There was no daylight into the blank-walled room but Knuckles guessed it had been about two hours since breakfast when the door opened again. He eyed the new arrivals guardedly, acutely aware of his vulnerability with his hands still cuffed behind him. They moved with the assurance of fighters. The officer last night had spoken of calling the army, this was clearly them.

Two were dressed in faded green, and armed, the third more formally. The formal one spoke first.

"Davies says you speak English, that right?"

"I can understand you," Knuckles answered, flatly.

"Good. Then understand this. We don't know the first thing about you. We have no way of knowing whether you're telling the truth. Or whether your intentions are hostile."

"They weren't until I was taken prisoner," Knuckles snapped.

The army officer ignored this and continued. "Or if you're really alone. For all we know you could be the vanguard of an invasion force." He paused, deliberately. "You might want to take these concerns of ours into account before taking any action that might be construed as aggressive -- unlike Captain Davies and his men here, we will not hesitate to use lethal force."

Knuckles regarded him, unimpressed. "If that was a threat, human, then 'fight and we'll shoot you' would have done."

The formal one smiled thinly. "I see we understand one another." He turned to the guards at his side. "Take him to the helicopter."

Knuckles weighed his odds, and didn't like them. Tied and still injured from the fall, there was no point in being anything less than realistic about his chances. And there was nowhere to go from here even he got away from these two. Outside this room was a whole building full of the police officers who'd caught him in the first place, and outside of that, a whole city of people who thought he was an invading alien.

He submitted to having the two soldiers take one arm each and walk him towards the door. There'd be a better chance later. He hoped.

He considered it again when they were airborne in the flying machine the officer in charge had called a 'helicopter'. He wasn't tied to anything and thought he could probably jump if he had to. He had never tried gliding without the use of his arms though and thought steering could be a problem. Not to mention the fact that he'd have to disable all three occupants before he jumped or risk being shot in mid-air. Should he try to take out the pilot as well? He'd probably have his hands too full to be a threat, but then again if they crashed there'd be no one following him.

It was possible. Maybe. Knuckles looked out and down as the helicopter banked. Perhaps once they were over more open ground.

"You're going to run?" Chris asked. "To all those bases and just stroll in and have a look around?"

Sonic grinned, "Well strolling wasn't exactly what I had in mind. But yeah, basically. They can't be any harder than all of Robotnik's bases I've trashed."

"Let me come." Chris said, suddenly. "I could help, my grandfather would understand, he'd drive. You might need someone who could blend in. We could get you stuff you needed."

"Sorry, kid." Sonic shrugged. "Too slow. I'll manage. I always do."

"What about when you find him? Where you going to go? What if he's hurt? Those photos didn't look good." Chris persisted, clearly desperate to help somehow.

"All right," Sonic allowed. "If we need help or somewhere to hide out, we'll call. Okay?"

Chris didn't look entirely satisfied with that, but subsided. "Okay. Err... D'you have telephones in your dimension?"

The terrain below them was turning slowly to scrubby desert. Knuckles decided if he was going to try and make a break for it he'd better do it before they got too much further into this wilderness or he'd have to add heat exhaustion and dehydration to his list of worries.

He glanced at the officer sat facing him, but avoided turning his attention to the two guards either side. They must have no warning. He could feel them fidgeting without looking anyway, it had been hot and uncomfortable for most of the two hour flight so far and they were clearly not at their best.

He shifted position carefully, as though to ease a cramp, then suddenly exploded upwards. He jumped to stand on his seat and head-butted the first guard before swinging around to kick the second sharply under the chin. His head slumped back and he collapsed. The officer flung himself across the cabin to reach the weapon of the reeling first guard and Knuckles tackled him.

He realised his mistake instantly as his injured ribs screamed out with the impact. He went down along with the winded officer, his breath hitching in his chest. The officer reached the weapon and Knuckles forced himself back to his feet and drove into him with his shoulder, pinning him against the dividing partition to the cockpit.

