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Martin was bored.

He'd been holed up in a small room with Heidie for over a day and anytime he'd moved close to the door she'd growled at him. He had nothing to do. She was monopolizing the vid screen, watching some asinine show about a family stuck on some planet. Based on her laughter it was supposed to be funny, but he wasn't seeing the humor in having to rough it.

He didn't even have a datapad. She had the only one, and only looked away from her show to consult and type something. He guessed she was in contact with the rest of Katherine's people. He'd tried to borrow it, even told her he could help with the search for Tristan. She hadn't growled, so he'd reached for it, only to get his hand slapped away hard.

He couldn't believe he'd exchanged one prison for another, at least in Down Below he'd had room to move. The ship had been cramped with all the people on it. And this room was even smaller.

With a groan he pulled himself off the bed and headed for the shower room, the one place she let him go without complaining. Like he'd done the other times, he looked at the collar with its blinking green light. He ran a finger along it until he reached the joint. With tools he could probably take it off, but he'd been warned that any tampering would set the bomb in his neck off.

He needed to get to Tristan's ship. It would have what he'd need to isolate the signal, the tools needed to safely remove the collar and an auto-surgery to remove the bomb. All he needed was an opportunity to pick Heidie's pocket, get the remote detonator, and then make a run for it.

He had no idea where he was in the city. Heidie had kept him at a fast pace until they'd reached a rental place, then she'd piloted them around. He knew they were still in the same city, and knowing that meant it would only be a question of orienting himself and then staying one step ahead of Her.

He considered taking another shower. He couldn't get enough of them after years having to wash with a wet cloth. The sonic cleaner on Katherine's ship had felt good. To finally be clean, but the feeling of water falling on him like when he was a kid and stood in the rain...there was no words to describe how amazing that felt. He'd already had four showers since they'd arrived here.

He was reaching to turn it on when the vid became silent. He listened. That wasn't the pause between episode, it was the silence of it being off. Now he could hear Heidie move about.

He peeked in. She was looking through her travel bag.

She looked up. "We're leaving."

"What's going on?"

"I just told you."

"But why? Did the Law find us?"

"The boss needs me, so you're coming along."

"I can stay here, you know. Just lock the door. I won't go anywhere."

"The boss said I'm keeping an eye on you, so you're staying with me."

"But if she needs you, it's going to be dangerous, right?"

The look she gave him was all the answer he needed.

"See, I'm not great in dangerous situation. I might end up getting in the way."

"You're coming."

"Look--"

"You're doing it conscious or unconscious, those are the choices."

Martin cursed internally. He couldn't believe Katherine was calling only Heidie in. He wouldn't be able to run off if he was among a group of them. On the other hand, they were finally getting out of the room, that meant an opportunity to run.

He joined her and waited. It wasn't like he had anything to pack.

Like on the way in, she took the lead in the corridor, walking past the lifts to the emergency stairs.

"Come on, why do I have to walk down. Let's take the lift, it's going to be faster."

She didn't reply.

He hadn't expected her to. She hadn't on the way up. But he wanted to maintain the pattern. Let her think nothing had changed, when in fact he was looking forward to this trek down the stairs. She pushed the door open and then the sounds of her boots on the metal steps filled the stairwell.

He waited two floors before losing his footing. With a scream he canted forward into her. She barely turned as he grabbed onto her and caught him. His hands were all over her as she tried to keep her balance and he tried to get his footing. Once he finally had both of them on a stair she shoved him against the wall.

"Watch where you step," she growled.

"Sorry, sorry," he panted. "I told you we should have taken the lift."

She snorted. "Don't expect me to catch you next time. The boss wants you alive, she doesn't care if you're broken."

"Thanks," Martin grumbled, putting his hands in his pockets.

She went down the stairs again and he took a few seconds to catch his breath. He pulled the remote from his pocket to confirmed he'd gotten the right item and smile. His freedom was eminent.

They reached the ground floor and exited to the landing lot. He looked around. He couldn't see the port from here. No surprise there. If he could reach any transit lines he'd be able to make it there. Could he outrun her? More importantly, what was the range on the remote. If Katherine had another one, could she detonate it from where she was?

His choice was run now, and hope he was out of range, or wait until he was with her and know he was in range. That made his decision easy.

She yelled after him.

He didn't look back. He ran around the unoccupied hovers. Her yells were getting louder. He cursed, she was faster than he expected. He didn't think he'd make it to the crowd on the walking path. He heard a door close and glance in that direction.

No, not a door, a storage compartment. A man had finished putting things away and was moving to the front of the hover. Martin poured everything he had in his run.

He reached the hover as the man was getting in. "Please let me in," He panted.

The man stared at him.

"Please. She's crazy. She's been holding me prisoner, if she gets me again She's going to kill me." He looked over his shoulder. Heidie's face was red with either anger or exhaustion. Martin couldn't have ask for a better look on her at the moment.

"Please," he pleaded.

The man had followed his gaze and his eyes were wide. He still looked like he would hesitate, but as Martin opened his mouth the door on his side slid open. He jumped in and closed it. Heidie reached them and banged her fists on the vehicle.

"Get out of there you little shit! I swear, I'm going to kill you!"

Martin looked at the man. "Unless this hover is reinforced, you want to take off now."

