Episode 417: Siege, Part Three
Arden, Beglan and Nika scramble down the ladder to the floor where we hopped on. Rina and Joshua slip between the ladder and the wall and hang on to the rungs, facing out. Nika makes sure Kiera, Beglan and Arden are safe in the corridor before she starts looking for a place to hide. There are a couple of doors on either side and when it’s apparent the elevator really is going to land on our floor, she ushers them through the first unlocked door. The sign on the door says Pump Room.
Nika: Get back. Get back, get back.
She’s the last through the door. She shuts it and stands right at it, guarding the others. The room they’re in is a decent sized room, filled with pumps and pipes as big around as a man’s torso and more and they make a spaghetti junction in the rear corner from the door. Some sort of heat exchanger maybe. Kiera immediately worms his way through the pipes to the rear wall. Arden stays at the door with Nika. Beglan speaks up.
Beglan: I assume you want the lights off? For cover.
Nika: Kill’em.
Slap! goes his hand on the switch. Down comes the dark.
Arden: Go hide.
Kiera undergoes a couple of uncomfortable minutes worming through the pipes—some of them are hot to the touch. She’s also feeling around for any loose tools like a wrench or a hammer that she can throw or use as a weapon in addition to the slim knife she hid on her person before leaving our ship. After all, the bad guys are coming and she has no gun. She doesn’t find anything and winds deeper into the maze.
Arden puts his ear to the door to listen to what’s happening outside. He hears the elevator stop and its doors open. A short blare of an alarm, quickly silenced, spikes his hearing. Footsteps fall into the silence that ensues. It sounds like three people and the footsteps are coming closer. One pair of feet stops just outside the pump room door. Nika and Arden ease back.
The door opens and a figure is silhouetted in the light spilling in from the hallway. It’s a man and he hoarsely whispers to his compatriots in the hallway behind him.
Man: It’s dark.
Compatriot: Turn on the lights.
There’s a rustle as the man feels for the light switch next to the door. His fingers find it, flip the switch and flood the room with light.
Arden slams the door in the man’s face. The man takes it square on the nose, grunts, and we hear him fall heavily to the floor on the other side of our door.
Nika: (husks) Weapons.
Kiera’s the only one with anything approaching a weapon and she keeps it to herself. She works her way out of the pipes at this point, reckoning if she wants to be anywhere, it’s going to be near the door where the action is. Beglan, on the other hand, slips deeper into the ductwork and the pipes without a word.
Finding weapons is easier with the lights on—we can see tools lying here and there and Nika grabs up a wrench. Arden picks up a pipe. Kiera draws her knife from its concealed sheath.
In the elevator shaft, Rina and Joshua have survived the elevator’s passage by scant inches and when it comes to a stop at the floor below them, they creep down the ladder and step gingerly onto the elevator’s roof. Rina pulls her pencil torch and shines it around at their feet.
Joshua: (whispering) What are you looking for?
Rina: (whispering back) The maintenance hatch. There’s always a maintenance hatch.
Rina finds the maintenance hatch and levers it carefully open. She reasons if anyone was still inside the elevator, they would have heard them on the roof and shot them already. No bullets means no one’s aboard. She lifts the hatch and immediately ducks back.
Still no bullets.
She drops her cap in to see if there’s a shooter playing possum inside. A shot bangs into the elevator from down the hallway, putting a nasty hole in the rear elevator wall.
Rina starts counting. One bullet spent. Twelve more to go.
Back in the pump room, everyone hears the shot go off.
Kiera: (whispers) Well, that’s one gun shot.
Everything goes quiet and then from the other side of the pump room door a different man’s voice says:
Other Man: I guess this is when we find out how you feel about hostages.
In the elevator shaft, Rina whispers in Joshua’s ear.
Rina: Rats. I was going to yell something to fake them out.
Joshua: The hostages? Or hostages in general?
In the pump room, Nika and Arden and Kiera are puzzling out the same thing.
Nika: Being hostages?
Back in the hallway, the other man speaks again and by the sound of his voice, the crew in the pump room are pretty sure he’s not talking to them but the elevator. It’s also pretty clear he’s the man in charge.
Man in Charge: This is how we discover how you feel about hostages. Mr. Dallas? Do you want to identify yourself?
Another voice, a man’s and somewhat trembling, answers.
Dallas: My name is Roger Dallas. I’m the assistant vice president of operations …
Nika looks at Beglan for confirmation. She gets a nod. Arden very carefully cracks open the pump room door and says through it:
Arden: I was just a visitor here. I’m just trying to stay alive. I’ll come out if you promise not to hurt me.
