“She just made it to the… well, impromptu entrance of one of the prison courtyards and… oh no. Not good.”

Ilise hissed out through her fangs at one of the prisoners that stood in her way. The orange-clad alien raised her hands in defense and backed up against the wall. Smart woman. Ilise continued. “What is it, Tony?”

“Looks like the entire crew is there.”

“Is where?”

“The courtyard.”

“What are they–never mind. Can you clear a path for me, call my team to join me, and connect me to the person in charge of this facility?” Alice must have telepathically hooked up her crew again to get them all together. But why the courtyard where the high ground was the prison guard towers? There was no way out from there. Was there?

“Can and done!” Tony chimed in, followed by a beep that sounded much too happy. 

Ilise came to a four-way fork in the halls and slid to a stop. She had no idea which way to go, even with the colored tapes on the ground.

A door down one of the hallways slid open and the red alarm lights in that direction turned green. Tony deserved a reward after this. A thorough cleaning. Top to bottom. Inside and out. By Officer Charyd, preferably. 

Ilise stuttered to a stop at that thought. Why did Alice act now? Was Officer Charyd’s interruption involved?

The hall’s green light started flashing and Ilise decided to look closer into the security feed once they caught Alice and her crew again. 

The cell doors on either side of her were closed and though she saw prisoners’ faces as she ran, she ignored them. Tony guided her through one more hall before Ilise found herself in front of a closed door.

“Tony!”

“You’re there.”

“I’m where? I’m in the hall and–”

“On your left.”

Ilise looked left and all she saw was a large window. Or, more likely, where a window should have been and was instead a large opening with no glass. It looked out into an open courtyard where guards and prisoners both were fighting. Alice’s glowing white skeleton stood out among the sea of orange and black. 

“How did she–”

“Fire regulations require for all–”

“Got it, got it,” Ilise interrupted Tony right back. The moment she poked her head out the window, she heard the fighting. There must have been some sort of forcefield keeping the courtyard separate from the halls of the prison. Her hair got wet again. 

“Captain Posey.” Her comm popped with a new connection added. “This is Chief Brightwood. Prison Warden. I was told–”

“Where are you?” Ilise interrupted the communication. “Nevermind. Send all of your guards to the–Tony?”

“Courtyard B, west wing.”

“Send all guards to Courtyard B, west wing. You have a riot on your hands.”

“I’m already here, Captain. As is half your crew.”

Ilise straddled the window still and finally saw the fire regulation pole on the outside. 

“Keep a special eye out on prisoner Alice and the rest of her crew,” she ordered. Alice admitted to having the information and had two weak points. Ilise would capture her again and succeed in her mission. She needed to catch those Exec pirates. 

“Yes, Ma’am.” 

The confirmation faded away as she used the pole to slide down a single story to ground level and into the courtyard. Almost immediately, two prisoners were on her. She remembered to switch her gun back to stun mode and fired. Luckily, this time it worked. 

The glow coming from Alice was indistinguishable at this level so she let Tony direct her deeper into the fighting crowd of the courtyard. Another prisoner did not fall under her stun gun but she was able to render the man unconscious easily enough. 

There was a shot above, the sound of fighting, but Ilise had to ignore it. That is until she heard multiple voices from in front of her shouting “Captain!” in alarm. She looked up just in time to see Officer Charyd land from a jump and then morph.

The little fucker.

Ilise bared her fangs at him even though he couldn’t see her. 

Wherever Officer Charyd was, he deserved latrine duty. And whoever that motherfucker up in the guard towers was, he deserved a bullet. Ilise had a pretty good idea of who it was. She switched her gun back to incapacitate and aimed at one of the towers but Charyd was already out of view. 

“Tony, where is he?” she growled out into her communicator.

Captain Charyd was a much better prize than Alice. 

Tony did not respond. 

“Tony?”

Not even a beep.

The alarm within the prison took on a different pitch and then an automated voice echoed around the courtyard, causing almost everyone to freeze with its words.

“Warning. Explosive device detected. Warning. Explosive device detected. Everyone, clear the area. Lifeboats available at ports…”