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Levi hoped, for a moment, that they would divulge some ridiculous secret that would get him out of there in one piece. Structural plans for the entire building were probably too much to ask, but shift changes might not be.
“Sure he does. He talked up Juvus and Twolp a good bit before they stung him.”
And bang goes that theory, Levi complained to himself. He put a couple of fingertips to his neck wound, gingerly feeling the crispy skin.
“That was a right nasty wound,” chuckled Breg. “He’ll be feeling that zap for a month.”
Unlikely, thought Levi. At any rate, he had no plans to stay long enough for them to find out.
“Lucky for Juvus, those stunners don’t work on us,” mused the other.
“Yeah. Thank the gods for thick skin, eh?”
Levi would have to pass that little tidbit on to his brothers at some point. At the moment, though, it didn’t do him much good.
The guards yammered about their home lives for an hour or two as the sun went down, but then someone brought them dinner and chairs, and they had the decency not to talk with their mouths full. There was no food for Levi yet, but that was to be expected after his escapade from earlier.
The dusty air through the vents floated through the room. After a couple more hours, the breeze was positively chilly, especially compared to the blistering heat from earlier. Levi still didn’t move from his place underneath the vents. He was exhausted from the efforts of the day.
Dozing in and out, shivering in feverish dreams, he thought he heard pattering footsteps outside the grill on his left and wondered if he was losing his faculties. It wouldn’t have been surprising after the ordeal he had gone through. Mild insanity was normal after something like that. Right?
When the footsteps persisted, however, he woke with a start. They were far too light to belong to a Jorvlen and too measured and loud to be an animal’s. For the first time since being shocked, he allowed himself to believe Cora might be coming for him.
“Cora?” he whispered, unaware of whether the guards might be listening, but not caring. “Cora?” He heard nothing but snores. At least that answered the first question.
Standing painfully, he turned to the grill. It had been shut off with something. He couldn’t make out what was in front of it because it blocked the light and his eyes couldn’t focus.
When the obstruction spoke, he almost cried out in surprise. “Levi?” it said.
“Cora? Is that you?” he asked incredulously.
“It’s me!” she answered in exultation. Levi had never been happier to hear anyone’s voice. He let out the breath he had been holding since they left the shuttle, and he reached up to stroke her face.
At that moment, Levi had never loved anyone more.
Chapter 15
“I can’t believe I found you! I thought I’d lost you for good,” cried Cora from a distance.
She was lying on the ground on the other side of the wall, next to the tiny grill that let air into Levi’s cell. She had her body pressed deep into the shadow of the wall. She hoped, at least at a quick glance, that no one would notice her there. But the penal base was quiet at this time of night, so her chances of being detected were slim.
“I’m so glad you found me, sweet Cora,” Levi replied.
“I am, too. I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you,” she said through the grate, distraught at not being able to see him, only to hear his voice. “How are we going to get you out?”
“I’ve had a little bit of time to bang my head against the wall thinking about it,” he joked.
“Is the wall weak enough for that to work?”
“If it were, I’d be out by now. Unfortunately, no. The Jorvlens may be foul, but they’re not stupid, unfortunately. This prison is as fortified as it gets.”
“So, what do we do with only this useless vent? Well, useless for escape. And a tiny, impenetrable window with electric bars. Thank God we can hear each other through it. Do I break in and try to find a key?”
“In this place? I don’t think it’s possible. Even if you did break in—and that’s a big if—how would you disguise yourself? And how would you even find the right key? It’s not possible.”
“Are you sure? I don’t know. What if I could stuff something under my clothes to look bigger?”
“But where would you get it? You’d have to go out to a town to begin with, and if you do, you may as well figure out another way.”