There was a bang, deafening in the enclosed space, and pain blossomed, hot and fierce, lancing up from Knuckles' right foot. He fell as the helicopter pitched violently and heaved to the left. He skidded towards the door, and for a moment thought he might actually tumble out and be able be glide clear after all. Then the officer's hand clamped around his arm and pulled him back. He looked up into the gun.

"What the hell's going on back there?" the pilot yelled from the front.

"Fly on," the officer answered, still breathless. "It's under control."

Knuckles tried to raise his head from his supine position to see what had happened to his foot and received a kick for his trouble.

"Stay down."

The officer called to the conscious guard without taking his eyes off Knuckles. "Check on Golding. Then get over here."

The guard moved giddily to his unconscious colleague whom Knuckles had kicked.

"He's out, but he's breathing," he reported back, rubbing his head. "Jeez, for a little guy he packs a punch."

"Next time I'll tear your head off," Knuckles promised, in too much pain to be diplomatic.

"Next time I won't shoot you in the foot," the officer said, unmoved. "So I suggest you don't try it."

Knuckles glared at him but made no further comment.

Against his better judgement Sonic had allowed Chris to introduce his grandfather. Chuck. Getting out of the city without being seen looked far too chancy. Hiding in a vehicle seemed the best way. So far his presence had not been reported and he'd prefer to keep it that way for now so he have at least a marginal head start--the minute he hit the first base the others would be alerted, and even his usual boundless optimism didn't stretch to expecting he'd get lucky first time.

To his surprise, the old man had been more fascinated than shocked, and Sonic had had to fend off a welter of questions, none of which he had time for. He'd seen some more of the news reports and for the first time was feeling truly worried.

"Look once I find Knuckles we'll come back and you can have the complete potted history of Mobius, okay? But first I've got to find him."

Sonic waved one of the papers which featured a headline reading 'The Alien Menace'.

"If this is what this planet thinks of aliens, who knows what they're doing to him? It's been hours--they might be cutting him up to find out what aliens are made of while we're standing here!"

"They wouldn't!" Now Chuck did sound shocked. "The first alien lifeform we've ever met..."

"Well they weren't exactly toasting his health in those photos, Gramps!" Sonic bounced on the spot, "Now are you going to give me a ride to the edge of town or not?"

"All right. We'll go now. You'll have to get in the back of the car and keep your head down."

"Okay, whatever. Let's go!"

Knuckles leaned into the men holding him from behind and kicked out with both feet, heedless of the fact that this sent a burning pain up his leg and spattered blood across his assailant.

"There! You wanted some of my blood, have that!" The syringe clattered into a corner as the man holding it staggered back. "Or go scrape it off the floor of your boss's flying machine!"

The white-coated man who'd been kicked, calmly selected another syringe. "We can sort out that foot," he said, "but we don't know what effect our medicines would have on you. I need a blood sample to find out more of your biology before I administer anything." He advanced again.

"Don't you dare put any of your drugs into me!" Knuckles twisted violently away, managing to pull one arm free of the guards holding him, "Don't you dare!"

The guard grabbed his arm again. Two more who'd been stood in the doorway started forward to help hold him.

"This is ridiculous," the man said. "Let's get him on the examination table and under control, please."

The two new guards grabbed Knuckles' ankles. He twisted and thrashed but carried like this he had no leverage. He thought about biting the nearest hand but that would probably only mean he got dropped on his head, which would hardly improve the situation.

The examination table was really more as much bed as table, albeit not a particularly comfortable one. Knuckles was dumped unceremoniously on it and tight bands fastened around his wrists and ankles, though it took all four guards to hold him. He did bite then, snapping his head round and sinking his teeth into the nearest guard's hand until they ground against bone. The man howled and flailed at him, but it took other guard's intervention to prise his jaw open.

The others stepped hastily clear as soon as they finished with the restraints.

"You stay there." The white-coat pointed to the injured man who had sat down on the floor, looking faint, and clutching his injured hand. "You'll need a tetanus shot at the very least. The rest of you, get out."

The guards obeyed, though they looked reluctant.

"I'm sorry that that was necessary," the white-coat said, clearly addressing Knuckles, though he was tending to the guard's injury.