Man in Charge: Put down any weapons and stand as far away from the door as you can.
Arden drops his pipe through the crack. It hits the floor with a loud clank! Arden kicks it further into the hallway and rolls grittily aside. A burst of bullets hits the door and wooden slivers go flying. Arden jerks back and the door closes on its own.
Arden: Nauuuughhh! I’m not coming out there if you’re going to shoot at me!
Nika eyeballs Arden for damage, sees he’s unhurt, then looks back at Beglan. She gestures at him to come out. Beglan looks very scared.
Nika: (very quietly) Come out.
Beglan: (sighs) All right.
He starts edging out.
Man in Charge: You. In the elevator shaft. Throw down any weapons you have.
Rina pauses. Should she give her gun to Joshua, an adamant non-gun user? If she did give it to him, could he make himself use it? Or would it simply stay in his pocket? Rina can see where this is going—first she’s to give her weapons up, then herself. Better she be on the same floor as her weapons than be separated from them, even if they were being held by a crewmate and lover. Grimacing, she safeties her gun and drops it through the hatch. It makes a loud clunk! as it hits the floor. Everyone can hear the puzzlement in the man’s voice as he continues:
Man in Charge: And …
Rina drops her knife next. Might as well. She knows it’s a given that they’ll search her.
Man in Charge: (expectantly) And?
Her pencil joins the knife and gun. This is just too much for the man in charge and his exasperation is plain.
Man in Charge: Who the hell is up there?
Rina puts a hitch in her voice and no small amount of fear and calls out through the hatch:
Rina: Don’t shoot. Please don’t shoot me! (starts sobbing)
Man in Charge: Just come down.
Rina: O…o-kkay… (more sobbing)
So the twitchy straight-shooter is trying to pull a fast one by playing scared helpless female? Seriously? Joshua just gapes at her. Rina cuts an eyeroll, licks the back of her hand and passes it across her face to simulate hastily dashed tears, and gets her butt down there. She does it clumsily, as if too scared stiff to move properly, and lands in a heap facing the wrong way. She timorously turns around, shoulders hunched, hands up, and tries to bring some tears to the surface.
Rina: Oh, God … ohgod … ohgodohgod …
Man in Charge: Anyone else up there?
Joshua keeps quiet.
Man in Charge: So nobody will object if I shoot this girl?
Rina: No, please … (sobs) … Don’t shoot me … I’m just trying to do my job!
The Man in Charge clearly doesn’t know what to make of her. Neither does anyone else in the hallway. Of course, the man pitches his voice to carry to the crew in the pump room and Arden calls through the closed door.
Arden: I would, but you’d shoot me if I object!
Rina puts a little more desperation in her voice.
Rina: Look, I’m just doing my job. I’m just-just maintenance. (sniffs) Maintenance.
Man in Charge rakes her with a look. She’s got coveralls. She’s grimy. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck …
Man in Charge: All right. Come forward.
Arden: (through the door) Me?
Man in Charge: You in there. Stay in there.
In the pump room, Kiera asks Nika with a look: Why, Nika? Why? Why are you in charge of these circus monkeys? Why? Gauging Nika’s expression, it’s clear the blonde is asking herself the same damned thing. Outside in the hallway, The Man in Charge motions Rina to come closer. She complies, her eyes wide, her hands up, fear in every move she makes, hoping her performance hides the fact that she’s checking the enemy out—height, weight, position, weapons, numbers. There are two of them, in security guard uniforms. The hostage is in a Core-style business suit. The Man in Charge has his gun trained on him. She gets about ten feet away when The Man in Charge raises his hand.
Man in Charge: Stop.
Rina: (very small) Okay.
The two terrorists hold her and their hostage at gunpoint and confer amongst themselves. The man from the elevator eyes Rina up and down.
Elevator Man: I don’t think she’s SWAT.
Rina: (desperate now) Are you kidding?! I’m just an engineer.
Man in Charge: Or security. Possibly like … well everything was shut down. Maybe some service people were trying to … get up the elevator shaft? Well I suppose that’s possible.
Rina: (voice trembling) I was just checking the servo-motors on cars numbers three through seven, I swear. And then everything went … kaflooey. (sniffs wetly)
The men take a couple steps back and The Man in Charge gestures at the pump room door with his gun.
Man in Charge: Why don’t you go join your friends in the other room?
Rina: My what?
