“Time’s almost up! Move back to the ship as planned.” she called out to her colleagues and the marines still holding the line. Half of the officers turned around and rushed to the Scythian, forming a line inside. Once they were ready, the other half still holding the line outside, though with great difficulty, started retreating, still facing the crowd, taking long steps backwards all the way to the second line of officers, pushing people away whenever they tried to rush past. As they did, Miranda sent a short update to the director. “Falling back to the ship. Here’s hoping this plan works as intended.” To her relief, she could see riot teams assembling on the other side of the crowd. Now it was up to them to deal with this problem.

The cargo door closed with a hollow thud, sealing away the crowd’s shouting outside. That sudden silence was music to her ears. Miranda took a few seconds to enjoy the relative peace of the moment and started walking around her men, noting any injuries and counting who and how many were present. While she was doing so, she was also looking for someone who looked like they were in charge of the mess that was the cargo bay. When all nine officers were accounted for, she tried to contact the Director again. “Director, this is Nero. We’re all aboard.” she said with relief clearly evident in her voice, “Can you tell me what’s it like outside, if you have the time? And what was that about Dr. Lascelles and the AI?”

[@Catharyn]