Learning to Dance

Feeling for a grip on the underside of the walkway, she
found a thick knot of wires and after tugging to test its
strength, swung herself down until she was hanging one-
handed beneath the walkway and feeling very thankful for
her combat gloves.
Then a flash of red light sliced through the air.
“¡Mierda!” she said, nearly losing her grip. Grunting,
she hauled herself up so that she was perched on the
underside of the walkway, her feet braced against a metal
bar and both hands wrapped firmly around thick bundles of
wires. A bead of sweat her headband had missed ran
directly between her eyes. Her muscles screamed.
More robots had emerged from another panel she hadn’t
seen, a few decks up. A few more blasts of light, and then
silence. Taz held her breath and tried to gauge the distance
to the wall. At least six feet – too far to jump. Listening for
robot movement, she grabbed another bunch of wires and
pulled herself a few inches closer.
She continued like this, hand over hand and her feet
seeking tentative footholds, until she could touch a pipe that
jutted out from the wall of the shaft. Perhaps it was her
imagination, but the core seemed to be growing hotter in
her pocket. It was now or never.
Pushing hard with her feet against the walkway, she got
a firm grip on the pipe and swung herself over to the wall in
one fluid motion. Red light exploded as she scrambled for
handholds, and then her stomach was in her mouth as she
felt herself falling, falling, the sound of robot blasters
echoing around her. Reaching desperately for something to
stop her fall, she felt a jarring in her shoulder as she nearly
pulled a sheaf of wires from the wall. It did the trick, and
she hung precariously over the blackness of the pit, her feet
dangling. Looking to her right, she saw the hollow shape of
the hatch directly beside her.