Man in Charge: (points again) In there.
He puts his hand on Dallas’s shoulder and Rina cringes, lets all manner of fear cross her face: what’s in that room? Who are these ‘friends’ they’re talking about? More terrorists? Is something awful going to happen to her when they get her alone in there?
Rina: Oh, geez…! (pleading) Oh, c’mon please, I mean, I … (falters)
Man in Charge: Or you can be shot in the hallway. It’s your choice.
Rina: (breathy whine) … Auhhh … okay …. (mournfully) … This is not my day … (sniffs)
Man in Charge: You gonna make your way over there?
Rina nods, thoroughly cowed, puts her hand on the knob and slips inside. She shuts the door and puts her back to it. Whew! She nods to the others and starts scanning the pump room for anything she can use—pipe, tools, chemicals, anything.
Arden pulls his Chempliant round from his bag and Nika can see where this is going.
Nika: Do not. No, do not.
Arden: Do not what?
Nika: Put everything back in the bag.
Arden: Why?
Nika: We’re not going to make so these guys start shooting at us.
Arden: Well, I’m just saying there’s an opportunity.
Nika: We’re better off being out in the group rather than being in a hallway with a bunch’a guys with guns. We have a better chance of dealing with the situation where we are. Presumably herded with the rest of the hostages.
Arden: So we’re giving up to be taken to the rest of the hostages?
Nika: Let’s see what happens. Cuz they’ve got a guy out there they got a gun on.
Arden: That’s why I have it in my hand. (holds up the Chempliant) In case I need it.
Meanwhile, outside in the corridor …
Joshua is staying as quiet as possible, knowing that if he were discovered, there would be a lot of shooting.
The Man in Charge motions to his hostage and Dallas gingerly pushes open the door. He sticks his head in, sees us, and sketches a wave.
Dallas: Uh … hi.
Kiera: (bored) Hi.
Kiera’s lounging against the door frame, just bored of all the shenanigans. Arden’s on the hinge side of the door, Nika’s in front of it. Rina turns around in her circuit of the room at Dallas’s greeting and Beglan stays put at the pipes. The Man in Charge leans in behind Dallas and looks us up and down. He looks more than a bit skeptical.
Man in Charge: So … Who are you?
Kiera: (bored) I’m a doctor. Plastic surgeon by trade. Nice to meet you.
Man in Charge: Why are you in the basement?
Kiera: (still bored) Because I am just a damn unluckiest poor sot you have ever met.
Man in Charge: (askance) All right. (a beat) Everybody out and into the elevator.
Nika gestures for the man to precede her out the door. The rest of us gather to go. Arden hangs back to be the last out, slipping the Chempliant into his bag.
Elevator Man approaches to pick up Rina’s weapons and pencil. Joshua realizes he’ll be discovered easily with the hatch open. But it’s too late to ease it shut and he’s not sure he can make it to the ladder without making noise. He leans back as far from the hatch as possible and the metal underfoot trembles as Elevator Man boards the car. There’s some shuffling as the terrorist moves around picking up this and that. The seconds pass and Joshua gets more and more nervous, winding tighter and tighter. His crew is held at gunpoint down there: his Captain, his friends, his lover. What should he do? Move or stay still? Fight or hide?
Joshua grabs the edge of the hatch and swings down into the elevator, aiming his boots for the terrorist’s head. Elevator Man neatly sidesteps Joshua’s dive. Joshua lands on his feet and they face off.
In the corridor, everyone freezes for a split second and then all hell breaks loose. Rina charges the Man in Charge. He’s right in front of her, only five feet away, and she’s wearing her vest. If he doesn’t go for a head shot, she’s got a good chance of taking him out. Kiera runs for the elevator to tag team the terrorist there with Joshua. Nika is stuck at the back of our little party with Arden and Beglan bringing up the rear—no one there is in a position to get a move on the bad guys … yet.
Kiera: (to Joshua) Damn! I can’t believe you set yourself up to get killed, you moron!
Elevator Man is flummoxed by this sudden turn of the tables and wavers for a second, not sure who to shoot first, Joshua or the crazy, screaming—and smoking hot-looking—redhead running his way. In that instant he loses the initiative. Kiera runs into the elevator and hits the close button: battle contained.
Joshua moves to disarm by grabbing the terrorist’s wrist and slamming it into the wall to make him drop his gun. The man’s gun hand connects with the wall with a stunning crunch. He yelps and drops the gun.
