Episode 2 Aside 4: The Exit

[Lawman Smith]

Lawman Smith was surprised when he heard the girl behind them confess to killing them all.

She was just a bitty thing. How was that even possible? He was inclined to lean towards both of them being in league together. Apparently so did the Major.

He cringed inwardly as the Major cuffed her and drug her to her feet a little more roughly than he needed to. He wasn't sure if he wouldn't have done the same thing if he was in the Major's position.

"I'll take both of them back to the Albright and get this all sorted out. One, or maybe both, of them killed my brother. Right now, my theory is going towards the 'both' side of things. There's no way one of the girls alone got the drop on him enough to kill him."

Hell, if it was him and the girl accused his brother of such a heinous crime and then killed him, he might just have to save the taxpayers a little money and handle things right there.

But the Major was keeping his feelings pretty much in check, well except for the time he slugged the dark haired girl. That made him feel a bit of admiration for the man.

Like he said... he didn't think he could be so controlled at the moment if he was in his shoes.

"Let's go," "Read them their rights, Lawman."

"I agree, we should get going. They have crew around these parts somewheres. I don't want to end up on the wrong end of a rifle," Lawman Smith mentioned. As they started to walk away, he began reading them their rights. "You both are hereby bound by law..."

[Ariel Duquesne]

"Get flat on the ground and put your hands out above your head," "You have another set of cuffs?"

Ari did what he asked, not feeling exactly comfortable about being cuffed, but she would do what she had to if it got Amber clear.

Snake's brother confirmed her opinion of Alliance Soldiers when he purposefully put his knee and nearly all his weight on her back while he pulled her arms back and cuffed her.

Then it solidified even more when he jerked her to her feet by her arms.

Hun dan... she thought.

"You best be thinking about your story, little girl," "My brother isn't a rapist. My brother was a fine soldier. I won't have you tarnishing his good name. Dong ma?"

Ari wondered if the Major even knew his brother. She could tell by how the three of them worked that raping her was not the first time they ever did it. They've raped before. Probably at a good number of places.

"I'm just gonna tell the truth," she whispered as she eyed Amber.

Now they should cut her loose. After all, she'd confessed. And she needed Amber to alert the others.

"I'll take both of them back to the Albright and get this all sorted out. One, or maybe both, of them killed my brother. Right now, my theory is going towards the 'both' side of things. There's no way one of the girls alone got the drop on him enough to kill him."

"Wha?" Ari started. "No! I confessed! Let her go!"

They didn't even listen to her. She looked at Amber.

"I'm sorry," she mouthed.

She thought for sure that they'd let Amber go.

"Let's go," "Read them their rights, Lawman."

"I agree, we should get going. They have crew around these parts somewheres. I don't want to end up on the wrong end of a rifle,"

They were moving them away from their place. How would she get word to Reno, Sergei, Darren and the others now? How will they get help?

"You both are hereby bound by law..."

Ari berated herself. She had really screwed up. She should have stayed in the cave, but she had to get away. She needed air. She couldn't breathe.

Now look where she'd got them stuck at...

Bound by law for murder and with no way to get word to the others to tell them where they were.

They would have to make some kind of escape themselves. She just didn't know how quite yet.

She just really, really hated that her confession didn't have the desired result.

[Skyelar]

Skyelar saw the arrest taking place and went wide-eyed, he was at a notable distance but abandoned his cover and bolted. He ran with the alacrity of a young child, unencumbered by the substantial body of an adult.

Sky Zipped back to where the rest of the crew were waiting, but didn't signal or call ahead, he just burst into the space by the cave, panting and red in the face. He looked back and forth between captain and strong man for a moment, straining to decide who to tell before blurting out "There's trouble, they're in trouble, They're getting in trouble. A law man." he said, turning his head back and forth to speak to both of them, not really managing to speak to either with much effect other than to warn of the peril the women were in.

[Amber Kynes]

Amber growled softly at the way Satan's Minion was treating Ari. If Smith hadn't had a hold on her already thanks to the cuffs, she wasn't sure she could have kept herself from defending Ari, or at least trying to defend her. Things went from bad to worse at the name of the ship. That was the last place Amber thought they should be, all things considered.

Ari's whisper drew a slight nod from Amber, but she didn't dare risk a verbal reply under the circumstances.

When they were forced to start moving, Amber went without a fuss. She knew she and Ari had delayed as long as possible. All she could do now was hope the rest of the crew had figured out something was wrong and was devising a rescue or escape plan.

Amber could only imagine the things they would do or try to do to her and Ari. One thing was for sure though, Amber wasn't ratting out her crew even if it killed her. And she could only hope that the hundans on the ship wouldn't think to try to take advantage of her and Ari while they were there... but if they did Amber at least wouldn't let them touch her like that without a fight.

"Don't be. You tried your best" Amber mouthed back, taking care that no sound passed her lips. At least they would be together right? Well, sort of. If the Cortex vids were to be believed, they wouldn't likely be in the same cell or even close. They wouldn't want the two of them to collaborate and get a story coordinated. But on the other hand they might be put together in an area with a hidden mic, in hopes they would rat on themselves by trying to work out a story. It could really go either way.

[Sergei Romanov]

"There's trouble, they're in trouble, They're getting in trouble. A law man."

Sergei swore a string of cuss words that would have made the most hardened criminal blush.

"We gotta go get them," he said resolutely. "I'm not losing anyone else."

He thought of Ari; she'd been through so much. But then there was Amber...

The thought of them purplebellies taking her into custody nearly made his heart stop.

He stood up and then sat heavily back down. He was willing to go and get them, but his body wasn't able. He looked down at his arm and the meager bandage was completely soaked.

"Gorramit!" he exclaimed.

He looked around at those who stood there. He was wounded and losing blood quickly. Reno was unconcious. Hicks had fell silent and who knows what was going on with him. Skyelar was hardly the fighter and wouldn't know how to get the girls out even if he tried.

That left Darren.

"Darren?" Sergei asked. "Looks like it is up to you. Can you get the girls back? Or do we..."

Sergei set his jaw and swallowed hard. He didn't want to say it.

"Do we let them..."

God, just the thought of it was horrible. It was even harder to say it out loud.

"Do we let them go?" he choked out.

He looked at Darren and from a tactical standpoint, Sergei knew that if the man was smart, Darren would know what needed to be done.

"At least for now."

God... This sucked.

[Darren Roberts]

The Cave

"There's trouble, they're in trouble, They're getting in trouble. A law man."

"Go-se!" growled Darren under his breath after hearing the news that the women were in trouble. It was drowned out by Sergei's swearing of course so he doubted anyone heard him.

"Darren?""Looks like it is up to you. Can you get the girls back? Or do we...""Do we let them...""Do we let them go?""At least for now."

"We don't have much choice, Sergei." replied Darren as he let out a sigh. "There ain't enough manpower to launch a rescue mission at this time. We should regroup and focus on gettin' the ship back first. If and when we can pull that off, get that wound of yours fixed up, and Reno regains consciousness, then we get them back."

[The Gypsy Traveler]

Unhappy as they all were, the crew was forced to split ways. It was just not feasible to launch a rescue mission. Reno was out cold. Hicks was withdrawn from the group. Sergei was losing blood fast. Skyelar was not a fighter. That only left Darren and one Darren v. a whole boat load of Alliance soldiers just wasn't going to do it.

Amber and Ari were on their own.

The next episode will start about 2 weeks after the Kerry job. We'll start shortly.

YIPPEE!!