Tyr smiled slightly as he shot down yet another of the annoying pests that insisted on getting in his way. He turned a corner and came to a dead end. Cursing silently, he turned and started to retrace his steps.

Rommie ducked the punch coming from the man in front of her while simultaneously firing her weapon at the other two men who were quickly approaching. She took both of them down in rapid succession and viciously backhanded the closest one, sending him slamming into the wall opposite her. She continued down the hallway, searching relentlessly for her first officer. She still could not understand exactly why she was unable to locate Captain Valentine's bio-signs and hoped fervently that it was not because Beka was beyond their help.

Dylan approached Beka with trepidation. As much as he wanted to rush to her and release her bonds, he was fearful of what he would discover once he was close enough to her.

"Please let her be alive!" he whispered over and over again as he forced himself to take another step closer to her seemingly lifeless body.

Beka could hear his whispered pleas but found herself without adequate energy to move or even speak. She tried to force some sort of sound through her torn, bleeding lips to let him know she was alive but to her horror found herself unable to utter the slightest sound.

Dylan stopped a couple steps away from Beka. To his immense relief he could see the faintest movement as her chest rose and fell. He reached out his trembling hand toward her. Just as he was about to push the sweat soaked hair from her face, a force slammed into him sending him sprawling. He lost his grip on his force lance and it went rolling across the floor. Gathering his wits, he rolled swiftly, barely avoiding the blast of the weapon that had been aimed at his unprotected back. He quickly upturned the only table in the room and ducked behind it as a second blast went whizzing past.

"So you finally figured it out Hunt? Took you long enough." The Enforcer taunted.

Ignoring the little man for the moment, Dylan looked around for his force lance. He spotted it several feet away to his left.

"What's the matter, Hunt?" The Enforcer asked. "I was told you and your crew on that little bucket of bolts were the best in the known worlds. But here I took your first officer right out from under your nose and you never suspected a thing."

Refusing to be baited, Dylan took a deep breath and dived for his weapon just as another bullet struck the ground next to where he had been just seconds before. Turning quickly, he fired, hitting his enemy's arm and making him drop his gun.

With a sudden scream of rage, the Enforcer lunged at Dylan, surprising the larger man and knocking him off his feet. They struggled for a few minutes before Dylan's larger mass finally gave him an advantage as the smaller man's anger gave way to fear. Dylan managed to get a grip on the mercenary and forced him to his knees. Dylan wrapped his arm around the man's neck. The little man let out a whimper of pain as he looked desperately toward the door for help that wasn't coming.

"Looking for your lackeys?" Dylan asked. "I doubt they will be coming anytime soon. My crew from that "bucket of bolts" will have made sure of that fact. It's just you and me now.Hiram." Dylan taunted him, using the identity Tyr had discovered for the little man.

"You said you were told my crew and I were the best. " Dylan stated, tightening his grip slightly. "What else were you told about me? Were you told how much I care about my crew? Were you told how angry I get when one of my crew is hurt?" He demanded angrily, tugging sharply against Hiram's throat.

"Please, Hunt! I will give you anything you want. Just let me go!" Hiram pleaded.

"There is something I want." Dylan said with deadly calm. "I want to keep my promise."