Knuckles was too angry to even speak, and snarled at the man. If he was honest with himself he was more than a little unnerved at the nature of this imprisonment, and it was an unfamiliar and unwelcome feeling.

The man finished treating the guard and pointed at the door. "Wait outside. If there's any trouble I'll call."

He turned back to Knuckles.

"You hear that? They're right outside if you try anything."

"Like what?" Knuckles tugged at the restraints for emphasis. "Make a few pointed remarks about your parentage?"

"Fluent English and a very Earth-contemporary sense of humour," the man noted aloud, then added, "Even if it is rather a sarcastic one. Just how long have you been familiar with this planet?"

"I've been here since yesterday afternoon. I'm sincerely hoping to not be here long enough to get familiar with it. But we have armies and thugs and scientists who think they can treat people like experiments where I come from too. So I don't need to be familiar with this world--you'd fit right in with the scum on mine."

Knuckles went limp, breathless after this outburst. Then he stiffened again as the man prepared a syringe for the third time. Unable to move even enough to struggle, he turned his head away as the needle slid into his arm.

"I can understand why you're angry," the man said, withdrawing the needle and capping the vial of blood. "But you must understand our position too." He moved closer so Knuckles could see his face. "Quite frankly your appearance has scared the bejeezus out of an awful lot of people who don't scare easily."

The car pulled over on a deserted stretch of highway and Sonic jumped out.

"Thanks, he said. "I can go on from here."

"Well," Chris said. "If us need us..."

"I'll call." Sonic promised.

"And let us know what happens?"

"Sure thing." Sonic grinned. "If it goes to plan you may well see it on your news... See ya!"

With a quick wave he accelerated until he was out of sight.

"Wow," Chris said. "When he said he could run he really meant it."

Sonic took a direct line cross country, rather than follow the road. He guessed the track he'd need, secure in the knowledge that it wouldn't take him long to cover the ground if he had to search a bit once he got there. It was better to stay clear of roads and towns if he was to maintain the element of surprise for even one foray.

He ate up the miles easily, even as the terrain grew rougher, until he saw buildings in the distance. A large wheeled vehicle moved along a road at the skyline towards them. There was no cover whatsoever.

Sonic shrugged, he'd hadn't really expected there to be much lying low involved in any case. He tore towards the boundary fence, sprang up and over and skidded around the first guard he saw, the slipstream of his passage bowling the man off his feet. Sonic leaned over him.

"Hi! You haven't seen a bright red echidna round here by any chance? Probably in a rather foul mood by now?"

The man gaped at him, the open mouthed astonishment too comical to be faked.

Sonic shrugged. Of course it was altogether possible that the common or garden sentries were in the dark about what went on in their own base. Sonic bounded away again and headed for one of the central buildings, scattering the base personnel left and right without slowing. He spun into a door which gave instantly.

Two uniformed men gaped at him with much the same expression as the hapless sentry.

One of them suddenly gabbled, "Oh God it's true, they said they had one over at--" he clammed up at a glare from the other.

Sonic leapt at him, knocking him off his feet and standing on his chest to peer down at him.

"Over at where?"

"Stand away" the other man snapped, regaining his wits and drawing a weapon.

A weapon he suddenly found himself without and Sonic grinning while tossing both in a sort of improvised juggling.

"It's not polite to interrupt someone when they're talking," he said, "Your friend here was about to tell me where the other scary alien is."

Knuckles closed his eyes as he heard the door open. He wasn't interested in seeing what they wanted this time. The blood sample had only been the beginning. Since then it had been needles in his arms, tubes down his throat, x-rays, scans, some device that had involved taping wires to his skin and which, while it hadn't hurt, had been preceded by them shaving away little bald spots in his fur to attach them. Even urine and stool samples, and the indignity of that was almost as painful as the throbbing from his ribs. Ribs which they'd helpfully informed him were broken in two places but had done nothing about.

They had cleaned and bandaged his foot, but he was unable to pass judgement on that particular bit of doctoring at present.

"Are you actually intending to cripple me, or is that a happy side effect?" he asked as the footsteps drew closer.

"What?" The startled voice of the doctor answered him.

