Jack was about to answer the Chief when he felt a tremor and Miranda Nero was no longer paying attention to him, but was speaking on her comms with someone. He decided the moment was good enough to speak with his teammates.

	"Did you get all that, Searg?" He asked Mel.

	"Loud and clear, Jack." Melissa answered over the comms. "Sadly I'm fresh out of ideas as well, so for now we'll go with that plan." She continued.

	"Searg..." BB interjected. "There are injured people here. We can't leave them outside with the mob!"

	Mel considered. It wasn't her ship and it wasn't her command. Any one of those injured people could be one of the rioters.

	"BB's right." Ro spoke out. "We can't leave the injured outside. We check them for weapons. Make sure they are no threat and we move them to the inside of the ship."

	"You heard the Protector, boys. Check for weapons, assess threat level and start moving them inside the ship. Don't let anyone suspicious aboard. Use your better judgement!"

	"Yes, Searg!" Jack and BB answered in unison.

	"Jack, I've got at least five people with minor injuries stowed behind crates and whatnot." BB materialized next to his friend. "Don't know if that damn sniper is still there or not, but he or she seems to have stopped taking pot shots at us for now at least."

	"Let's use it then." Jack said and the two of them got busy with their orders.

	"What are you thinking?" Mel asked Ro. The Noxaara's face was hidden behind her SEEM so there were no facial expressions to allude to Vokeera's state of mind. But Melissa knew her friend too well. Something was troubling the Protector.

	"As soon as the rest of the crowd sees we are moving people inside the ship, they are going to try to storm in." Was the concern Ro voiced out to Mel.

	"So we need to be quick." Mel stated. "We slip them past behind the line of marines. And then we help them hold the fort until the ramp closes."

	"Okay, let's get this one in and than help with the rioting mob." Ro suggested.

	Between Vok and Mel they managed to drag surreptitiously the injured unconscious woman near the entrance of the ship and deposited her inside. "Please, help her." Ro asked one of the sailors hiding within the ship's unloading ramp. Then the Protector turned to Mel. "You go help Jack and BB."

	"What are you going to do?" Mel asked a suspicious and oddly protective look on her face. This behavior wasn't all that strange for her. Ever since Ro got hurt getting her, Jack and BB out of the toxic plumes, Mel'd been extremely protective of Vokeera. But after she'd learned the actual toll it had taken Ro, she had become even more fierce in her protectiveness. "I won't push, I promised." The Noxaara assured. "I'm going to help the marines hold the line, since I'm made of sturdier stuff." She tapped her chest shell.

	"Just be careful, okay." Mel urged.

	"Hey, what is this?" Ro asked gently. "I know we are friends and we care for each other. I don't want to see either one of you three hurt, but you've been extra sensitive about it ever since I told you about me and my new limitations." Vokeera paused. "Don't you trust me to not take excessive risk?"

	"It's not that!" Mel defended vehemently, grasping Ro by the wrists. She cursed Ro's SEEM for the first time since she'd known the Noxaara, for not being able to look into Vokeera's eyes. [i]Did she even have eyes? What would they look like?[/i] "It's just... I just..." She stuttered unable to finish, to voice... [i]Voice what? Really. Why was she acting like this? Why did she froze in panic each time she thought harm might come to Ro?[/i] "I trust you." She mumbled defeated. "Go." She said, releasing Ro's wrists and stepping back.

	Vokeera nodded and watched Mel carefully make her way to where Jack and BB were. And then it hit home! Why Mel'd started acting the way she did. [i]But... No... It can't be. I mean, I'm...[/i] Ro was brought out of the jumbled thoughts by the shouts and grunts of the mob, pushing and pulling for position on the unloading ramp. The Protector shoved back the bewildering thought and focused on the problem at hand. They had injured people to take into safety, a hungry mob to hold at bay and they had probably less than ten minutes to get their behinds in that ship and wait for the riot to die down.

	The Noxaara slowly started approaching the quivering mass of human flesh. The SEEM providing ample protection against jabbing elbows. People pushed against Vokeera fiercely, but to no avail. Ro dissuaded their attempts to jump the line with gentle yet firm movements. The Protector noticed the huge Veroxian staring intently at something or maybe someone within the crowd. A hostile?

	"Get ready to pull back, boys." Vok said to the marines and sailors forming a line between the rioting crowd and the inside of the ship. The fierce looking Veroxian was still staring daggers within the crowd. "If you want to help, give us a hand with holding the line." Ro shouted at him.

	"Ro, we've moved all the injured people within the ship. There's a doctor there so they'll be taken care of." Mel's voice buzzed in Vok's ear, causing a sudden unexpected pulse increase. "We'll start to move the rest of the loading party inside now. Hold the line till they're all in."

	"Roger." Vokeera said, unwilling to analyze at this particular moment the tingle caused by hearing Mel's voice.

[@drallinix][@Fury Panda]