Elli Quinn threaded past the club security contingent, dragging the geek and the dolly behind while weaving cautiously in opposition to the sudden flow of hired muscle. Most of the security contingent was making purposefully for the centre of the disturbance, but they had not travelled very far by the time Elli and co cleared their numbers. Slow to react, Elli chided silently, and then grabbed both the geek and the dolly by the hand. Outside the bar, the corridor presented the usual mixture of claustrophobic confines and overly vivid lighting characteristic of asteroid settlements throughout the system. Carved rock made up much of the walls and bonded carbon fibre or silicon laminate made up the buttressing. The floor was fashioned from either one or the other, depending on the surface finish required, and the extent of over-break during mining. Elli and co stepped through the door and into the corridor where she discovered that the air outside the bar was noticeably cooler than it had been on the inside. Elli shivered at the sudden cold, acutely conscious of how she wasn't dressed, and cursed quietly to herself. If she were pressed to confess then she would admit she knew in advance how much the air in the club would be heated. It was done to make shedding cloths more comfortable, in fact preferable. All part of the trade that a club like that needed to survive. Get 'em naked, get 'em bedded, get 'em back. At least the ambient noise level was lower. Elli shivered again, and this time she knew it had nothing to do with the cold. The club was pressurised and the airflow carried the blow out through the door. Elli had taken a whiff, knew it from the character of her own reaction. Felt it in the acceleration of her pulse and the growing heat in her solar plexus. That's all I need. She moaned inwardly, suddenly as horny as hell. The geek and dolly were afflicted much the same manner. It could have been a lot worse, Elli reminded herself. They could have been rolling on the floor blowing their load. "Gimme a direction Miles," Elli transmitted. "Fast!" She shook her head in a misguided attempt to clear it, using the gesture as a half-hearted attempt to flush the euphorics out of her system. It didn't work. Time was counting down while her body was playing mind-games with her head. Life was suddenly and thoroughly confusing. Thinking was suddenly very difficult. They had little margin before the Cetagandans got free of the chaos Miles had caused and they had to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible. For that she needed her head clear. There were decisions to be made and there was nothing like enough time to make them, and there was nothing like enough information upon which to base them. And not enough processing power to make them with, Elli decided and almost grinned. She took a deep breath and decided that the situation was bad, but it wasn't debilitating, not while Miles was providing her with back up. Not yet anyway. The geek and the dolly didn't seem any worse off than Elli, which was a seriously lucky break. It was good to get one out of this mess, and Elli was prepared to take everyone that came along. Immediately behind them, a couple fell through the doorway. One solid body bounced clumsily off Elli, the impact almost knocking her off her feet. Elli spun. Combat reflexes carried her around upon the balls of her feet - ready to kick heads and crush testicles - but it wasn't necessary. The clumsy interlopers were locked at the lips and anchored to each other by heavily entwined limbs. Elli wasn't bothered with assessing the gender mix; she just shoved them aside and left them bounce on their way along the corridor. "Head left," Miles advised. "Move it along. Our friends are on the move and coming after you. I think they know what's going on." "Don't need that last advice," Elli told him. "This way," she said out loud. The geek and the dolly nodded out of time with each other. Elli half pushed; half dragged her charges away from the rapidly accelerating spill of people falling out through the bar entrance. Amid the crush, employee-security was being rapidly overwhelmed by the developing riot. External security took an interest. Siren screeches suddenly filled the air. The geek was spending as much time looking over his shoulder as he did on the way ahead. "We were lucky to miss that," he commented absently. One glimpse through the swinging door was enough for Elli to catch sight of about half of the crowd enduring the debilitating throws of artificially induced ardour, while the rest were struggling to find a bit of help in achieving the same result. About a quarter were struggling to get out of the room - the better equipped, those who could afford suppression implants - and even they were struggling with the effects. For them the process of metabolising the neuro-hormone was still some time in the future. Even the best of the protective implants for guarding against artificial pheromones could only manage to dull the effect for a while. The stuff could hang around in the blood stream for days if your metabolism was artificially restrained, that was the problem Elli faced - eventually. When that happened Elli and Co were in for an uncomfortable couple of days after the artificial suppression ran out. Way it had to be