Hnrahnan-of-Narzghr scratched above her eye with an irritated talon. As a Veridicator of the Dorarizin Inquisition, she was used to a certain degree of deference if not outright fear. Yet the pilot sitting on her haunches across from Hnrahnan looked about ready to fall asleep.

"{What's this all about?}" asked Grawfren.

Hnrahnan made a great show of leaning back and giving Grawfren a narrow, calculating look. "{You know.}"

Grawfren yawned wide and clicked her upper rows of teeth against each other. "{I'm quite sure I don't, Senior Veridicator.}"

The Veridicator's face settled into her species' version of a feral grin. "{Your trip with the shuttle last week. Why did you perform it?}"

Grawfren sighed and interlaced her fingers together over her chest. "{Because I'm going damn near [nuts] just sitting around here. I'm a pilot, I need to be going places. Just like you need to question everything going on around you, eh?}"

"{Nevermind my motives! You took the shuttle over and docked with the Zephyr Station. This ship is already connected via umbilical, so if you wanted to stroll around you just needed to walk there.}"

"{You neglected to say that I performed a fully manual docking.}" Grawfren's answering grin was wide and friendly. "{No automated assist whatsoever.}"

That threw Hnrahnan off of her mental stride. "{Really? That's quite impressive.}"

"{Gotta stay sharp.}"

After a bit more fruitless questioning, Hnrahan allowed the pilot to depart. She rippled her teeth together as she stared thoughtfully at the wall of her temporary quarters.

Something was up. Her intuition screamed at her that the crew of the *Claw* was somehow working with Oscar's team down on [Dirt], and furthermore that this 'working together' broke ninety million regulations and laws. Injustice was afoot, and it was her sworn duty to dig it out.

But she also had to be patient. It would do no good to exercise her authority and shut the whole operation down. Then the Egg was as good as gone. No, she had to figure out what she could and then later, once the Egg was in safe hands...only then she could strike like the pitiless avatar of justice she was.

A thought struck her, and Hnrahnan tilted her head. Yes, she hadn't spoken with the prisoners in quite some time. They might be a source of more intel on the crew, not to mention she'd have the chance to apologize for her...rather fraught behavior the last time.

Now that she had a goal in mind, the Veridicator's tail began wagging as she left her quarters.

Oscar felt sweat drip all down his face; he was now in a confined area no bigger than a coffin, and the pod's cooling system was doing its best just to keep him from literally cooking. He leaned forward and stared at the small screen showing his current location; he'd been stuck in here for an hour and probably would be for at least one more...if all went well, of course.

Just as he started to get antsy, he heard the voice of The Silken Feather in his ear.

"[Just heard from [Zara] and [Thing Two], you're a go for moving to Position Two. I'll let you know when it's safe to proceed. [Valentin] is waiting in Location [Alpha], and I see that [Martin] and his two companions are en route. I hope he'll be okay.]"

Oscar smiled. "Valya's a tough bastard, Silk. Don't worry about him." Valentin's role as distraction was not a safe one, but then again his own part in this was not without risk. Besides, at least Valentin got to enjoy some cool air on his face.

Valentin saw the nondescript car pull up behind his parked van. It was not, as the movies would have you believe, a giant black SUV with overtinted windows. Instead it was a family sedan, with windows that allowed him to see the three figures inside. The man in the back was clearly shorter, with close-cropped blonde hair.

"Martin," murmured Valentin as he studied his adversary. It was the first time he'd actually laid eyes on the man, in spite of working against the Amerikosy spymaster for many years both before and after the Karnakian invasion. Then he shifted his gaze away as the men in the car made 'casual' glances in his direction.

They waited like that for twenty minutes, Valentin pretending to enjoy the sunshine and the men in the car pretending that they weren't watching him like the proverbial hawk.

Finally Martin must have decided to stop playing around and arrest him. The car's doors opened and the other two men emerged. They both sported shaved heads; from the breadth of their shoulders and the spring in their step Valentin guessed they were some ex-spetznaz types. The two men strode across the street, heading directly for his park bench.

Valentin sighed and stood. He casually ambled away from them, trying to make it look like an innocent movement on his part. Inside he began counting. If they started sprinting for him the moment his back was turned, then they should be reaching him right...about...now.

