Author's note: Helios’ undercover name is “Odysseus” and that is what the other Brekkens will call him. "Arrowhead" is his comm codename. However, for all intents and purposes, the “omniscient narrator” and Cara will still refer to him as “Helios.” Again, this story belongs to me - please do not reproduce without my permission or claim it as your own work.
Constructive feedback is always appreciated. :D

Brekken Military Base, Terra V

Satisfied with the barely concealed fear and defiance in Cara's eyes, Helios went back to the door, knocking loudly twice. The lock deactivated, and the guards stepped into the cell. Helios gestured to them. “Restrain the prisoner and take her to my chambers.”

Clearly not expecting that request, the guards looked at each other, puzzled, and one of them timidly said, “Sir? Wouldn’t the interrogation room be more appropriate?”

Helios pinned them with a fiery glare. “Are you questioning my orders?” he said in a voice that was quiet and deadly.

“N-no, sir! It will be done exactly as you commanded.”

“Good. And when you’re finished, report to the command deck. The General is preparing for the invasion of an Outcaster camp, and she’ll need all the soldiers she can get.”

“Yes, sir!” The guards hurriedly cuffed Cara and dragged her struggling out of the cell. Helios followed closely behind, the door shutting and locking behind him.

Cara was determined not to go quietly, so she kicked and screamed as much as she could, fighting the guards with everything in her. But the guards were strong, and her efforts were in vain. They threw Cara down onto the floor of Helios' room when they got there and left after giving her a good kick in the abdomen.

Helios closed the door and activated the lock behind him, his face stony.

Cara stumbled to her feet the minute the door shut and lunged at him, clawing and scratching like a cat. One against one...I'd say those are better odds. Her thoughts were unfortunately interrupted when Helios wrapped his strong arms around her and pinned her roughly to the door with his larger body, effectively immobilizing her. He covered her mouth with a hand and whispered angrily, "Quiet, or I'll have to knock you out." Cara was shocked into silence, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. What is going on?

As soon as he could no longer hear the guards outside, Helios stepped away from Cara. “I’m sorry, but you brought this on yourself. This wouldn't have happened if you'd stayed in the room like I told you to,” he said gruffly as he undid Cara’s restraints.

“What?” She rubbed her sore wrists as she backed away suspiciously. She looked around for something she could hit him with.

“Your little side mission forced me to take drastic action to prevent our complete exposure," he growled. "You could have ruined everything. Now, we only have about fifteen minutes to get out of here...”

“What happens in fifteen minutes?” she asked, still cautious and keeping her distance.

“The virus on the micro-disk I gave the General activates and wipes out the entire computer system of this military base. We have until then to grab Agent Hwang, get to our ship, and leave the docking bay as fast as we can. ”

“Sounds easy enough," Cara said sarcastically. Then her eyes narrowed. "Wait a second. What about that whole ‘Correspondent Omega’ thing? There is no way you made that up on the spot.”

“Look, Agent Ryder, we really don't have time for this. We get out of here in one piece, and I promise I’ll explain everything, all right? Come on – we have to hurry.”

She frowned and put her hands on her hips. “You expect me to just...follow after you? Really? After everything? How do I know I can trust you?”

“You don’t, but if you want to get out of here in one piece, you’re going to have to.” Helios unlocked the door and left in the direction of the prison cells, leaving the door open behind him. After a moment of hesitation, Cara followed, muttering under her breath.

“We don't have enough time to search every single cell. See if you can find a computer where we can access the prison records. Then it should be pretty easy finding where Agent Hwang is.” Helios said tensely as he came to a stop just before the entrance to the cellblocks. "I'll try to find us some weapons."

“Cellblock A, Section 5, Cell 2. It should be down this way.” Cara started down the corridor, but Helios’ sudden tight grip on her arm stopped her in her tracks.

“Excuse me?”

“I, uh, well, when I snuck out of the room, I was...I did it to find out where they were keeping her. I thought I could save us some time and that I’d be back before anyone caught me.” Cara looked back at him, eyes flashing defiantly. “See? I guess my little ‘escapade’ wasn’t as pointless as you would like to think.”

Helios’ face grew stormy, but he said nothing. Only his clenched jaw gave away his irritation. The two silently but quickly made their way to Agent Hwang’s cell.

It was further away than they had anticipated, and Helios was mentally calculating how much time they had left. When they go to the correct cell, he immediately began to work on deactivating the high-security lock mechanism while Cara kept a lookout. After a long tense moment, the lock released and the door slid open to reveal a cell completely devoid of light.

“Lani?” Cara whispered, as Helios held the door open. The dim light from the corridor spilled into the dark cell. Even so, the two of them could barely make out the huddled form in the corner. Hearing Cara’s voice, the figure moved slightly.

A feeble voice reached them through the hazy darkness. “C-Cara?”

“I’ll get her,” Helios said as he moved quickly into the cell, his golden eyes glowing in the darkness.

Hearing Lani whimper and seeing her attempt to crawl away from the Brekken man approaching her, Cara walked into the cell as well, saying soothingly, “It’s all right, Lani. This is Helios. He's...he's...one of us." Helios heard the hesitation in her voice, but said nothing.

He approached Lani like one would an abused animal. "We’re here to help," he said gently. " We’re going to get you out of here.” Helios scooped the traumatized agent into his arms, and the three of them quickly rushed back out into the corridor.

“Which way is the docking bay?” said Cara the moment they were out of the cellblock.

“End of the corridor, make a left, and first door on the right. Hurry, I think we only have about five minutes left!” The two started running in the direction of their ship and escape with Helios gripping Lani tightly to his chest.

“Halt! Where are you going with those prisoners?” Cara and Helios stopped in their tracks, hearts pounding. They turned in time to see the cellblock guards getting closer, their laser guns raised...