They hurried down the corridor, ducking under some pipes to avoid being seen by a pair of workers on the catwalk above. Jack motioned to follow them. The metal gantry led to a smaller cave, containing a smooth metal object surrounded by teams of scientists. Seth indicated that the object was their ship.
The party crouched down behind a pile of crates. Mike was struggling for breath.
"We have to hurry." Sara whispered.
"We'll tell them that." Replied Jack sarcastically.
"Good idea." Cut in Alex. She wasn't being ironic. Before anyone could stop her, she grabbed a white coat from on top of the crates, flung it on, and marched out into plain sight with an irritated expression etched across her features.
"Excuse me!" She yelled, and something told Mike she didn't mean this politely. "Do you not hear the alarms? Work in this sector is to cease immediately."
The scientist stopped work and came across to scrutinise the intruder. It looked like the leader was about to say something, so Alex cut him off.
"We have off the chart readings of sodium hydrochloride, zenon, hydrazine, and you don't even want to know how bad the gamma radiation is. You're going to have to do some serious, and I mean serious, scrubbing down."
Seth and Sara nodded knowledgeably from behind the crates. Jack and Mike looked at each other in disbelief.
While most of the scientists looked convinced, there were several who obviously weren't.
"Who are you?" The leader questioned.
"Who... who am I? Who am I?!" Alex exploded in apparent disbelief. "I'll tell you who I am. I am your worst nightmare. There's a Court Marshall waiting for you, soldier! Now you either do as you're told, or I can go tell Henry Burke, that you disobeyed his direct orders. It's your call. Make sure you choose wisely."
The scientist was stunned into submission. Without taking his eyes of Alex, he motioned for the rest of his team to follow and almost ran for the exit. He didn't want to cross this woman.
Jack, Mike, Sara and Seth watched them go from behind the crates. As soon as they had all gone, the four stood up. The two humans stared at Alex, amazed and she curtsied in their direction.
"Thank you, thank you."
Meanwhile Sara and Seth had gone to the ship and placed the tracking device on the hull. Suddenly the ship lit up and started to hum. A few seconds later, a hatch opened and a ramp slid down.
Jack and Mike joined Alex and together they started walking up the ramp to where the teenagers were waiting. They were stopped in their tracks by the loud sound of cocking guns.
"Thank you, we were having a hard time figuring that part out." The mocking tones of Henry Burke rang out around the hanger.
Jack stepped forward threateningly. There was not much he could do against assault rifles, but his big frame was menacing all the same.
"Jack!" Alex grabbed his arm, preventing him from going any further. Sara and Seth stepped forwards, standing in line with the humans.
"A brave but empty gesture, Mr. Bruno." Chuckled Burke.
"They're just kids!" Yelled Jack, but Alex kept hold of his arm.
Mike noticed that Seth had pushed to the centre of the line and was holding hands with Jack and Sara.
I wonder what he's up to…
Sara pulled Mike closer and grasped his hand firmly.
Mike, Seth has an idea.
Ah, hello again Sara!
Whatever you do, don't let go of my hand.
Don't worry, I wasn't planning on doing that.
The three humans and two aliens had now all joined hands and were standing across the loading ramp of the ship, their backs illuminated by the light shining from the hull.
Henry Burke stood on the catwalk, observing the proceedings. He raised his arm.
"Commander! Fire at will!" He said.
The humans and Sara closed their eyes. Seth however kept his wide open, steely determination radiating from his very being.
The soldiers opened fire, sending thousands of rounds searing through the air towards the quintet. But no shots hit them. Bewildered, the soldiers kept on firing.
Seth was concentrating hard on keeping the force field around them up, it was tiring and was sapping his already depleted strength. He knew he couldn't afford a single lapse in concentration – that would mean certain death for at least one of the group.
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Screamed Burke, enraged that the bullets were having no effect on the targets. At a signal from their commander, the soldiers surrounding the alien craft began hastily reloading their firearms.
Seth finally let the force field drop and relaxed, exhausted. There was no time for rest though as Jack grabbed the boy and thrust him towards the ship.
"Go go! Run run run!" The cabbie shouted, and they turned and bolted for the open hatchway. As soon as they were all inside Sara touched a button and the doors began to hiss shut. Suddenly there was an explosion in the cave and, through the crack in the rapidly closing door, Mike saw the Siphon blast a huge hole in the hangar wall.
"You gotta get this thing up in the air, quick!" Mike said urgently, grabbing onto the left-hand pilot's seat.
"Yeah, let's go!" Jack agreed..
"Activating shields!"
"Power at twenty-five percent and increasing."
"Hey, umm… You do know how to fly this thing, right?" The cabbie inquired, suddenly looking concerned.
"How do you think we got here." Returned Seth, without taking his eyes of the controls.
"Well, you crashed, remember?" Muttered Jack, looking even more worried. Alex squeezed his hand, surreptitiously feeling for a handhold on the back of Seth's chair.
Mike clung onto the pilot seat for dear life as the ship finished powering up and tilted alarmingly.
"That way, that way!" Sara said to her brother, who nodded.
Seth expertly spun the alien craft to face yet another exit tunnel, and they sped off into it. It was hardly wide enough to fit the ship, which kept scraping the sides. At last the ship shot out of the tunnel and into the clear night sky.