Solana, Robin, and their group came upon Luther lying on the floor in the hall.

   "Luther!" Solana gasped.

  Robin dropped to his knees beside the mission leader. "Luther! Luther, wake up! This is no time to be fooling around! Wake up!"

  Luther rolled over and sat up. "But why not?" he asked, pushing back his hood and grinning.

  "That was lame, Luther," Robin said as he got back to his feet. "But we have to get out of here. Now!"

  Everyone started as a shout rang out! "Hey, Patrick! There's more intruders down the hall!"

  Luther rolled his eyes and stood up. "Let's go. Single file so we can't get picked off so easily!" he ordered.

  The party started off swiftly.

  Jimenitz  had gone to the front office and seen some patrol cars return. Several officers cameinto the station and, after hearing of the situation in the station, started off behind him.

 

  Luther and Patrick, with everyone else, were trapped.

  Robin sighed helplessly as officers thundered towards them. "What now, Luther? Charge?"

  Luther stared at him, shocked. "Are you nuts? That's suicidal!" He thought quickly before whispering to his second-in-command.

 "That's crazy!" Robin hissed.

 "It's only one,'" Luther calmly replied. He stepped out of the group, forcing Jimenitz to stop. "You want me. The rest are worthless. Take me, and let the rest go."

 "Your smooth talk does not fool me," Jimenitz answered as he put a gun to Luther's head. "This one is loaded, and now you will die."

  As he began to pull the trigger, Robin charged forward, with the rest of his group behind him. "No!"

  Jimenitz was knocked over in the wild charge. The rest of the officers, caught by surprise, started fumbling for their guns, but they were too late.

  Robin and his party had escaped.

   But Luther had not.

 

 Robin, Solana, Dominica, and the rest burst from the station and charged down the street. Yelling officers followed, but the attackers had gotten a huge head start, and they were soon out of sight.

  Back at the underground house, they ate a little food and then helped get the essentials ready for the dash to get away from from the police officers to another house.

  Solana and Dominica were packing when Zadok appeared.

  "You are needed inthe main chamber..now," he said.

  Solana and Dominica followed him to the room, where a few men sat at the council table, while another had his gun trained on the man in front of him.

  Dominica started upon seeing the prisoner, and he jumped in surprise when he saw her.

  "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

  "Ask your pal." The man sounded angry.

  Solana folded her arms and raised her eyebrow. "What about me?"

  The man's tone was accusing now. "You knocked me out!"

  "You almost killed us!" Solana replied sharply, immediately remembering what had happened the night that they had been captured.

  The man's face darkened. "I was following my orders!" A nudge from his guard's gun silenced him.

  "So this is your secret work, Master Raymond," Dominica said. "Working for the FBI?"

 

  Luther was silent as he stood, handcuffed, in front of Jimenitz in an interrogation room.

  "Why did you attack this station?" Jimenitz inquired.

  "What makes you think I'm going to tell you?" Luther answered coldly.

  "Oh, the thought of putting a loaded gun to your head," Jimenitz said as he fingered his gun.

  "Well, I'm not going to tell you, and you can't make me." Luther lifted his chin defiantly.

 "You think you're tough, don't you?" Jimenitz slyly smiled.

 Luther made no reply, but continued to look at his interrogator defiantly.

 "My, you seem like a foolish fellow." Jimenitz folded his hands behind his back.

 "I seem like a foolish fellow," Luther replied. "Whether I am or am not one is another matter entirely. Isn't it obvious that I attacked the station for one reason, and you know that reason? Gregor, you don't fool me. You just want me to break down and confess everything. Well, I'm not going to. I thought you would have known that, knowing me."

  Jimenitz sighed. "Let's not go into that, Luther. You're right, I do know why you attacked this station; to rescue a damsel in distress."

  Luther made a noise that sounded like a cross between a snicker and a pig snort. Jimenitz ignored him.

  "You know what I mean. Anyways, you wanted to save her, and you need to tell me why."

  Luther laughed. "I need to tell you? You don't need anything. You just want what you say you need."

  "I want to know,"Jimenitz growled. "I will kill you if you don't."

  Luther stiffened. "I'm not going to tell you."

  Jimenitz took out his gun and pulled the trigger.

 

  Allen strode past the rows of men and women, busy at their computers as they spoke into their headphones. His attention was not focused on them, however, but on the man he was headed toward.

  Jarratt Aquia had been awaiting his visitor for quite some time. He swung away from his computer as Allen entered his office and sat down.

  Aquia's black eyes watched him. "Yes, Adam?"

  "You were given my message?" Allen inquired.

  "Yes. What about it?"

  "What's your answer?"

  Aquia grinned slyly. "I'm in."

 

  Kyle Raymond looked at the ground, his face now expressionless.

  "You were trying to be a hero, weren't you?" Solana asked.

  The prisoner did not answer.

  Dominica spoke. "Are there any interrogation rooms that we can use?" she asked the men who were present.

  Taylor, who was guarding the prisoner, nodded. "Just down the hall. Follow me, and I'll show you."

  They walked out of the room, down the hall, and into another room. They all sat down in chairs that were placed in a circle and faced Raymond.

  "What is all this sticky business about?" Dominica asked. "You saved me less than a week ago, and then two or three days later, you tried to kill me!"

