When the power cut out, Marcus' cell plunged into darkness. The ship was under attack--that much was obvious from the shaking and the deafening alarm that drilled into his skull, but he thought Alliance ships were tougher than this. He stuck a tentative hand out to check the field, and to his relief it was down. He didn't rush out though, the guard down the corridor would still be there. However, he still had hope of getting away--if his field was down then so was Hamasa's.

Sure enough, he heard a strangled shout before the muffled sound of a body hitting the floor echoed down the corridor. Seconds later came the sound of footfalls and someone walking into his cell. There was a sudden burst of blinding light, and when Marcus' eyes adjusted, he saw Hamasa standing in front of him holding a side arm and a torch in opposing hands. "Ready to check out?" She sounded cheerful.

"Absolutely--help me up." Marcus ached from the repeated torture sessions.

It was dark in the corridor save for Hamasa's flashlight. Marcus kept close to her. She set a quick pace. "Mind the body." Hamasa shone her light at the crumpled figure of the guard on the floor.

Marcus tried not to look at it. They walked a couple more steps nearer the exit before a woman's voice came out from the darkness. "Hello?"

Hamasa stopped dead and Marcus walked straight into her back.

"Captain Pierce?" Hamasa called back.

"Who?" Marcus hissed at her, but she didn't respond and instead stuck a hand back to cover his mouth.

"That's right." The woman's voice sounded weak. "By any chance, are you leaving the Mandrake?"

"Yes we are, and you should come too." Hamasa grabbed Marcus and pulled him back along the corridor to find Pierce's cell. She shone her torch in each one as they passed. Most lay empty, but near the end of the detention centre they found her. The light revealed an aged woman in the same yellow jump suit as Marcus and Hamasa.

"Yes." Pierce tried to stand. "Yes I think I will." She dropped to all fours from the effort. Marcus wondered whether they had tortured her too. "I could do with some help."

"I got you." Marcus stepped forward and helped Pierce stand up by putting her arm over his shoulder. She weighed too little to be healthy. "What happened to you?"

"It's a lengthy story." She coughed a few times weakly. It didn't sound good.

"Come on, let's go." Hamasa waited for them to join her before she set off down the corridor. "These officers are dumb, so I'm sure they'll have sent someone to secure the detention centre. Stay behind me." Hamasa stuck her head out of the detention centre and waited. Marcus' heart pounded inside his chest. "Which way?" she asked Pierce.

"Take a left here, I'll guide you."

Hamasa sat there listening for what felt like an eternity. Without warning, she shot twice down the corridor. Marcus heard two thuds as bodies hit the ground.

"Come on." She set off again, but paused at the bodies to pick up more weapons, even hanging one on Marcus' shoulder. "In case I need another one," she told him.

"What if we run into forces that we can't take by surprise?" Pierce said. "The way to the hanger will be busy."

"Do you hear that?" Hamasa said.

Marcus listened, but he couldn't make anything out. In fact, it was like someone had thrown a thick blanket over his head.

"I can't hear anything," Pierce said.

"Exactly. The firing's stopped. And do you know what that means?"

"The ship's being boarded."

"Boarded? By who?" Marcus felt like he was missing a crucial piece of information.

"You'll see." Hamasa laughed. "Better get moving, don't want to keep them waiting."

They moved deeper into the ship, stopping frequently to neutralise more Alliance crewmen. Marcus thought Hamasa was enjoying it. Emergency power had at least kept the gravity plates working, but the lifts were down so they had been forced to take the emergency ladders down two decks already. Pierce was finding it difficult; she had said nothing, but he could tell she was weakening. Her breathing was becoming more laboured, and his arm ached from having to take more and more of her weight. He dreaded to think what the crew had done to her to get her to talk.

Hamasa led them around another corner, but Pierce whispered at her to stop. "We're coming up on a junction where multiple corridors and lifts converge. If I were setting an ambush, this would be the place."

Sweat dripped down onto his jump suit as he tried to make out any sounds from around the bend. After a minute, he was sure that he could make out weapons fire. He peered down the corridor and saw shadows flickering from the light of weapons fire.

"Who are they fighting?" He whispered to Hamasa.

"Whoever is attacking this ship."

"We don't even know who they are," he hissed back.

"Relax Marcus." She set off down the corridor.

Marcus didn't feel very comforted, but followed her down towards the source of the noise. The flashes of light grew stronger, and the sound of voices shouting came over the tearing sounds that accompanied beam weapons. At the end of the corridor, Hamasa peered round the doorway. "Stay here," she said.

Marcus was about to object, but before he had the chance, Hamasa disappeared. He heard her weapon joining the fray, and before long the flashing and the noise dropped. There was total silence.

Just as he was considering going over himself he heard whispers coming from the junction, but Marcus didn't know who's side they were from. He sat down Pierce, who was almost out of it now, against a wall and levelled the rifle on his shoulder at the opening. He held his breath, waiting for whoever came through.

The shock of Hamasa running towards him almost made him to fire by accident.

"Put that down before you hurt someone." She pushed the barrel down. "It's all right--they're on our side."

"Who are?" Marcus tried to pull Pierce to her feet.

"Us," a woman's voice called out from the darkness in the junction.

Marcus heard two sets of feet running towards him, and Hamasa shone her torch on Pierce. It was hard to make out as the two figures were dressed in black with their faces covered, but he felt the weight of Pierce lifted off him, and the torch light showed the figures supporting her with one arm each while holding a weapon in the other.

"Come on." Hamasa set off. In the junction the torch showed four heavily armed figures, besides the two carrying Pierce.

"Are you Fenig?" The woman who spoke before asked him. There was none of the messing around that Hamasa did.

