Chapter 3

The Reactor’s hum hiccupped. He tilted his head to the side. He’d heard the Reactor warm up a few times over the past week or so, and he thought he had a pretty good handle on the process. It typically ran smoothly, until a brief flash of light was followed by pure silence. Hiccups weren’t typically part of the process.

The stink of burning cordite reached his nostrils. The head guard, who’d bent down to attach a shackle to Genthry’s left leg, stood up. “Do you smell something?”

“I’m not sure if that’s normal or not, but it doesn’t exactly smell pleasant.” Genthry wrinkled his nose.

The scaffold shook as an explosion rocked the prison yard. Genthry fell to the ground.

He wasn’t the only one. Both guards toppled as thick and acrid smoke filled the air.