"I can't feel my hands and feet any more. Your thugs were a little overzealous with the restraints. I asked if it was actual intentional malice or just ignorance."

He was quite pleased in a distracted sort of way at how controlled his voice sounded, while a tiny, terrified corner of his mind was screaming about being this helpless.

"Oh dear," the doctor said, and Knuckles did have to admit he looked genuinely distressed. In fact he'd apologised continually for everything he'd done. Which hadn't stopped him doing it, Knuckles reminded himself.

"I don't suppose I could persuade you to promise not to try and escape if I loosen them could I?"

"Don't be stupid," Knuckles said, coldly. "Why would I make such a promise to an enemy? And what enemy would be fool enough to believe it if I did?"

"Very astute," came a second voice. Knuckles couldn't turn his head far enough to see the speaker but recognised the voice of the officer in charge of bringing him here. "But it's disappointing to find you already consider us enemies."

"General Whitman," the doctor greeted him.

"Leave him, doctor," the general ordered. He walked around to the bottom of the table where Knuckles could see him.

"What am I supposed to consider you? You lock me up, shoot me, then tie me to a laboratory table and start sticking me with things!"

"That's not how it happened," Whitman corrected him in a mild tone. "We removed you from the street for your own protection since you were involved in an unseemly brawl, only to have you turn on the officers guarding you so that we were forced to restrain you. Since then we have been endeavouring to find out enough about your biology to provide for you safely."

Knuckles stared at him.

"In light of all that," Whitman continued. "It is disappointing to hear that you have apparently been lying to us from the beginning." He rested one hand on the table near Knuckles' feet. "You did not come here alone."

"Yes I did," Knuckles contradicted him. "I told the police officers. There was no one with me."

"Yes, they said you told them that." He drummed his fingers. "They said you were very definite about it. Very quick to answer that question even though you refused to answer most of the others. Almost as if you'd already decided what you were going to say if asked."

"It's a simple question," Knuckles snapped. "It didn't take a lot of thought."

"Disappointing," Whitman repeated. "It shows a lack of good faith, a lack of gratitude."

"Gratitude?" Knuckles spat, "What have you done for me to be grateful for?"

Whitman moved his hand to Knuckles' bandaged foot and plucked idly at the steritape. "For one thing, if we were merely your jailors there would be no need to us to have spent time treating you." He smiled. "So now I'll give you something else to be grateful for. You complained you couldn't feel your foot any more." His hand tightened.

Knuckles jerked convulsively in the restraints, unable to contain a startled shriek of pain as the general gripped his foot, digging his fingers hard into the bound wound.

"You can feel it now can't you?"

"General!" the doctor protested.

Knuckles bit down on his yell and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Are you sure you haven't forgotten anyone who may have accidentally ended up here with you?"

"There was no one," Knuckles' breath came raggedly. "No one."

Whitman released his grip.

"I have to admit I haven't been entirely fair. You see I already know there is someone else here, and I haven't shared that information with you. Someone attacked one of our other facilities earlier today. What I need from you, is to know what we're looking for and what he's capable of."

Knuckles shook his head. "I was alone."

Whitman sighed. "Disappointing."

Sonic stood on a ridge overlooking the base below. He didn't think he'd been spotted yet, though there was certainly a lot of movement down there. It was bigger than the first place too. He tapped a foot thoughtfully. If he didn't find Knuckles pretty early on it was going to turn into a real fight.

Full dark had fallen a few minutes ago and he was starting to wonder if stealth might have its advantages here after all.

He watched the sentry pass below and waited for him to return. Definite workable gap there to get in without having to confront him, and once he was among the buildings there'd be a lot more cover.

He nodded and waited for the sentry to pass again before hurtling down the hill and vaulting the fence. He flung himself down against a low roofed building and waited. No alarms, no running humans. Good.

He looked around. There were dozens of buildings. Hundreds of people. He moved swiftly from building to building, staying in the shadows, nothing more than a quick blur as he moved from one to the next.

Another movement caught his eye as he passed a long lowest building near the centre of the compound and someone shouted.

