A/N: Due to overwhelming reviews (begging) I'm putting this up a lot sooner than I thought I would...


Estay and Rullin were walking through the Market Sector of the dome when Rullin spotted some familiar faces. "Hey it's that guy!" he said in a hushed but excited voice.

"What guy?" Estay asked, following his gaze.

"That guy who was on the High Guard ship yesterday," Rullin clarified.

Estay's eyes widened and she pulled Rullin into a darkened corner of the street. "That's not a guy, that's a Nietzschean! A very big, very mean Nietzschean who forcibly escorted us off of the ship we broke into yesterday. So, lets make sure he doesn't see us."

They watched from their hiding place as the Nietzschean, three women, one who Estay recognized as the ship's avatar, and one other human man made their way down the street. The three women split off from the two men and entered a little shop. Soon after, the Nietzschean entered a different shop leaving the human man alone. Estay was about to suggest they relocate to a safer part of the dome when she spotted someone even more frightening than a Nietzschean with a grudge. "Rully look!" she exclaimed, pointing to the man who had just stepped out of a restaurant. To anyone who didn't know what he was, he would appear to be a normal tourist or possibly a merchant on lunch break. But Estay and Rullin knew better.

"What's a member of the Secret Police doing out here?" Rullin asked. He gulped and grabbed her arm. "Think he's looking for us again?" They'd been busted by this particular guard, Merdan, about a year ago. It wasn't something Estay cared to relive.

To her relief, Merdan didn't even glance their way. He seemed more interested in the human man who had been with the Nietzschean. Merdan followed the man as he strolled down the street. "Okay, now it's really time to go," Estay remarked, grabbing Rully's hand and trying to lead him in the opposite direction.

"Wait Estay," Rullin said, pulling away. "If Merdan is after him, this guy is in real trouble."

"And?" Estay demanded, crossing her arms.

"I wanna see what he's going to do."

Estay looked at him as if he'd just sprouted wings. "Are you insane?" she demanded.

"Come on, Estay, I always go along with your crazy ideas," Rullin reminded her. "Now come on, before we lose them."

Estay followed, mumbling, "I'm a bad influence on you."

The man seemed to have notice that he was being followed. He kept turning to look behind him. Of course, Merdan was too inconspicuous to notice. All he had to do to blend in was look as though he was browsing a nearby merchant's table. Estay and Rullin were too far away to be noticed. The man turned down a deserted street.

"Big mistake," Estay muttered. She pulled Rullin back as he was about to enter the street after them. "Don't it's a dead end with nowhere to hide. Remember, I came down here when that merchant was chasing me last week."

"Oh yeah," Rullin said. "But how do we see what Merdan's doing?"

"Just wait," Estay commanded. A few minutes later Merdan came strolling back out as if he'd just been for a stroll.

"Come on!" Rullin said, ducking down the street Merdan had come out of.

"Rullin!" Estay protested, but it was too late. She had no choice but to follow. They walked all the way to the end where a circulation shaft was being renovated. There was no sign of the man.

"Where'd he go?" Rullin asked.

Estay had a pretty good idea what had happened. She walked to the guardrail built in front of the opening to the shaft and looked down. Her hunch was right. The man hung a few feet down on one of the metal poles running horizontally across the shaft. Rullin joined her at the rail and gasped when he caught sight of the man.

"We have to help him," he exclaimed. He looked at her pointedly.

"Oh no, not a chance!" Estay answered. She backed up from the rail.

"Come on, Estay, you did it before when you were running from that merchant."

"Yeah, and the bars nearly gave way before I could reach a safe opening," Estay shot back.

"Estay, he's part of that Captain guy's crew," Rullin said.

"So?"

"So, we owe him."

"When did you become such a do-gooder?" Estay demanded.

"Estay," Rullin said in a pleading voice.

"Aw hell," Estay muttered. She threw a leg over the rail. "You, go get that Nietzschean and have him down on the level 54 opening as soon as possible."

"Done!" Rullin said, running back down the road.

Estay gulped and dropped down onto the nearest pole. She grabbed hold of it with practiced ease and swung down to the next. A few minutes later, she reached the pole above the man. She held on with her legs, so that she hung upside down above him. "Hi," she said.

"Help!" the man exclaimed, hysterically.

"Here," Estay said, holding her arms out to him. "Grab hold."

"No, no way!" the man cried. "You'll drop me!"

"I'm not going to drop you!" Estay exclaimed. There was a creaking sound from her left; the man's pole was giving out. "Take my hands now! Or your bar is going to drop you!" Another creak, this time from the right. Estay wondered how long she had until her own gave out. Not long, she guessed. "Come on!" she yelled.

He shook his head. "No way!"

The creaking was getting louder and more sustained. "Do it!" Estay begged. "Trust me, I won't drop you."

The man slowly peeled the fingers of his left hand free and reached for her arm. Just then the entire pole broke loose, leaving him hanging by one hand from her.

"Give me your other hand!" Estay exclaimed. The man flailed wildly and finally managed to grab her other arm. She sighed in relief. "Okay, now swing your legs."

"What?" the man demanded.

"Swing your legs. See that opening in front of you? We're aiming for that," Estay explained.

"Okay," the man said. He swung his legs and, slowly, he began to gain momentum.

"Okay, Estay, we're here," Rullin yelled, appearing in the opening along with the Nietzschean.

"Great, get ready to catch," Estay commanded. "On three," she announced.

"No way!" the man exclaimed.

Estay ignored him. "One," her own bar was beginning to creak, "two," the creaking grew louder, "three!" Estay let go of the man and he flew toward the opening. The Nietzschean managed to grab hold of his legs, leaving him dangling head first over the guardrail.

"Pull me up! Pull me up!" the man yelled.

The Nietzschean rolled his eyes and hauled the other man up by his shirt.

Estay grinned in triumph, but her triumph was short lived. All of the sudden her own bar gave out on one side, causing her to lose her grip and slide down. If it hadn't been for the square mounting slab on the end of the metal pole, she would have slid off and plummeted to her death. Now, she dangled from one end of the pole while the other barely held on to the wall.

"Estay!" Rullin yelled.

"I'm okay," Estay assured him. "For the moment." She took a deep breath and tried to formulate a plan. She had what she thought was a fairly simple plan, if not a bit crazy. "Okay, Rully, meet me on level 53," she said.

"What?" Rullin demanded.

"I'm going to drop down and swing over to the level 53 opening," she clarified. It would be dangerous. With, the one pole missing, it would be a good ten-foot drop to the next. If she let go wrong she might miss it and keep on going until she hit the floor 53 floors later. Even if she did manage to catch the pole, it might be too weak and give way leading to the same scenario as previously discussed.

"Are you insane?" Rullin demanded.

She grinned. "Do you have to ask?"

Rullin just gave her a terrified look, then sprinted down the road.

Estay took a deep breath, positioned herself as best she could, and let go.


Another cliffhanger, almost literally. Oh well, next chapter in a few days. If not less. Please R&R, thanks to those who did.