“Thanks,” Alex grinned. That kiss, brief though it was, had buoyed his spirits more than he wanted Kasinda to know.
He wriggled his way into the duct and began his arduous crawl through the air circulation system. The tunnel was even more cramped than he’d expected. He had to extend his arms in front of him and pull himself along a few centimeters at a time like a worm crawling through its burrow. His elbows and knees were quickly rubbed raw from the strain of pulling his weight, and each movement became a new experience in pain.
The tunnel around him was totally dark. Kasinda had given him the portalight she’d used in the underground freight tunnels of Nexus-1, and Alex switched it on, but the light was of little help. It lit the immediate area around him, but there was nothing to see e
