There were three of them. From what Jason could get from a careful glance around the corner, they wore bulletproof vests, torchlights and guns ready.

"… secured, Mam. Another crossroad ahead. No sign of intruders. … Yes, understood, Mam."

They tried to keep their voices down but the sound carried in the tunnels.

"We can't secure all the sewers in the city, Sir," one of them murmured. "They are long gone."

"I agree, Simon," the first voice replied. Obviously, their leader. "But if there's a chance they left something behind, we have to find it."

"Why do we have to do the dirty work?" the third man complained. "Did you see the guns these aliens carry? They say, they are stronger than us. They should be able to protect themselves."

"Just do your job, Banks," the captain responded. "Leave the politics to the politicians. That goes over your head anyway."

Simon snorted.

"Make all the fun you want," Banks replied angrily. "They attacked us and now we're supposed to help them?"

"They're not all terrorists," the leader said with a calm voice. "From what I've seen, they could've easily finished the job. Just take over. Instead, they seek out diplomatic relations."

"They just want to butter us up. Make us lower our defenses."

The leader stopped a few meters away from Jason and Neri. "I'm not saying that I trust them. But for now, I don't have reason to see them as enemies, either."

Jason and Neri exchanged a look in the dimming light, then took a step out of the shadows. Immediately, they found three guns pointed at there direction.

"Who is there?" the captain barked.

"Jason Bates and Princess Neri," Jason replied, his hands up. The torches blinded him as they searched for his face. From the corner of his eye, he saw Neri turn her face away from the light. Probably also from the sight of guns.

"Stay where you are," the captain ordered them. He lowered his guns and turned to his colleagues, gesturing them to watch Jason and Neri, while putting a hand to his left ear.

"This is Daniels … Yes, Mam." He turned around to look at them. "Yes, they are here. … I see … Understood, Mam."

The blonde one, Jason had identified by now as Simon, shot him a quick look. "What did the boss say?"

Captain Daniels signaled them to lower the guns which Simon followed immediately. "De Souza warned us that we might run into you two. And that we're supposed to send you back."

Jason lowered his hands and shook his head. "We are not going anywhere."

Daniels holstered his weapon and sighed. "Yeah, she said you might say something like that. And that you're welcome to join us."

"She knows us well," Jason grinned.

"Wait, what?" Banks still had his gun drawn at them. "Sir, I'm not sure …. "

"Put the gun away, Banks," Daniels told him harshly. "The boss says, they can come with us. So, they will come with us."

Banks lowered his weapon slowly, eyeing them both suspiciously but finally complied.

"What are you doing down here?" Daniels wanted to know.

"We saw someone leaving the cellar and figured, we better take a look."

"Let me guess: a big hole in the wall?" Daniels nodded. "Yeah, they are everywhere. Most likely, this is how they got in and out. The one you saw must have been cornered by us and looked for another way out."

"From your conversation earlier we got, that you didn't find anything yet?"

Daniel shook his head. "No, but it's just a matter of time. We have a lot of people down here. You came from there?" He pointed to the tunnel behind them. "Good to know. So, we can rule out two of three directions now. Simon," – he turned to the younger blonde who just put his gun away – "you go with them further down the main tunnel. Banks, you will come with me." He nodded to the smaller tunnel behind him. "Stay in radio contact."

"Understood, Sir," Simon replied and grinned at them. Banks just nodded but didn't look to happy.

"It's an honor, Princess Neri," Simon said as they started walking. "I don't meet many princesses willing to get into action themselves."

"Just Neri," she told him and smiled. "I serve my people the best I can and cannot demand what I would not do myself."

"You know, I have a thousand questions," he confessed, "I don't wanna be rude and I bet you get this a lot but …"

Neri grinned. "Just ask, Simon."

"It's actually Henry. Simon is my last name."

"Nice to meet you, Henry," Neri replied friendly. "What do you want to know?"

"Ehm," Henry came to a hold and scratched his head. "You know, second ago it was right there. Damn." He shrugged and they walked on.

"Can I ask you something instead?" Jason wanted to know.

"Sure."

"What's the mood among your colleagues? Are there many like Banks?"

"Banks is an idiot but unfortunately, he is not alone," Henry replied. "We usually just get enough information to do our job. Rumors are flying and there is a lot of misinformation. Most of the guys, I worked with in the last months were anxious – but not in a good way. They think you're just playing nice but take what you want in the end anyway."

"This was Malakat's way," Neri told him firmly, "not ours. We don't wish to fight."

"Yeah, but from what I heard, some of your people are pretty desperate. And if you're desperate enough, you shit on principles – sorry!" he added quickly after noting Neri's uneasy expression.

There was not much to add to this conversation without revealing too much about their plans. Simon must have picked up something but he obviously knew how it worked. He didn't ask further questions and they spent the next minutes walking in silence.

Jason had lost his sense for distance. He couldn't tell if they had walked for one kilometer, or two or maybe not even a half. A few hundred meters ahead, the tunnel bent to their left. The sound of water grew loader as they approached. Still, there was no sign of the intruders. No holes in the wall and no junctions. By now, they had probably left the hotel area.

"A dead end," Henry assessed as they had turned around the corner. A rusty lattice which barely left holes big enough to stick an arm through, kept them from falling down a small waterfall. The lattice also kept a lot of the bigger piles of trash from slipping through which resulted in a partially flooded pathway.

Henry pointed to the rusty ladder on the other side of the wall. "Maybe, we climb up and get some sense where we are."

He jumped over, jiggled the ladder to test its stability and began climbing. Before Jason or Neri could come after him, an ugly noise resounded loudly from the walls. The ladder broke apart above Henry's head. He gave a surprised gasp and tried to smoothen his fall but his feet slipped away on the wet ground. With a splash, he fell into the sewage on his back and the stream took him towards the lattice. He came to a sudden halt, tried to crawl backwards and cried out in pain. Jason and Neri hurried towards him from either side.

"Ah, my leg," Henry moaned and pointed to his left foot which was stuck between the metal rods. A piece must have broken off when Henry's foot had hit the lattice. The metal had been bent to the outside and when Henry had tried to retreat his foot, a piece of metal had gone inside the flesh just above his ankle.

Jason swore. "We have to push you forward to free you," he warned Henry, who just nodded. He took a deep breath and swore loudly, when they moved him. The rod had gone deep and Henry's ankle started to swell up.

"Do it fast," he gasped. "Otherwise it will be stuck again between the rods."

He screamed in pain as they gave him another push. Neri reached forward and managed to bent the rod away from his foot so they could pull him out. Jason took his left arm and put it round his shoulder to help him up while Neri did the same on Henry's left.

"Can you stand or walk?"

Henry gave it a try but the tension in his face told Jason already, that walking was a No-Go.

"We will carry you back," he decided. "We have to get this wound treated as fast as possible."