It was a startled yelp not a warning cry but instantly Sonic jumped at the person shouting grabbing him from behind, brought him to his knees and clapped a hand around his mouth.

"Be quiet," he said firmly. "I'm not going to hurt anyone but you've got a pal of mine here who gets ever so crabby when he's homesick y'know? Really I'm going to be doing you all a favour by getting him off your backs."

He loosened his grip slightly. "I'm going to let go now, and if you yell for help of try and run I'm going to knock you out. Be sensible and keep quiet and we'll take a little walk to that shed there and you can be sit nice and comfortably locked in until we're gone. Got it?"

The man nodded and Sonic let go. "That way."

"I can tell you where your friend is," the man said hurriedly.

"Oh? And why would you do that?" Sonic asked.

"Because it's wrong," the man looked at him earnestly, though his voice shook. "I didn't think it would be like this. I thought if we ever really did meet aliens, that we'd talk to them, you know, negotiate. Share things, learn things. But the general-- The way he--"

The man faltered and didn't finish, he shook his head fearfully. "It wasn't my fault!" He pointed. "It's that building there. Room 10D."

Sonic looked at him thoughtfully. He seemed for real. "Okay. But we're you're still going to wait this out in that shed."

The man nodded. "I understand."

Sonic stared at the door to which he'd been directed. Smashing it was sure to finally set whatever alarms this place had ringing. He shrugged. Well he'd got this far. He dashed at the door, leaping into a spin and tumbling through as it gave.

He took in the room quickly, obviously a lab of some sort, harsh overhead lights and the smell of disinfectant, but his attention was immediately focused on the table at the half-lit far end.

"Knuckles!" Sonic ran across. "Hey, are you okay? Let's get out of here."

Knuckles stirred but didn't open his eyes.

"Come on!" Sonic fumbled with the buckles on the restraints. "Wakeywakey." He reached over to shake him slightly.

Abruptly Knuckles launched himself off the table and tackled Sonic to the floor. "That was a mistake," he snarled. "Now you let me out of here or I'll smash your foot and see how it feels!"

Winded, Sonic struggled awkwardly. "Hey! Hey it's me. It's Sonic. Get off!"

Knuckles rolled back to his feet, staggered and sat down heavily. "Sonic?"

"Yeah. Sonic."

Sonic got back to his feet and made a point of brushing himself down.

"How many other blue hedgehogs are there in this place?" He stared at Knuckles who appeared to be having trouble remaining upright even sitting down and had slumped against the support of the table. "Man, you look dreadful. What happened?"

Knuckles stared blankly at him, his eyes not quite focussed. "Sonic?"

"Third time's the charm. Can we get out of here now?"

"I'm sorry, Sonic."

"Huh?"

"I told them you were here. I tried not to but I did. I told them other things, I can't remember what I told them. They knew and they asked and I told them you were here."

"Yeah well don't beat yourself up too much--I think they probably figured that out for themselves when I busted their other base."

Sonic stared at Knuckles who was trying again to stand and swaying alarmingly. If he didn't know better he'd swear he'd had been drinking.

"What did they give you, huh?" He moved to help haul the echidna to his feet. I hope you're not going to start telling me I'm your bestest ever pal." He looked down. "What's the matter with your foot?"

"Got a hole in it. Tried to jump out of a something when they were bringing me here. Messed it up. Bang. Hole. Bigger hole now because I wouldn't tell them until I told them. There was no one with me."

"Right." Sonic blinked. "Well I'm glad that's clear. Can you run on it?"

"Yes."

In this drugged state he probably could too, Sonic thought--he appeared more confused than hurt at the moment.

"Fine, then--" A bellowing siren interrupted him. "Oh great. I think we've been noticed. Forget run--can you fight like that?"

In answer Knuckles raised his fists and curled his lip back. "Not tied now. They owe me." He launched himself at the first soldier to appear through the door, cracked his head against the jamb and leapt out into the corridor. Sonic followed, and bowled over two more before they could raise their weapons.

"Over here!" he shouted, when Knuckles seemed more intent on the soldiers coming the other way than the exit.

