Free Sunspire (The Reach, Book 4) by Mark R. Healy Page B

weapons as she lowered a radio to her belt .  Talia recognised her voice from the speaker in the tunnel.  “Not if you come in peace, like you said.”
    “Who are you?” Zoe said.
    “My name is Olivia.  I’m the one who’s organising the evacuation in these parts.”  She began to walk toward them.  “ Like I said, i f your purpose here is peaceful, then you’re welcome to stay.  If not, I will have to ask you to leave.”  She gestured to one end of the elevator bays, then the other, where snipers wer e positioned in makeshift crow’s nests.  “And please don’t try anything stupid, for your own sake.”
    “We’re not here to cause trouble,” Silvestri assured her.  “There are other refugees here with us.”
    “So I see,” Olivia said, running an eye over the crowd.  “ You’re all part of the same group, then?”
    “Not exactly,” Silvestri admitted.  “We just happened to be in the same place at the same time.”
    “Fair enough.”
    “What is it you’re doing here?” Duran said.
    Olivia gestured to the open elevator shafts behind her.  “We’ve set up winches that go all the way down to the lower levels of the Reach.  If you’re looking to get out, this might be your best bet.”
    “So how much?” Zoe said.
    Olivia raised an eyebrow.  “How much what? ”
    “How much do we need to pay to use your contraption?”
    Olivia gave her a wry smile.  “Honey, we’re not in this for the creds.  As long as you’re prepa red to pitch in until it’s your turn to take the drop, you’re welcome to catch a ride for free.”
    Silvestri turned back to the other refugees.  “Is this what you want?  To get out of the Reach?”
    There were scattered nods in return, and one of the men stepped forward.
    “We sure as hell ain’t going back that way,” he said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.
    Olivia turned to a colleague over by the elevators.  “Tom, get these people processed and ready.  Check the skill sets and put them to use if you can.”
    The man nodded.  “Right away, boss.”  He gestured to the group.  “This way, please.”
    As they began to walk forward, Talia stopped before Olivia.  “So what’s the deal ?” she asked the woman in khaki.  “Were you with the Enforcers or something?”
    “Enforcers?” Olivia snorted.  “ Hell , no.  Most of them cleared out when the shit hit the fan.  They were the first to turn tail and run.”  She began walking back toward the elevators.  “As for me, I used to work the graveyard shift down on Thirty-Seven.  Grease monkey at Substation One-Nineteen.”
    “So you weren’t in Administration, or anything like that?”
    “Nope.  Just an honest Joe, working for peanuts.”  She nodded at those around her.  “Just like the rest of these people.”
    “So how did you end up here?”
    Olivia seemed to consider that.  “Seemed to me that there was a job needed doing, but no one to do it.  So why not me?”  She clasped Talia on the arm.  “Go and see Tom, make yourself useful if you can.  We’ll probably have you on your way within the hour.”
    Olivia moved off to oversee a third elevator, where another hoist was being installed, and Talia did as she suggested, helping out where possible.  Initially that involved trying to untangle the cables from one of the drums on the second hoist, and later helping to secure the elevator doors on the third.  Time passed quickly, and before she knew it, Olivia was calling them over to begin their descent.
    “Hey, your ride’s here!” Olivia said, waving at them from the door of the first elevator.  “Let’s go!”
    Talia and her companions responded quickly, and several of the refugees who had not already descended went with them.  Talia reached the shaft, and the sight of the cradle dangling within almost caused her to have second thoughts.  It looked like a rudimentary contraption, a conglomerate of oddly-shaped parts bolted together with little