"What are you talking about?"

He shouts louder. "I don't even know who you are!"

   I know how this works.  He's getting louder to cover his people's movement.  I leaned out, ready to blast anyone looking even the slightest bit sideways at me.

Then, all of the sudden, you seem movement when you lean out. A gun slides out from behind the wall, kicked so hard that it slides along the floor, past the nurse's station, and into the room you entered through.

   I really don't have time to look at the pistol.  I do make a mental note to come back for it.  One can never have too many weapons.  OK, I can never have too many weapons.  I'm still looking to find and free any hostages.  I step forward into the corridor to begin to sweep the rooms for bad guys.

The dupe pokes his hands out from behind the wall before stepping in the open.

You hear gunfire down the hall that he came from, and you recognize some of the rounds coming from both "regular" weapons and the clipping sound that the light-weight weapons that security uses on the station here.

   I call out to the dupe.  "Get on the floor, face down with your arms and legs spread out, palms down and fingers spread apart.  Now!"  Armed or not, these guys are dangerous.  I'm still ready to shoot him if he twitches the wrong way.

The dupe complies immediately, and you see him a little clearer. He's wearing the same type of clothing civilians on the ship wear. He has a bald head and a pointed nose, but he puts his face down against the floor. You see a couple of the doors to patient rooms open near the nurse's station, where you have the captured dupe.

Frightened people in hospital gowns poke their heads through the open doors, and you hear the gunfire toward the entrance continue, though it has waned significantly.

   I call out.  "Come back this way.  There's a way out through the room behind me.  Stay along the walls away from the guy on the floor."  I'm still covering my prisoner.  I wonder what this place uses for handcuffs.

The man on the floor doesn't try to harass the hostages, who give him a wide birth as they pass him.

When they do, the nurse who came with you comes out from her hiding place and sees the man on the floor. She steps aside and collects the firearm that he dropped. "We have some leather restraints in the OmniSupply. She nods toward a door behind her.

   Leather hospital restraints...  I thought about them for a moment and decided that they would work.  "Would you please go get a set of your strongest restraints?  I'll keep an eye on this guy."

   I noticed that she had the pistol.  Strangers with guns behind me made me nervous before I started this jumping thing.  That nervousness hasn't gotten any better during my journeys.  "If you're not familiar with guns, maybe you might want to give it to me."

You two tie your prisoner up easily with the restraints. The woman looks reluctant about the pistol, but she caves and hands it to you after a few seconds.

The hostages keep coming out of rooms and moving out, until they see something around the corner and soon you understand why they've stopped. There's still some gunfire, but two men in security officers' attire have made it through, and are sweeping the area.

They relax slightly when they see you, nodding to you then turning to guard that entrance.

One approaches you. "After a few minutes, they attacked us and we hit them back. There are maybe five or six left, huddled in a corner hall with guns down both directions. Cap's trying to talk them down right now."

   "I took down three of them and this one surrendered.  A lot of people got out by going through an opening in that room."  I hooked a thumb toward the room in question.  "This bozo is yours.  I'm going to see if the Cap needs my help."  And if he didn't, there were other places I needed to be.

"It's up to you, ma'am, but I think you've done more than your share today. The dupes will surrender soon, and we've got them surrounded from all angles with cover."

The captain essentially tells you the same thing, and says he'll put in an extra good word when they discuss your admittance as a security officer on board.

Then, you hear a static buzz as you're walking by the main room toward an exit. John's voice on the other end says, "Harry, report....Report! Where are you?"

   I picked up Harry's discarded radio.  I couldn't help myself.  I tried out my best guy voice.  "Harry is busy. Whatcha need?"

He sounds suspicious over the walkie, but sighs. "I'm going to kill him if we make it through this... Fine, what's your situation in medical?"

   This was working.  I really hadn't expected it to.  "No change.  We're still looking.  The medical people are in the back.  Security is trying to talk us out of here.  I'm supposed to ask how you are doing."  I can use any intel I can get.

"Tell Harry to make demands. Keep them talking and not shooting for as long as possible. If you don't find the boy there after another hour...tell Harry to give up. Listen, he won't take it well, but I have to go silent from here on out; I think they're monitoring our frequency."

   I had an idea.  I took the radio over to the Captain.  "This is what they are using to communicate with each other.  I have an idea that might get these guys to surrender to you.  May I try it?"

The Captain looks at the radio. "Old-fashioned. Do what you need to end this conflict, but when you're done let me know what frequency they're talking on."

   I smiled.  "After I try this, you can have the radio, Captain."

   I headed to where the security guys were holding down the fort.  I called out to the dupes.  "I just spoke with John.  He told me that with Harry gone, you should give up.  Harry wouldn't have taken giving up very well, But with him gone, John said you all should surrender to the security officers."

Gunfire ceases when you give your message to the dupes. You hear them talking very quietly down the hall, but you can't make out a word that they say.

Then, they send a spray of bullets down at you. One of them must have a sub machinegun. "Liar! How can we know that you're telling us the truth?"

   Things weren't going according to the plan.  That was to be expected.  Nothing ever seems to go according to any plan I make.  I'm going to go with the randomness of life as the problem.  That's better than considering that my plans always suck.

   "Think about it.  How would I know the name of the guy on the other end of the radio if I was lying about talking with him?  How would I know the Harry's name if John didn't tell me.  How would I know how Harry would take giving up if John didn't tell me.  You are supposed to give up now because you can't keep searching anymore."

You hear one of the dupes curse, a little too loudly. It puts the security officers around you at ease. The dupe speaks up, "Fine, we'll come out..." He sticks his head around the corner, "But I want to talk to John. Slide the radio to us, and you've got a deal, lady, as long as he says so."

   Hmmmm...  This could be a problem...  "I can't give you the radio.  It's evidence.  Truthfully, I can't see why we're still having this conversation.  Harry, your immediate leader is dead.  John, Harry's boss, told me to tell you to give up to save your lives.  If you really want to be dead, there are a group of security men here to make that happen.  You have two choices.  Surrender right now and live or get chopped to bits by accurate, massed fire by highly trained security personnel.  It's your call."

There's more waiting after you try to get them to surrender again. The security officers look like they're getting tired and impatient from the stand off, but then finally automatic, semiautomatic, and melee weapons are thrown out and collected by the officers. The dupes keep their hands visible and come out one at a time, per instructions by the Captain to be arrested.

The captain of this group offers to shake your hand. "Thank you for your help; this would have been a lot bloodier without you here."