Episode 2: Catch a Tiger By The Toe

[Melody]

Location: Revenge Bridge

Arms crossed over her chest, feet crossed at the ankles, and fingers crossed from where they were hidden in the crook of her elbows. Even her emotions were crossed. She was proud of her crew, upset that it was once again her crew, and feeling some weird soft feeling in her heart about what Jo had said to her before. She wasn't sure she liked that and was feeling jealous of Izak and Holger's thrilling adventure on the other ship. She sighed and reached forward to press the buttons Jo had set up for her that allowed her to see the cameras on the ship. This time, she opened up the cargo bay's feed, then moved to the airlock. She couldn't see very far into the other ship this way, but she could see the goop seeping across the threshold into their own airlock and saw the flash of gunfire. "Looks like you were successful," she told Jo with a smirk.

Right on cue, the moron on the other ship hailed them, and her smile couldn't have gotten any bigger. "Which one of you assholes just slimed me?" he asked.

"Would you prefer we find a different method of getting you out of there?" she asked him, tilting her head to the side and raising a brow. "I mean, blasting a hole in that-" her finger pointed sharply toward his ship and the general direction of his front view port, "-would get you out of the ship. Not too sure about your survival rate then, though. We do have a doctor on board, maybe she could bring you back. How long do people usually last with boiling blood?" she asked Jo over her shoulder. "Should I call the Doctor up here to find out?" she continued, reaching up to press the button for the comms in the med-bay. "Hey, Doc. How long you think a person could last with their blood boiling in their veins? That's something you can fix, right?" Sarcasm dripped like oil over her words, although her smile remained.

[Missy Etheridge]

Missy jerked to attention when the comms crackled, interrupting an intense debate over whether her extra scissors should be organized by blade length or total length. She braced herself for another medical emergency, but then grinned when she recognized Melody's tone and realized she was only using Missy to mess with someone. Missy was almost beginning to like her - she'd never admit it, of course, and she certainly wouldn't be openly smiling right now if there were anyone else to see, but the grumpy captain did have a way of growing on a person, as long as her ire stayed firmly directed elsewhere.

Like at whomever was being threatened with boiling blood.

Missy took a second to clear her throat and compose her features, making sure her tone was perfectly neutral and business-like before holding down the answering button. "Approximately fifteen seconds of intense pain before unconsciousness sets in, Captain, then perhaps another minute at most until the blood completely evaporates, assuming it doesn't freeze first," she answered briskly. "If they're exposed for less than thirty seconds, I can treat them for depressurization, but it will take several hours before the swelling subsides, and of course, the UV burns will take much longer to heal. The neurological damage may be permanent, however."

She paused another moment to let that soak in, then added with sunny cheer, "Shall I ready the surgery table?"

[Joakim Soong]

Location: Revenge Bridge

"Thanks. You know, for the... emotional go se, or whatever..."

Jo flashed her an awkward, somewhat tight-lipped but warm smile in response, then turned his attention to the console in front of him. By the time she gave him the go-ahead, he was ready to jump right in, executing the piece of code he'd tweaked while they'd been in the process of docking. Then he sat back and waited.

It worked, if not exactly as Melody had envisioned out loud. She seemed pleased anyway. "Looks like you were successful."

Jo responded to her smirk with a bashful yet proud smile, a smile which faded when she started trash-talking their collaborator and turned into a frown when the doctor joined in with her trademark preppy passive-aggression. For a moment the two very different women seemed to fall in tune with each other, forming a kind of a grotesque mean girl chimera that brought back memories from high school.

"You do remember we're on the same side as this guy, right?" he interjected, quirking a disapproving brow at Mel.

[William Breene]

"Cāo wǒ! Gahh.... This is like my bar mitzvah all over again."

Still on the line with the crew of Revenge, now on a vid screen, he was the picture of frustration and misery. He wiped a handful of the goop off his face and threw it on the ground. Then spit out a small bit that had gotten in his mouth. He waved his hand in front of his face and when his hand pulled away back down to his side, he'd plastered a forced smile on his face.

"Breathing... in... and out... visualize petting a cat... a big fat purr-box... oh he loves the treats..."

His eyes drifted off slightly. The celtic corsair snapped back to reality after a second and was now seemingly centered momentarily. The relaxation techniques from his therapist had helped in the past, and also helped just make people uncomfortable as he said the stuff you were supposed to just meditate on in your own mind out loud.

