"They should still be a little sluggish," Seo whispered to Dave, as they ran — fast as Dave could manage — through corridors. "Should give us an advantage. Just wish I could remember… the way out…"
They turned a corridor.
To discover a swarm of lizard men, in front of them. All heavily armed — some with projectiles. Others with neural stunners.
Seo just managed to drag Dave out of the way, as a bolt from a neural stunner whizzed past them.
"Other way!" Seo said, turning around and racing back the way they'd come.
Dave struggled not to limp, as he stumbled after her. Clenching his teeth past the pain.
"We need to find a medical center," Seo said, glancing back at him. "Some kind of localized pain-reliever, for your leg."
Dave gave a hoarse laugh. "And you didn't think of this back in the operating arena because…?"
"The only pain relievers in this place are for the lizards," Seo snapped. "Not set up for humans. They could kill you — but at this point…"
"Captain!" shouted one of the lizard guards. "This way! Pain, leaking out in abundance."
"…you've got more chance of living without the pain, than with it," Seo concluded. She waggled a finger at him. "Stay here. Don't move a muscle."
Then forced open the room closest to her right, and ducked inside.
Leaving Dave all alone, as the guard stepped into sight.
"Found the male!" the guard reported to the others, via radio. He pointed his gun straight at Dave. "Hands where I can see them. I'd rather not mess up the physiological survey with bullets — but I will if I have…!"
The door to the room Seo had ducked inside swung open.
And a blond blur barreled into the guard's side.
The guard's gun clattered to the floor, the two tumbling down to the ground and rolling, each trying to force the other into the weaker position.
Dave scrambled for the gun.
Could already hear the footsteps of the guard's fellows, approaching, as he grabbed it up and adjusted it.
Seo, in a last shove, managed to pin the lizard-guard to the ground. Leaned down straight into his face, and said, in a dangerous whisper, "Help us get out of here. Or this will start getting very nasty, very quickly."
The guard tried to struggle.
But realized… with some alarm… that he couldn't.
"You're… you're… a small female!" the guard protested. "How can you be strong enough to…?"
"Mammals spotted," came a shout from the other end of the corridor. As reinforcements arrived, all armed to the teeth. "Put down the weapon and surrender, or we fire."
Seo glanced back.
Noticing Dave with the gun.
"Dave," Seo sighed. Then, letting the guard go, stood up straight and raised her hands. "It's all right. No need to shoot — we'll come quietly."
The guard who'd previously been pinned to the ground got to his feet. Made a grab to restrain Seo.
And Dave, with one shot, got the bastard clean through the head.
"Keep your hands off her," Dave warned the lizards.
Seo spun on him. Eyes blazing.
"You stupid…!" Seo hissed.
"Open fire!" shouted the Captain of the guard.
Dave dropped to the ground, forcing Seo down alongside him. Bullets whizzed over their heads.
"That was brilliant, Dave," Seo muttered, tapping on the floor. She nodded, suddenly, and yanked one of the floor tiles away, to reveal a tunnel of ducting. Reached out and yanked Dave through it.
They dropped down, hitting the ground hard.
Dave groaned, trying to climb to his hands and feet. But before he could, Seo managed to jab an injection of something into his leg.
Something… that made the pain feel better.
Almost instantly.
"Not the safest thing for humans, but it should ease the pain," said Seo. "At least, until it takes full effect and it's too numb for you to walk." She pulled him back to his feet. "It'll kill you if we don't get you looked over soon, of course." Spun around, dragging him along behind her. "But I'll have killed you long before that, Mr. Trigger-Happy!"
That was the problem with Seo.
Do something nice for her, take all the risk and break into Vedhor — even save her life! — and somehow, she was still angry at him.
"They'd have killed us both the moment I put down that gun," Dave argued, rushing after her. "I was protecting you."
Without missing a step in her run, Seo snatched the gun from him and threw it away. "That's you all over, isn't it? When in doubt, reach for the nearest weapon! Start killing people! Because that'll solve everything!"
"I'm reaching for weapons," Dave countered, "to save your life!"
The guards were already behind them.
And — being lizards — could see better in these dark tunnels than either Seo or Dave.