Back in the pump room, Arden still hasn’t cleared the threshold and hearing the fight begin, he grabs the Chempliant from his bag and slams the dose home. The world slows down as the drug speeds Arden up. This is too much for Beglan. He dives for the deck and hunkers down against the wall to present the smallest possible target. Sweet Mary Mother of God, but he’s trapped in a basement with a bunch of freakin’ crazy people.
Rina leads with her fist and slams it into the Man in Charge. He’s tougher than he looks and he manages to stay on his feet. Surprise is no longer an option. She’s made her intentions clear. The man is on guard now and she throws another punch.
Elevator Man moves to pulls something from his inner pocket and not knowing if it’s a grenade or a knife or whatever, Joshua lunges and grapples him.
Nika starts gathering her people to move. She sees Arden dose himself with the Chempliant from the corner of her eye—too late!—and since there’s no stopping whatever Arden’s done to himself, she turns to Beglan. She hauls him to his feet and gives his arm a warning shake, then strides over to get Dallas. She grabs him by the scruff of his neck and pulls him over.
Nika: C’mon, let’s get out of here. C’mon.
Outside, the Man in Charge draws his gun and shoots Rina in the torso. She sees it coming, dodges, and gets hit anyway. Her vest soaks the damage and though she suffers an impact blow to the stomach, she stays on her feet and keeps her fists up. Now’s she’s mad—that bullet put a hole in her favorite pair of coveralls, dammit!
In the elevator, Joshua grapples with his opponent but neither man can get a good hold over the other. Kiera draws her gun and says loud enough to be heard over the fighting.
Kiera: Stop or I will blow your head all over the back of this elevator.
Fully in the grip of the Chempliant, Arden’s vibrating like a hummingbird and just as fast. He darts out into the corridor to assist Rina. He goes for a disarm, grabbing the gun from the Man in Charge. Everything in the Verse is running in slo-mo—Arden is too fast for the man. In a flash, Arden twists the gun out of the terrorist’s hand.
Rina moves in and pounds the terrorist like a tent peg. WHAM! She KOs him in one mean punch. He falls to the floor in a boneless heap and she strips him of weapons and comms.
Kiera’s exclamation, meanwhile, has startled Elevator Man just enough to let Joshua get the drop on him. Joshua nerve pinches the man unconscious.
Kiera: How long is he going to stay out?
Joshua: For a while.
Both terrorists are down. We take stock of what they’re packing. Two submachine guns. Two throat mike comms with earpieces.
Sweet.
Arden dons one of the throat mikes and sticks the earpiece in his ear to listen in on the terrorists’ comm chatter. He goes to the corner of the hallway to check our back quarter. Arden is moving incredibly fast—zip, zip, zip. Joshua and Rina know the score and turn back to the business in front of them. Kiera stares a bit. Nika sees Arden and does not like it one bit. There’s nothing she can do about it. She turns away and checks on Beglan and Dallas.
Nika: Are you okay?
Dallas: (shaken) … Yes, thank you …
Arden’s having some trouble coming down from the drug and being there’s nothing more for him to do, he stands to the side and vibrates in place. Nika gives him a steely look and her tone is a perfect match when she asks him:
Nika: What’s on the radio?
Arden is just vibrating too fast for this to work. He tries to tell her it’s the Chempliant and everyone is moving so slow but his speech only sounds like inarticulate gibberish. Thoroughly hinked, Nika looks back and calls to the elevator.
Nika: Kiera!
Kiera: What?
Kiera sticks her head out and saunters over.
Nika: Uh…. That! (Points at Arden) That—I don’t know what it is and that can’t be good. Joshua. Get the radio and find out what’s going on.
Joshua gets the mike off the man in the elevator and puts the earpiece in his ear as Kiera looks where Nika’s pointing, sees, and does a double-take.
Kiera: What?
Joshua: (from the elevator) He’s Chempliant.
Kiera: What? Oh. (disgusted) Well, hell.
And she turns around for the elevator again and Joshua calls out to her.
Joshua: Which one do you want? Do you want an explanation or the radio?
Nika: (interjecting) Radio now! Explanation later.
Joshua: Yes, ma’am.
Kiera cuts an eyeroll and draws her gun.
Kiera: I’m gonna put a bullet in his head, Goddammit. I’m just tired of that. Not in the mood to deal with this today …
And BLAM! she shoots Elevator Man in the head. Close range. Blood and brains spatter everywhere.
Nika whips around at the sound: what the—!? Inside the elevator, Joshua jumps out of his skin at the sound of the blast and spins around, too. And is completely creeped out as Kiera starts laughing.
