Through the partly open door of the bar, Dav watched the few people who were around. This was the only time it could be considered quiet on this station. Dav personally called it "the eclipse" and thought it smart of Captain Bara to use it. He glanced back over his shoulder, licked his dry lips.

Outside the bar there might be no crowds, but inside, the space was filled with men and women, all wearing Watch badges - as if that somehow made it okay. All quiet and intense and keyed up. They'd been waiting and now, at the height of the eclipse, they were ready to go into action.

The Watch commanders handed out the weapons, which Dav had kept in long crates in his storeroom, labelled as supplies. The gangsters who'd taken over security here recently hadn't known anything about them. Their doormen were now lying in that same storeroom, bound and gagged.

When Dav had complained to his friends in the Watch about the gangsters, they'd told him to suck it up. They wouldn't do anything about it. But one had smiled at him and told him that he shouldn't worry too much. It was an inconvenience, but it wouldn't be for long. Be patient.

He understood now, at least some of it. All part of Bara's plans. She was coming back, and she'd seen to it that the people would welcome her with cheers.

The man in charge of distributing the rifles and handguns spoke up, making the others go quiet.

"You all have your orders. Get into your teams, take your positions. Go on my signal." Dav guessed what that signal would send them to do. Seize the station's key facilities. He supposed his bar counted as a key facility, at least until they took over the command and control centre. He felt rather proud of that and hoped it would be good for business later.

"Minimise casualties," the officer in charge went on. "That's Captain Bara's direct order. Especially human. Use lethal force as a last resort only."

They nodded that they understood. Were even happy about it, Dav thought. They didn't want to gun down their fellow humans. Fighting each other didn't come naturally to humans any more.

"There are known troublemakers, ringleaders, in the human sector, but gamma team is going to round them up. Once we deprive them of their leaders, the others will fall in line quickly. Now, good luck to us all. Move out."

They didn't cheer, needing to keep quiet, but a murmur of approval rolled around the crowd. Dav watched as they pulled up the deck plates, revealing a crawlspace. One of the Watchmen, who Dav recognised as being from the Maintenance Department, dropped into the space and heaved on a handle down there. Another hole opened, leading to a much larger space underneath.

Dav had been amazed when they showed it to him. Old conduits, once used by robotic transport carts apparently. Long since abandoned. He'd had no clue it was there. Now the Watchmen dropped into it one by one, moving off with flashlights.

These conduits didn't go everywhere on the station, but in places they intersected with other hidden spaces and shafts. A person could move around the station though these secret places, unseen by station security. One person, or many. Soon the bar had emptied and only Dav and a couple of the people monitoring portable computer panels remained. Keen to stay in their good books, Dav brought them hot coffee.

"Now what?" He asked as he served them.

"Now we wait."

~o~

Alex walked onto the bridge to find Max sitting in the Captain's chair. Alex had never done that. Whenever Bara had left Alex in command, he still didn't sit in the Captain's chair. But Max seemed very comfortable there.

"Back again?" Max said, glancing at Alex.

"Just checking something." Alex went to the engineering station and tried to look busy. He'd spent more time on the damn bridge since he lost the position of first officer than he had before. He had to keep an eye on Max. The bastard encouraged Bara in her mad schemes, instead of restraining her, as Alex had tried to. They suited each other, both twisted with hatred and the thirst for vengeance.

Every day Alex wished he'd left the ship with Sev. The terror that they'd never see each other again kept him in a state of constant nervous tension. Sev had convinced Alex that he had the strength to get through this. But Alex had started to doubt that.

Now what the hell? Max had risen and come over to stand close behind Alex, apparently studying readouts, as if the slick bastard knew what the hell they meant. He bent down by Alex's chair, standing too close and making Alex's skin crawl.

"Soon now, Chief."

He meant the signal from the station, Alex supposed. He nodded. "Yes."

"Then perhaps your dream will come true," Max said. "And you can get off this ship."

"And what do you know about my dreams?"

Max laughed softly. "That's the only one of them I want to think about, I will say. Can't imagine the rest are anything I'd want to see."

"Move away from me, now, Commander." Alex's voice stayed low too. But he wouldn't put up with this shit, not from the Captain's bed warmer.

"Oh, now do be nice, Chief. Not too nice though, I don't swing that way."

"You do flatter yourself, Commander."

"Well, aren't you in a sulk?" His tone was mocking. "Got your nose right out of joint didn't it? Losing first officer status?"

Alex tried to ignore the gloating in the voice, trying not to be provoked. What the hell was wrong with Max? He'd been trying to stir it with Alex since he arrived. Fearful of a rival for his job, if he failed to please the Captain, perhaps?

"I prefer my engineering duties," Alex said.

