Chapter 5: The Great Escape

Dorothy was about to begin eating her dessert that she ordered when a loud sound of commotion made her stop. Roger, who was sitting facing the entrance, saw flashes of light and clouds of smoke, and heard a sound he knew all too well from his MP days.

Gunfire. Damnnit!

Then everything happened all at once. As a group of men dressed in Military Police gear came bursting in, both Roger and Dorothy's comm links went off. Roger in one move, silenced his comm link, grabbed his coat and Dorothy, pulling her under the table. He reached through the tablecloth and grabbed her coat. Dorothy, realizing her comm was going off, silenced it. They both looked and saw that Norman had tried to warn them.

"GOOD EVENING, AFFLUENT CITIZENS OF PARADIGM CITY! IF YOU COOPERATE WITH US, NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU! WE MERELY ASK FOR A MOMENT OF YOUR TIME TO HELP US WITH A LITTLE MATTER."

Roger peered out from underneath the tablecloth and saw former Lt. Davidson, the rogue MP from his case with Dastun, speaking through a megaphone. A group of dozen men were quickly moving toward the tables, gathering everyone in one group.

Guess Dastun missed some weapons. No matter now. We need to get outta here and quickly.

Roger analyzed the situation. If he were to be discovered, the rogues would have an upper hand in negotiations with the Military Police. He could detach himself from Dorothy, to protect her in the short term, but it would only be a matter of time before they discovered his connection to her. He would be distracted, making sure of her safety. And if that was discovered, then Roger's concern would only be her safety and not the remaining hostages. Worst case scenario, if the MP did not concede to their demands, Dorothy would be the first to go. On the other hand, if he and Dorothy made a break for it, they could risk being shot, having a hostage shot as they fled, or get cornered, thus jumping midway into his first scenario. On the other hand, he had a slim chance meeting with Dastun, thus the Military Police would retain him as their negotiator for the hostage crisis. But getting to him would not be easy. The main entrance out was now blocked.

Roger disappeared underneath the table, back to Dorothy. She was trying to steady her breathing, looking worried, but remaining quiet. They needed to move and quickly.

"Put your coat on under here. We're leaving."

"Where? The main…"

"Just follow me. We'll find something."

They quickly put on their coats, albeit with some difficulty, and began crawling from table to table, moving away from the armed men. A few times they stopped and let the men pass as they ran to a table away from them. They heard screams and moans of pain. Roger put it out of his head. He knew they wouldn't harm the hostages. Many of the Paradigm elite were here tonight. They were valuable alive, even if bruised, but had no worth being dead. Roger held Dorothy's hand tightly, his eyes darting along the walls until he found what he was looking for. A fire escape. They hid underneath the table closest to the emergency exit. It was at least three yards away from their table.

"Roger, that's too far," Dorothy whispered frantically.

"You gotta better plan? It's only a matter of time before they discover us. And if that happens, well… I can honestly say, you would only be the person I'd worry about, Dorothy. If I can get you to Norman or Dastun, you're safe, then I can do my job."

"I thought we were partners. I can help."

"Let's get to a safe spot, then talk about that."

He heard a pair of men coming, their voices getting louder. The table would hide them if they crawled halfway, but the other half would be risky and dangerous. Then of course, there was the door itself. If they managed to make it undiscovered, the door would sound off as they opened it. There was definitely a risk that men could shoot them or shoot at someone to stop them, despite how low the risk was.

"How fast can you crawl?"

"What?"

"How fast can you crawl?"

The voices were coming closer.

"I dunno, pretty fast?"

"Let's make a break for it."

Roger pulled Dorothy by the hand, letting her go first. Dorothy crawled quickly, Roger following behind her. He heard the men shouting at someone to get down on the ground, but it was directed to someone behind him. A little more time had been bought by someone, probably too terrified and unable to understand demands. They were halfway there. Roger turned his neck as a far as he could to see what was going on. The men's backs were turned to them. Roger got up, crouching low, making his way to Dorothy, putting his hand underneath her underarm.

"Run," he whispered, lifting Dorothy up and pulling her ahead of him.

They both ran for the fire escape, covering greater distance now. Dorothy was grateful she had decided to wear heels low to the ground, but it was still a pain. She didn't stop however. She knew if she stopped, Roger would too, and it would all be over. Dorothy then heard angry and confused yelling. She saw the door ahead of her. They were almost there.

She burst through the door, the door alarm going off, Roger following closely behind. The door began to shut slowly, but Roger grabbed the door and pushed it shut, but saw that the two men that had been getting closer to their table were about to turn their guns onto them.

Roger pulled Dorothy to his left onto the stairs, before diving on top of her, covering her head. Dorothy whimpered, covering her ears as the bullets' sound echoed into the chamber. Silence. Then more angry yelling. Roger looked up. They had three flights of stairs to climb, hopefully to a way out.

"How fast can you run in those shoes?"

His questioned had already been answered. Dorothy had slipped her shoes off, putting them in her silver beaded pouch.

