I skipped down the halls of Itokawa, the sounds of @horsehead echoing from somewhere behind me. The halls were empty. Somewhere, I knew, the pillow fight still raged on. The quiet in this sector of Itokawa surprised me nonetheless. Had everyone run off to the pillow fight? Where was everyone?

  I felt like I was skipping fast but moving slowly. Something was off. I stopped. Was I making my escape while Itokawa reconfigured itself? I didn't seem to be any closer to the port where The Pharaoh awaited.

  A screech from @horsehead sounded again. Off to my right. She was getting closer.

  I took off running, angling my way toward my destination, along a longer hallway with windows showing the darkness of space and shining stars. I had reached the outer edge of Itokawa. I could follow the outer edge over to my ship. This way, I wouldn't risk getting lost in the maze of reconfiguring tunnels.

  I ran down the hall with sounds of footsteps mirroring mine, somewhere to my right. She was still following.

  When I reached the end of the hall, I had no choice but to turn right. I ran, hoping our paths didn't intersect at the end of this corridor.

  All was quiet when I reached the intersection. The path split in two directions. One slanted downward and to the right. The other was a sharp right. I thought about the sounds following me. Where are you?

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I should go down, I decided, and I ran down the sloping hallway.

  At the bottom was a single hallway that continued straight, once again with glass windows. But now, instead of a clear view of outer space, I saw more and more tunnels surrounding me. It was like I had stepped from the edge of Itokawa straight into the very center of the maze. Beyond the windows, I saw hundreds of passageways jutting out in different directions. The sight made me dizzy. I stopped and looked down at my feet.

  What happened? The tunnels might be reconfiguring, but there was no way I had gone from the edge to the center in just a few halls of running.

  Do I go forward or back?

  I heard neighing cries behind me. I had no weapon. I felt tired and weak. She would kill me for sure. Forward I ran, focusing straight ahead.

  This path was long, not at all what I had expected. I encountered no intersections for five full lengths of connected hallways. I plunged straight ahead. The view out the window was the same. I was deep in the heart of Itokawa, somehow further from where I wanted to be, further from my crew aboard The Pharaoh, who were waiting for me.

  I reached out again on the comm, but there was nothing. Jamming signals.

  Finally, I reached another intersection. Ahead of me, the corridor slanted back upwards. Two passages forked to the left and right. I tried to reorient myself. Listening as I turned back, I tried to see if @horsehead was close behind.

  The passage behind me was empty. The passage was quiet.

  I could hear only the sounds of my panting breath.

  Left, I decided. I need to go left. I couldn't risk going back up. My sense of direction told me I had rotated to the right and needed to adjust back in order to reach the starport.

  I spun around, planting my foot to sprint down the left corridor.

  @horsehead smashed me in the face with a gravity hammer.