Phineas, a bit surprised by the whole turn of events, hurried to the two soldiers and grabbed their pistols. He stuffed them into the bag, along with all of the other objects that had been dumped onto the sand. He slung the bag over his shoulder and looked to the rugged vehicle that the soldiers had arrived in. It seemed to be a rover of some sort, built for the harsh dunes of the desert. The wheels were large and textured. 

"Can't be that hard," he said, looking back at Eliza. "I don't see that I have much of a choice." He glanced over his shoulder at Zanzik. The small outpost was barely a mile away. The soldiers would survive, although he wasn't sure that was the most desirable outcome.

"Let's move it, then," he said, and climbed into the driver's seat. The console was rather alien to him, but the arrangement of the various levers and dials seemed familiar enough. He pulled a bar to the right of the wheel and the engine sputtered to life.

"That's more like it," he said to himself.