in pursuit and don't let her change direction," Darien's voice crackled over the comm. "Drive her to us and we'll do the rest."

"Copy that," she replied, exchanging a dubious look with Hekket, and then motioning him forward with a flick of her head. "Go – leapfrog one by one. I'll cover you."

He nodded and darted out from behind the girder, dashing forward to the next one while Amber snapped off a couple of shots with her carbine to stop the woman taking aim at her companion. They repeated the process over and over as they pursued their quarry down the gangway and back into the facility proper. Now came the hard part.

Amber had the layout of the facility mapped out in her mind, and they used the only tools they had available to keep the woman moving along the right path.

She tried to jink down the left-hand passage towards an ascending stairway, but Amber shot a lance just ahead of her. It impacted against the metal wall with a sharp pinging sound and the woman twisted instinctively away from it, cursing foully as she fumbled to reload her gun. A second lance from Hekket's carbine snapped at her heels, driving her on towards the maintenance section where – hopefully – Darien and Idas would be waiting.

Their pursuit continued as the two Blink operatives herded the woman onward while she remained out of range of the volt-guns. Over and over they used their lances to stop her turning down any passage that might lead them away from the other operatives. Whether or not the woman had figured out their plan, Amber couldn't say, but it didn't matter right now. They just had to keep her in sight.

At last they raced out into the next open maintenance section, bullets singing through the air around them as the woman kept shooting – her thick heat-proofed jacket apparently chock full of spare magazines for her pistol.

"Stop where you are!" Amber yelled, trying to keep up the pretence that they really were trying to keep her from running away. A bullet cracked off the girder beside her in response and she allowed herself a fleeting smile. It was working.

At last the rebel leader ran out of ammo and she tossed her pistol aside angrily, turning tail and sprinting for the far exit. Amber eased out of cover, watching through the short range scope as Hekket moved up, ready to take the target down with a lance if she had to.

She needn't have worried.

The woman burst over the far threshold, only to be struck by a pair of crackling blue volt-gun blasts simultaneously. A faint cry of surprise echoed through the passage before she crumpled to the ground, twitching spasmodically from the residual charge of the blast.

With Hekket close behind Amber moved from cover and scuttled down the hallway towards the woman, keeping her carbine trained on the body out of habit. As she approached the doorway both Darien and Idas edged into view on opposite sides of the hall, volt-guns still aimed. All four of them moved into a square around the woman until her body stopped moving. They exchanged looks for an instant; Amber lowered her carbine and exhaled the breath she'd been holding. 

Then Darien holstered his volt-gun and stooped down, hooking his arms under their unconscious quarry's armpits and hauling her upright. He wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her steady, tapping his earpiece with the other. "Niamh, come in."

"Niamh here."

"Tell me some good news."

"We've done what we can. Priming mechanisms are shot to shit and we've decoupled every charge and powered down their compression cores. Should make the internal compounds inert in a few hours."

"Good. Then get the hell out of there – we've got our target. Everyone Blink to the rendezvous point, now!"

Amber didn't need to be told twice. One by one, as though being deleted from existence, the Blink operatives vanished, taking their prisoner with them.