He heard a soft thump of a footfall and a grunt of effort just behind him, and then Valentin sprung forward and began sprinting with a speed that belied his barrel-chested appearance. Another, louder grunt of surprise sounded from behind him as his pursuers redoubled their efforts.

Valentin slid out of the park's exit in a move that would have made Michael Jackson jealous, then spun and kept sprinting. He did a little head-fake as he ducked into an upcoming alley, while at the same time he fumbled up towards his collar and its hidden 'disguise' projector.

He tapped a specific button on his projector, then stopped and pressed himself up against the wall and waited. The first goon reached the alley and wisely decided not to go pelting in, especially since Valentin knew it appeared empty to the man's eyes.

The goon's gaze swept over the alley, and Valentin tensed as those eyes peered directly at him...and then moved on with no apparent recognition. He let out a silent sigh of relief; The Silken Feather's optical camo seemed to actually work. The man stepped into the alley, his hand next to his lapel. Valentin figured he must have a shoulder holster; fortunately it was on the other side of the man from his current location. That would give him a few more seconds before the man could bring the muzzle to bear on him.

Valentin drew back an invisible fist and waited. Some bit of noise must have alerted the man, because he spun and stared towards Valentin. He in turn didn't hesitate and sent that cocked fist flying at the man's jaw.

Martin waited for an agonizing few minutes while all he heard was pained grunts and thumping in his ear. Finally he heard one of his men, a no-nonsense guy named Bartok, speak in his ear.

"All good, boss. We got his disguise off, it's him."

Martin slipped out of the car and walked across the park, following the path of the foot-chase. He put a hand on his own holstered weapon before peeping around the edge of the alley's mouth and saw Valentin struggling feebly while one of his men had his arm clamped tight around the Russian's neck in a sleeper-hold. As Valentin's struggles weakened, Bartok slapped a pair of handcuffs on him.

"Had some optical camo too, boss," said Bartok. He looked up at Martin and slumped back against the far wall in evident weariness. "He tried to hit me, but Albert was right behind me and got the drop on 'im."

Albert grinned up at Martin and slightly relaxed his choke-hold. Valentin's head lolled to the side, his eyes unfocused and unconscious. "What now?" asked Albert.

Martin glanced around the streets. There were a few pedestrians out, and some of them were directing curious glances his way. "We need to get him back to the facility for starters. I'll bring the car around."

Christian jumped in surprise as the door to the control center slid open. He stood, expecting to see Martin or one of his goons. Instead he saw framed in the doorway a statuesque brunette with a square figure, a general's star on her beret, and absolutely no pity in her flinty green eyes. Another, smaller woman stood next to her with an equally upright bearing.

He stood and saluted, then tried to protest. "Ma'am? We're under high alert. You can't be wandering the hallways."

"I'm not wandering!" snapped the general. She returned his salute with much more crispness, then tapped her left lapel. Upon it swung a plastic badge with her name and picture on it. "If I wasn't allowed to be here, then this door would have remained closed, correct?"

He swallowed hard as he regarded the impressive amount of fruit salad on her right chest. "Um, that may be ma'am but I still have to ask that you..."

"Oh, shut it." The aide's voice matched her sour look. She stomped forward as the door slid shut behind the pair. "Why do you think we're on high alert?" She motioned with her head towards the general. "It's a test, and she wants to see how well you all perform."

Christian stared at the pair in confusion, but mixed with that was a bit of relief. "Oh. So that thing with the face recognition was planned?"

The general rolled her eyes. "At least you're not completely stupid. Yes. Now, brief me on the current base situation."

She stepped forward next to Christian and waved at the bank of monitors overseeing his workstation. He cleared his throat and tried not to look like he was ready to piss his pants. "Well, ma'am, we have everything pretty much on lockdown. No foot traffic through the corridors except for the security patrols. Um, I really should call my superior, he said to call him if anything strange happened."

Her voice was as upright and crisp as her bearing. "You can call him in a minute. What's that?" She pointed to one monitor in particular, one which showed an egg-shaped object held aloft in a specially designed cradle. A petite woman fussed around the mystery object with some sort of hand-held analyzer.

"I...don't know, ma'am, other than it's in the bottom lab area. They don't tell us such things."

