Sixty Six

Echo didn't talk to Marlo about 'the inciden't in the surgery.

In fact, the following four days he managed the skin graft on his own, unwrapping and rewrapping the bacta bandages. It had finally taken and was showing signs of rejuvenation, much to his relief. He also kept the loop of the CCTV open most nights and slept in the surgery, hidden behind the Bacta tank. He no longer had to endure the nightly visits by the warden as Marlo did. The laboured sounds and harsh breathing indicating when he was in her room. He felt guilty, but knew there was still nothing he could do without jeopardising them both.

She was aware he was working on something. For hours each day he would train, sculpting his upper torso and then he would tinker, moving heavy pieces of steel in the early hours of the morning.

"Echo, you need to get some sleep," she went in one night just after the warden had left. He was becoming more violent during his visits and Echo noticed a patch of hair missing along with a deep scratch down the length her neck. Marlo didn't even attempt to cover it.

She was well beyond shame.

She knew he was looking at the welt, but he didn't comment, and simply took the glass of water she offered.

"Thank you," he said as he drank the cool liquid.

"What are you working on?" He turned back to face her quickly and she could see he was thinking of the possible answers.

He had to tell her.

It went against all his training but he knew he couldn't escape without her help.

The only question was, would she want to?

Either way, it was time to reveal his plan, one that revolved around the heinous visits from the warden and her involvement imperative if they were to succeed.

He said the words slowly so there would be no misunderstanding. "I want to escape, and I intend to take you with me." Echo stood and waited for her to reply.

She didn't.

Tears filled Marlo's eyes and as she blinked they ran down the length of her cheeks. Echo shook his head slightly and moved forward and grabbed both her arms.

"Marlo," he said softly, "it's time to leave this place and go home."

She nodded her head and looked up at him. He was bigger now, taller from the new legs but now both physically and mentally stronger and she knew at that moment, that he would stay true to his word and get her out.

She knew he would save her.

She had planned it that way all along.

Echo had devised a way to transport them both off the Citadel.

It was ingenious, even for the ARC and he sat back and smugly allowed himself to admire his handiwork.

He had read all the emergency fire escape routes as outlined in the Infirmary manual and knew that avenue was an impossibility. Once they knew there was an escape underway, all exits would be automatically closed from the main control room.

Where would he go anyway?

No, if he was going to get to a transport, he had to do it secretly.

The Infirmary bed was his answer. There was one trolley that wasn't like all the others. Almost a relic, it was the one that Marlo preferred to operate on, sighting that as it had a transparisteel frame supported on legs, it was more stable. Being a cardiothoracic surgeon, the slightest movement would mean life or death. She had fought the caretaker hard on keeping that dinosaur of a bed, and now, it was going to save both their lives.

Painstakingly he had adapted the tray, cutting it away and attaching steel brackets underneath. Just enough to support his weight. He would lie in the framework then if a body was placed on top of him, with a sheet draped over, they could be pushed anywhere in the facility.

And he knew exactly which person would allow them complete access to the Hanger bay.

"OK Marlo," this is the plan.

She had gone over it a hundred times in her head. She had filled the hypo with enough sedative to keep the warden anaesthetised for a few hours. She had also filled another and placed it in her small bag. Under extreme duress, she would use it to threaten the Devaronian's life with if they were caught. It was a small contingency, but one Echo had thought worth a last ditch effort to get to a transport.

They waited a week. The Warden had been recalled to Hypori during that time and they were both worried that he would be replaced.

"What if he doesn't come back!" Marlo was beside herself on the sixth night.

"Then we'll think of another plan," Echo too was anxious that all his hard work and planning would be for naught.

Their collective nervous energy was a waste as he returned on the seventh night.

Like clockwork he appeared after lights out. He was particularly amorous this time, presenting Marlo with a small gift he had brought back for her. She smiled and tried to relax and act if everything was the same as before. She couldn't afford to appear different, not this time. He stroked her back, his cue for her to remove her clothing, which she did deftly, stepping provocatively out of her dress and underwear. He smiled and let out a small growl before he pushed her around and assumed the position for the last time. She knew Echo would be watching. They had moved the cupboard to a spot where, during the act, he would be behind the Devaronian.

