The rat leapt.

Dru felt it kick, and the next thing he knew the rat was sailing away across the control room. He lunged for it, but he was too slow.

The rat was far more capable in microgravity than Dru was. Using its tail as a counterweight, it was able manoeuvre and turn even without needing to bounce off other objects. It deftly avoided all his ham-fisted attempts to grab it.

Dru triggered the door control. It closed with a whirr, followed by a SNICK as it locked. At least the rat couldn't escape the room.

A glance out the hangar window revealed two more arrow shaped drop ships entering through the widening fissure in the hangar. They set down ,and more soldiers speared out from them. It was full-fledged invasion.

The rat manoeuvred toward the floor. Once it was close enough, it clawed towards a blue bench, that jutted out from the rear wall. The rat disappeared under the seat just as Dru caught up with it.

Floating low, Dru saw there was a mesh grate underneath. It protected a small vent, carved into the bulkhead. The rat clung to the mesh with its claws, as it attempted to gnaw its way inside.

Dru reached in and snatched up the rodent. He heard it squeal, as he stuffed it back into his pocket and sealed it inside. He could feel the rat clawing at the seams of the pocket.

His HUD registered a dull thud, a small explosion. The Invaders were inside.

Dru flattened the foot loops immediately in front of the vent and set to work unfastening the attachments that held the grill to the bulkhead. He'd done this so many times over the last week he no longer needed to concentrate on it. Instead, he listened for the approaching attackers. There was another dull explosion just outside the door. The Invaders would be here any moment.

The vent was tiny. It would be a tight fit. But he didn't have a choice. There was no other way out of the control room. At least if he was careful the Invaders wouldn't even know he existed.

The grill floated free. Dru grabbed and held it in his injured hand.

He peered into the duct. His HUD showed that it stretched back and disappeared into a T-junction. He brought up a map of the ventilation system.

Yes, he thought, this will do.

He tried to memorise the map, then her turned off his HUD. The invaders might be able to tap into the same system as the Grownups and trace him.

He manoeuvred into duct feet first. Once he was fully enclosed, he began reattaching the grill. He couldn't afford anyone noticing it being open and getting curious.

He'd almost finished fastening all the attachments, when he heard the door's unlock sequence. The grill was mounted securely enough. He pushed away and floated towards the T-junction.

He needed to get far away before they entered the room. He knew that if the Invaders did anything more than a basic scan they would discover him, as easily as he had discovered the rat in his pocket. His bio-signs would give him away, even with his helmet lowered.

Also if they were Marines, they might have other ways of finding him. He'd heard enough of his father's drunken tales to know not to mess with The Marines.

However, his feet had only just come to rest on the T-junction when the door swished open. He was too late. Moving now would give him away. He stopped and listened.

He sensed the Invaders enter. It wasn't something that he saw or heard, it was just a presence. Perhaps it was a change in the air as they moved about.

Dru remained rigid with fear. He attempted to keep his breathing slow and even.

The moment stretched.

The bite throbbed.

The back of his neck itched.

He remained motionless.

Then he spotted his undoing. In the dirt on the side of the duct wall, he'd left a palm print. It must have occurred as he pushed back into his hidey-hole. It would be glaringly obvious to anyone that gazed into the vent.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

He had to remove it. A clean smear would be better than a clear print.

Dru edged forward, using his fingertips. Slowly. Quietly. He needed to move only a short distance.

From the room, he heard a soft hum. The console whirred into life.

"F-!" the woman's voice was muffled, with an electronic edge to it. She hadn't removed her helmet. "This thing is old."

Dru was almost within reach of the incriminating print.

"Yeah, older than your grand-pappy's grand-pappy," The woman said. "It doesn't even have a Brain. Yeah, like him." She laughed.

Dru hadn't heard anyone speak that way before. Her accent was foreign. Was she a Di Ren?

He heard the activation tweets as she worked through the menus.

"Someone was accessing the control while we were ingress too," She continued. "Careful out there. They could be hidin' anywhere."

Dru chided himself for not remembering to turn off the interface.

"Yessiree!" The woman said, "Closing them now. Full pressure in two minutes."

Dru reached the mark and used his glove to turn the print into an ugly smear.

He peered out through the grate. The woman was clearly a Marine. He'd seen them in Vids and even played one once in one of Gar's illicit full-immersion HUD games. That was until they got caught by Manda.

The Marine had her back to him. All he could really see was a pair of black boots. They were anchored by one of the sets of foot loops in front of the control panel. The boots had a seven-pointed star in a circle embossed on each of the calves. His father had a pair that he never wore. Dru used to play with them whenever he hid in his parent's closet.

Dru crept right up to the grate so he could see more of her. She was encased in dull, black armour. It made her look bulky like Galan. She was waving her hands over the control interface as her rifle floated beside her attached by a thick strap.

"I can override from here. No. Half-a-G max. At least an hour. Okie dokie. Just life support it is."

A moment later, Dru felt the flow of warm air in the vent increase as life returned to the Hub.

Dru pushed away from the grate. If he was careful, he could escape while the Marine was distracted.

At the T-Junction he turned, boosting down the left duct. Floating away, he could hear the Marine still talking over her comms.

He followed the map he had memorised, the duct weaving and turning. Then he saw a faint bluish light up ahead.

The shaft led to a wide tube, running straight up and down. This end was also protected by a mesh grill. Through it Dru could see rows of pinpoint lights and safety rungs, both running along its entire length. Each of the rungs was stipled with tiny nodules of ice. They reminded Dru of the pimples on Mel's face.

He listened, fearing that the Marines might use the tube. However it was silent. Either the Invaders hadn't found it yet, or they had chosen alternative route for reaching the Rim.

He was safe, at least for the moment. The safest he'd been since Galan and Gin had discovered him. That seemed like hours ago.

He took the time to look at the wound on his hand. Fortunately the bite wasn't deep, the injury having formed a clot. That wasn't always the case in microgravity.

His suit could have provided the necessary treatment, but without his HUD there wasn't any way to control it. Instead he placed his glove back on.

He cautiously opened the pocket. Peeking inside, he could see the rat was sleeping. Wasn't it cats that slept all the time? He didn't really know. Commander Goul frowned upon pets of any kind.

Dru had only ever seen one pet. A grizzled old trader had brought it aboard. It was white with sharp talons and a nasty looking beak. The trader had called it a Corella and told the assembled group of children that she only ate seeds. Yet Gar had told him afterwards, he had seen the trader feeding it a live mouse when the other kids weren't watching.

There were rumours that Manda had smuggled a cat aboard. Gren said that his mother told him his dad used to visit her cat regularly. Gar had laughed when he heard that but he wouldn't explain why. Of course, that was all before Gren's dad had been killed while working on the antennas outside.

Dru unlatched the grill and floated into the tube. It stretched upward as far as Dru could see. He guessed it was located inside one of The Spokes. He could used it to reach The Rim, presuming he survived The Crossover.

Dru was glad the Marine hadn't started the Hub's rotation. Not only would that have made climbing the icy rungs hazardous, it would slow him immensely. If he boosted just right, he could travel much faster than The Hoist. He might reach the upper levels of the Rim in as little as ten minutes.

Positioning himself carefully on the rungs. He peered up the length of the tube. Then with one almighty boost, he descended towards The Rim.