"Save my life?!" Seo paused a moment, fumbling around in the dark. Then grabbed a ladder that had been fastened to the wall, and began to climb. Dave close behind. "You nearly got us both killed! They only opened fire because you provoked them."
"And if you believe that, you'll believe anything," Dave muttered.
Seo grabbed for the manhole cover, overhead. Unscrewed it. "I'm sorry?!"
Sunlight blazed down into the tunnel. Blinding them both, for a few seconds — both squinting to see what they were heading into.
"Just… stop being so squeamish about killing!" Dave insisted, as he began to make out the shape of the area just outside the complex, inside Vedhor. "Yes, I picked up a gun and started killing those sons-of-bitches, when I got here. And yes, when they threatened you, I did it again."
Seo, with a disgusted sigh, pulled herself out of the tunnel.
"But I don't do it just to impress you," Dave snapped, as she gave him a hand and helped pull him out into the open. "I do it because it's right. They're evil — they deserve to die. And if a gun's the right weapon for the job, then I grab it."
He could hear the sound of the advancing guards in the tunnel, behind them, coming closer and closer…
And slammed down the manhole cover, screwing it back on, tight.
Then realized… Seo was positively fuming at him.
"And what if I was the right weapon for the job?" Seo whispered, yanking him up by his wrist, so they were unbearably close. She glared right into his eyes. "Would you use me?"
Dave couldn't answer.
His brain suddenly swimming, as that psychic pull on his mind returned.
Thousands of tiny tugs, swarming around his mental landscape, all tearing at him to try to open him up and expose him to the world.
"Until you know what it's like to be used as a gun," said Seo, shoving him away from her, "you don't dare pick one up and start killing people without a second thought! How would you feel if someone forced you to kill…?!"
She stopped, as Dave grabbed his head, doubling over.
Barely able to hold on.
"Are you all right?" Seo grabbed him around the waist, to stop him sliding to the floor. "What's wrong? No — don't answer that, we don't have time."
Began to drag him away.
"You'll be fine, promise!" Seo assured him. "Just get you away from here. Before the effects of that drug really kick in."
"It's… so…" Dave felt the tendrils tugging deep down into his psyche, and barely managed to bat them away. "Don't you feel that?"
"Feel what?" said Seo. Glancing around herself. "Must be a human thing. I don't feel…"
She stopped, in her tracks. Holding Dave a little tighter — almost protectively — as she stared at the sight in front of her.
Dave peered through the bright light and struggled to focus on the outside world, past the terrible force at work inside his head.
And made out the trouble.
Guards, on all sides.
At least fifty, at a guess.
Followed soon after by the group coming up from the tunnel — which had been chasing them since inside the complex.
"It's all right — we surrender," Seo assured them. "No threat, no guns." Her voice slipped a little lower. "Just a lot of disgust for what you've done here. Turning normal people into your puppets!"
But they weren't holding off shooting because of Seo.
Dave could see that.
They were waiting for the Captain of the Guard, now advancing from where he and the others had crawled out of that tunnel. Getting orders.
"Shoot to kill," said the Captain. "They're hopeless cases."
"No, wait!" came the order, from behind them. As Chief Analyzer Pokot pushed through to the front, just in front of Seo and Dave. His fascination seeping into the air — just a trickle he couldn't contain. "Don't kill the male. I mean, just look at the other mammals! He hasn't been lobotomized, but he's still… resisting, somehow."
"Resisting…" Seo repeated, glancing back down at Dave.
He could practically see the racing of her mind, through her eyes. Formulating some brilliant theory.
"And the female?" the guards asked.
"Separate them and kill her," said Pokot. "I can learn the secret of her strength post-mortem."
Seo clung to Dave a little tighter, as the guards advanced.
Leaned down, and whispered, "Whatever you're resisting… let it in."
Dave shook his head.
"Can't," he insisted. "Can't… let the bastards… get my mind!"
The guards were coming closer.
And Dave didn't have a gun.
No way to protect her, and so little time left…
"Trust me," Seo whispered into his ear. "If you want me safe… let it in. Please."
A pause.
"But don't kill anyone," she added, quickly.
Dave couldn't think enough to know what she'd figured out. But as the guards began to manhandle him away from her… so they could get a clear shot… he had no other options.
He stopped resisting the force pulling at his mind.
And let everything inside.