"Oh really? So you're saying your male pride isn't a little bit dented? If you have any male pride. Or did you lose it the first time you got on your knees in front of --"

Max backed off fast as Alex spun out of his chair. Will not put up with this shit. Bara might have disapproved of Alex and Sev's relationship, but even she never screwed around with childish crap like this.

"You have a problem, Chief?" Max demanded as Alex stepped towards him. The rest of the bridge crew watched them, wide eyed and tense.

"Yeah, I have a problem. Six feet of problems right in front of me."

"Sir!" The crewman on the communication station called, urgent and relieved at the same time, happy to distract them from starting to pound each other. "Sir, signal from Hollow Jimmy, from our people. The ready signal."

Max turned away from Alex, and made for the Captain's chair again, but stopped when Bara came out of her ready room. She must have been monitoring comms herself, waiting for the signal that told them the attack was a go.

"Respond to the signal," she ordered Communications as she took her seat. "How far from Hollow Jimmy are we?"

"Three hours at best speed," Max reported. "If we leave now we'll arrive at the optimum time."

Bara nodded, smiling. Optimum time, Alex knew was, right in the middle of what the barkeep Dav had called "the eclipse." The rare time when the sleep cycles of all the major species living on the station intersected, their calendars lining up, so it was night for everybody at the same time. The perfect time for a surprise attack.

"Then set course. Jimmy's waiting."

~o~

Maiga had expected a warning. Gry could see everything, he claimed, so he should have seen it starting. But instead she was woken from sleep by the door chime, and opened her door to find several Watch members holding rifles.

"Get dressed," the one in charge said, looking at Maiga's bathrobe. "You're under arrest."

Maiga didn't argue. No sense in that. She turned and walked back into the room. They came in behind her, and a woman followed her into the bedroom.

"Do you mind?" Maiga said, scowling at her.

"Just move it."

Seeing she wasn't getting any privacy Maiga started dressing. She eyed her Snapper, lying on a table beside the bed. A small light flashed on it now. A message.

~o~

Wixa answered her own door to a similar squad of gun-toting, badge-wearing folks. Her Snapper was already in her hand, the message she'd just read - too late - warning her "they're coming out of the walls."

Could one detect panic in a line of text? She thought so, could detect it in Gry's words. He watched the station, she knew. He knew all the hidden and secret areas. But had he, had all of them, forgotten that others could know those secret areas too?

One of the Watchmen grabbed the Snapper from her hand, and shoved her back, perhaps fearing it was a weapon. The leader snapped at him, and turned to Wixa.

"My apologies. Please, cooperate and you won't be harmed. Please, get dressed. You're under arrest."

"For what? This is outrageous; you people have no powers of arrest."

"Things are changing."

They walked in then, forcing her back into the room. A movement at floor level caught her eye as Glyph shot past, dodging the legs of the crowd of people and vanishing out of the door. Wixa resisted smiling and scowled instead.

"Now look what you did! You let my cat escape!"

~o~

They didn't have to tell Jaff to get dressed. Always a night owl, he'd been up late and had fallen asleep on his sofa, still dressed. They did have to tell him to kindly stop swearing at them as they were only acting under orders and he would not be harmed if he cooperated.

Just like Glyph, Smoke "woke" from where it had been curled on a chair, jumped to the floor and ran out of the door. Jaff stared after it, couldn't understand where the robot cat could possibly be going. But he quickly forgot the cat as they led him from his quarters under guard.

~o~

"Four of you?" Sheni laughed. "Well good grief, how many do you send to arrest someone who isn't a tiny old lady?"

"Apologies, doctor. I'm told it's a temporary measure in your case." The Watch officer bowed her head at Sheni. "Please get dressed and come with us. Nobody intends you any harm."

"Four!"

Sheni walked back to her bedroom chuckling. Trouble was starting, and no doubt her professional services would be required soon, but for now, time to laugh at the idiots.

"Do you think I have a couple of strapping lads hiding under my bed? I should be so lucky!"

~o~

Chervaz actually considered fighting the men that came for him. He still felt embarrassed that he hadn't made a better job of defending himself against Bara's bodyguards and he'd have liked to redeem himself. But he knew he'd lose, had never been much of a fighter. No sense in getting hurt at this stage.

They handcuffed him, which surprised him, as they'd been generally polite. Perhaps because he was a big man they feared he could actually make more of a nuisance of himself than he personally felt capable of.

Once in the corridors he knew he didn't dare start trouble. More Watchmen were patrolling, and anyone who poked their head out of a door was told to stay in their quarters for their own safety and await instructions. Chervaz didn't want to start anybody shooting. He could taste the tension in the air, and knew it wouldn't take much to push that tension too far. Best to bide his time until he got together with Maiga and the others, so they could adjust their plans.