"There is an exit on the south eastern wall," Taya replied, her tone apologetic.

"Sorry there is no video I can get into down here," she added as though she had something to appologize for in not being able to obtain real time imagery from a base in which the strike team was moving through at a run.

"Any one you walk away from," Junebug replied and headed towards the carrot that appeared on her helmet visor, pushing through the thick foliage to reach an armored doorway that formed part of the wall. It slid sideways at her touch and cool filtered air rushed into the tropical enclosure. The trio stepped hastily through into a hallway.

"Turn right the panic room is just around the corner," Taya instructed but Junebug was already moving towards the sound of rushing feet she turned the corner to see a man matching the description from the mission holo rushing towards her, eyes wide with panic. He tried to stop, tripped and pitched onto his face with a painful sounding crack. Junebug leveled her rifle at him as he scrambled to his feet raising his hands. She wondered what sort of filter Gregorious had used to make the man look dangerous. In the flesh he appeared to be a timid academic.

"Please," he begged, "this isn't what you think!" Junebug sighed.

"Yes, that is patently fucking obvious," she observed, then gave the fellow a regretful look.

"However, a deal is a deal."

"Wait! N.." Junebug shot Pradec through the breast bone, droping him to the floor. She said something in the strange hissing tongue of the hex then stepped forward and looked down at the body so that her helmet sensors had a good view of the scientist before putting a second round into his head.

"Well I guess that takes care of that," Neil said, his voice betraying no emotion.

"Neil watch your..." Junebug started to shout and then Neil's world exploded in a flash of white fire.

__________________________

"He should be waking up," a voice sounded on the edge of Neil's consciousness. His eyes cracked open to find himself locked into the medical computer on the Highlander. Sayeeda breathed a sigh of relief to see him coming to. She wasn't wearing her armor, but was instead in her usual combination of a t-shirt and cam pants.

"Was I hit?" Neil asked, noticing that his head was covered in some sort of sticky gel like substance. Junebug looked embarassed.

"Ummm... in a manner of speaking," she admitted. Neil gave her a strange look before the world seemed to go monochrome for a second and Junebug flinched in the familiar discomfort of RIP entry. 

"Wait what? Are we running?" Neil asked, struggling against the restraints of the machine. Junebug laid a comforting hand on his head.

"Give it a minute, the machine has to finish re-oxygenating your blood," she said apologetically. Neil glared at her.

"Ok, explain what the fuck is going on," he demanded. Junebug cleared her throat.

"Well it was technically part of the contract that you marry Indra," she explained. Contracts were very important to mercenaries and Junebug had never gone back on one.

"So I had Saxon hit you over the head while your back was turned," she explained, as though this cleared everything up.

"Right..." Neil prompted.

"I had my sensors pointed at Pradec so I didn't record but when I turned around it looked like, from the video feed, like you had been shot," she explained.

"Saxon carried you out of there and we set off a couple of charges to level the place so there was no chance of anyone finding a body. Taya doctored the feed from my helmet so you had no life signs when we turned it over to Gregorious," she went on.

"So why is my blood being reoxygentated?" he pressed. 

"Ummm... well I couldn't risk them searching or scanning the Highlander and finding you so, I put you in one of the stasis pods and shot you into space," she admitted. Neil could only stare.

"We picked you up right after your funeral," she added as though that made it all better.