FLOOD GATES (Working Title)

PROLOGUE

Running had been a good idea at the time. Well, he thought it was a good idea.

That was until he realised that because they were big,didn’t mean they were slow,and the fact that he really hated sewers.

The hissing of his pursuers cut through his thoughts as he risked a glance behind him.

Yes, they were only rats but they were rats the size of wolf-hounds,with teeth to match.

Of all the places the artefact had to be, it had to be in the sewers.

He didn’t mind the stink nor the inches of slimy water he was splashing through.

What he did mind was the semi-dark.

The not quite dark had always troubled him,and truth be told he would rather be in complete darkness.

He hated being stuck in the nether light.

Then he saw it his escape route.

He smiled, at least they couldn’t climb ladders, or he hoped they couldn’t.

He increased his speed and leapt for the first rung.

The skittering of sharp claws seconds behind him and the snap of jaws missing him by centimetres gave him impetus.

Climbing two rungs at a time he relaxed slightly when the angry hissing receded.

After a few minutes of climbing, he reached the exit and pushed the cover up and over. As is clanged onto the tarmac he pulled himself out of the hole.

With a huff of relief and annoyance he touched a device attached to his ear and growled.

“When we get back to base, we are going to get those upgrades and damn the cost.”

“Yeah, yeah,” a voice answered him. “Did you get it?”

He looked at the dented metal box in his
hand.

“Yeah I got it, whatever it is.”

“It’s a hundred thousand credits of whatever. Just deliver of safely and get the credits,” the voice replied and cut off.

He sighed and brushed sewer slime from his clothes and set off at a steady jog.

He may have been out of the sewer, but he still wasn’t safe.

The sun was setting and things were stirring.

He found his transport and as he powered away.

The sun dropped beneath the skyline and the howls began.