Bekhoff motioned in a guard, who unbound Pyroclastica from her bed, and then shackled her right hand to a chain belt about her waist.

"You did not think I could let you roam free, did you?"

"No, can't say I'm surprised." She replied. A thick knot of worry had formed in her throat and was making it hard to talk, and think.

Coulee watched wordlessly for a few moments, then let her thoughts be heard.

Py, are you going to be alright?

I certainly hope so.

What do you want me to do?

If you can look out the porthole, see if you can't make contact with Prime, find out what he's planning.

Coulee let out an audible grunt. Forgetting, of course, that I can only communicate with you … you're still a dumbass.

"What are you smiling about?" Bekhoff asked, bemused.

Py shook her head, resisting the urge to look back at Coulee. "Just, you know … thinking about the absurdity of me being here."

"It was bound to happen sometime; you were far too determined to catch me up to let up for one moment."

"Heh, look where it's gotten me."

"Hopefully your mind will be changed after our little tour. Shall we?" He ushered her out of the medical bay, the guard following some distance behind.

Good luck. Coulee said.

Thanks, Hekla knows I need it!

Coulee watched her human disappear around the corner, and stood with ears perked, listening intently as the footsteps echoed away. This was a horrible environment for her; the echoes seemed to bounc off of everything. She flicked her ears and waited, then, once assured she was alone, she turned and agilely hopped onto a seat near the outer wall and then looked out the porthole.

Everythind was deep dark see beyond it; the choking blackness of water, the only thing visible besides her own, worried-brow expression were tiny motes, highlighted by some outer flood light.

Her curly tail began to unfurl, her tiny hope fading fast.

Then, her keen, sighthound-eyes picked up movement. A subtle black mass against the black sea, but enough for her tail to quirk back into a ful curl and her ears to pitch so far forward her forehead nearly resembled a Shar Pei.

A sort of annoyed grumble rolled around her her throat as the shape slid out of view again, but then suddenly Prime was there, staring back at her.

Holy Lava Bombs! Coulee was startled right off of her perch, but quickly negotiated the chair and the wall again to stare back at him.

Can you understand me? She asked hopelessly.

"I don't know if you can understand me or not, but if you can, go open the 4B docking pod. I'll be waiting, and reinforcements are on their way." His cigar wobbled in his beak as he talked, though somehow managing to stay put and lit even in these deep reaches of the ocean. Ashes floated away and were soon no greater than the odd little sea-motes.

Then he was gone.

Coulee hopped down from her chair and looked at her restraint system. A chain made up of inch-long links hooked to her collar and bolted to a table that was, in turn, bolted to the ground. Coulee turned and crawled and nosed the chain over her head so that it lay across her back and then closed her eyes and thought of something really really annoying.

Her hackles raised, at first nothing more than dark bristly line of red and black, but quickly sparked with blue-white flames. She focused on her annoying thought, and imagined it getting more annoying. A growl accompanied the flames, and then for a quick moment the stripe down her back had turned to hot-lava. The chain fell apart, and no sooner had it hit the ground than Coulee was up and shaking herself out, looking everything like a normal Basenji again.

And Py wonders what I do all day … a little practice in self-control would do her some good! She grumbled to herself. She approached the door, which had thankfully been left open. Had they seriously thought that chain would hold her?

After glancing left and right and swiveling her ears to catch any possible sound, she turned left and ran, retracing the steps they had taken to the medical bay.

The rest of Bekhoff's guards and crew seemed to be whiling their time away in the galley and rec rooms, which were full and noisy as she passed, carefully and quietly as she could. She finally reached the bay pods for Section B; a circular room off of a long hall that jutted out into five separate bays. These were much smaller than the one Py and Coulee had come in; that had been a top-loading bay more for undersea vehicles. Here, the walls were banked with aquatic suits and tubing.

There was a guard. His back was turned, and for the moment Coulee was safe. She ran in and quickly crouched behind one set of suits. Her nails had clicked on the hard surface, and the guard turned in response.

Coulee didn't move, didn't nearly breath, watching as the guard paused. He walked to the opening of the bay nearest bay and looked out the window, shook his head, and then went back to the main keypad. After he finished his task, he turned and left, closing the main bay door behind him.

Coulee sighed, and then ran over to the keypad. She grumbled in frustration; it was a standing-station, and therefore was without chairs or nearby supports. She extended herself on her hind legs and stretched her head towards the keypad, but still couldn't reach it.

Once she'd brought all fours back on the ground, she looked around her, and for a moment felt at a loss.

Then the perfect idea hit. She ran to the nearest group of aquatic suits, and grabbed firmly onto the legging of the first one she came to. Growling and whipping her head back and forth, much in the manner of her 'squeaky-toy-killer' move, she pulled back with all her strength. At first she slid uselessly on the smooth ground, but after focusing her volcano heat inot her nails she was able to find purchase, and in that manner was able to bring down one after another of the aquatic suits, and then drag them over to the keypad. There, she piled them onto each other, tugging and nosing and digging them into a step-up. It took about seven of the suits, but she was finally able to create enough of a bump to give her a good angle at the keypad.

Bekhoff's colony was not designed for stealth on the inside, so there were fortunately no codes or passwords to remember, and the keys were fairly straightforward. Coulee used her nose to open the outer hatch on Bay 4, and once she saw Prime's beak in the porthole, she closed the hatch, drained the bay, and then opened the inner hatch.

She hopped off her aquatic-suit-stool to greet the penguin as he waddled out, shaking out his cigar. Within moments it was dry and lit again, and back to waggling in his beak as he talked.

"So, we got a frantic call from your Police Chief topside, Pyroclastica alright?"

Coulee's ears flattened and she glared at Prime.

"Ah, I see; silly question. This is Py we're talkin' about!"

Coulee sat and cocked her head. So what next? How soon until the reinforcements get here?

Prime had climbed onto Coulee's suit-step and was looking at the keypad, then looked over at the suits and portholes. "This isn't going to work for what the troops have in mind. Anything bigger?"

Coulee popped back up and waggled her tail. Now you're talking!

They both turned and looked at the closed main bay door, and Coulee's tail stopped dead and then slowly unfurled. Her ears turned back in frustration.

"Looks like first we gotta get ourselves out of here, huh, dog?"