“What are you looking for? We have little time, we have to leave!” Said Suely, going up to Sam.

  “There are many different vehicles here, something may be useful to us!”  He answered, tearing off another awning from some kind of equipment.

 Sam stopped suddenly. Suely drew her sword and slashed at the awning. A hiss and squeals were heard from under the awning. Suely swore. A black creature sprang out from under the awning, bleeding tarry, it ran along the wall and disappeared into boxes at the far end of the hangar.

  “It's darkness, you stopped in time. She would have taken you away.”  Suely was feverish with fright, she took the flask from her belt and threw it to Sam. Drink the broth quickly. These creatures feel the blood, if you do not drink the broth, they will run after you until they eat.

 Sam took a couple of deep gulps and handed Suely's canteen. Then, as if nothing had ever happened, he continued to pull down the awning. Before him stood a small orbital fighter, Sam regretted that in his time he had not taken a course in spacecraft control. He turned and threw the awning off something smaller.

  “Found!”  Joyfully exclaimed Sam. “We will fly out of the city on airmax, the equipment is old, but reliable. I think it can fly.”

  “We can't fly! Weavers ' ribbons hang from the ceiling of the cave. Big monsters sit up in the tunnels. They'll eat us!”

  “I love retro!” - Sam smiled, examining the old airmax.

The smooth elongated shape of the hull shone with chrome-plated metal, a light patina touched the joints and some parts of the aircraft. Sleek dashboard with chrome accents, leather-wrapped chrome steering wheel, two leather-wrapped seats located one behind the other. Sam remembered how, once upon a time, he had flown on such one over the sands and small forests of Alma, remembered how the air currents ruffled his shirt and disheveled the hair on his head. As he continued to inspect, he found an empty starter battery compartment.

Sam took the weapon, removed the stock and took it apart. The MM3 accelerator had a special butt, it consisted of two universal tools, an adjustable wrench and a small jack, these tools were intended for field repair of armor and weapons. Sam took the tools went to the fighter and opened the technical hatch. He climbed onto the floor of the hull inside the hatch, unscrewed something and got out satisfied and stained with rust.

“Here is the battery, almost empty, enough charge to start.”  He explained his actions to Suely.

As he fiddled with installing the battery in the airmax, Suely began asking question. - What did Dr. Heng want from you?

  “I don’t know, I think he wanted to use me for something. I didn't trust him, even the hunters don't trust him!” Sam chuckled.

  “What did Dugo suggest?”

  “What does the killer have to offer?” Sam asked.

  “Why do you consider him a killer, we all have weapons and we are ready to use them.” Suely, waiting for an answer, looked closely at Sam.

  “For two years we were trained by psychologists to calculate potentially dangerous people, murderers, butchers, with whom it is better not to negotiate.”

  “How are we different?” she asked

  “You, Heng and simple hunters, are far from evil, you do not plot murder, you do not experience pathological pleasure from other people's torment, for you death is a tragedy. But Dugo and my former commander Cap, they are not like you, they fed the beast in themselves for many years until it consumed their consciousness. You must understand this.”  Answered Sam and finished installing the battery. ”Well, I would have trusted Dugo, I would have told about weapons and armor to save my life, but he was not going to leave me alive.”

Suely liked his answer, her gaze changed. Sam suggested that she take off the ghost costume, since she would sit behind him and would have to hold onto his torso, and the sharp spikes on the suit could hurt. The sounds of the blockage being dismantled by the hunters hurried Sam. He rolled the airmax closer to the edge of the hangar gate and started the engine. Suely quickly kicked off her suit. Remaining in trousers and a T-shirt, she fastened the sword to her belt, threw the strap of the staff over her shoulder and sat in the back seat. Sam showed her how to fasten the belt, sat down in front and grabbed the steering wheel and lifted the airmax into the air.

From outside the building, people with weapons scurried along the passages and bridges, two of them carried a ladder, they tried to install it in order to get into the hangar gates from which black smoke poured. There was a growing rumble and an airmax jumped out of the gate.

  “We are flying! Hold on tight!”  Sam shouted.

They opened fire on them, Sam began to maneuver away from the shots, he dived down and then rose and flew between buildings. Suely pressed tightly and closed her eyes, she was flying for the first time, she was scared she was a little nauseous from the sharp maneuvers. Sam quickly looked around, short weavers' ribbons hung from the ceiling of the tunnel, the tunnel leading upward was also blocked by a web of ribbons. Sam directed the airmax to the only wide passage to the adjacent grotto.

Armed people ran on the roofs of the building. An anti-aircraft gun was uncovered on one of the buildings. The operator sat down at the console and waited for the target to appear. The loader inserted the tape into the receiving window, the tape loaded automatically, clicked the shutter. The operator, having captured the target, opened fire, the roar of shots echoed along the mainsail, smoking casings rattled to the floor with a clang.

  “Shoot! Do not let them fly to the tunnels!” Оne of the loaders shouted, carrying a tape with shells on him.

As soon as the airmax approached the city wall, several explosions went off in the air from behind.

  “What was it now?” Sam shouted in fright.

  “This is a weapon against the big monster guards!”

Sam quickly looked in the direction of the buildings, he made out an old ZU-9 on the roof, immediately remembered how once Dara had taken the ship out of the antiaircraft fire. Sam decided to use the same tactics. He threw the apparatus abruptly, slowing down. There were two explosions above him ahead. Sam picked up speed and climbed to the ceiling of the grotto. He flew almost touching the weavers' ribbons, then slowed down and flew down again. Four shells hit the ceiling, explosions thundered, and weavers rained down from the ceiling in fringes, waving their long pincers and making disgusting noises.

The gun operator, seeing the maneuvers of the fugitives, changed the firing mode to two pre-emptive and two delayed, and opened fire again. The antiaircraft gun made eight volleys. The operator of the second antiaircraft gun did the same and opened fire.

Two shells hit the falling weavers, ripping them to shreds. Sam, hearing the explosions, slowed down, but at the same instant the airmax shook, several fragments hit the lower part of the apparatus. A red-hot shard pierced the bottom, slid over Sam's leg and got stuck somewhere in the dashboard. Sam threw the airmax in the direction of the neighboring grotto, maneuvering to the right and then to the left. Airmax shook again. There was a strong vibration from the tail turbine, a plume of black smoke pulled out and sparks fell. An engine malfunction indicator came on on the shattered dashboard.

  “We shot them down! They're falling!” - Оne of the anti-aircraft gun operators shouted joyfully. Armed men crowded at the edge of the roof and watched the airmax slowly fall, being chased by the projectiles fired.

Sam no longer heard the explosions, he was trying to keep the car in the air, looking for a place where he could land. He tried to slow down, but nothing worked. Seeing a small mountain river, Sam decided to sit on the water.

  “Unfasten your belts!” He shouted to Suely, and unfastened his belt. “ Hold on to me tightly.”

He looked for a deep place in the river with his eyes and, noticing this, pulled the reverse handle. They were thrown out of the airmax chairs and fell into the water. Airmax crashed into the water with a crash and caught fire. The scalding cold water made them quickly wake up after falling.