sometimes, Elli tried to console herself, although she didn't really believe in the basis behind her own advice. The scenes of panic that that they left in her wake were more than Elli had expected, or wanted. "What was the concentration of that stuff?" she transmitted to Miles "Yeah, I hit it pretty hard," Miles agreed. "Didn't have time for subtlety." Another couple fell through the door, copying the earlier pairing, but Elli et al was already on the move and well out of harm's way, by the time the second couple fell to the floor. Elli was working hard herd them along, making as though they were strolling casually away from the club intent of a bit of fun. Playing for the security video. "I'm going to need some real careful coaxing," she advised Miles "Keep me focussed. OK. I got a load." "Got that. Always the way. When an op goes to shit it does it in a space ship." Elli let that comment past. She was too busy concentrating on placing her feet to indulge in her usual banter with Miles Before rounding the corner in the corridor, Elli paused briefly to check the corridor for surveillance and found herself watching the couple approaching consummation on the floor. The pair of them were fumbling with the fastenings of his clothes, snatching frustratingly into each other's way in their haste. Now that looked like a really good. Elli's thoughts began. "Gotta move," Miles reminded her. Elli shook herself like a wet dog and steeled herself against the temptation to Join In The Fun. "Yeah, OK. Right," she replied. She turned away with an effort, drew a deep breath to oxygenate her blood stream. It helped a little. She pushed the geek and the dolly along and then began walking carefully behind her new charges. It's time to get the hell out of here, she reminded herself, but casual, casual. Running always attracted attention. Staccato footfalls sounded in the corridor around the bend. "Security," Miles told Elli. "Make it look convincing." Elli and co staggered along the corridor, feigning nonchalance and a degree of erotic play that was not feigned. Elli was never happy with the way blow made her behave. She pushed herself on the geek in an effort to look inconsequential. The dolly burrowed her nose against Elli's cheek, exposed her mouth and then bent to kiss Elli deeply. Her mouth was wet and full of tongue. Her hands were wayward and invasive. Elli's revulsion was weak; in fact it was close to nonexistent. The security detail pounded through the corridors toward them. Leaving nothing like enough room for them to pass, one of them hip-and-shouldered Elli out of the way. Conditioned reflexes allowed Elli to dance lightly aside, riding with the momentum of the impact so she managed to avoid toppling to the floor, although she did endure a bit of confusion between her reflexes and the reduced gee. "OK," Miles told her. "You're clear for a bit now. Visuals are all green. Make a bit of haste." "OK. Got it," Elli took another breath and then set off, tugging the geek and the dolly behind her. Concentrate, she told herself over and over. It was hard work. Elli had realised that her head was only ever clear enough for her to think when no one was touching her. After swinging around the next bend in the corridor, the dolly tripped over her own feet and went sprawling on her butt. Elli didn't bother watching her antics, being more concerned by keeping an eye on the security detail's progress up the corridor. Reflective body armour and personnel stunners, she noted; serious stuff. "Elli, for god's sake, get moving," Miles instructed her. "Now! Bruno's being held up. You're on your own for a bit longer. I need you to get out of the way when the big boys come through. Won't be long." Bruno was back-up. Dendarii Free mercenary recruit. "Got it," she transmitted back. The reminder was enough to get her head back from wherever her hormones had taken her. For a little while anyway. The first wave of security was followed by a second; jackboots clattering against the floor, reflective armour making them look like ripples and distortions in the cavity walls. They're not taking prisoners, she told herself. Elli was slow to react, unable to get her charges completely out of harm's way before the second security contingent came pounding through. A tug on her arm was one of the security guys bouncing off the geek. The security guy's headlong plunge toward the blow-storm was barely deflecting by the impact, but his bulk almost knocked the geek off his feet. Elli reacted quickly, threw out one elegantly slender arm and managed to stabilise both herself and the geek before he landed on top of the dolly - who was only sort of half upright by that stage and seriously vulnerable if he came down of top of her. The dolly gave out a little screamlet when it looked like she was about to be buried beneath a hundred kilograms of tumbling geek, but she bit it off when Elli managed to divert him away from her. The dolly began chewing on her fist to stifle her voice. Might be the best thing, Elli decided. Elli watched the dolly over the geek's shoulder and decided that the other woman obviously wasn't going to be any use to them if things got messy. "Clumsy ox!" cursed the geek, after the fleeing security detail. Elli restrained herself before she decked him. The last thing she needed