"Well since my options are various shades of death or finding salvation whilst highly lubricated... I guess I choose lubrication! Do give me a buzz once you guys have fought your way to the cockpit. Knock 'pappa oscar oscar papa' in morse code... or I don't know just say 'Hey dickhead!' and I'll come join you guys and show you to my booty..."

Willy looked up and to the right slightly questioning his wording about the booty. But they were all pirates now. The ex-con now having fully broken bad grinned at the camera.

"Yarr!"

Then disconnected the transmission. He sniffed the air a couple of times.

"Who the hell is making popcorn at a time like this?!!"

He eyed the security cameras monitoring key points on the ship. Breene was hoping he could lend the boarding team some aid, and at least give them a head's up as to what danger was headed his way. The surviving mutineers watching the docking bay were starting to fall back. But they didn't look too shaken yet.

The former XO buzzed over the Atkinson's internal PA system again with a tip for Holger and Izak.

"We've got a security compliment of about five men left plus a mechanic who I'm pretty sure tortures small animals, so this is p-r-o-b-a-b-l-y a trap."

"For the love of god SHUT UP BREENE!!!

Down the hall the large and normal sized boarder would have then heard echoes of another burst of gunfire knocking out another PA speaker. There were many more.

[HumanHyperbole]

After taking two losses and the fire suppressant coating the whole of the Atkinson, the two remaining mutineers ran back. One fired wildly over his shoulder as he ran, every round in his clip ricocheting off the steel hulled walls.

There were five fighters and one ill tempered mechanic left resisting. They had hushed their voices as they barked commands at each other. The tension of the siege already getting to them, they were all talking over each other.

"No you go over-"

"I CAN'T THEY'LL SEE ME THERE YOU MORON!!!"

Amidst the shouting there was the sound of a scuffle breaking out. The distinctive "thud" of fists smashing into a face could nearly be felt all the way down the hall. Or was this the trap? Several footsteps could be heard of at two or three of them retreating even further as the first person approaches.

[Holger Heyerdahl]

Perhaps Holger had been wrong about Izak all along? That seemed unlikely, but Holger was impressed that the skinny man at least knew proper close-quarters techniques for boarding an enemy ship. They most likely would forever disagree about most things, but Holger estimated a person by their ability to fight, and this lifted Izak in his eyes by a healthy measure. No time for sentimentality, however. Holger sprung out of his cover and moved to the next way point before ducking down again. He took a few pop shots at the retreating crew but he didn't think he got them before they disappeared down the corridor.

"These are not warriors, Izak." He said, checking for more signs of combat before nodding to his comrade that it was safe to move to the next position. "This will not be long." His teeth appeared in a vibrant grin. Holger was finally in his element.

The sounds of fighting reached his ears once the din of fire-fighting ceased. Holger frowned as he tried to discern what it was. He did a bit of mental math: he and Izak were still in this part of the corridor and the sounds of the scuffle were coming from that part of the corridor, there was no way that he or Izak were involved in the fighting. But then who had they been shooting at? Was the enemy fighting themselves? Itselves? Who was fighting who? Whom? Whomst? Holger was confusing himself. Best to shoot them all and figure it out later.

Holger peeked to get a better look at what was going on and saw a scrum of men in matching overalls with badges that matched the corporate logo that was painted all over the ship fighting with each other. "Okay." He said, before flipping his rifle to full-automatic, popping out of cover, and spraying the lot of them down with bullets. The clip was gone in seconds and he looked back at Izak as he reloaded. "See? This was not long."

[HumanHyperbole]

Their argument interrupted by a cacophonous wave of automatic fire, each man sprawled out almost comically as they took the majority of the hits to their torsos, but a couple of rounds hit each of their legs as the burst of fire went on longer and sent them crumbling to the ground. There was surprisingly little blood, and the men started squirming, and writhing from their numerous injuries right away.

"Aggghhh!! I told you, Nǐ zhège báichī. Wǒ huì zàicì zǒulù shí yào shāle nǐ..."

Just a few feet behind, the steel plated floor buckled for a second and there was a clearly audible:

CLANG!

Then the light sound of metal scraping, and bolts being removed, from under the floor.

"This trap sucks..."