"RUN!"

Roger grabbed Dorothy and they began climbing up the stairs. Dorothy in front once again, while Roger behind her. Dorothy panting hard and fast, but she didn't dare stop. She heard the door open once more. They were inside. Her muscles and lungs burned from the effort she was giving, but she did not care. One flight down, two more to go.

Roger could have easily outpaced Dorothy, but Roger deliberately kept pace behind her. If they kept moving, the enemy wouldn't fire. Too much metal, too much of a possibility of a rogue bullet ending their life. If Roger and Dorothy kept moving, they would be fine. They would be alive. Roger grunted as they cleared the second flight of stairs. The men were just coming to the first flight, but one had stumbled.

"Faster!" he called to Dorothy.

Dorothy gave it her all now. They needed to find an exit. Dorothy began searching for one along the opposing wall. She saw the door, a valve in the center. Just their luck. They finished running alongside the opposite wall, turning now, clearing the short distance, and running up the last flight of stairs to the door. As Dorothy reached the door, Roger outpaced her, getting to the valve. These doors were only used for dome maintenance access, so they would lead outside and up high. It wasn't an ideal situation, but it outweighed being a hostage or dead. Roger struggled to turn the valve. The men were coming onto the second flight of stairs. Dorothy got close to Roger, trying to help him. Roger lifted while Dorothy pushed down. Roger roared with frustration, giving it his all as Dorothy cried out, the valve starting to move.

"Righty tighty, lefty… LOOSEY!" she gasped.

Between their combined efforts, the valve gave way, both spinning it frantically. Roger pulled Dorothy out of the way as the door made a loud creak and began to open on its own. He then pulled her outside into the cold night air. He took a breath, grunting, pulling the door back shut.

"Help me lock it!"

Dorothy's short break was put on hold as they began spinning the valve in the opposite direction desperately. The valve finally got tighter and tighter, until there was a small hissing noise, indicating the pressure lock was in position. Roger kept turning until the valve couldn't go any further. He turned away from the door, looking around the top of the dome. He saw a bent piece of rebar. It wouldn't be enough to stop them from open the door, especially if they had grenades that they stole from the MP weapons cache, but it would buy them time. He grabbed and jammed it as best as he could. He saw the men's face in the small window. One was trying to use the butt stock of their rifle to break the glass. Roger shook his head and moved away. The glass was pressurized and would not give.

Dorothy had moved away, putting her hands on top of her head, trying to expand her diaphragm. Her lungs hurt as well as her legs and feet. She never ran barefoot, and her feet were aching. Roger grabbing the coats had been a smart move. It was very windy and chilly up at the top. While the resort dome was not the tallest, it was still high enough to feel a temperature difference from the ground.

"We need to get moving. Come on."

Dorothy nodded and followed Roger, both walking quickly for time's sake and to keep warm.

"This is a maintenance area for the generators of the dome lights, which means…"

Roger saw the edge and walked over. There was a gap, roughly seven feet across to a concrete slab catwalk that sat below about five feet. Roger looked down. It was hard to see the ground. They had to be at least between twenty-thirty stories above ground. Roger looked around. It was hard to see any solid grappling points to swing over to the other side safely. He didn't want to chance the line breaking if he swung across with Dorothy, or if they went by themselves. No, they were going to have to jump.

"Dorothy," Roger called over to her. She carefully walked over to him and realized what he was thinking.

"You've got to be joking. I'd rather take on the armed men."

"There'll be more than those two, if we do."

"Roger, that's almost ten feet across, maybe more. Even with the spatial difference, you have to account for…"

"I'm well aware of the physics, Dorothy. But, have you thought of a better plan?"

Roger looked at Dorothy, the wind whipping her hair passed her eyes. She shook her head. Muffled shouting from the door made them both turn their heads for a moment, then look back at each other. No turning back.

Roger began retracing his steps, clearing any debris he could from his path, stopping just shy of the door. He looked back toward the edge, then over to Dorothy.

"I'll go first. Once I land, you stand back here and take a running leap."

"And then, what do we do from there?"

"I'm making this up as I go. Just wait for me, okay?"

Dorothy nodded, still breathing heavy. Roger assumed a running stance, taking a moment to pause to clear his mind and calm his breath from the previous running from earlier. He pictured himself clearing the jump.

Okay, here it goes.

Roger took off, gaining speed until the last second when he jumped, pushing off the ledge. He felt himself moving forward, the wind racing past his ears, then he picked up speed as he began to fall rapidly until he hit concrete with his foot, but used the momentum of the fall to tuck into a roll, slapping the ground to break his kinetic energy. His foot felt slightly sprained, but he could still run on it if need to. Roger got up, brushing himself off and walked back over to the ledge.

"IT'S OKAY! YOUR TURN DOROTHY!"

Dorothy nodded and walked back to where Roger had told her to stand. Roger couldn't see her, but remained close to the edge. As Dorothy got herself ready to go, a muffled popping noise caught her attention. She saw smoke coming from the door. Roger saw the smoke rising into the air from where he stood. Apparently, they had used a grenade to get the door open and were nearly successful.