The aide snorted behind him. "Hmph. At least they practice basic OPSEC around here." She clapped a hand on Christian's shoulder, and he started away from the sudden contact. But not before her index finger brushed against his neck in a surprisingly intimate gesture.

He moved away from the touch and narrowed his eyes, knowing that something was wrong. He needed to call Martin or sound an alarm...but even as he made that determination he felt things start to go woozy.

Christian knew he only had seconds before passing out. He swayed a bit, acting as if their drug was acting quicker than it was. As he saw the aide relax Christian lunged forward with sudden speed. His fingers fumbled open the cover over the big red button, a button he'd been told to never push unless the world was ending. The aide grabbed his arm away but he still managed to fall forward and whack the button with his head.

The lighting in the corridor outside turned red as a klaxon wailed.

Christian tumbled inartfully off of the console and onto the floor. As he faded away he took a little bit of satisfaction in in hearing the shouting of an approaching security squad. That, and in hearing genuine panic in the fake general's voice.

"Shit! Lock the damned door!"

The Silken Feather's four eyes widened as she crouched in front of her console. "|We have another problem! Somebody pressed the base's alarm button!|" Her clawed fingers skittered over the controls with fluid grace; any onlooking human would have just seen a blur of blue-feathered arms. "|Extra security protocols coming on line...oh, no.|"

Oscar's voice was still cool as ever. "[Talk to me, Silk.]"

"|I've just lost all connections into the base. Including those to [Zara] and [Thing Two's] commbeads! We won't know if they've succeeded! And I still can't raise [Valentin]!|"

The human was silent for a few agonizing moments, then sighed. "[Eff it. I'm proceeding as planned.]"

She thought about protesting, then realized the human was right. They were far too into it at this point, herself included.

Martin cursed as Bartok drove their car towards the facility at definitely illegal speeds. "What do you meant the control center's on lockdown?"

"The tech on duty pressed the Big Panic button. We've got a separate feed on the camera in there, looks like a couple of people in UN dress uniforms doing something with the controls. The tech is down, but it looks like he's just knocked out."

"Never mind him! What about the rest of the facility?"

"Locked down tighter than a penitent nun's behind."

"Are you sure any others didn't get further down?"

"We were already on high alert, sir. I've got three hand-picked teams sweeping the hallways and there's nobody else here who shouldn't be. Don't worry about the two in the control center either. They're not going anywhere."

The tow-headed man rubbed his forehead in relief. It looked like they'd tried to pull off an infiltration posing as high-up brass. It wasn't a terrible plan, but one prone to failure if anything went wrong. When he got back he'd have to find out how they'd gotten that far into the facility to begin with.

"I should be able to get you back into the control room. Use this code for the doors..."

Zara spun around as she heard the door hiss open. Both she and Thing Two raised their arms automatically at the sight of about ten million rifle muzzles staring back at them.

"On your knees, hands on your head!" yelled someone from behind all the weaponry.

She figured another bluff attempt couldn't hurt. "Stand down, people, this is a live exercise. You performed very well, and my report will emphasize that."

None of the rifles wavered. "You've got five seconds."

Zara sighed and looked over at Thing Two. The smaller woman nodded back, and they both slowly knelt and equally slowly placed their hands on their scalps.

Only then did the weapons part and admit a gray-haired man with a tactical vest and no mercy in his dark brown eyes. "Move and you're dead," he snapped to the kneeling women, then strode over and tapped a few codes into the console. In response the klaxon mercifully shut off and the lighting snapped back to normal.

The leader placed a finger on his ear. "Sir? We've regained access. The intruders are in custody. Where do you want me to put them?"

Chaudhari looked up in relief as the klaxon shut off. She tucked away the flashlight she'd been using during all that red-lighting shenanigans. The first alert didn't bother her; it was the third such bit of nonsense she'd gone through since arriving at the facility. Somebody must have wandered into the wrong section yet again. The second alert was more irritating, especially that damn siren. In any case, it just meant she had more of an excuse to stay in the lab with her pride and joy.

As she bent back towards the Egg, she stopped. Chaudhari was sure she'd heard a soft cracking noise, followed by an equally soft thump.

She patted the Egg as if to assure it that she wasn't going far and walked off in the direction of the noise. Her brown eyes narrowed as she scanned the rubbery floor material, wondering if they'd somehow gotten rats in here. Chaudhari's gaze widened in surprise as she saw a chunk of cement lying on the black material. She reached down and picked it up. "The stink is this?"