These low rent security guys weren't the smartest knives in the drawer but somebody was pulling their strings, trying to turn the tables on their boarders. Whichever one of the mutineers was banging on that floor panel from beneath was probably counting on catching Holger and Izak by surprise. But the steel plates over the crawl space in the floor were installed a little too well.

[Izak Archer]

A sailor and a marine were two very different things. They also had different skillsets. While Izak certain knew how to board a ship, running down the hallway with a semi-automatic weapon against multiple opponents was not something that he was well versed in. A narrow corridor, sure, but this was a little more open than he had been used to.

But as planned, Holger came in for step three of the plan. Experience won the day...along with a hail of bullets.

Izak stood up net to Holger. "Alright, note to self," he said, "I'm grabbing one of those rifles next time we do this." He surveyed the now dead hired help. Something seemed off.

"Wait," he said. "Holger, do you hear that?"

[Holger Heyerdahl]

Holger did hear that. "Shush!" He commanded the men he'd shot but not killed as they whined about the wounds he'd inflicted upon them. They didn't listen, but it didn't matter. Holger found the source of the noise. Behind them, mere steps from where they stood, one of the floor plates popped and not-so-hushed voices emanated from beneath. Holger had to smile at their gaul. It reminded him of a time in the war when he and his unit had covered a trench with sticks and leaves and laid in wait for the enemy. They had not chosen their position well and, after four days, they exited their trap only to find the Alliance had parked a tank not 100-yards from where they'd dug in.

This time was different. This time, Holger was the tank. Or at least something heavy.

"Izak. You finish those ones." He briefly indicated in the general direction of the men he'd already shot. "I will be right back." Without further hesitation, Holger jumped with all of his might on top of the floor plate in question and crashed through with a resounding CLANG BONG POP WOMP. Holger landed on top of the fallen plate, on his ass, his legs spread wide and his gun ready to shoot anyone he saw in the tunnel below.

[Melody]

Location: Revenge Bridge

"Breathing... in... and out... visualize petting a cat... a big fat purr-box... oh he loves the treats..."

Melody sat still in her seat, turning her head very slowly to shoot Jo a look, her brows furrowed and the bridge of her nose scrunched up in befuddled disgust. Uncrossing one of her arms, she gestured at the screen with a hand, palm up, and raised her brows at the tech specialist. This was the man he had wanted them to save? The one that he'd had to remind them was on their side? He was clearly insane...

"Do give me a buzz once you guys have fought your way to the cockpit. Knock 'pappa oscar oscar papa' in morse code... or I don't know just say 'Hey dickhead!' and I'll come join you guys and show you to my booty...Yarr!"

The pilot turned in her seat to stare at the screen again, gaze flickering down toward the section of her control panel that dealt with the more combat oriented portions of what she could control. She would have continued to consider blasting a hole in his window and getting him out that way, but they had crew on his side now and she didn't want to get Holger and Izak killed. A brow quirked up at that realization. When the call disconnected, both of her hands rose to cover her face and rub it harshly, a pained groan of frustration muffled behind her palms. "Jo," she began, her voice still a muted mutter. Finally, she let gravity pull her hands back onto her lap.

The sound of gunfire echoed through the connected ships and she stood up, set her hands on her hip and pushed her pelvis forward, wincing as her lower back cracked. "Can you get me their ship's feed? I don't like being so blind..." she asked him, hand lifting again to rub her own shoulder. She wanted to reach out to the team via their comms, but she also didn't want to broadcast their position should they have been taking the stealthy route. The loud, gunfire filled stealthy route...Her free hand rose to flick the switch for the med bay again, "I'd prepare a bed anyway," she told the doctor, fairly certain she'd heard the gunfire as well. "Do the beds there have straps?" she asked, frowning. She couldn't remember.

[HumanHyperbole]

Just under the floor in a roughly person-sized crawl-space:

CLANG BONG POP WOMP
CRUNCH

The large fire haired man crashed through the grating his would be attacker was trying to get through. He and the grating fell straight on the jump-suit wearing mutineer's leg. The audible compound fracture reduced the man to a shrieking wreck before Holger.

The men who'd been sprayed by Holger were now crawling backwards through the hallway, trying to get back to their galley. One of the heavily injured men pulled a pistol off his belt and started emptying his clip in Izak's direction with panic-fire.

Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!

Meanwhile on the bridge of the Atkinson...

[William Breene]

Willy was wiping fire-retardant goo out of his hair with a rag as he heard a strange alarm start sounding. He was familiar with all the unique little chimes they all made. But this one he was having a hard time remembering what it even was. The former XO of the Atkinson wiped some of the popcorn smelling goo off his nav-computer. The alarm was for their micro-meteor detection system. Many ships didn't have micro-meteorite systems this complex but this was former Alliance military so it had a few extra bells and whistles.

He eyed the readout, and something was off about the object's size and speed. Then it slowed down slightly... which a meteor couldn't do without gravitational interference. Spend your whole life on space-ships and you learn a thing or two about physics. Breene knew what it was right away. Whoever his mutinous crew-members called has just entered the chat. He immediately re-hailed the Revenge, marking it high priority.

"Quit your grinnin' and drop your linen. We're about to get a lesson in free-market economics!"

About five seconds later:

BANG

A small roughly 3 person craft slammed into the Atkinson from the opposite side that Revenge had. Both ships reverberated with the impact as the ships were all knocked off their course, orbiting a nearby asteroid. The small craft had been able to drop off scopes by killing all their systems and living off the air still in the ship. Anyone watching the Atkinson's feed could then see sparks of an mining laser starting to slowly cut a hole in the ship's galley.

Breene's expression on the vid-screen shifted slightly. Almost serious.

"Well since this is officially a party now, I better go welcome our new guests... do keep the kettle on for me."

The XO turned pirate pulled his pistol off his belt with one hand and smacked the big red button that overrode his lockdown of the bridge. The door opened with a hiss, and the single man left to keep an eye on him shouted out in futility as he raised his shotgun:

"Breene!"

Pop

The former crew-member slumped to the ground from the single wound to his head as Breene marched past, now having fully entered the fray.

"C h r i s t o p h e r..."

He sing-song-ily taunted the mechanic he'd referred to earlier. There was some bad blood ready to be spilled.

[Joakim Soong]

Location: Revenge Bridge

Melody remained profoundly unsympathetic to Breene's plight -- not that Joakim had actually expected to change her mind. There was no denying that the way the man was sweating and blabbering was pathetic, almost comically so, but Jo couldn't blame him. He probably wouldn't fare much better in his position, not if the way he'd clammed up during the storming of the ship that would become the Revenge was any indication. He felt a twinge of shame in his gut as he watched Melody grow more and more frustrated with Breene's neurotic monologue, and was relieved when she gave him something to do.

"Can you get me their ship's feed? I don't like being so blind..."

"Sure, I'm already tapped into their system. Just gimme a second..." With a few taps on the console, the Revenge's internal feed on a monitor next to Melody was replaced with a feed from inside the Atkinson, grainy with interference but still intelligible. Joakim was still focused on trying to tweak the reception when the impact came, sending tremors throughout the ship and almost making him smack his face against the monitor before him. It took him a moment to realize what had happened; when he did, his stomach clenched.

"Oh joy, the cavalry's here! I don't suppose they're on our side."

He tried his best to sound nonchalant, but beads of sweat were already beginning to form on his brow.

[Izak Archer]

"Clean up?" Izak sighed internally. "Sure, why not." It was easy enough. In fact it took Izak no time at all. The group Holger cut down was already dead by the time he got over to them to check them out. He check the bodies for weapons anyway, found they we clear, and moved on. He did a quick sweep of the rest of the room, then caught up with Holger. Base don the amount of gunfire though, Izak assumed he was doing okay, then opted to make his way cautiously towards the bridge, and their target. He was ready to wrap this whole thing up.

Things were going smoothly...until he felt the ship move beneath his boots and he lost his balance. His brain raced at a mile a minute. He knew what that kind of impact came from. And why it felt the way it did.

"HOLGER! WE GOTTA MOVE, NOW!" He yelled.

A bullet pinged by his head and ricocheted off the ceiling. "Gorramit!" Okay, so, perhaps Holger had not swiss-cheesed all of them. But at least this one's accuracy was not great. considering the situation. He would have to be more thorough next time. Moving back towards the bullets He started counting, and waited for the metallic 'click' that would come with the gun emptying. Then he fired back, and this time made sure that that one in particular was dead, then dealt with the rest of the problematic persons accordingly tying them up and leaving them in the corner. If Holger wanted them dead, he could do it.