Joshua: What in the gorram he—
Kiera: (laughs) Problem solved.
Nika marches over and takes the gun away from Kiera: give me that! She pins Joshua with a look that flays the skin off him.
Nika: You and I are having words.
Joshua: But s—
Nika: Do it! Get on the radio.
Joshua: She’s shot a goddamn hole in the elevator shaft, like—!
Nika: Get on the radio.
Rina: (quoting) ‘No wait! They’ll hear!’
Nika: It’s too late now. (sighs at the bloody mess) Jesus Fuckin’ Christ …
So much for a quiet getaway.
Joshua listens to the dead air coming over his earpiece and a few seconds later, he hears someone say:
Voice: Ivan? Boris?
Joshua has heard Elevator Man and the Man in Charge speak, and so is able to mimic their voices. He motions everyone to be quiet, keys his throat mike live, and answers the hail.
Joshua: Yes?
Voice: You didn’t check in. What’s up?
Joshua: Some sorta … I’m not sure what the hell they were. Some sort of tourist group. They weren’t very clear in explaining themselves. We’re gonna bring them up and add’em to the hostage pool. (a beat) Unless you want me to shoot’em.
Voice: That’s probably a good idea. I’ll radio Fann you’re not going to see him.
Joshua: All right. (silences mike) Jesus Christ …
Joshua tells Nika the news: they know we’re here and they’re expecting us to show up with hostages in tow. The clock is ticking. Nika turns to Dallas.
Nika: Mr. Dallas. What can you tell us about what’s going on upstairs?
Dallas: They’re some sorta terrorists. They said they were the … Lex something-or-others—
Nika: Yeah, I got that. We know that they’re after a list of people.
Dallas: That’s what they said, yeah. And there’s some of them are up there and then there’s some other people doing something else. I don’t know what—maybe they’re setting bombs or something like that? They wouldn’t tell us what they were up to.
Nika: How many people do they have?
Dallas: Total? I don’t know.
Joshua: How many people are upstairs?
Nika: How many hostages are they holding?
Dallas: I think that there’s four upstairs.
While this is going on, Arden’s coming down off the Chempliant and is throwing up off to the side. Rina stays busy by searching the terrorists we either killed or overpowered. There are no gang tattoos on them that she can see. Aside from the weapons we’ve already taken off them, Rina finds a couple of flash bangs and, a butterfly knife. Nika hears the sound of Arden retching and stares at him for a moment.
Joshua: Do you want me to—?
Nika: Later.
Joshua: Okay.
Nika: I am distinctly unhappy.
Joshua: With me or with him? (points to Arden)
Nika: Yes. Do you got something on you that you want to talk about? (a beat) We’ll talk about this later.
Joshua: Yes, ma’am.
Joshua goes over to Arden.
Joshua: Somehow you managed to get me into trouble.
Arden: (spitting) How did I get you into trouble? (barf!)
Nika’s still questioning Dallas.
Nika: Dallas, did the terrorists bring you down here as a matter of course in case they ran into someone or were they expecting to run into someone?
Dallas: There’s some kind of fire alarm or something like that, so they brought me down here to help check it out. I think I was basically a shield.
Nika: All right. (looks daggers at Rina) So yeah. Thanks, Rina.
Rina: (unfazed) Now we’ve got more weapons.
Arden: Let me point out something while I’ve caught my breath here. Marshal guy down here doesn’t have a tattoo.
And this is important how?
Nika: Do all of them have tattoos?
Arden: What I’m saying is either they’re hired muscle or these guys are trying to use a known terrorist organization to cover up whatever it is they’re doing.
Rina: Yeah, like corporate-sponsored terrorists posing as Reavers.
Arden: Like that would ever happen.
Nika: Boys and girls, does it matter. The point is that right now we gotta get the hell outta here.
Arden: I thought it was to rescue the hostages upstairs.
Nika: (hissing) Shiiiiiii ….
Arden: Well, that’s what I thought it was!
Beglan: Well that was a reasonable assumption.
Nika: And that was the original intent …
Arden turns to Kiera.
Arden: Why did you kill the guy?
Rina: So we don’t have someone coming at us from the back when they get free of whatever stuff we tie them up with. I say we handcuff this sucker to the pipes over there.
Rina nudges the unconscious terrorist with her booted toe and hooks her thumb at the pipe room.
Arden: Well, let’s just kill him in that case.
Joshua: (appalled) Shut up!
Arden: No, I’m being sarcastic.