The scientist looked up and saw where the chunk used to be; there was a neat crack in the cement, in the center of which was a divot that matched the piece in her hand. She looked closer. "Maybe it's just the ground settling?" she mused aloud as she looked closer at the divot. There was a small black hole right in its center, and as her face approached it she heard a faint hiss.

Her nose wrinkled as the gas hit her face. "Strawberries? It kind of smells like strawbarwhargmglnfhlpmphh..."

Chaudhari's eyes glazed over and she slumped to the floor.

"Keep them in the conference room on the second level," said Martin. "They are not to speak or be spoken to except by me, is that clear?"

The car rocked through another bit of fast cornering, causing the trussed-up man next to Martin to mumble through his gagged mouth. Valentin blinked and stirred as he came to.

"Morning, sleepyhead," said Martin with a triumphant smile. Valentin's eyes narrowed but he didn't even try to respond.

Martin couldn't resist rubbing it in. "We got your two playmates as well. Sounds like you somehow made some pretty good copies of our access cards. You'll have to tell me how you all accomplished that."

Valentin pointedly looked out the window.

Martin felt his guts relax as he leaned back. The theft was a failure and the precious Egg was safe. His only regret was that they hadn't caught Oscar as well. It didn't matter; Valentin would talk. The Russian was tough, but with enough pain anyone would break.

His head sank back against the armrest...and his eyes shot open as a new, horrible thought hit him. Suddenly he knew exactly where Oscar was. Martin sat upright, his heart pounding as he touched his ear. "Chief? Check the network again. Are the seismic warning sensors still active?"

The squad leader flinched back as Martin strode through the lab's doorway. He looked around the domed and circular space, taking in the sight of Chaudhari slumped against the sloping wall. A medic hovered over the dazed woman.

"Is she all right?" snapped Martin.

"A bump on the head and a little dizzy, but okay otherwise," replied the medic.

Martin's eyes finally coming towards the center. A center which held a cradle.

A cradle which now held a distinct lack of any Egg.

The spymaster's jaw tightened, then his gaze swept towards the other new feature of the room. A one-meter-wide hole now festooned one of the pristine concrete walls of the lab. He stalked towards it and on instinct reached out to touch the edge, then jerked his hand back with a hiss of pain. The melted concrete at the edges of the hole was still scalding hot.

He regarded the hole with building fury. "Get a drone in here and fly it up that hole. We need to find out its exit point. They might still be around here."

Rory stepped back from the removable bottom of his van as a huge, pencil-like tip erupted from the already-melted tunnel underneath the vehicle. The pod's tip was dark and no longer a furious pure white, but Rory still edged his way around the thing's nose with caution. Even if it was no longer hot enough to melt through earth and rock it was still hot enough to burn the ever-loving fuck out of his merely human skin.

A hatch below that sharp tip popped open, and Oscar slithered out. His overalls, now damp with sweat, stuck to his muscular frame. He opened one eye and regarded Rory's hovering form with exhausted happiness.

"Got it?" asked Rory.

Oscar held aloft a black egg-shaped object, its surface etched with fractal-like runes. Rory reached forward with his stubby-fingered hands and plucked it from Oscar's grip with ease. He regarded the object with something akin to religious awe. Even though he didn't know what it was, he knew that with this one single item he could name his price. He could go anywhere, do anything he dreamed of...

Then Rory looked down at the man he'd once trained as a pupil. Oscar's eyes were half-lidded, and he panted in exhaustion from having just been stuck in a confined and hot space for far too long. Rory actually had a chance to overpower him, or at least run away.

Then he sighed, tucked the Egg against his lapel with one hand...and with his other, he reached down towards Oscar. The bigger man slapped his hand against Rory's, and with a grunt used the assist to haul himself to his feet and up into the van.

"We need to get going," said Rory.

Oscar's panting eased. "No shit."

Rory grinned at him. "Speaking of which, you smell like ass."

The big man stood and stretched his arms over his head. "Gimme a break, my man. I was just jammed in a overheated coffin for two hours."

"Whatever. Let's the hell out of here."

