The gloom in front of Tila wobbled. Instantly she skipped out of view of the passageway.

'Mal,' she whispered. 'I think someone's coming.'

Malachi emotions leapt at once from guilt to fear. He rushed to her side.

'Are you sure?' he asked, hoping against all reason that Tila was wrong. But he knew she wasn't. Their chances of making it back to the ships undiscovered were already slim. They were about to vanish.

Tila pointed down the corridor.

'Down there. I saw the shadows move. It could be flashlights.'

'Can you tell how many?'

'No. I would guess at least two.'

'Probably more than two,' he whispered, looking over her shoulder.

'Why?'

Malachi's grin broke against the danger. 'They've met you.'

Tila only replied with a soft grunt but he saw her shoulders relax. Whatever happened next, they would face it together.

'Do we run or fight?' he asked again, serious once more.

Malachi could see her assessing her options, knowing only one could win. The outcome would be the same. She would choose whichever could best keep Ellie safe. She always did. But he knew she lacked the certain knowledge to make that decision.

'We fight,' she said, reaching back over her shoulder for her staff. 'This is the only corridor that goes the right direction. The other one turns back the way we came. Are you ready?'

'No,' he said with resignation.

'It's a good place for an ambush. You stand over there. When they come through we'll catch them by surprise from two sides.'

'You always preferred the direct route,' he said as he took up his position opposite Tila and facing the elevators. Malachi pressed himself against the wall as flat as possible to.

'It's better to go through someone than around them.'

'You mean quicker,' he corrected.

'That's what I said.'

Malachi's nostrils flared. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through him. He wanted to run, not fight.

'I don't know how much more of this I can take,' he whispered.

Tila readied herself. Her staff was out and low, ready for her to swing it like an axe at the first person she saw.

'You get used to it,' she whispered back. 'Be ready. Go hard and fast. Don't let them react.'

'I'm not a fighter like you, Tila.'

'I fight because I have to. Now you have to. We have to. You'll be fine. I'm right here.'

They waited. Malachi's heart threatened to burst free and fly away. His palms were slick and his head felt light. Tila simply waited. There was a job to be done and she was ready to do it.

They sounds were too close now to risk looking around the corner so they had to rely on hearing alone. But muffled echoes hid the truth of the numbers coming their way. Tila assumed more than two pirates were nearby but how many exactly? Three? Four? To Tila it made no difference. She would fight ten of these pirates if it meant keeping her friends safe.

Unless they were agents, not pirates.

The sounds came closer. Individual footsteps became more distinct. Lights played on the elevator doors. The flashlights were in the corridor now. They were almost here. Tila still couldn't tell how many. The rapid and confusing interplay of light and shadow made it impossible to be sure.

Another sound of footsteps. Something heavy and sure. The feet stopped. Shuffled. Turned? Shouted. Tila and Malachi heard the sound of weapons being drawn.

Then the sharp concussive pulse of a powerful blaster cut through the confusion of noise. A blue-white flash lit up the corridor, casting a weird combined shadow of four human figures on the floor and elevator doors.

They heard a body fall. The irregular footsteps suddenly vanished, replaced by a panicked scramble. Flashlights and weapons clattered to the floor. Shrieks of panic rolled through the corridor. The heavy blaster sounded again. A man cried out in pain and fell.The silhouette of the weapon's bright discharge now threw two shadows on the wall.

One figure was ducked and ran toward them. The other was standing, legs apart. The outstretched arms were hidden by the shadow of the man's torso. A weapon holster on his hip was empty.

They heard a rapid high-pitched energy weapon returning fire. The red glow from the weapon pulses strobing fire-tinged shadows. Tila could read in the shadows the shooters desperate, pointless attempt to fight back. He stayed, fight overcoming flight while his last companion ran.

The heavy weapon sounded again. This time the pitch was higher, the boom deeper. The shooter cried out. A human shadow flashed onto the elevator doors. A silhouette of arms flung high. The centre torso less opaque than a human shadow should be. The shadow died and the body dropped. A pistol skidded along the floor to rest at Malachi's feet.

Tila and Malachi exchanged a fearful glance.

'What?' Malachi mouthed to Tila.

'Who?' She mouthed back.

The last figure burst from the corridor. A pirate, not an agent. He crashed into an elevator door, his hand automatically pressing the call button even has he looked left and right for an escape. He turned around and saw Tila and Malachi. He looked from one to the other, his face a chimera of shock and surprise and despair. His last looked was between them, into the corridor. They could see his eyes widen. The elevator wasn't coming for him. He started to turn, started to run.

The weapon sounded once more. A blue-white pulse flashed between Tila and Malachi. It caught the man full in the chest. It crashed him against the elevator. His lifeless head banged against the door. There was a faint but nauseating smell of burnt flesh from the cauterised wound.

Tila flexed her wrists and tensed lightly on the balls of her feet. Malachi swallowed and raised his fists, ready to strike. They still dare not look.

They heard the sound of a heavy weapon being shouldered, and the sound of someone spitting. A boot thumped against something soft. Tila guessed that one of the bodies was being overturned and searched. Something clicked as it was switched on and they heard the familiar crackle of a comm unit coming to life. The cheerful soft beeps of a frequency search were strangely haunting now it's owner was no longer left alive to use it.

They waited, tensed for the moment they would have to face this unknown enemy who had so easily and efficiently killed four of the pirate crew.

They heard something drop to the floor, an indignant beep from the fallen comm unit was silenced by a grinding crunch as a boot stamped down hard and twisted, crushing it against the metal floor.

Then the heavy-booted footsteps retreated back the way they came as the mystery figure retreated.

Tila and Malachi both sucked in air, each unaware they had been holding their breath. Malachi, very slowly, edged to the corner and peered around it. He could see the crushed comm unit, the fallen pistol and three bodies, but no-one else.

'He's gone,' he said, visibly relieved, his dark skin paler than usual.

Tila was already keeling by the elevator body, searching him for anything that might be helpful.

'He doesn't have anything. Who do you think that was?'

'Heavily armed and this ruthless? I can think of someone.'

'Typhon? But wouldn't he be on the same side as these pirates? I thought they were working for him. It doesn't make sense.'

'We know he's here. We know he doesn't like being let down.'

'That's an understatement!'

Malachi retrieved the pistol from the corridor. 'And he has the resources. We've seen some weapons on board but nothing like that. It has to be him.'

Tila abandoned her fruitless search and stood up. She looked at the impact marks on each of the bodies.

'Well, whoever it is we know one more thing,' she said, walking down the line of corpses.

'What's that?' Malachi said. He worked out how to check the safety and made sure it was on before he tucked it into his clothes.

'There are four bodies here and he only fired four shots.'

'So?' asked Malachi.

'He doesn't miss.'