The Secret Police had surrounded the scrap heap, laser guns at the ready, should either of the youngsters; or anyone else for that matter, make an appearance. Little by little they inched forward, keeping close eye on their WristWAPs, should The Commander have a message for them. After a short wait the WAPs beeped, signalling that the exact location of the girl had been located and that she was accompanied by the boy, and an as-yet-unidentified middle-aged male. They were to advance slowly, as there might be armed others hiding in the vicinity. It was unlikely, and highly improbable, The Commander knew, but he didn't tell them that. Far better to make them work for their money.

Back in the Smith's kitchen Shania sat with Sally's parents, a smug smile slowly spreading across her face. Everything was going to plan. Admittedly, she had imagined a dramatic showdown with Sally, with her being dignified and fortuitous, forgiving Sally for stealing 'her' guy. All three were staring at the clock, waiting for news. Suddenly Elizabeth's WAP bleeped. The sound broke the tense silence, making the three of them jump. Elizabeth hastily read the message, and jumped to her feet, 'That's it. I can't stay here any more,' she stated. 'I'm going to find her, talk some sense into her.'

'But- but- Khashoggi said to stay here,' Edward countered nervously.

'Stuff Khashoggi!' Elizabeth screamed. 'My daughter is out there with THAT BOY, apparently of her own free will! I'm not going to sit back and do nothing!' Like her daughter she was headstrong and wilful, with an inclination to disobey the rules. Edward stared at her in shocked disbelief, knowing that there would be no reasoning with her. He had only seen her act like this once before – when she had defied her parents to be with him. Edward Smith wasn't the type her parents had had in mind, but he had rapidly proved them wrong, climbing to the top position with his company. It was ironic he thought, history repeating itself. But there was no redeeming Gordon Jones; the boy had a criminal record!

'If you're going then we'll all go,' he reasoned, 'she's my daughter too.' Elizabeth nodded briefly, already halfway out of the door.

Sally and Galileo waited nervously and impatiently for Pop to finish his speech, 'If you're going to do this, you're going to do it correctly,' Pop had told them when Sally had tried to get him to 'cut the guff and get on with it'. She stood now, glaring at him huffily, occasionally shooting a sideways glance at Galileo, watching his reactions. They had just reached Galileo's vows when a scream broke the peace. Elizabeth. All three looked up in fright, Sally with an ever deepening glare that would have made anyone crumble under it.

'What do you want?' she demanded furiously, 'You have NO right to be here!'

'What do I want???' Elizabeth screamed back at her, 'I want you to come back home, forget all this nonsense and whatever it is you're doing with that boy and that man,' she hissed, narrowing her eyes at Pop. 'I want you to continue your studies, get a good job and have a successful life, and I want a diamond necklace but your father won't get me one!' she finished furiously. Her eyes continued to narrow to slits as she took in more of the situation, slowly turning purple with fury. 'A-a-are you MARRYING him!?' she screamed, apoplectic with rage. 'Edward! She's marrying him!' she turned to her husband, who acknowledged his daughter apologetically.

'I tried to stop her,' he said sheepishly, before turning to his wife, continuing, 'I didn't know you wanted a diamond necklace. You should have said.'

'Edward.' Elizabeth said with the same force of glare that she was under from her daughter, 'I have been dropping hints for months. And you don't seem to have grasped the gravity of the situation. Our daughter, our seventeen year old daughter, is marrying a certified rebel with a criminal record. Do something!'

Edward opened his mouth and closed it again, unsure of what to say. After a moment he settled for, 'Please come home Sally. It's much quieter when you're there,' under the deeply reproachful glare of his wife he continued, 'and it was very wrong of you to disobey your mo- us. It was very wrong of you to disobey us. His wife's glare deepened, his daughter's dissipated slightly, but returned with full force when Khashoggi stepped forward.

'Ma'am… the men… If Sally is unwilling to return they can be called upon… the boy can be dealt with.'

Sally's glare deepened intensely as she noticed The Commander, 'You brought him and his cronies here to bring me back? How dare you?! You spiteful, malicious, scheming evil BITCH. You can't bear for me to be happy can you?'

Elizabeth stood in stunned silence, she had never heard her daughter outburst like that before. She hadn't even imagined she was capable of it, 'He makes you happy?' she asked quietly, with a stutter reminiscent of Galileo's, her voice wavering. She genuinely hadn't considered that eventuality, merely thought Sally was being deliberately disobedient.