A gun fired and Sonic threw himself to the floor before bounding forward at the shooter. Knuckles leapt past him, over the head of one guard, clutched at the wall to anchor himself and swung a kick back into the head of another. He landed in a sprawl and Sonic dragged his back to his feet and shoved him in the right direction.

The night air had never been so welcome. The searchlights and shouting and running soldiers were less so. Sonic's eyes lit on a glass topped tower near one of the runways and he pointed.

"Can you get to the top of that?"

Knuckles blinked at him, glassy-eyed. "Of course I can, wh--"

"Get up there and get ready to jump. You'll know when."

Sonic ran into the opposite direction as Knuckles swerved his way across the compound. It wasn't really clear whether the weaving route was deliberate to avoid the weapons fire or the side effect of whatever he'd been dosed with, nevertheless he was at the tower and well on the way up without being hit, by the time Sonic reached the spot he wanted. Plenty of room for a runup. He paused and eyed the tower. Unlit. Deserted at this hour. The perfect distraction.

He lowered his head and leaned forward as he built up speed. He had to hit this straight on, the tower was round and if he got the angle wrong his spin attack would just bounce off. Embarrassment would then be the least of his troubles.

He spared a glance upwards. Knuckles was clinging to the top. Below him the soldiers seemed undecided as to whether they should be firing or not.

Sonic gritted his teeth and spun. There was a crashing about his ears and he shook the dust off his spines as he barrelled out the other side. For a moment he though the tower would hold then it crumbled at one side and started to topple. The soldiers scattered and Knuckles leapt clear and into a glide, almost invisible against the night sky. Someone scurried for a searchlight which Sonic promptly smashed before running for the fence. It was more than time to be gone.

He followed Knuckles, as he cleared the fence and dropped back to the ground a few hundred yards away. It was a less than graceful landing and he ended up on his hands and knees, his breath abnormally loud, even against the background noise of the base scrambling a search.

He spoke thickly as Sonic approached. "Is it possible for someone who's a natural glider to get airsick?" he asked.

Sonic smirked, "I seriously doubt it, Knux."

Knuckles groaned. Sonic's eyes widened and he wrinkled his nose in distaste. "You're not going to be sick are you? We need to be a long way from here fast."

"Nothing to be sick with," Knuckles mumbled, ignoring the last comment. "Didn't give me anything. 'Cept the stuff in the needle. Questions. Questions in a needle. They said they knew I was lying about nobody but I didn't tell them. I know I didn't, I don't think I did."

Whatever adrenalin had carried Knuckles through the fight and escape was clearly losing out to the drugs in his system. Sonic shook his shoulders.

"Will you snap out of it! We've covered this. They knew because I went to one of the bases looking for you. I told you that already."

"You--" Knuckles eyes snapped all the way open. "You did what? After you knew they'd got me? After you knew what they thought of us? You... You idiot!"

For the second time that night Knuckles launched himself in a fury at Sonic.

"Do you know what they did trying to get me tell them you were here and I didn't--well I did, but that was after-- and after all that you just waltz right in anyway! This is your fault! The whole fact we're here is your fault!"

Apoplectic with fury Knuckles might be, but at the moment he was also injured and half drugged and Sonic twisted easily away until he was sprawled bodily on the struggling echidna.

"This really isn't the time!" he shouted. "Knuckles, listen, once we're away you can tell me in details why this almighty screw-up is all my fault, but right now we need to be running."

"Run then." Knuckles abruptly stopped fighting. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm one hole short of having two functional feet right now. I'm not what you might call equipped for a marathon."

Sonic let go of him and stood up.

"How are you are riding piggy-back?"

Knuckles blinked. "You cannot be serious. Aren't you forgetting one minor detail of hedgehog anatomy?"

Sonic shrugged, his spines ruffling. "Well not quite a-back then, but if you grab on around my shoulders and I hold your arms I think I can manage."

Knuckles looked sceptical but approaching shouts of a search detail decided the matter and he clambered back to his feet.

"I'm warning you," Sonic said as he caught hold. "If you really are sick--I'm letting go!"

---End Part 2---