Joshua: No, you don’t—(points to Rina) Does she understand sarcasm?
Arden: I thought she did.
Joshua: No! No, she doesn’t. Does she understand sarcasm when it comes to killing people?
Nika: Stop. Stop now. We do not have time for this.
Joshua: I agree. Let’s get moving and let’s not kill him.
Dallas: Is he … is he dead?
Rina: Not yet.
Arden: The one in the elevator is.
Kiera looks at Rina with a wry lift of an eyebrow.
Kiera: I gotta knife. Wanna borrow it?
Rina: I was thinking of just—
Arden: (to Kiera) Just get away. I’m tying him up.
Nika: (barking) Guys!
We all freeze.
Nika: Stop, now.
Dallas: I know they’ve killed but … uhhh.
Nika: Mr. Dallas. How far up can this elevator take us without running into their guys? They brought you down from the hostage pool, right? Did they take everyone in the building to the same area?
Dallas: Uhh, I don’t know. I don’t think so. They locked off a bunch of areas.
Nika: From this elevator, where can we go in the building to give us the quickest exit route?
Dallas: Well, to the … to the ground floor.
Nika: And that will take us straight to the space port.
Dallas: You want to go to the space port?
Nika: Any egress route.
Dallas: Well from this floor you can get to the space port. You go through there, there’s a, a helium processing unit and then if you go to the—I think it’s to the left—
Nika: We can’t go that way.
It’s the way we came.
Dallas: Well that was the quickest way.
Nika: That way is blocked. All right, in any case we don’t have to get to the space port. We just have to get you out of the building.
Dallas: I know that the …the front of the building, they’ve sealed off. They put some kind of bomb, some kind of incendiary bombs on the front doors. I don’t know if we can get out that way.
Nika: Are there other exit routes on the main level?
Dallas: Main level … uh …
Nika: On any level?
Dallas: There’s a back door. I don’t know if they put stuff on the back door or not. And there’s a couple of doors to the throughways, they may have—they probably would if they were trying to keep people from storming the building. It wouldn’t be just to the doors. So probably all the ground floor ones are busted. I imagine they would put something on the gangways to the other buildings. I don’t know. I didn’t see what they were doing.
Nika: Are there any exits out of the building that upper management is aware of that the staff don’t necessarily use? Places that they will be able to avoid the reporters or whatever might go on?
Dallas: I don’t think that there’d be …
Nika: Emergency exit routes?
Dallas: I don’t think there’s anything like that. I’m not … It’s not an executive elevator, but they shut down all the other elevators but this one.
Arden walks up carrying the submachine gun off the terrorist.
Arden: Do you want to leave?
Nika: We already have two people here that need to get out of this building. Yes. I want to leave.
Arden: Why?
Nika: (fed up) What precisely do you want to do?
Arden: I thought the goal was to rescue the rest of the hostages.
Nika: Were you or were you not bitching about that?
Arden: I … was but I don’t think that the fact we have more resources than we … did before makes it … less …
He falters under Nika’s fierce stare and Rina interjects.
Rina: No, no. Two flash bangs and a submachine gun do not a SWAT team make.
Arden: We have two submachine guns—
Nika: (firmly) We are not standing here having a debate. We are not—
Arden: It’s not a debate.
Nika: We are not standing here having a committee meeting.
Rina: We’re evaccing. C’mon, let’s go.
Arden: I just … want to be consistent. Last I heard we were—
Nika: Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. We’re getting the hell out of here.
Rina: It’s not just our lives anymore, it’s two hostages. Let’s go.
Arden sputters, refusing to move.
Joshua: Phrase it as ‘It’s an order’.
Arden: That’s fine. I have no problem with orders. It’s just—.
Beglan: So where are we going then? If all the doors are blocked with these bombs, then where are we going?
Rina: Out the window.
Arden: (sourly) The windows aren’t breakable, most likely.
Beglan: Oh, well, everything’s breakable if you apply enough force.
Arden: Oh right, yeah.
Joshua:' (whispers to Rina) Says the engineer.
Beglan: It might be—I don’t know if a submachine gun would be able to break them.
Joshua’s throat mike breeps and he hears a voice over his earpiece.
Voice: Boris?
Joshua: Yeah.
Voice: Well, where are you?
Joshua: Sorry. Ran into some difficulties. Shortly. Can’t talk now. Sorry.
Voice: All right.
Rina checks her watch, shakes her head.
Rina: (quietly) We need to get the fuck out of here, now.
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