Tom crawled on until he reached the end of the corridor. Fortunately it ended in a tiny closet where there was a hot water heater and cleaning supplies. Unfortunately, there was nothing underneath his feet to break his fall; so he eased himself out of the vent feet first, dangled from the edge of the vent until he was stretched his full length, and dropped carefully down. He landed flat on his feet and hunched down in a squat, waiting for discovery, but his movement must have sounded much louder to himself than to any of Spence’s men who may or may not have happened to be patrolling that hallway. Tom poked around in the cleaning supplies to see whether there was anything to be found that could release him from his handcuffs, but he didn’t have enough time to make use of the tiny metal file that was his only discovery. He took the file with him anyway, just in case. He might need to defend himself, and though an eight inch file wasn’t much against a gun, it might be the element of surprise that he needed. He stowed it away in a pocket in his scuba suit, which was covered in dust, then he opened the door a crack wide enough to peek out of.
Both ways were clear, and only a few feet away was a door under a promising red neon EXIT sign. Tom slipped out of the storage closet and into the wide hallway, where he stopped short.
The mongoose Tatiana was standing there staring up at him.
Cursing, he snatched her up. “How did you escape?” he whispered. “Where’s Gayla? Why didn’t you go back to your little burrow in Environment F?”
The mongoose sniffed his finger interestedly. Her prominent pink nose was soft, cold, and damp, and made tiny heart shaped nose prints on his hand that disappeared in seconds. She licked his hand experimentally with a narrow tongue that was rough like a cat’s but not as dry. “Why are you so adorable?” Tom exclaimed.
Tatiana made no answer, so Tom said, “I don’t want to leave you in the storage closet because there are chemicals and air ducts and I would never find you again. I guess you’ll just have to come with me.”
And with that decision made, Tom opened the door.
Setting off the emergency exit sirens.
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