The man nodded. "What did you do to her?"

Martin didn't answer. She was now banging on the window and he wondered if it was rated for this kind of treatment. The hover raised in the air and he sighed, leaning back in the seat.

The man was throwing glances his way.

"What? Why would you think I did anything to her? Have you seen her? Have you looked at me? She just snatched me off the street and stuffed me in the storage compartment of her hover."

"Why?"

"I don't know, maybe she though I was pretty. I didn't ask, the moment she opened it I ran."

"I guess it's lucky I was there then."

"Really lucky. I didn't think I'd make it to the crowds."

He closed his eyes. Part of him had trouble believing he'd managed to get away from her.

"I'm Sebastien, By the Way. I really like the necklace you have."

"Martin. Thanks, my daughter gave it to me." The words came by themselves, he might not have pulled one over anyone a over a decade, but the instincts were still there. Always hint to a family, with a man use a daughter.

"Oh, nice. I like the light. It's an interesting accent. Can you change the color?"

Martin laughed. "Sorry, just coming down from what happened. No I can't change the color."

"Well, I guess that now we're away, you should call the Law. They might be able to stop her."

"I'd rather not. I just want to put this behind me. Go home, hug my wife, make sure she knows I'm okay."

"But what if she does this to someone else? She can't be allowed to continue." Sebastien reached for the hover's command screen, but Martin caught his hand.

"You're right. She needs to be stopped, but I don't want to do that over comm. They're probably going to request that you head back there and I don't want to drag you into this. Just drop me off at the closest precinct. That way you can go on with your day."

"Are you sure? I don't mind. I can call the office and let them know I'll be late."

"I am grateful to you, I think you literally saved my life. I'm not going to repay you by doing anything that could put you in danger. If she knows who you are and escapes she could come after you, your family. It's too dangerous."

Sebastien's face fell. What he'd seen as a fun adventure had been turned into a real danger. "I guess you're right." He entered the information on the screen. "There's one not far."

"Thank you."

Under a minute the hover pulled away from the flow of traffic and down to land in the lot in front of the precinct. "If you need anything, contact me," the man said. "I mean it." He took his datapad out and readied himself to send the information.

"She took my pad, but if you'll let me, I'll enter a message node I use, as soon as I get a new one I'll update it. And if you need anything, I want you to contact me. I'm not kidding when I said you saved my life, I owe you." He entered the node's address. It was an old one, but one that hadn't contained anything valuable so he was confident neither the Law or the people he'd pissed off would have a reason to monitor it. Not that he cared if someone went after Sebastien, after all he wasn't seriously planing on repaying any kind of favor. He didn't owe others, they owed him, that was how he worked.

He shook the man's hand then headed for the precinct, even stepped inside, only then looking to see the hover had left.

"Can I help you?" a woman in a gray and blue uniform behind a counter asked. That had to be the colors for the local Law.

"Is there a washroom I can use?"

She pointed to the door with the washroom symbol on it.

He went in, relieved himself, washed his hands, and turned the collar around so the light would be hidden by the back of his shirt. There was still a faint glow visible, but hopefully with the daytime light no one would notice it.

Now, unless this was one of the places that offered transit for free, he needed money, or at least someone's ID so he could access places that tracked who came in and out, like the port. It shouldn't be too hard, he'd just have to pick the right person.

He waved to the woman behind the counter as he stepped outside, then he joined the crowd, picking a random direction. He walked slightly faster than those around them until he found someone dressed in an older suit with a few worn spots on it. He matched his pace, staying beside him until he got an occasion to be jostled and bump into the man. He apologized and put space between them again.

He made a turn while the man continued forward and checked what he'd taken out of his pockets. The ID card he'd been sure of, the shape had been distinctive, but it had been in a holder with three chips. One of them would be money, the others could be more money or maybe information important to him.

Finding out was easy. He stopped at the first information kiosk and slipped in the chips. One came back with an error message. Data, not money. The other two had money. The amount looked reasonable, and it was followed with a symbol he didn't recognize. The one for the local currency.

The first thing he did with his money was buy clothes. He was done wearing rags or someone else's hand-me-downs. Once he was dressed in a pressed shirt and form fitting suit, he felt like he was a member of society again.

He didn't take the transit to the port. He hired a hover to take him. He couldn't travel in style yet, but that didn't mean he had to move among the masses anymore.

No one objected as he entered the port, no alarms, no suspicious glares. Just the indifferent looks of bored travelers and officials. He made it to the ship without having to ask for direction. He might have gotten lost once they were out, but while in the port he had made sure to memorize the path.

The ship was more impressive up close than on a screen. He discretely looked to make sure no one was around. This was mid to long term holding, so other than the few people heading out or back in, and the handful of technicians, he was the only one there.

He used the tools that had been his second purchase to pry off the lock's cover and then moved cables around. Not many people knew that manufacturers always left a lock code in so that if they needed to repossessed a vehicle they'd sold, the new owner couldn't prevent them. All he had to do was connect the right wires, close the cover and enter the code. The display turned green.

Martin's smile faltered when the ramp didn't lower. He had entered the right code, it wouldn't have gone green otherwise. As he watched, it turned red again.

He reached to re-enter the code, but now the red was flashing. He didn't have the time to work out what that meant before the explosion engulfed him.