Ozla watched from below as the elevator carried Hunley to the heart of danger.
"Keep him safe," she begged the Triune.
Then she turned her attention to the booby trapped course that lay ahead. As lasers fired and plasma swords swung behind her, the responsibility for the children's safety rested solely on her.
She had faced obstacles before, but that was training. This notched wall, well, there was no predicting what it might do.
Wails beyond the prison suite walls pierced the air.
"Please stop!" One of the girls pleaded. "It hurts."
Ozla took a step forward and grasped the notches on the wall. It teetered under her weight, and she caught a glimpse of the deep area countless stories below. She struggled for breath and looked upward to the grooved beam. Before the notched wall could plunge her into the cavern, she leapt for the hover-disks. She squared her weight on the disk before ascending to the next one. It spun under her, and she reached for the next one. She dangled there until she could summon the upper body strength to make the ascent. The tossing increased in violence with each passing second.
It was up to her to defy it. Another scream from inside the suite urged her to advance.
The disks came to an end. Ozla glanced at the depths below her and waited for a falling plate to arrive.
This one swayed, rocked, jerked, and jolted too. Go figure. The end was so near, but the plates were moving too fast.
She took a glance upward. The ceiling grew. The pit receded, but so did the exit. Ozla's throat stung. Either she missed the exit and was hurled into the pit, or she hit the exit. Chances were about equal. She squatted and sprang to the exit. Her feet met the floor.
She smacked her garment straight and took one last look at the traps behind her. Then she gazed ahead.
It was time.