Marko, seated at the controls of Simon's ship, flew them at a slow but safe speed through the long, wide corridors of Pael. On a small monitor rising from the control deck, the view changed constantly as various security cameras tracked Elaine. Her current position on Pael was shown on a glowing orange overlay. They'd had to cover a lot of distance, since the security quarters were a fair distance from the hangars, but now they were getting close.
Behind him, Simon came up the metal ladder from the basement. "The storage area's clear," he said, coming forward and sitting beside Marko. "How's it going? Have we got her?"
Marko nodded, pointing at the monitor.
"Good," said Simon. "Hang back for the moment. Give her a chance to get where she's going."
Marko grunted. Simon felt uncomfortable. This alliance Marko had entered into would be only temporary, Simon knew, unless he could somehow convince Marko otherwise. He'd been trying day after day, but Marko showed no interest in the various schemes Simon put forward. Probably he still saw Simon as dispensable.
Which only left one other way out of his predicament - and Marko had thought of that too. Before they'd even left the Space Canaille, Marko had forced Simon, at gunpoint, to get rid of all his blasters, knives and heavy tools. Now the only weapons Simon had were his hands, and he was no good with either of them.
Marko suddenly sat up, startling Simon out of his worries. "What's she doing?" said Marko, staring at the monitor.
Simon looked. On the monitor was an image of Elaine, taken from a security camera in the ceiling. She was crouching in a dark alcove, a blaster raised high in one hand, the other reaching in her pockets. As they watched, she drew out a pair of cuffs and locked one around her wrist.
"What happened?" said Simon. Very quickly, it seemed to have gotten hotter in here.
Marko looked confused. "I don't know. She saw this guy-"
On the monitor, they saw Elaine duck out of the alcove and start running. Now Simon could see another figure on the monitor, a distant hurrying figure. Elaine was running straight for him.
"Who's that?"
"How am I supposed to know? She saw him, and then she ducked into that alcove and started fiddling with her blaster..."
The distant figure was growing larger on the monitor. They watched, bewildered, as Elaine got right behind him, jumped up, and cuffed him. The figure turned.
Marko's jaw dropped. "GUYBRUSH??"
At times like these, you acted on instinct. Marko jammed the throttle down.