"No!" Negasi cried.

He batted Ogedai's gun away and his shot landed at the guardsman's feet. The guardsman did a little dance. He had already let out a childish shriek that hinted the man before them was Jeridan in disguise.

Another clue was that instead of the usual gold epaulettes, the man had embroidered images of champagne glasses on his shoulders.

"It's me!" the guardsman shouted. His voice was different. The electronic disguise took care of that, but Negasi recognized the panicked tone as Jeridan ducked between them.

"What the—" Ogedai said raising his gun again.

"It's Jeridan! Stick with the plan!"

The plan had been for Negasi to toss the stun grenades while Ogedai took out any nearby guardsmen. That plan had required precision timing and a great deal of luck.

As usual, Jeridan had spoiled both.

Several guardsmen had turned their way, raising their guns.

They were too close to drop a stun grenade at their feet without blasting himself and his companions back five meters, so Negasi tossed it over their heads.

Ogedai did what he always did and opened up on them.

Negasi leapt under the cover of the doorway and felt a hot stab of pain as a bullet creased the back of his calf. His leg buckled and he almost went down, stumbling and hitting his forehead against the wall.

The stun grenade went off. Debris and two guardsmen flew through the doorway.

Ogedai hadn't budged. He stood with his feet firmly planted as if all he was facing was a stiff wind.

Laughing maniacally, he kept on firing.

Good thing he's on our side.

Negasi hobbled over to the door and peeked around. A whole third of the room had been knocked down, both guardsmen and prisoners, and the rest were backing off in confusion.

Negasi spotted the tightest cluster of guardsmen and chucked his other stun grenade at them.

It was clear across the room, so he could watch safely as it detonated at their feet and more went down.

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Ogedai stopped firing. The remaining crowd was so intermingled with soldiers that he couldn't shoot safely anymore. He may have been a maniac, but he appeared to be a conscientious maniac.

Negasi unslung his rifle and entered the room right after the Mongol. Jeridan, having shed his disguise, followed.

They entered a swirl of panicked people. A shot went off, then another. Negasi gritted his teeth. He hoped the Royal guard wasn't panicking and shooting innocent people.

Wait, this is the League of Concerned Archaeologists. Are any of them really innocent?

Still, he didn't want them getting killed. There was still the whole "saving the galaxy from a killer alien species" thing to worry about.

Negasi moved toward the front of the room, his leg stinging with every step. He wasn't sure how long he could keep upright.

An Royal Guard came into view from behind a trio of scientists. Negasi took him out with a single shot. Ogedai got another, then stopped and let out an anguished cry.

Negasi turned and saw Nova and Aurora lying on the floor. They weren't moving. Negasi hobbled in their direction, glancing at the crowd every couple of seconds to check on the situation. While the scientists were calming down a bit, hiding behind pillars or lying on the ground hoping not to catch a stray, the guardsmen were fleeing out the front door.

Ogedai was kneeling next to Aurora, bawling like a baby.

Oh, no.

Negasi stepped over Nova and knelt too. Bending his leg made it buckle and he landed hard on his knees.

He barely noticed. Aurora lay unmoving, her mouth slack.

"We've killed her! We've killed her!" Ogedai cried.

Aurora groaned and rolled over.

"I only got stunned, Ogedai. Stop being such a drama queen."

"Remarkable revival," Negasi said. "Really riveting."

Ogedai punched him in the shoulder and he toppled over.

"Back to battle!" the Mongol shouted, letting out a war whoop and leaping to his feet.

"You sure you're OK?" Negasi asked the girl.

"What?"

"I said—"

"The stun grenade made my ears ring louder than a space launch, dummy! Go help Ogedai!"

"Looks like you've recovered."

"What?"

Negasi tried to stand, ended up back on the floor, and used his hands for a second attempt.

This time he got upright. He spotted Jeridan taking out a straggler and Ogedai cautiously approaching the open doorway, gun leveled. No more Royal Guardsmen were in sight, at least none that weren't dead or dying. The staff members of the League of Concerned Archaeologists had all taken cover or were lying half-conscious on the ground like Aurora.

Only a couple of them had the presence of mind to strip the dead soldiers of their weapons. They had positioned themselves behind a couple of pillars near the entrance, covering the open doorway.

Jeridan joined him. He had turned his disguise off so he didn't take friendly fire.

"Looks like we got them on the run," he said. "There's plenty more outside, though. And those armored cars can blast their way right in here."

"You're right. We need to get these people into the back of the building. We're sitting ducks here."

As if to emphasize his point, they heard the thud of one of the armored car's cannons go off. Negasi could feel it reverberate in his chest.

Then another shot, followed quickly by a third shot that was even louder.

An instant later there was an ear-splitting detonation punctuated by the screech of metal. Ogedai came running back.

"Another group of soldiers have shown up with tanks!"

Just then, a crowd of Royal guards came pouring through the front doorway.

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