was attention from those goons. The dolly began climbing hesitantly upright, watching the geek the whole way in case he took it in his head to attack her again. But then Elli might have misinterpreted that look. The hulking bulk of Bruno Cantellian lumbered into the corridor behind them, huffing from the exertion required to catch. Elli waved at him and pointed in the direction where they planned to go blundering. She hoped he had missed the hormone storm. He might be dim, but he was focussed and that might be useful in the minutes ahead. One of them had to be on the case, because Elli sure wasn't. Not now, not for a while. "Elli," Miles's voice said, "more company." Elli was struggling to get her group moving again. "Aw," she transmitted. "Who now?" Her heart pounded like it was an animal in the cage of her lungs. The rush of her blood was like being pounded in the surf. "Local government security I think." "Great." Ahead of her she saw someone crouching in the corridor. Were they aiming something at them? "Keep moving," Miles chided, reading her mind by tracking the focus of her camera. Still calm. Yeah, he could be. Nerves of copper. "Just overactive party goers, already catalogued. Keep moving." "Yeah," Elli agreed. The four of them began drifting vaguely in the direction they were supposed to be heading if they could trust Miles's directions. Elli focussed on the newcomer crouched suspiciously in the corridor ahead of them. He made no overt moves and hadn't looked their way at all. It wasn't a good sign that lack of interest. Most people would have looked up to see who was approaching, especially with all the alarms sounding. Overhead, the lights flickered. The guy on the floor moaned. Elli relaxed a little. Sick. "It's gotten ugly back there," Miles told her. "Security server just went down. Weapons have been drawn." "Firing?" "Yeah. Reticulated power has been diverted and the club's been isolated. Only be a matter of time before they decide that a station wide lock down might be in order." "Anyone down?" "Not yet." Only a matter of time though, Elli decided. "Got an estimate for me on how long until they lock this whole shitheap down?" "Ten minutes, fifteen. We've got plenty." Nonchalance was obviously misplaced now though; frantic running might be a better idea. "We should get out of here," Elli told the geek and began dragging him forward. The dolly nodded dumbly and trailed along behind her. Elli led them purposefully through the corridor, following Miles's directions whenever they came through her ear-eye. "What the hell is going on?" the geek demanded. His tone was bewildered. Elli didn't have time to frame an answer. "Local Gov security team is really on the case now," Miles filled her in, "systematically searching. Blow proof, the lot of them. Top of the line gear, even better than the stuff you've got, Elli. I don't think the confusion is going to last much longer. They're right in the middle of it and they're not being very circumspect about conducting themselves. They might be just investigating the disturbance, but I don't think so. Not now that local security has been hacked." Made life difficult all the same. Three teams to worry about now. Damn! "Main bar?" Elli hustled the geek and the dolly around a corner just before a third security contingent marched past. "What's going on in the main bar? Are the Cetagandans still there? They being detailed by the Local Security?" "Yeah to both for now," Miles transmitted. It seemed to dawn on the geek that Elli knew a bit more about what was going down than she maybe should have done. "Do you know what this is about?" he demanded. His hand latched onto her bicep and gripped it almost painfully, pulling her to a halt in the corridor. "Security crack down," Elli told the geek, she looked pointedly at his hand and then back up to meet his eyes. His hand released convulsively. "Some bastard filled the bar with blow," she finished. "Gotta get moving. Get some space." "Oh," the geek said. "So that's." "Blow?" asked the dolly. Her eyes flew wide, as though she had just worked out who must have been responsible for the release. "We've got to get out of here," Elli said without answering the dolly's unspoken question. "Faster the better. Less talking and more moving is the idea." "My rooms down this way," the geek said and pointed toward the other branch in the corridor. "That might be a good place to hide out until." "Let's dodge the security first," Elli told him offhand. His resistance was token. They jogged onward. "UN are still in there," Miles transmitted into Elli's ear. "The doors have been secured now." "I've still gotta a few minutes then, before any move to lock down," Elli sub-vocalised. "Will it be enough?" "I'll do some blocking." "What about the Cetagandans?" "Distracted. Don't think they'll be on your tail for a little while." "Thank goodness for that." "Won't last long enough though. You got to get out of there. Time is ticking." "Thanks," She turned to the dolly, said out loud. "We got company back there. Nasty boys, they're after you, big time. Got to get you moving now. Serious moving." The geek stopped in the corridor. He stood in the middle of the hall and looked back the way they had come, standing with his hands on his hips. "What the .?" he managed. The alarm tone