'Yes,' Sally said emphatically, 'I love him.' Her gaze spun from her mother to her father, but stopped at Shania, the incongruity in the family and police group that she hadn't noticed before. She glared at her, 'You put them up to this.' It wasn't a question, even her mother wouldn't be callous enough to want Galileo and herself dead. Shania nodded, unflinchingly defiant. 'I hate you,' the venom in Sally's voice was tangible. 'I never thought even you could stoop so low.'

'You shouldn't have underestimated me then,' Shania retorted calmly.

Throughout the exchange Galileo and Pop had watched quietly from the sidelines, Galileo now stepped forward uncertainly, standing beside Sally. He took her hand in a subtle gesture of reassurance and unity. 'I um… I…' he stopped and cleared his throat, 'Mr and Mrs Smith,' he nodded to each of them in turn, 'I love your daughter and I would never do anything to hurt her, and I do want what's best for her, and if that means her being with you rather than me, then so be it.' Sally opened her mouth to protest, but Galileo carried on, regardless, 'But I also think she knows where she would be happiest, and I'm content to let her make her own decisions.'

As Galileo finished his speech Sally turned to Pop who had been forgotten since the arrival of her parents, 'Pop, you're here for a reason. Please continue with it. They,' she gestured to her parents, 'can like it or lump it. I'm making my own decisions.'

Pop nodded, 'Where were we? Ah yes, your vows,' he said to Galileo with a grin.

The Smith's watched aghast as Galileo proceeded with his vows. Unnoticed Khashoggi slipped out of the back of the group, with a slight nod to Shania as he did so. A moment later he slipped back in, still unnoticed, and followed by his officers. The Secret Police quietly surrounded the little group, taking advantage of the fact that all eyes were on the trio at the centre. Soon, the group were surrounded, Sally's parents and Shania included.

As he rounded the corner of one of the scrap piles one of the SP's stumbled slightly and sneezed as a cloud of dust hit him in the face, earning him a glare from Khashoggi. Simultaneously, the trio, Sally's parents and Shania looked up to see what had caused the disturbance. Mingled expressions of surprise, shock, horror and a tinge of fear flushed across their faces. At a curt command from Khashoggi, six SP officers slowly walked forward, one taking Pop by the arms and disabling him, another two held Sally's parents, the fourth forced Sally's arms behind her back, ignoring her furious protestations. The last two each took one of Galileo's arms and pinned it behind his back, marching him towards Khashoggi. After staring him up and down for a long moment, Khashoggi nodded sadly to the two officers who spun Galileo round and marched him so he was facing a pile of scrap, his back to the rest of the group. Khashoggi barked an instruction to one of the remaining SP officers, and the man walked forward so he was directly facing Galileo's back.

With a jolt Sally realised what was happening and she screamed loudly, begging her parents to make it stop, hoping against hope that it was just a dream. Hot tears pricked the back of her eyes as she wrestled with the guard holding her arms. Like her daughter Elizabeth was fighting her guard, screaming at Khashoggi to stop. She succeeded in struggling free and ran to her daughter, wrapping her arms around her as best she could, as Sally sobbed on her shoulder. Elizabeth's guard ran up behind her, forcing her arms behind her back and dragging her away from Sally. Elizabeth screamed at Khashoggi again, begging him to stop.

'Oh no,' The Commander said coldly to Sally, his face passive and emotion-free. 'He has to die. It's the only way. And you,' he said with a touch of laughter on his voice, 'you are going to watch.' Shania watched nonchalantly from Khashoggi's side, a lazy smirking smile spreading across her face.

A sudden cracking sound brought a relative hush over the group. Edward had been fighting his guard, and as Sally and Elizabeth turned in the direction of the noise, he slithered out of his guard's arms onto the ground in a crumpled heap, his neck broken. Mother and daughter redoubled their efforts to free themselves of their guards as the officer in front of Galileo raised his laser gun, peering down the barrel.

'Enough.'

The command cut through the air like a knife, suspending all movement; the only sound the sobs that wracked through Elizabeth and Sally. At a second command the guards let go of them, hiding their confusion at the order. Elizabeth ran to Edward, falling at his side, desperately begging him to wake up, knowing it was futile.

Sally ran to Galileo, stumbling as she did so, tears streaming down her face. She flung herself at him, almost knocking him backwards as he braced himself to catch her. For a moment she stayed silently sobbing on his shoulder, shaking as he tried to calm her. Suddenly, her back stiffened as she regained her composure, a manic look in her eye. Spinning around, she walked towards Shania who was watching events guiltily defiant. Fighting to keep calm control of herself Sally stopped in front of Shania and slapped her across the face with all the strength she could muster before going back to Galileo.

Hand in hand, Galileo and Sally made their way over to where Elizabeth was kneeling at Edward's side, tears silently pouring down her face.

'Mum?'