Alandra stepped out of her room, walked down the corridor, and headed for Carlos office. Ever so often, she stopped and glanced around nervously, ready to run at the first sound of footsteps.
Outside, she heard the sound of a speed bike and a few seconds later, another vehicle.
A shuffling noise, and the battle scarred face of Ferono Benitez appears, with Jose behind.
"Alandra. Where now?"
Alandra burst into fast whispered speech. "I just had to tell someone, he's not getting any better, You understand?"
Jose nodded. "You're doing Carlos a favour. Now, do you need his office opening?"
Alandra nodded, and the three of them entered the room. Alandra opened up Carlos' data screen.
"Here's the feed from the cameras in the vaults. No-one's down there, which is good. We won't be interrupted. Cezar Moreno is in Bretonia at the moment."
She hit a button under the desk, and the speakers brought to the room the sound of a bulkhead opening.
"Now we can go."
The three left the room and headed down the corridor. Alandra quickly descended the stairs, followed by Jose.
"Wait up!" half-whispered Ferono. He tried to manoeuvre is wheelchair down the steps.
"Need me to carry you?" asked Jose.
The sound of Ferono's insisting that he was fine was followed by a crash.
"Perhaps we should carry you" said Alandra.
The two picked up the wheelchair, and they descended the many flights of stairs, down to the vaults.
They went down past the hangars and armoury, the temperature falling as they descended into the tunnels below the HQ.
Then, they met a metal door.
Alandra tapped a code into the console on the door's left, and it opened, revealing a long stinking corridor with filthy cells on all sides, most occupied with the shaking bodies of former Bounty Hunter pilots.
"Nice place" joked Ferono.
Alandra tapped a brick on the wall that ended the corridor, and it turned to reveal another console. She typed in another code, and the wall slid back revealing four cleaner cells.
"Dad's over there" she said..
Behind the bars of one of the cells, a man sat staring at the floor.
"Boss!" shouted Ferono as his eyes caught glimpse of Carlos within the dimly lit cell.
Carlos made no reply. He just stared, brow furrowed, at the floor.
"Can anything be done?" asked Jose.
"Cezar and I contacted his doctor on Atka. He said just to give him time." replied Alandra.
"I wish we could open the cell. If only he let me see his eyes." said Ferono. "Then I might be able to do something".
"Monsters in the dark...voices..." muttered the man in the cell.
Alandra whimpered. "He's really confused. Dad, can you hear me?"
Suddenly, the man broke his concentration and his eyes began darting round the cell.
"Almost through. Conquest..."
"So...basicly, that doctor was no help whatsoever?" said Jose.
Carlos seemed to reply.
"Lloyd Johnson helped us...break through."
Alandra disagreed. "He's worse since he spoke to that doctor." she said.
Ferono repeated. "I need to look at his eyes".
Alandra took notice. "Dad, look at me."
Carlos stared at the floor again, and his brow furrowed, concentrating hard. Suddenly, his head shot back, and he stared at Alandra.
Ferono wheeled in front of her, and stared into his leader's eyes.
![[Image: H1mZW7e.md.png]](https://iili.io/H1mZW7e.md.png)