"Just a minute." Oscar swung open a panel further back on the pod and removed a nondescript silver box the size of a loaf of bread. This was the other priceless artifact in the van, namely the zero-point energy generator provided by The Silken Feather. He then reached into the open 'cockpit' and touched a few controls. As he stepped back, the pod's doors obediently closed and it sank back into its tunnel.

Oscar let out a sigh of relief as he settled into the passenger seat and buckled in. "No word from Valentin?"

"Nope, looks like he got nabbed along with Zara and Thing Two." Rory threw the van into gear and began driving away at a sedate pace, one that was calculated to not draw any attention.

"Got it." Oscar touched his ear. "Silk? Get the team on the horn and let 'em know that Option Three is now confirmed." Then he stiffened as his commbead emitted a soft synthetic chirp. "Aw, shit."

Rory looked over in concern. "Problem?"

"Not yet. I set up an alarm for a certain place on board my ship. Somebody just went in there, and I really hope it isn't who I think it is."

Hnrahnan-of-Narzghr leaned back and smiled, this time taking great care not to show her teeth. "{So how are they treating you?}"

[Tam Ji-Min] shifted on the couch and smiled back, her jittering foot betraying her nervousness. "[Um, fine! Really they've just left us alone.]"

"{No mistreatment to speak of?}" asked Hnrahnan. "{You may speak freely in front of me, I am not beholden to the Captain.}"

"[The only time we see them is when the big guy, [Bgrarh], comes in to scent us,]" said [Tobias Ramírez]. "[He doesn't really speak to us either, just hugs us for the right amount of time and then leaves. To be honest we're going a little ?erroruntranslatederror?]"

"{Sorry, I didn't understand that last bit.}"

The human woman hugged her knees to her chest. "[It's a term for when [tiny-chompers] are stuck in one place for too long, we go a little crazy.]"

"{Ah, I understand. We Dorarizin have a similar condition if we don't run enough. Do you have any media access in here?}"

Tobias shrugged. "[A little, but its mostly alien movies and such.]"

"{Hmm, I'll see if I can request you some tiny-chomper films.}" She made a great show of looking around. "{Where are your two companions?}"

[Tam] blushed, and the Senior Veridicator had to fight like mad the urge to scoop up the tiny-chomper and cuddle her. Damn the Pale Moon, these little aliens had a way of short-circuiting your concentration with their unfair cuteness.

"[They're, um, occupied.]" [Tam] pointed at one of the closed bedroom doors. "[Lots of time and little to do, you know?]"

Hnrahnan cocked an ear towards the shut door...and heard a few faint moans of passion. She didn't laugh; she knew that a Dorarizin's laugh tended to make tiny-chompers nervous instead of better. Instead she nodded. "[I'll come back later and speak to them as well. I just wanted to check in and make sure they also have no complaints...other than the isolation, of course.}"

"[Sure, no problem,]" said [Tobias]. "[You might want to give 'em a few hours, they just got started.]"

A few...hours? Well, she had heard about the tiny-chompers' notoriously high libido. It made sense. The Veridicator nodded an ear and stood, careful to move slowly so as not to spook the little prisoners. "{In the meantime, I wished to apologize for my behavior earlier. I was a little...less professional than I should have been.}"

Martin strode up to the squad leader, who stood outside a painted steel door with one of his men guarding the other side. Bartok and Albert lumbered along behind him. He glared at each of the guards in turn. "Listen very carefully. You will not tell anyone that these people are here, understand? Not the base general, not a Senator, not God Himself. You will also disregard anything you might hear from that room. As far as you're concerned, the inside of that room is on the other side of the galaxy. Got it?"

They both nodded hastily, and Martin strode forward. The door slid open at his approach, then slid shut behind his two goons.

"Lock the door," said Martin. Bartok nodded and moved over to the panel next to the door as Martin surveyed the room.

The conference table lay against the far wall. The three captives sat strapped to chairs in the now-bare center of the room. Valentin's eye now started to show a shiner from his tussle with Bartok and Albert, while the two women still wore their fake dress uniforms. They looked frightened but otherwise unharmed. Next to the chairs sat a small pile of commbeads and collar-like devices.

