Frowning in concentration, Frank felled the first opponent to reach him with a solid blow to the chin. The man's eyes got glassy and he staggered back a pace before collapsing onto the cement. A second assailant had managed to close during the delay required however, and the youth found himself under a well placed barrage of punches. Frank dodged or deflected most of the blows, returning a few himself, all the while trying to keep an eye on his companions.

Chet seemed to be holding his own for the moment, using his weight to advantage as he tussled with his opponent, a solidly built man with deeply tanned skin and a scarred face. A quick glance to his other side revealed one man down on the ground, hands covering his face. The pack at his feet revealed the means of his downfall. TJ was out of his line of sight, being pummeled by his opponent. Though he managed to deflect quite a few of the blows, the boy found himself being pushed back against the stack of boxes, where he didn't have any place to dodge.

A sudden strike caused TJ to see stars, then the boy ducked while protecting his head. The man he was fighting punched the stack of boxes behind him. He emitted a grunt when TJ rammed him in the stomach, making him back up a pace or two. The youth staggered back away from the man, still slightly disoriented.

Into the mayhem, there came a sudden jolt.

* * * * *

Biff and Joe froze in place. A moment before, they'd been preparing to roll out of their hiding place and join in the melee, but the female voice sent a sudden shock that stopped them from revealing their hiding place.

From the appearance of the first group, they'd been more concerned about hiding than finding out who was entering the room. The second group of men had run in and a fight had ensued. When they'd dared to peer out, Joe found that beyond all reason, Frank was fighting the bad guys. And in need of help!

Determined to come to his aid, Joe had in fact crawled halfway out from under the workbench. Now Biff managed to pull him back under cover as two figures emerged from the doorway on the far side of the room.

The atmosphere grew tense as the fighters stepped away from one another and slowly held up their hands. The two former prisoners stood just inside the doorway, guns in hand. The female brushed a few strands of hair out of her face before resuming her stance beside her partner. No one dared to move; Frank noted the strain on the face of the man beside him. Beads of sweat were beginning to form on his brow, and his limbs were shaking almost imperceptably. Even though his outward demeanor was calm, Frank could feel a twinge of fear deep inside his gut.

A glance out of the corner of his eye showed Chet trying to rise to his feet. The move was negated swiftly when one of the weapons was turned in his direction; the stout lad had to be content to sit on the hard floor, hands on his head. The intruders seemed to be waiting for something...

"It's all clear."

A pair of boots entered Joe's view momentarily as they passed by the boys' hiding place. Chafing at his own helplesness, he struggled to keep from shifting as the floor became more and more uncomfortable. Beside and ahead of him, Biff was flexing his arm muscles, face grim with reality of the situation. If they moved or made noise, there would be an end of any hope of escape from what was turning into a possible deadly situation. On the other hand, it irritated him supremely to be unable to help his pals.

Both boys watched as the man - Joe recognized him as "Red" - began the task of binding the wrists of the prisoners. Soon each had his wrist bound by a 'plasti-cuff', and the trio had begun to relax. Red stepped to the side and checked the darkened hall that led to the surface. It was clear and he waved to the other two before heading along it.

At that, the woman stepped forward. Her companion glared across the room and hurried out to the loading area, presumeably to check how far the process had gotten along. Shaking her head, the woman turned to Schteinze where he lay on the floor.

"Who are you?" he snarled, a dark fire in his eyes.

She laughed at him. "Not that it matters, but you can call me Lana. I think you understand what that means."

He paled at her words. "Yes, I see that you do understand. Jarmin and I were sent to contact you and arrange for the shipping, as well as handle the deterent for the area. But it seems that you were planning to skip out on us. I don't suppose you thought that we were blind to all that?" Schteinze refused to answer.

"Red was our link to make sure that something like this didn't happen. The shipment will go through, and you will be lucky to come out with your lives - money excluded. The organization doesn't view double-crossers well, and Jarmin is pretty bloodthirsty." She threw a glance at the boys. "Surely you didn't view mere children as a threat to your operations? How quaint."

This earned a retort. "You were supposed to keep up the ghost sightings until we delivered the merchandise. You broke off that because of some hikers who got loose while you were off roaming the countryside."

Lana merely shrugged, then cocked her head slightly as Jarmin re-entered the room. "How are we coming?"

His gaze was cold. "Not as well as I expected. We'll have to let them loose to finish the process."

"That's fine. As long as they keep their end of the bargain and deliver the goods, I don't care - they can even go free as soon as the operation is over. I'm sure that they understand all the consequences now." She looked over the boys, standing by themselves in a little knot. "I'll take these three down to the lockup - we can decide what's going to happen to them later."

Red returned and helped Jarmin to cover the men as they began to finish the loading process. The boys were herded down the side tunnel to the holding cell. As they passed into the room single file, Frank heard Lana whisper behind him. "Keep your spirits up; not everything is as it appears." Then he passed into the cell and the door slammed shut behind him.

As her footsteps retreated down the hall, TJ slipped up next to Frank. In one hand, he revealed a pocketknife. Chet sidled over to the door and kept watch while Frank managed through several contortions, to get his hands in front of him instead of behind his back. Then as TJ held the knife, Frank slid the plastic band that bound his wrists onto the blade. When he nodded, the hand that held the knife tightened it's grip, and Frank pulled his wrists downward. It took two or three tries to finally cut through the plastic.

Finally freed, he retrieved the knife and released the other two from their bonds. Chet sighed as he rubbed his wrists. "All that work and I still get stuck right back where I started."

Frank chuckled at that. "It's alright Chet. We haven't had much luck either. I still haven't quite figured out how we ended up here. At least there's still a chance that Biff and Joe got away."

"Sure. The way I see it, they plowed through every trace of trouble and reached the law enforcement officials." Chet muttered, still gazing down the hallway.

* * * * *

As soon as the area was clear of people, Joe Hardy pulled himself from under the workbench. Beside him, Biff worked to free his pack and wiggle out as well. A quick glance at their surroundings assured them that they were still alone, and thus assured, they took off in a silent sprint for the doorway that Frank and the others had disappeared into. The hall was slightly lit, with an occasional bulb hanging from the ceiling. Attempting to surprise anyone traversing the area would be near impossible. The sound of footsteps echoed towards them and Joe dove for the opposite side of the doorway.

The woman neared the ambush unaware. Her weapon was not in a position to be quickly drawn and she seemed oblivious to the presence of the two boys. Joe charged. But even as he leapt forward, he knew it wouldn't be enough. She turned and threw him over her shoulder, instantly returning to deal with Biff in his turn. Joe lay stunned on the floor as the woman managed to fling Biff against the wall of the tunnel. Seconds later she had her gun in position and was shaking her head at them.

"Must be the blonds."

Then she grabbed them and hustled them down the hallway, past the lockup cell to the dark portion of the tunnel. An opening appeared in the wall and she shoved them in.

"Civies. Keep them under wraps for now."

Then the wall closed and the men inside waved them over to a bench against the wall. "Have a seat boys. Hopefully we won't have to keep you here too long."