call his wolf !” Asia gasped taking in gulps of air, while he moved slower than before but still moved. All the fighting and running took a toll. She couldn’t keep running much longer. Unprepared for the blast of energy that shot through her, Asia fell to the floor. Her chest heaved as she struggled to breathe.
Seconds ticked without a sound.
“ You came back .”
Asia’s head dropped for a moment of gratitude at the sound of his voice. She looked up and stared into his eyes. “We need to leave,” she said aloud refusing to use the link.
“ Please , I need to secure my research. No one needs to access those files again. You will need to do key the codes for me. Come .”
Hawke padded toward the lift.
Asia headed toward the communications room instead. Greggor had blown the door away with the laser and she planned to upload the virus. A few seconds later she’d typed in the code. An error message appeared.
Asia frowned.
“ We need to leave before the system reboots and locks everything down again .”
She glanced at the intelligence shining in his eyes. “I had a back door in this system.”
“ Yes, I know, I fixed the breach. You will need to access the back door from my system, please hurry .” He turned and headed to the lift.
She followed. “ Key this in,” he said and then gave her a series of numbers which she typed. The door closed, and the lift headed down to the lower level.
When they reached his door, he said another series of numbers which she keyed and the doors opened. “ Quick, sit at the table and type exactly what I say. There is less than ten minutes.”
Asia sat without questioning him. Hawke sat nearby on his haunches watching as she typed in several series of key-strokes, some she had to re-type. Seconds ticked on the clock but he remained adamant that they complete this first. Once done, he instructed her how to upload the virus throughout all the systems, not just the one's in the castle.
“ I disabled the door but I don’t know how to leave the castle, do you?” Hawke asked when she finished.
Asia searched Jerry’s memories and there was one place on this level. She had seen the door before, but if time was their enemy, returning upstairs to the staircase wouldn’t work. “Yes, come with me,” she said and ran to the lift. Together they reached the door, she placed her palm on the panel and the door opened. Apparently she’d been wrong; they hadn’t changed Jerry’s security level. Hawke padded out beside her and they went down deeper into the bowels of the castle to the locked mechanical room. The other day she’d seen the steam flowing from this vent and hoped they could turn off the heat so the metal didn’t burn them. After keying in the code they stepped inside and she closed the door.
“ This is the way out ?”
“Through the ventilation system.” Asia pointed to vents high on the wall and frowned. The other day it seemed as if there was one vent, now she saw three.
“ The vent is high, I cannot jump that high .”
“Shift and climb.”
“ No. I don’t trust him. The computer controls his mind.” Hawke trotted around the room seeking another way out. “ That one, the middle one leads to the outside, plus it’s better insulated and won’t burn. The other two are live .”
She glanced at him and then looked at the vents. Pipes ran all through the room, a couple close to the middle vent.
Instead of agreeing to Hawke’s suggestion she crawled toward the top of the pipe to reach the vent. So far he’d been right, the temperature was bearable. Leaning to the side, she pulled off the grate and climbed inside. At the end of the chute she saw outside and exhaled. He hadn’t tricked her, at least not about this. But then again he wanted to leave the castle.
“B ehind you ,” Hawke said surprising her. “When I saw your claws I remembered I can partial shift. If you move to the side I will go first. ”
“No.” Asia scooted forward and
Seconds ticked without a sound.
“ You came back .”
Asia’s head dropped for a moment of gratitude at the sound of his voice. She looked up and stared into his eyes. “We need to leave,” she said aloud refusing to use the link.
“ Please , I need to secure my research. No one needs to access those files again. You will need to do key the codes for me. Come .”
Hawke padded toward the lift.
Asia headed toward the communications room instead. Greggor had blown the door away with the laser and she planned to upload the virus. A few seconds later she’d typed in the code. An error message appeared.
Asia frowned.
“ We need to leave before the system reboots and locks everything down again .”
She glanced at the intelligence shining in his eyes. “I had a back door in this system.”
“ Yes, I know, I fixed the breach. You will need to access the back door from my system, please hurry .” He turned and headed to the lift.
She followed. “ Key this in,” he said and then gave her a series of numbers which she typed. The door closed, and the lift headed down to the lower level.
When they reached his door, he said another series of numbers which she keyed and the doors opened. “ Quick, sit at the table and type exactly what I say. There is less than ten minutes.”
Asia sat without questioning him. Hawke sat nearby on his haunches watching as she typed in several series of key-strokes, some she had to re-type. Seconds ticked on the clock but he remained adamant that they complete this first. Once done, he instructed her how to upload the virus throughout all the systems, not just the one's in the castle.
“ I disabled the door but I don’t know how to leave the castle, do you?” Hawke asked when she finished.
Asia searched Jerry’s memories and there was one place on this level. She had seen the door before, but if time was their enemy, returning upstairs to the staircase wouldn’t work. “Yes, come with me,” she said and ran to the lift. Together they reached the door, she placed her palm on the panel and the door opened. Apparently she’d been wrong; they hadn’t changed Jerry’s security level. Hawke padded out beside her and they went down deeper into the bowels of the castle to the locked mechanical room. The other day she’d seen the steam flowing from this vent and hoped they could turn off the heat so the metal didn’t burn them. After keying in the code they stepped inside and she closed the door.
“ This is the way out ?”
“Through the ventilation system.” Asia pointed to vents high on the wall and frowned. The other day it seemed as if there was one vent, now she saw three.
“ The vent is high, I cannot jump that high .”
“Shift and climb.”
“ No. I don’t trust him. The computer controls his mind.” Hawke trotted around the room seeking another way out. “ That one, the middle one leads to the outside, plus it’s better insulated and won’t burn. The other two are live .”
She glanced at him and then looked at the vents. Pipes ran all through the room, a couple close to the middle vent.
Instead of agreeing to Hawke’s suggestion she crawled toward the top of the pipe to reach the vent. So far he’d been right, the temperature was bearable. Leaning to the side, she pulled off the grate and climbed inside. At the end of the chute she saw outside and exhaled. He hadn’t tricked her, at least not about this. But then again he wanted to leave the castle.
“B ehind you ,” Hawke said surprising her. “When I saw your claws I remembered I can partial shift. If you move to the side I will go first. ”
“No.” Asia scooted forward and
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