Echo waited.

As a man he knew there would be a moment when the humanoid would be at his weakest and he would have to time his attack to perfection.

La petit mort.

Echo sprung from the cabinet and placed the garrotte quickly around the warden's neck. He clawed frenetically at Marlo's torso, scratching the length of her body, bright red blood trailing her flanks.

She was silent.

Flipping around onto her bottom she watched in horror as he lost consciousness, his eyes bulging and his tongue hanging from his mouth.

"Quick!" Echo rasped as he let the wire go.

This was where they had to work fast.

Marlo quickly wrapped bandages that held bacta patches in place against her torn skin and dressed in pants and a long sleeved top. Pulling on boots she grabbed the pack that she had hidden under her bed.

Echo had put on a set of Infirmary medical scrubs and injected the hypo into the Wardens neck. Marlo raced over and attached the life support equipment and the heart monitor.

"You OK?" Echo asked.

"Yes," she replied absently as she grabbed the sheet and readied herself to make the call to the main office.

"Marlo. Take a moment. Breathe, we're half way there."

She took his advice and then helped the ARC slide the unconscious body on top of him. Covering the trolley with the Infirmary sheet she heard his muffled voice.

"Marlo?"

She smiled despite the situation she found herself in, "yes?"

"Whatever happens, thank you."

She tapped the side of the guerney twice and picked up the commlink.

"This is Dr Lane in the Infirmary. The Warden has suffered a massive myocardial infarction and is on life support. I have stabilised him, but he needs to be transferred to a larger medical facility if he is to survive."

The dye had been cast.

A prison guard escorted the second in charge to the medical bay.

He looked at the body lying on the trolley and the monitor keeping him alive. Marlo fussed about with a catheter in the wardens arm.

"We can make a transport available and move him to Iridonia."

"I will go with him to make sure nothing happens to the Warden enroute."

Marlo stood firm and authoritative. The 2IC was a Vodran, and one she never particularly trusted. But he knew about the 'special' relationship she had with his boss and nodded once. The Guard began pushing the wheeled antique bed.

"This is heavy," he grumbled.

Marlo thought fast. "Of course he's heavy, he's a Devraonian!"

She walked ahead and opened the door and warily watched the trolley leave the Infirmary.

They quietly picked up the pace and headed to the Hanger Bay of the Citadel. Echo knew exactly where they were, the sweat soaking his clothing. Swallowing hard, he hoped they would be at a transport soon.

"Good, there's the ship," she announced, more to let Echo know they were nearly free. He allowed his body to relax slightly and one of his legs slipped momentarily. The guard stopped.

"He moved!"

"Spontaneous muscle contraction," Marlo was at the Wardens side, moving the medical scanner over his body, "good, it looks as though he will make a full recovery. Quick, we need to get him to a hospital stat," she smiled and looked at the Guard who returned the gesture, happy that their leader would soon be well.

Up the ramp.

Down the corridor to the passenger hold.

Trolley secured into the patient docking bay.

Almost there.

The guard moved to the cockpit to alert the pilot they were good to go when Marlo stepped aside as Echo sprung up, pushing the warden's prone body to the floor with a thump.

"Everything ok out there, I heard a - "

Crack

The ARC snapped the guard's neck in one swift movement and guided him to the floor silently. With hand gestures he motioned Marlo to sit and strap herself into a seat as if everything was normal. He then moved the body and hid waiting for the craft to get clearance and take off.

"Dr Lane, the 2IC wants to know where the guard is?" The pilot's voice was loud, making her startle.

She pressed the comm button on her right. "He's coming with me, I'll need someone to help if the warden goes into defib."

More lies, followed by silence.

This was the defining moment.

Echo swayed as he heard the words, his heart thumping harder than it had ever done in the past.

"Copy that control. This is alpha six oh three ready for takeoff. We'll radio in once we hit Iridonia's orbit.'

And with that short but succinct sentence, the craft lifted off the Citadel, as it had done hundreds of times, but this time however, with the forgotten ARC on board.

.