The sound of a thunderbolt shocked Marcus awake. He scrambled around the room trying to find the source of the noise in a state of complete panic. After a few minutes, he realised with a jolt of embarrassment it was only the room's communicator chiming.

Marcus turned up the lights and regretted it--he had a splitting headache and couldn't for the life of him remember why. "Y--yes?" he said to the operator.

"This is your courtesy wake up call, Mr Fenig. Check out is in ten minutes. An attendant will meet you in reception."

"Thank you." He rubbed his eyes to force himself awake.

The night started coming back to him. Hamasa kept making him have 'one more drink' before she gave him the information and never came through, and the curry, he regretted having the curry. There was no time to shower, so Marcus dressed and shoved everything he had into his pockets before he went down to see the attendants.

"Ah, good morning, Mr Fenig." The attendant looked up when he approached. "Your benefactor has settled your account."

"Really?"

"Yes, sir. She has also left you a message. You are to meet her in the Rimshaw district, half an hour from now. She said you would need the lie in." He gave Marcus a knowing smile.

"Thanks... I guess." This is a strange place.

Marcus inputted the info into his wrist link. A strong desire to talk to Sophia about everything going on flashed across his mind, but he buried it deep. He didn't need that worry now. With a word of thanks to the attendant, he left the hotel behind.

#

The Rimshaw district didn't seem to have enjoyed the same booming redevelopment as other areas--this was the Den he remembered. Rubbish piled up in the corners of the walkways and the few people around hurried with their heads hunched down. The advertising screens were cracked and discoloured, and anti-Alliance graffiti spread over the walls.

After almost an hour searching and trying to make sense of the vague directions the attendant he found Hamasa standing in front of an open service hatch between two sets of ramshackle single storey apartments. Instead of a grubby jump suit this time she wore what looked like a set of medical scrubs. When she caught sight of him, she beckoned him over. "Quick, Marcus, inside here." She pushed him through before following. She left the hatch ajar behind her.

"You look different."

"I am all things to all people. Now, wait here." She grabbed both his shoulders with a strong grip and moved him into a small alcove and motioned at him to be quiet.

He stood silently, but nothing happened. He almost moved, but he heard the hatch creep open, and the unmistakable sound of footsteps heading towards him. What was worse, Hamasa had vanished.

The footsteps got nearer.

He dared not breath.

The footsteps were so close now. There was no where to run. He was frozen.

Someone appeared, but before Marcus could make a sound, he heard a faint swish and the figure dropped to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Hamasa came from around the corner wiping a long knife on her scrubs. "What's the matter?"

"You--you did this?" Marcus felt faint.

"Yep." She grinned at him.

"You saved my life."

Hamasa laughed. "Perhaps, but he could have just been using this route as a cut through, pun not intended."

"What?"

"'Cut through', do you not get it?"

"You mean he wasn't going to kill me? You killed a man in cold blood. I can't--"

"There's no such thing as cold blood around here." She reached down and searched through the pockets of the figure before pulling something small out. Hamasa pulled out a torch from a pocket under the scrubs and used it to illuminate what was clearly Alliance identification. "We can't take any chances--especially with what's down here." She gestured further down the alleyway. She moved off but Marcus held his ground. "Come on, Marcus. Can't stand around here."

She led a shell-shocked Marcus by the hand through more hatches and dark service tunnels into the depths of the Den. It took all his strength to keep from vomiting. Hamasa stopped outside another plain door. "Need to remember the code... got it."

The hatch opened and instead of more of the same grimy tunnels, Marcus had to shield his eyes from the bright lights and pristine surfaces inside.

"We can't hang around here." Hamasa pulled him inside by the shoulder and sealed the door behind them.

A faint smell of antiseptic hung in the air. "This is a hospital," he marvelled.

"Right on the money. Marcus, I get your confusion, but don't worry--this should make things clearer." She almost sounded serious for once. "Follow me."

Hamasa's blood-stained scrubs stood out against the pale blue walls as she led him through. His mouth hung open--how could they conceal a hospital like this? "Hamasa, is this a hospital?"

She didn't say anything, and instead took him through a set of double doors that once again required a lengthy code and into a room that contained breathing apparatus hung up on the wall next to what looked like similar scrubs to those Hamasa was wearing. To Marcus' shock, Hamasa began stripping down in front of him. He turned away blushing. "Hamasa! I'm sorry--I--What are you doing that for?"

"Well I've got blood all over these. You better change too, just in case. Can't have you taking anything in with you."

He found a corner that gave the illusion of privacy and changed out of his clothes and into the scrubs provided. Hamasa donned one of the face masks so Marcus did likewise and accompanied her through a long corridor to the next room.

The darkness in this new room was oppressive. The faint hum and bleeping of machinery was the only sound, and the strong scent of dried blood was overpowering. As Marcus' eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, he made out the sight of hospital beds and more figures moving between them. He stepped closer to the nearest bed to get a better look at the patients and saw the unmistakable signs of patients with colistasis--clammy grey, blotched skin and a gaunt figure. "Why have you brought me here? They're contagious."

"That's what these are for," she said, pointing to the breathers they wore. "You'll be fine. Besides, you need to see what's at stake."

He needed a moment to calm his breathing and start thinking straight again. "These people all have colistasis--they should be at an actual hospital."

