A series of possible futures cascaded through Sayeeda's mind none of them particularly promising. She glanced down at her snarling prisoner and rubbed her chin where the woman's right hook had collected her. Whatever else the Gendarme was she wasn't kidding about hand to hand.

"Ok, Captain ... whatever your name is, I know this looks bad but we were sent her under false pretenses," Sayeeda tried. Fire kindled up in Nia's eyes.

"Listen Bitch, I don't care who you are, or why you came here but I swear by the stars Ill see that you both spend the rest of your miserable lives in a small black box!" The two mercenaries exhanged glances. The thundering of feet were coming closer and there wasn't any more time to discuss the matter.

"Do you hear me! You will break rocks till your old and gray and if any of my men have been UMPPH!" Nia's worlds choked off as Junebug affixed a piece of tape over the other womans mouth. Nia's eyes bulged with fury but there was nothing she could do. With a professional jerk Junebug pulled the police captain to her feet.

"For the record," she said to Neil, "This isn't a great plan." She hefted her sub machine gun in one hand and gathered her wits.

"Captain, you don't have to beleive me but this isn't personal, some asshole calling himself Cheng sent me here claiming you were his kidnapped wife. My guess is he hoped I would take you out, but that isn't going to happen."  The submachine gun stuttered a short defening burst through the door, splintering the plastic in a shower of plastic fragments. Out in the hallway she heard yells of alarm.

"I don't want to kill any of your men, ok, this isn't our fight, but if you force my hand I'll do what I have to."

Pushing Nia in front of her she stepped out into the hallway. A half dozen men, half dressed in battle armor and all carying pistols looked at her in shock.

"Put the weapon down and get on the floor!" a grizzled looking cop shouted. Junebug reached down and pulled a grenade from her belt and thumbed the activation switch. A spiteful red led ignited but she didn't release the arming toggle. The police shouted for a few moments more but there was an undertone of panic now. Nia, with a live grenade now a few inches from her head, stilled noticeably. Sayeeda stood still and said nothing until the threats and demands petered out, an awkward standoff developing between the two parties.

"Ok," she said pleasantly.

"I don't have any desire to blow myself, your boss, my friend and an indterminate number of you into paste," she explained, waggling the grenade for empahasis.

"But I am going to need you to back off, I promise I will let your boss go as soon as my friend and I get clear of the station." Sayeeda risked a glance back at Neil.

"Any chance you know  your way to whatever they are using as a hangar, Stars save us if there aren't any ships."

[@POOHEAD189]