"How do you know my name?" He realised it was a dumb question after he had said it. Thankfully, the woman didn't bother answering it.

"They're here to get us out, and pick up someone else while we're at it." Hamasa checked over a rifle one of the other figures had handed her.

"Silas," the woman said. "He's a mediator."

"That's right, think it's time we get a bit of revenge." Hamasa cocked her rifle and grinned. "Jenkins, Waller--take Fenig and Pierce to the hopper. If we're not back in 20 minutes, don't go anywhere. You are not leaving me on this ship," she laughed.

"Just don't die," he said, overwhelmed by this new information and out of his depth.

"Believe me, Marcus, there are many people I have to kill before I'll allow myself to die."

Hamasa and three other figures ran off into the darkness. Marcus shook his head, dumbfounded, and followed Jenkins and Waller, who carried Pierce between them. Marcus knew Hamasa had a reputation as the Whisper, but he wasn't sure how four people would be able to could kidnap a mediator.

He started laughing. Some part of his brain knew he was in shock. So much had happened over the last few weeks, and now here he was running for his life in a disabled Alliance warship, being broken out by mystery forces who seemed to know his terrorist of a friend.

The whole situation was ridiculous--it was laugh or cry, and he couldn't give up now. He needed to get home.

Jenkins and Waller set a mean pace, which forced Marcus to jog to keep up. It wasn't far from the hanger now, but he wondered who had heard the gunfight at the junction. Would the Alliance be there waiting for them?

"Wait here." They dumped Pierce on Marcus.

"Wait, where are you going?" But they didn't respond. Thirty seconds later the corridor lit up with the flickering light of beam shots. The screams soon followed.

He didn't know how long it went on for. The hysterical laughter had gone now. Instead he was close to breaking point. That meant he didn't notice the Alliance officer sneaking up on him from behind.

He tried to raise his weapon--

There was a flash of light--

The Alliance officer crumpled in a smoking heap.

"Always watch your back, Marcus," Pierce whispered.

Marcus stared at her. She had a gun in her hand aimed at the officer. "You saved my life."

"Learn the lesson." She closed her eyes again. She was so still he had to check she was breathing. Mercifully, she was.

"Are you two ready?" One of the men had come back--it was too dark to work out which one.

"Yes, sorry." Marcus shook himself. "Give me a hand, will you?"

With the man's help, they made their way into the hanger. Even in the near darkness, Marcus thought it looked like a war zone. The room was littered with bodies that Jenkins and Waller had downed, some still smoldering through the gloom.

Don't look down, focus on the hopper.

They had to watch their step, Marcus tripped more than once, but they did make it to the hopper where the other man stood waiting. The two men strapped Pierce in, and Marcus moved to the hatch to watch for Hamasa and the others. His heart pounded. One of Jenkins and Waller--Marcus still not sure which--came to join him.

Twenty minutes came and went, but Jenkins and Waller stayed true to Hamasa's instructions and didn't move. Finally, flashes of light appeared in the corridor opposite the entrance to the hopper. Moments later, four figures came running around the corridor, one with a bundle over their shoulder--someone hadn't survived.

"Waller get out here," the man who must be Jenkins shouted.

The figures fired as they ran, sending tendrils of light out of their weapons down the corridor towards an unseen foe. Shadows burst into life and danced all around them as the light filled the hanger after each shot. When the people pursing them came into view around the corner of the corridor, Jenkins and Waller started laying down covering fire to give those running a chance to get nearer.

Marcus hoped that it hadn't been Hamasa who hadn't come back. He didn't dare risk firing himself, he'd probably hit their rescuers.

"Power up the damn ship!" Someone called out. Waller did as instructed and went back inside.

A moment later, the woman from earlier ran past Marcus into the hopper and dumped the person shaped lump she had been carrying onto the deck. She returned to help the other fleeing into the vessel, letting off shot after shot at their pursuers.

Marcus almost sagged with relief when he saw Hamasa approach. He stepped forward to help her in, but a hand came out from behind the hopper to grab his neck and pull him back. He let out a strangled cry, which drew Hamasa's attention to him. She snapped her weapon up at whoever was behind Marcus as they pulled him into a tighter grip. He felt the cold metal of a pistol barrel push up against his temple.

"You've got five seconds to let him go Hamasa's voice was ice cold.

"Not until you release whoever is in that body bag it shocked Marcus to hear Ramsey's voice.

"Ramsey, please. I know you don't want to do this!" Marcus half shrieked.

"What's keeping you so long?" The woman stuck her head out, but froze when she saw what was happening outside.

"I'm a little busy," Hamasa said.

"We don't have time! Reinforcements are on their way."

Hamasa swore and fired a beam which hit Ramsey in the side of the head. He dropped to the floor and screamed in pain.

Marcus crawled over to the entrance to the hopper. "You could have killed me!"

She ignored him and walked over to where Ramsey lay screaming on the ground. She raised her rifle--

"Stop!" Marcus ran over.

"Marcus." She took a deep breath. "Get out of my way."

Marcus had his hands out, trying to ward her off like some wild animal. "Please."

The Alliance were almost on top of them now. The smell of ozone in the hanger grew stronger, and the heat of the beams flying just over their heads burnt his scalp. Despite this, it took Hamasa an age to respond. "Fine." She turned around. "Don't understand why you did that Marcus."

"Me neither." With one last look at Ramsey writhing on the floor, he followed Hamasa and jumped onto the hopper and the hatch shut behind them.

Beam hits peppered the hopper, but they rose swiftly and headed out of the Mandrake. For Marcus, Hamasa and Pierce, they were heading out to freedom.