  Kyle leaned back in his chair. "Look, I did not know it was you!"

  "Oh, really?" Dominica raised an eyebrow. "Why did I feel like you were lying when you said that?"

  "Hold me and get citizen records," he answered matter-of-factly. "I have a clean bill of health. No crimes."

  "I don't trust you," Dominica stated simply.

 Kyle closed his eyes and sighed. "What will it take?" he asked as he opened his eyes. He thought for a few brief seconds before speaking again. "I was born in France. My father was American and my mother was French. My father abandoned my mother and me when I was two days old, so I never knew him. When I was ten, my mother died of advanced pancreatic cancer. I was taken in by some relatives, who paid my way through private school, and also through college. Then they shipped me off to Americe to be an apprentice somewhere. So..I'm training for the FBI. That's my life story." He folded his hands behind his head and looked at her pointedly.

  "More proof of trust needed," Solana put in.

 Kyle chewed his lip. "You know that the FBI only accepts people with clean records, and I'm in the FBI. Need any more proof?"

 "Yes," Dominica said.

 Kyle looked at her, annoyed. "Obviously, you don't want to trust me at all."

 "I do," Dominica said. "I need to make sure that I can trust you..with lots of proof."

  "Let's see..I saved you and killed a couple of overgrown snakes," Kyle added.

 Dominica thought for a moment. "I don't know. We haven't known each other for that long, so I guess there's really not a lot of proof." She looked at Taylor. "Maybe he can think this over...in the seclusion of a holding cell."

  Taylor nodded. "Sure, I'll lock him up." He stood and prodded Kyle to his feet. "Come on."

  "We'll meet again tomorrow, " Dominica called after him as he led Kyle away. "Same place."

  "OK," Taylor called back.

 Dominica and Solana walked to Solana's apartment, where they settled onto cots to talk.

 "I don't understand that fellow," Solana said as she leaned against the wall.

 "I don't either," Dominica replied. "He is an odd person. He wasn't even secretive about his past, though he was rather brief in telling his life story."

  "Yeah," Solana agreed. "We need to check into his records to see if he's telling the truth."

 "One problem," Dominica pointed out. "We're being hunted. We can't check his records. It's virtually impossible."

 They sat silently and thought for a while. Then Solana stood.

 "Let's go get some lunch," she said.

 "OK." Dominica stood and followed Solana out of the room.

 

 Luther stepped to one side, narrowly dodging the bullet. "Dead men don't talk, Gregor."

 "You're right," Jimenitz answered. "But neither will this live one. You give me no choice but to have you locked up for a while, or to shoot you."

 "That's fine," Luther said as he let Jimenitz grip his arm firmly, and take him back to his cell.

   Jimenitz went back to his office and back to work, and had some work done when a knock sounded on the door.

  "Come in," he called.

 The door quietly swung aside and Jarratt Aquia walked in.

 "Afternoon, Jarratt, "Jimenitz said as he got up and walked around his desk to slap his visitor on the back. "Won't you sit down? Let's get this business attended to right away."

  The two men sat.

  "So, do you have everything planned?" Jimenitz inquired as he flipped though the file drawer and withdrew a sheaf of papers, spreading them out for Aquia to look at.

  Aquia grinned. "You know me, Gregor. I get the details and it's all planned out in a couple of hours. One big plan and a couple of alternatives, just in case." He examined each paper. "These are the ones?"

  "Especially these two." Jimenitz indicated two of the papers.

 Aquia took out a small notebook and pen and started writing furiously. "Got the info," he said a few minutes later as he tucked away his pen and notebook. "Can I see your attack prisoners?"

  Jimenitz stood. "Yeah, sure, if you really want to."

  They strolled leisurely down to the basement, where the cells were. Luther's cell was closer to the end of the row, and as he heard them coming, he moved over on his cot to face the door.

  Aquia and Jimenitz stood outside the door, peering through the barred window.

  "There were about eight attackers," Jimenitz explained, "and we captured three, including the man who we suspect of being the ringleader." He pointed to Luther. "Him. All three have been questioned, but they refuse to divulge the information that we need. It's slightly unusual, because most of the prisoners here break down and confess the whole truth, but these guys are stubborn, downright stubborn."

  Luther watched them, closely examining Jarratt Aquia. He did not move and was completely expressionless as he watched the two men.

  "Hmm," Aquia observed, "he's a dark fellow."

 "Dark fellow in dress or character?" Luther asked icily.

 "I'd say both," Aquia answered. "Attacking a police station is dark. It is also foolish. Look where it landed you!"

  "Brilliant observation," Luther replied in the same tone. "It was not dark, nor was it foolish. No one was killed, no blood shed. The cause was more noble than you think."

   "He's intelligent, too," Aquia muttered to Jimenitz. "That's why he's so tough."

  "Not intelligent enough to evade capture." Jimenitz chuckled. "But in most other ways! That's why we have to keep a close eye on him."

  The two men turned away from Luther and continued to talk, giving Luther the chance to look at Aquia more closely. Where have I seen that man before? he thought, thinking carefully over Aquia's characteristics.

  When Jimenitz and Aquia moved on, Luther got up to pace and think.

  Suddenly, he stopped. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "He was the leader of the family village attack!"