Frantically, Blake forced his weight against the door, desperately hoping he could prize it open. He ducked as a hail of bullets screamed over his head. Without warning, the door gave way and Blake tumbled through as the next thunderclap of shots rang out. He looked up to see a young man hurriedly slamming the door.

"Blake? Come with me, please."
Blake was too shocked to move.
"My name's Cay. I'm a 4th Technician at the plant." Blake was about to ask which plant, when the door began to rattle under repeated blows from the other side. "And unless you want to stay here and have a conversation with that lot," he motioned to the door. "I suggest you come with me."

Greggs and Cooplan crept through another dark corridor. Their search had proved fruitless. Because they had not found any thermal insulator in nearby buildings, they had been forced to go much further afield than they had originally intended. In this latest complex even the emergency lighting had been switched off, leaving only small grubby windows for natural night to seep through. It left the place in an eerie grey, blackness. Still, they dared not switch on their torches for fear of alerting gang members. Without thinking, they had communicated in whispers, barely louder than a breath.

They both froze. Was that movement at the next intersection? Something coming towards them? Like a shadow, Cooplan melted into a nearby room. As in the canyon, Greggs waited for him to find his new position. This time however, stealth would be crucial -no gunfire, if possible. Instead, they would do everything they could to minimise the risk of anyone else being alerted. Greggs silently positioned himself, ready for the attack.

Lashing out at his target, Greggs sent his fist powering towards the torso of the stranger. As if reading his mind, Cooplan sprung from a nearby doorway, landing on the man's back. Together the three men fell to the ground with a muffled shout. They had nearly subdued the man when Cooplan felt himself being heaved from his victim and pinned to the floor. A powerful flashlight shone into his eyes.

"Tell your partner to release my friend," said the new man. The voice, though only a whisper, sounded familiar. "Do it now!" urged the stranger.

Another beam of light, from much further off, pierced the darkness. "Fresh recruits!" The four men looked at each other.

"Are you a gang member?"
"No. I'm independent. You?"
"No."
Cay struggled upright, "We'd better move. The gangs round here are unpleasant, to say the least."

It all became a blur to Blake. Running down seemingly endless corridors, relentlessly pursued. In the darkness, he couldn't make out his new allies –if they were allies. They had a common enemy but Blake knew that wouldn't necessarily be enough to unite them.

Cay seemed to have a direction in mind. Blake supposed he was heading to the plant he had referred to earlier. The others just kept quiet and followed.

Eventually, Cay turned a corner into a dead end.

"Right, this is it. Hold them off a moment while I access the panel." He opened a box attached to the wall and began fiddling with the wires inside. Blake and Greggs moved to covering positions at the corner and fired off a few warning shots before rushing back. A moment later, where they had stood was engulfed in flame. Blake raised his eyebrows, he hadn't been on the receiving end of a flamethrower for many years.

"I told you they could be unpleasant," said Cay as he opened the door.

"Not everyone would be pleased to know I had brought you here, Blake. I'm something of an idealist and agree with what you stand for." The room was brightly lit and filled with supplies. Cay had sealed the door and together they had blockaded it. "Some of the lead scientists regard you as a terrorist and would gladly turn you over to the Federation. That's why I had to find you first and keep you out of sight."

"There's very little of the Federation left. So you were probably worrying over nothing."
"What do you mean?"
"The majority of the fleet has been destroyed during a battle with invaders from another galaxy," said Greggs. A look of understanding came into Cay's eyes.

"That explains why we've had no reply to our request for help!" he muttered.

"I assume you need help fending off our friends outside," said Blake. "How come this planet has such dangerous locals?"

"It wasn't always like this," began Cay. "Even as recently as a couple of years ago we were a peaceful planet. We were self sufficient, feeding our own people with own grown crops. There are a number of independent planets in this solar system and we traded with them. Our main exports were various minerals which we mined. We had a stable government and whilst no one was very rich, everyone had enough and there was a strong sense of community."

"What went wrong?"

"Some members of the government felt that the miners' lot should be improved. It was proposed to the mining union that their shifts should be shortened and that a nutrient offered to them to give them more stamina. The union put it to their members and the miners agreed. The nutrient was developed at this plant. We'd already worked on various other ones to increase energy levels and attention spans, that sort of thing. We started the clinical trials of the new drug –Pylene 40 it was called, and all seemed to be going well. The men were less fatigued at the end of a shift. After a few months, we had observed no side effects, so it was rolled out across the whole mining workforce. With its success, an increasing number of people outside the mining industry wanted to use it. So it was put on general sale.

"It was about six months later that the first cases of aggression started to be reported. Miners fighting during shift, forming gangs and attacking others. We recalled Pylene 40, of course, but by then there were multiple cases every hour. It wasn't until much later that we realized the reason these people stayed aggressive: the drug alters the brain's chemistry, making its effect permanent.

"As the situation deteriorated, it was decided that the users should be banished to the canyons but as time has gone on more and more of them have returned to the city and gradually, begun to take over."

"Without the Federation, is there any chance of law and order returning to your planet?" asked Greggs.

"No, I don't think so. The epidemic is too well established. My best hope is to leave the planet, somehow."
Greggs and Cooplan looked at each other.

"If you know where any thermal insulate is, we can get you off the planet."

"I need to escape too," said Blake. This time Greggs and Cooplan weren't so quick to answer. Blake moved his gun gently towards them in a subtly persuasive motion.

"Of course," Greggs forced a smile.

So much for allies, thought Blake.