had changed, became a general alert. Not a lockdown yet. Elli grabbed his arm and dragged him along before he could reach the decision to be difficult. "Spotted a lot of people running in other corridors," Miles transmitted. "It's the latest thing, the newest trend that Just Has To Be Followed." It caught on. Running away from the disturbance was fine now. Elli and her entourage began hustling. In the corridor behind them Elli thought she caught the overspill from a sense ordinance assault. It was hard to tell over the pounding of her pulse. Subsonics and bowel loosening light shows, she identified, other gear for incapacitation. Jackson's Whole crowd suppression technology in action. Damn, but they were taking things really seriously back there. Screams rent the air. She could hear them over the sounds of the emergency sirens, even this far away. Amid the new confusion, and the need to run like hell, Elli found time to consider some of the more obvious incongruities about their situation. Mostly she was spooked by the official reaction to their little corporate lift. Have we walked into the world's worst coincidence? She wondered. Local security was behaving as though the events in the bar were part of a terrorist insurrection. She couldn't come up with any other reason for the sudden crack down, other than a parallel operation with the Cetagandans at the helm. It was the only way Elli could explain the grotesque over- reaction security was making back there. And that posed a serious question, one that was going to make a big difference to what happened when Miles tired to cut and run from the dock. If they had walked into another operation, it might be a big one and it might bring the big ordinance out from storage? Was that why the Cetagandans were aboard? Elli started to fret. Her pace along the corridor picked up to match the acceleration of her own pulse. The curve of the floor beneath her feet meant she was probably running too fast to do anything about any obstruction that might be lying in the corridor ahead of them. Made no difference, they had to get out of there, fast. This was going to get ugly any minute. She just knew it. "The Cetagandans are free," Miles told her. "What the hell is going on?" demanded the geek. Like he didn't know! Well at least the vids would look realistic. Confusion reigned. He grabbed her arm and repeated the question into her face. At least the dolly was quiet, almost comatose, but upright. Her face was all slack-jawed and suggestible. "Oh god," muttered Elli, only now realising that his confusion might be real. He might be a complete innocent. Competing thoughts raced furiously through her head. She struggled to ignore them all and failed because that idea led to another question. The light show plays hell with the vid records, makes identification real difficult. Not so for him. He's seen it all, and could work the security ID if it came to that. Give me up on a plate, just as soon as they asked him. She grabbed his arm in sudden decision and dragged him along. "Let's make with the running," she told him. "Problems back there. Enough to get you killed maybe. I'll explain later." "But." protested the geek. "I don't like the way your friends are heading straight for you," Miles transmitted. "They're coming your way, real purposeful like. Looks like they can track you." "How?" "Don't know. You haven't cut through a microwave radar net, nothing for a security alert to pick up on. I'll keep an eye out and see if there's something, hardware whatever." "OK, right, thanks." The dolly's big brown eyes looked imploringly up at Elli. "It wasn't meant to be this difficult," she apologised. Elli reached another branch in the corridor and paused before rounding the bend, checking out any oncoming. Just a couple of geeks coming for a look- see. "Yeah, that's what I got told as well," Elli told the dolly. "Come on. Move it. We don't want company." She grabbed them both and pulled them around the bend in the corridor, back up to running speed again. This branch went long enough for the upward curve in the floor to hide the far end. Light flared viciously, then was gone. A piece of rock and silicon-fibre blew out of the wall some way ahead of where they had been heading originally. An explosive percussion accompanied the lightshow and the corridor filled with dust and smoke. Elli reacted instinctively, grabbing both of her companions before she fell into the shadow of a buttress. One of the geeks walking toward them was slow to react. His head burst into flame and he fell to the floor, dropping as though his puppet-strings had been cut. The aroma of barbequed flesh wafted along the corridor, propelled by the ventilation system. The dolly's bare skin was hot against Elli's back, raising the whole issue of barely consensual sex again. Her whimpering was something that Elli could do without at this moment, but instead she began to glory in the feel of the dolly's bare skin against Elli's back. Warmth was spreading from her loins, driven by the blow. The sound of fire and the percussion of shattering rock came from much further back along the tunnel. Returned fire? Elli couldn't be sure, not distracted the way she was. Some one just died out there, she reminded herself. It made little difference. Her thoughts were a mess.