"Proper hospitals won't take them. There's no caxeal left, at least, none for them."

It dawned on Marcus. "You get caxeal for the Den. So everyone lets you walk around like you own the place. Do I want to know where you get it?"

"Probably not." She shrugged. "But my source is running low, and that's where you come in."

"Me?"

"We need the blockade of Caxis to end. I don't care how, but it's not my job to do it. They asked me to get the package; it's yours to get it to Caxis."

"What is the package?"

"Information. I'm sure you're wondering whether you're allowed to look at it -- no one will stop you, but it's encrypted."

"Why?"

"It's not for you."

He thought about this, but it wasn't worth probing anymore. The main thing was getting to Caxis.

"Question is," she continued, "are you in?"

"One hundred percent." He let out a deep breath.

"I knew I liked you Marcus." Hamasa slapped him on the back.

Someone appeared and started whispering in Hamasa's ear. When the figure finished, they disappeared into the darkness once more. "Well, Marcus, it's beginning."

"What is?"

Hamasa grabbed Marcus' arm and pulled him out of the ward. "Where's you're ship?"

"Docking bay twelve. Why?"

"Good--we need to move."

"Why? What's happening?" He looked around but there didn't appear to be any urgency from those seeing to the patients.

She ignored him and instead held her wrist communicator up to her mouth. "Max--gather the troops. That big catch has just entered the Vale, and we need to collect it... I know... yes... I hear you. I'll get it out. Godspeed." She turned and began to head out of the room but Marcus grabbed her arm.

"Hamasa what the hell is going on?"

"No time, main thing is to get to the hanger."

"Why?"

"Because this is your one chance to get off the Vale alive. Come on, let's go."

Reluctantly Marcus followed her out. He changed out of the scrubs and back into his clothes as fast as he could and before long she was leading him through the twisted walkways of the vale. Like in the hospital, no one else appeared panicked so Marcus had no idea what this 'catch' was that Hamasa had been talking about. More than once he tried to ask her about the package that he had still yet to recieve, but she brushed him off. Soon they were out of the dark and dirty streets by the hospital and moved into the more upmarket area around the dock. This time Marcus paid no attention to the looks they were getting--Hamasa's urgency was infectious.

They reached the hanger. He expected to have to go through processing of some kind, but one look at Hamasa's ID and the guards let them straight through.

"This is is me." She pointed to a bulky looking freighter. "Before I go, I need to give you the package."

She held out her wrist, and Marcus obliged by holding his out. He felt the download log in his implant. Curiosity overcame him and he tried to open but nothing happened. "Who do I give it to?"

"You'll know when you see them--they'll be looking for you," she said cryptically.

"Me? Where are you going?"

"I'll follow you, for now. You need to promise me something--don't mess up. Now let's not hang around."

With that, Hamasa turned and jogged to the entrance of the freighter without so much as a wave goodbye. Marcus wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he did as she said and ran inside the Interest and strapped in. With the ship powered up, he followed Hamasa's lump of a freighter out into the vacuum. Only, she didn't follow the navigation markers that Marcus had used on the way in--she put her ship into a dive and spun away.

His console bleeped with an incoming connection request from Hamasa. "Hurry up, Marcus," her voice came through. "You don't want to get lost out here."

WIth a gulp, he set out to follow her, more in blind faith than anything, and miraculously she led him on a safe route out into the welcoming vacuum beyond, though a good distance from the established traffic routes.

"Right," Hamasa said. "You've got a clean shot to the gate from here without coming near the Alliance cruiser lurking behind the station."

"I didn't see one on the way." Marcus ran a scan, and sure enough a ship called the Mandrake now stood close to the Den.

"They went straight into the clouds when they arrived. Waited until today to come out."

A waypoint appeared on his navigational charts which marked a freighter located over two thousand kilometres from the Den.

"That's the catch we're going for," Hamasa continued. "You go for the gate, we'll give you a disttraction. Oh and be sure to avoid the Phoenix Rises."

"There's no ship by that name?"

"It's on its way through."

"How do you--"

"No time, Marcus. Get that package to Caxis." Hamasa cut her connection and angled her freighter to the waypoint.

Marcus wondered what was so important in the 'catch' but he had bigger problems so he concentrated instead on getting out of the Vale in one piece. Marcus flew the Compound Interest towards the gate and prayed the Mandrake didn't go for him.

As he approached the gate, juat as Hamasa predicted, another Alliance battleship entered the system--the Phoenix Rises. Someone must have leaked her the information.

The Phoenix Rises seemed to hang in the vacuum, unsure of where it should be heading. He was about to gun his engines when a message from Hamasa's ship came through on a public band."Dear Alliance war-criminals--me again. I'm here to take your caxeal. You may as well back off now, because there's no chance in hell you'll catch me."

At this, both Alliance warships moved towards her, but even Marcus could see they wouldn't get there in time. Two smaller ships were already pulling alongside the freighter, with Hamasa's ship closing in quick.

This is my distraction.

With Hamasa's warning ringing in his ears, and the prospect of being able to head to Caxis, Marcus was in no mood to stay put in the system. He held his breath as he reached the gate, but with the Alliance vessel distracted there was no move to stop him. He gave his engines a kick and headed through the jump gate and out of the Vale.