[Melody]

Location: Revenge Bridge

"Sure, I'm already tapped into their system. Just gimme a second..."

Mel stopped stretching and looked over at her screen, watching the flickering image of the other ships interior. Her hands remained on her hips and her brows continued to furrow as the ex-Alliance pilot tried to ascertain the exact situation through the fuzzy image. "Good job, thank you," she muttered.

"Quit your grinnin' and drop your linen. We're about to get a lesson in free-market economics!" came the cryptic client from over the feed.

Melody looked up at his visage and hand enough time to inhale in preparation to ask him what the rutt he was on about now before she felt the ships rock hard against each other, the vibration running through the hull and up into the bones of her feet. Her hands jerked outward, grabbing at her chair to steady herself before she turned to look first toward the door to the bridge and then back at the Atkinson's feed. "Ta ma de," she muttered under her breath, straightening once more.

"Oh joy, the cavalry's here! I don't suppose they're on our side," Jo hoped, but her sarcastic response would have to come later.

She couldn't have him get on the turrets. The ships were too close and they risked harming the Revenge and their own crew by firing in such close proximity of their target. Holger and Izak were on the other ship, and were now more than assuredly outnumbered. Jo and Missy weren't fighters, so she'd have to do something about keeping their own ship secure during the change in situation. She didn't want to risk their boat being put under siege in an attempt to staunch the flow of the 'opposition' by this new party. But at the same time, she needed to be up in the pilot's seat to get them out of here when all was said and done. Melody growled deep in her throat at the absolute colossal garbage heap of a situation Isa had unintentionally dropped them into.

"Well since this is officially a party now, I better go welcome our new guests... do keep the kettle on for me," Breene requested, before heading off screen.

Mel made an annoyed 'tsk' noise but kept the feed open. Better to have two windows into the situation than just the one Jo had opened for her. "Jo, do you still have the gun I lent you?" she asked, turning on him and raising her brows, mouth in a firm line. Reaching up, she turned on the comms to the med-bay, "Doctor, get to the bridge. As fast as your pretty little heels will allow," she ordered roughly, looking back at the tech specialist, "When she gets here, I want you to lock down the bridge," Mel commanded, then headed for the doorway, perching in the threshold while they waited for the doctor to arrive. "I'm going out to keep the Revenge secure. Do not let anyone into this bridge unless you know for sure that it's me and that I'm not compromised. You got it?" she asked, reaching into a cabinet to pull out her own sidearm and previously standard issue rifle.

[Holger Heyerdahl]

Holger ceased the broken vent man's screaming with a quick rapid shot into his upper torso. He heard more gunfire above and waited a moment before deciding how to react. Was Izak dead? Had he dispatched with their enemies like Holger had suggested? With the amount of shots he had heard, Holger certainly hoped so. The tell-tale shimmy of a ship berthing with another ship jolted him awake, and Holger was glad to not only hear Izak's voice, but that the skinny man knew what was happening. His red mop of hair and beard popped back out of the hole he had created in the floor and looked at Izak. "I am coming." He said as he emerged from the tunnel. "Which way?" He said, looking to Izak to be the expert within the confines of a ship.

A moan from the floor prompted Holger to fire indiscriminately into the pile of bodies that Izak had left. "I am impressed by your knot tying." Were Holger learned in the Earth-That-Was navy, he might have sensed a joke to be made there. Instead, "But it is easier to just shoot them." Holger patted Izak on the shoulder, proud of his new friend regardless. Distant gunfire pointed them in the proper direction. "Come Izak. The Handsome William Breene is this way!"

[Missy Etheridge]

"I'd prepare a bed anyway."

Missy snorted quietly. As if all the beds weren't always prepared, with pin-straight sheets, literal hospital corners, and pillows centered down to the millimeter. She didn't tell the captain that, though, just forced the smile back into her voice as she hit the comms and said, "Yes, Captain!"

"Do the beds there have straps?"

"If they did," Missy asked, still smiling tightly, "Don't you think I'd have used them on Holger when he was in here?" Breaking off the connection, she muttered under her breath, "Not that they'd have done any good on that jùdà de shān..."

