Aya spun around, sweeping her flashlight across the ranks of cylinders. Shadows leaped and darted from its beam, but she saw nothing except the reflection of her own half-lit face, warped across the cylinders' smooth sides.
"Are you trying to scare me?" Aya hissed.
"No, I mean it," Miki whispered, her eyes wide in the red glow of their flashlights. "I'm going to get some help."
"Are you sure? Maybe we should ," Aya started, but Miki was already dashing toward the stairs, calling for the others.
Aya squinted into the darkness. Something flickered in the corner of her eye, but when she spun to face it, she saw nothing but shadows scattering from her wavering flashlight.
She took a few quick steps to the side, peering down the next row of metal cylinders. Still nothing.
Cries echoed down the stairsthe other girls answering Miki's shouts. They were coming, but not fast enough for Aya.
She began to walk back toward the stairs, checking nervously over her shoulder. Her flashlight swept from side to side, but that only made the long shadows dance and swivel around her, filling the room with furtive movements.
Then she saw it reflected in a row of smooth metal sides: a black silhouette smeared across them, darting through the shadows.
Aya froze, trying to work out which way the shape was moving, but it was like playing tag in a hall of mirrors.
"Miki!" she called. "I think it's " Her voice faded. The hovering shape had floated into view directly before her, the red flashlight reflecting a familiar pattern of tiny lenses.
It was Moggle.
"Miki!" she shouted. "It's okay! I don't think there's anything" "Don't worry, Aya-chan," Miki's voice called from halfway up the stairs. "They're almost here!"
"Crap," Aya muttered. She knelt, beckoning to the little hovercam. "Come here!"
It wavered for a momentthis new command contradicted its old orders to stay hidden. But when Aya called again, it scooted down the row of cylinders and shot into her arms.
"Hey, Moggle!" she whispered, stroking its sprayed-black plastic shell. "Good job finding me.
But you need to be more careful."
"Are you okay?" Miki's shout came from above.
"I'm totally fine! But I don't think anything's down here!" Aya called back, then hissed, "We have to find a place to hide you."
She switched off her flashlight and shoved it into a pocket, looking around for another exit. But the rows of featureless cylinders stretched endlessly into the darkness.
More shouts came from the top of the stairs. Miki was headed back down, a gaggle of flashlights bobbing behind her.
Aya ducked lower and headed away. The only light came from the Sly Girls descending the stairs, their red and yellow flashlights reflected in the smooth metal curves of the cylinders. Aya covered Moggle with the loose folds of her open jacket.
"When I let you go, find a place to hide. Understand?"
In answer, Moggle flashed its night-lights right into her face.
"Stop doing that!" Aya hissed, stumbling blindly to a halt.
"What was that?" Miki called. "Aya, where are you?"
Aya blinked away spots, standing up to peer across the cylinder tops. The Sly Girls were fanning out randomly across the room.
But Eden Maru was rising into the air, her hoverball rig using the metal cylinders for lift. She flew swiftly across the ranks of cylinders, arms outstretched like the wings of a bird of prey. She would have serious infrared, of course most intercity hoverball games were at night.
Aya swore, ducking lower and running as quickly as she dared. She had to get into another room..
But was there any way out of here?
Suddenly Moggle was tugging at her grip.
"Not yet!" she whispered, but the hovercam yanked itself free, pulling Aya off balance. It shot away through the ranks of cylinders like a cannonball.
Aya stumbled to a halt, squinting into the darkness, trying to see where the hovercam had disappeared.
"Lose your flashlight, Nosey?"
She looked up to find Eden Maru hovering just above her.
Aya tried to think of some excuse for putting her flashlight away, but failed. "Yeah, I sort of dropped it."
"Nice going." Eden's eyes scanned the darkness. "So what are we chasing, anyway?"
"Beats me." Aya shrugged, careful not to look in the direction Moggle had fled. "I think maybe Miki's seeing things."
"That doesn't sound like Miki," Eden murmured, her surged eyes scanning the cylinders. Her gaze came to rest in the direction Moggle had flown. "What's over there?"
Aya squinted into the darkness. The other Sly Girls' flashlights were growing closer now, and her unsurged eyes could just make out where the ranks of metal cylinders ended. She took a few steps closer, and saw a meter-wide circle of blacknessthe mouth of a passageway.
Aya let out a silent sigh. Moggle must have decided to hide in there. Eden Maru was already on her way, gliding through the air.
"Maybe we should wait for the others," Aya called, jogging after her. "Whatever it is could be dangerous."
"I thought you said Miki was seeing things," Eden said. She landed in front of the circular hole and crawled inside.
As she ran to catch up, Aya realized that the opening was exactly the right size for one of the cylinders to pass through endwise. At its mouth, she felt the familiar pattern of inlaid studs beneath her palms, metal to carry the cylinders on hover-lifters.
Aya crawled after Eden as fast as she could. "Find anything?"
"Yeah. But it doesn't make sense."
A few of the Sly Girls had reached the tunnel entrance behind Aya. Flashlight beams flickered down the tunnel, revealing what Eden had discovered.
A thick metal door stood open, one small window glinting in its center.
Aya frowned. "That's the only door I've seen down here."