Chapter 54: Into the Portal
He made it.
As soon as the grate clicked shut, he crawled down the stairs, though its slippery surface made him basically slide down to the bottom.
He landed lightly on his feet, and Scorch was already on the floor, waiting for him, tail flicking with excitement. Jethro picked up the little lizard before looking around.
He was finally outside the dorm, the night air whipping past his face and clothes, cool and restless. Everything was mostly dark, but the city itself was very much alive.
Far overhead, hovercars threaded shining paths through the night, academic buildings and mechshops cast glowing colored halos across the dark campus, and patrolling troopers moved steadily along distant walkways, silhouettes sharp against sprays of security lights.
Jethro was standing by a shadowed corner of the dorm, and he was painfully aware that the only thing that would give out his movement under these night shadows was his luscious white hair.
So he took off his jacket and hung it on top of his head. Scorch whimpered; one of the jacket sleeves had fallen over his eyes. Jethro quickly adjusted it, grinning slightly.
After a slow breath of preparation, he sprinted carefully down the darker parts of the Academy labyrinthine city.
By some miracle, nobody noticed. He arrived at his destination: a nondescript utility panel beside a restaurant exclusively reserved for staff. Professor Luria most likely used the checkpoint here to tunnel to another checkpoint that was by the staff’s private hotel.
A shortcut for when she was too lazy to board a hovercab.