She checked the beds anyway, making trivial and unnecessary adjustments to the angles of the bedding until the comms chirped yet again. What is it now, gorrammit?

"Doctor, get to the bridge. As fast as your pretty little heels will allow."

"Why?" Missy demanded, declining to add that her heels were not as pretty as the ones she'd lost back on the station and that she was still exceptionally miffed about that.

But she already knew that she'd be unlikely to get any straight answer over the comms, especially after daring to question the captain, so she may as well go ask again in person anyway. With a huff, she gathered a few essentials just in case there was an unexpected medical emergency there, and bustled up to the bridge.

"You summoned?" she prompted sweetly upon arrival.

[William Breene]

Willy bounced back and forth in his pace as he danced his way down the hallway. It would seem he was the star of a musical starring himself, as Willy "Not reading the room" Breene.

"Christopher! Oh Christopher!

He spun around in place, and moved his hands in a circle, wiggling his fingers about, save for the ones he needed to keep a grip on his pistol.

"Oh he's a tosser!"

The mechanic, Christopher, architect of all the hair brained schemes to ambush the Revenge crew screamed as he dropped down from a crawl space in the ceiling of the galley. Sparks fell behind him as his back-up grew closer to breaching into the Atkinson. And as if on cue, Willy rounded the corner with a flourish.

"SHUT UP, BREENE!"

Both men took aim at each other, but only one moved and hunched down as he started to open fire, using both hands to carefully aim as he tried to evade fire.

BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!

The other stood there as if a statue, spraying rounds with his pistol. After they each unloaded their magazines Christopher remained standing firmly in the place he impacted the hit the ground after dropping from the celing. He coughed and started to droop over to one side. His vest had caught several of the rounds Breene threw at him, but as he tried to reload, he looked down and saw three hits below the belt, one to each leg, and another blessedly north of the precious bits.

Grinning, the former XO of the ship snapped a new magazine into his pistol. Christopher dropped his pistol and fell to the side as blood gushed from his wounds to his legs. The femoral artery having been ravaged by one of his rounds.

"And this Christopher, is a lesson about why you don't lie on your resume about having served as a combat engineer for the purple belly special forces..."

As former XO Breene lined up his pistol to end his former colleague, the mining laser working behind him came to a stop. Instinctively, the crooked cargo hauler froze up.

"Whoops-"

[Joakim Soong]

Location: Revenge Bridge

"Jo, do you still have the gun I lent you?"

"S-sure," Jo's gaze flickered towards the small compartment near his station where he'd stashed the weapon, just in case. "But I don't think I'd be a very good shot..."

He trailed off as Melody moved her attention to the comms. His brow furrowed when he heard her summon Missy to the bridge. Surely she wasn't planning on dragging the doctor and him into a gunfight? They'd both be useless, her probably even more so than him. Fortunately, that wasn't what Melody was up to at all... although he wasn't sure if he liked her actual plan any better.

"When she gets here, I want you to lock down the bridge. I'm going out to keep the Revenge secure. Do not let anyone into this bridge unless you know for sure that it's me and that I'm not compromised. You got it?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jo scrambled up from his seat and stood up straight, trying to look calm and collected despite the perspiration on his brow. It wasn't like the plan made him any more anxious than the situation itself, he just wasn't very fond of it, for several reasons. "I'm not going to be able to actually fly this thing if you get... compromised. We'd be sitting ducks. And also--"

He was going to say something about not wanting to be trapped on the bridge with the doctor, but the clickety-clack of her heels alerted him to the arrival of the devil herself. His mouth tightened into an unhappy line upon seeing Missy's face, faux sweet smile and all, but he didn't say anything -- he realized there was nothing he could say without sounding like a petulant child.

[Izak Archer]

Izak was blown away by the fact that he and the old bear were now on friendly terms somewhat stunned as he gave him advice. Well, it was not advice of a traditional variety anyway. A few days earlier they were ready to kill each other. Browncoats were people too and there was no denying that, and that clearly would not be the issue. But the rivalry between navy and foot sloggers went back to the old Earth. That would never change. It was bound to make this job and more exciting as time went on. Along with a degree of hilarity. Now that that had it cleared up anyway.

That still left Melody as a problem however. Although she always was a piece of work.

"Lead on," Izak said after a moment. Then he heard shouting and more gunfire. "We better hustle."