Martin smiled at the trio like a lizard sighting an unguarded clutch of bird eggs. "We'll forgo the light-shining-in-your-face routine for now. So. Your little ruse was a success. You deactivated the seismic sensor nets, which allowed my wayward employee to come in and snatch the Egg. Congrats." He stepped forward towards Valentin and untied the cloth gagging him. Once his mouth was freed the Russian spit at Martin's feet, barely missing his shoe.

"You know the drill, Valentin. What was the next part of the plan?"

"Plan was we get away," said Valentin with a small insolent smile.

Martin drew back and backhanded Valentin across the face. The Russian's head rocked to one side, and as he looked back at Martin his smile never wavered.

"I have no time to waste," said Martin. "I'm giving you one chance. Any of you tell me and you'll all just go to jail for the rest of your life. If you don't start talking I'm letting these two loose on you."

He pointed his thumb back over his shoulder at Bartok and Albert, who loomed behind Martin with knowing grins. "These two like dishing out pain. I'm sure you're all tough, but let's be smart for once. You're not getting out of here until I know where Oscar is."

"We don't know where he is," said the smaller woman.

Martin tried and almost succeeded at looming over her. "You're full of shit. You know where he is and you will tell me sooner or later. You're gonna tell me everything down to your favorite sexual position. Why not say something now, while you still have all your toes?"

The small woman spat as well, this time hitting his face. Her aim was better, and she actually connected. Martin leaned back and wiped the spittle off of his face. He looked over at the taller woman. "You've got a very pretty face. I'm sure you want to keep it pretty, right?"

She stared back in disgust but said nothing.

"Fine," sighed Martin. He stepped back and waved his men forward. "Have at them."

"Which ones first, boss?"

"The women. Let's see how chivalrous our Russian friend is."

Valentin growled. "You touch either of them, I kill you."

Martin laughed. "You're very good at threats, but not so competent on the follow-through. Get to it, guys."

Bartok stepped past Martin and leered down at the smaller woman, who shrank back into her chair as her eyes darted towards her bound compatriots. The goon made a great show of interlacing his fingers and cracking his knuckles before turning back towards Martin.

"You might wanna leave the room, boss. This will get messy pretty quick."

Martin crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'm staying."

Bartok shrugged, drew back a fist...then spun and drove that cocked fist right into Martin's stomach. Martin wheezed as the punch drove the air from his lungs and he stumbled back in shock, dropping his arms to protect his injured belly...only to feel Albert's arm clamp tight around his neck in a sleeper hold.

"Nighty night, boss," 'Albert' growled in his ear. It was not the voice he expected, but it was one he knew well. The voice of Jaime Dávalos.

He stared in pained shock at Bartok, who reached up to his collar and pressed. A familiar blonde-haired woman with aristocratic features and flawless pale skin suddenly grinned back at him, and that was the last thing Martin saw for a good long while.

"Oh, that felt sooo good!" said Thora Nedergaard. If satisfaction was syrup one could drizzle her voice over pancakes.

"What's with the build-up?" snapped Zara. "The plan was to knock him out when he came into the room! I thought the alleyway switch had gone bad, I'm just about ready to shit myself here."

The still-disguised Jaime eased Martin's unconscious form to the floor while Thora tapped her ear. "Sorry, there was a delay with Rory and Oscar getting to a safe distance. We had to let my overly dramatic ex-boss monologue for a bit."

The two thieves moved with quick precision, with Jaime stripping Martin down to his underwear while Thora let Thing Two loose. Thora then unstrapped the other two captives while Thing Two shucked out of her uniform and donned Martin's clothes. It didn't quite work; her chest was not the largest but still strained against the upper buttons of Martin's shirt.

Meanwhile Jaime manhandled Martin into the aide's uniform and strapped his hands behind him. Thora handed one of the holographic collars to Thing Two, who snapped it around her neck. With the press of a button, her face wavered and snapped into Martin's blonde-topped features. The holographic device's image projected down in front of her as well, which took care of her disguise's chestal issue.

Thing Two straightened, the hours of training with Zara now paying off as she strode over to Martin in a good imitation of his get-out-of-my-way gait. The spymaster now sported a holographic collar of his own, and as she looked on it wavered and formed into the image of her face.

"I wish we didn't have to get tied up again," said Zara.

"It'll look too suspicious otherwise," replied Thora. She grinned and reactivated her disguise. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

Zara sighed and put her hands behind herself.