"RUN DOROTHY! JUMP, NOW!"

Dorothy took off, building speed, but the creaking sound of the door trying to be pushed opened, forced her to turn around for a brief second, but she corrected herself. However, the distraction was enough to take her mind off the jump and not calculate the jump correctly. Instead of using the edge to push herself over, as Roger had done, she vaulted over the edge, her coat unbuttoning from the motion. Dorothy was flying, her purple dress and black coat rippling in the windy updraft. But midway across, she started to fall, gaining speed rapidly. As the thought hit her of plummeting to her death, she felt her heart jumped to her throat and choked, unable to scream, tears flying up.

Roger saw that she wasn't going to make it and without thinking of where the grappling hook would land, Roger ran to Dorothy. He jumped over the ledge towards her, blood pounding in his ears, but he didn't care. He squeezed his watch and pointed it behind him as he jumped. Roger closed the distance on Dorothy, meeting midair. He wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her close as the grappling hook shot from his watch. Dorothy wrapped his arms around him tight. As they both fell together, he heard the whizzing noise of the grappling hook line reeling out further and further. Roger prayed, hoping for the line to catch something, anything. Then, there was a sudden stopped, jerking his arm. Roger yelled in pain, but held Dorothy tight. At least they had stopped falling.

Dorothy was visibly shaking. Roger held her even tighter.

"It's okay. You're fine. You're safe. I got you."

They dangled from the ledge, the wind racing around them.

"Hold on tight to me. I need to reel us up."

Dorothy wrapped her arms tightly around him as he reached up to hit the command to pull up. The watch responded and began pulling them up. Roger wrapped his arm around Dorothy as the rode the line to ledge, climbing themselves up onto safety, where they both collapsed from the adrenaline, breathing hard. Dorothy rolled on her back, her chest rising and falling quickly. She wiped the tears from her face.

"Of all the dates, I can remember from my past lives, this by FAR, Roger Smith... is the most miserable…" she huffed out. Roger slowly stood up, pulling Dorothy to her feet.

"The night's… still young too…"

"You're… such a louse."

A sudden loud creak made Roger turn back in the direction from which they had came. He saw the two men running towards them. He grabbed Dorothy's hand.

"I guess no breaks for now! Let's go, Dorothy!"

Roger pulled Dorothy in front of him. They ran along the ledge, passing the structural columns that held the skeleton of the dome. Roger then heard bullets ricocheting off of the concrete. He pulled Dorothy in between one of the columns, standing over her. Dorothy was panting hard, but she looked up at Roger. Roger had his eyes closed, trying to catch his breath.

"Won't they give it a rest?" she said breathlessly. Roger put a finger to his mouth, indicating to her to be quiet, so he could listen.

"They went behind that column!"

"Is there a way down there?"

"No, so how the hell did they do it?"

"They're crazy to have jumped that!"

"We need to let the boss know."

Well, that's not good.

Roger looked up. The domes had to have a path to allow access light and glass maintenance. He wondered if the grappling hook would reach and hook on to something on top. And the support beam was wide enough to cover him. Worth a shot.

"Dorothy, stay here. I'm gonna take care of them."

"Roger, how? You're unarmed."

Roger ignored the comment. "Stay here, cover yourself. Do not move until you hear me."

"Roger, wai…"

But Roger was already firing his grappling hook to the top of the column. He felt the tension lock on his grappling line. Lady luck was on his side once again. Roger rode the line up to the top. Dorothy shook her head, watching him.

"Roger…" she whispered, her eyes shaking, as she held her hand over her heart.

************************************************

Roger landed on the top of the column, surveying his surroundings. There was indeed a path, but narrow and not much room for error. He crouched down, moving swiftly and silently, until he was over the two men, who were still arguing. He spotted the piece of rebar he had used earlier, which had fallen from the door when the men had used the grenade. He could slide down the glass of the dome without them spotting him, at least until he landed. If he could get to the rebar and throw it just right, he might be able to knock them out.

Roger slid down the glass, sliding quickly. The men were still arguing on what to do. The glass finally turned straight the last three feet and Roger dropped. He landed, but loudly. As the men turned around, Roger grabbed the rebar and threw it, the rebar spinning in the air, hitting one of the men in the head, knocking him down. Roger then moved to his right, diving behind a generator for the lights, covering his head as the remaining gunman opened fire. Roger crouched even lower to the ground, covering his head as the bullets ricocheted off the generator. Roger heard a crackling sound, indicating the generator was damaged. One down, one to go. But unarmed, he was no match for a rifle.

"You got no where else to run, buddy. Come out with your hands up."

Roger remained hidden. His odds were not looking good and getting slimmer by the second he remained in his current position. Roger hated using guns, but the man already showed him he was in no mood to negotiate. As much as it went against his principles, this was now a matter of life or death. Roger needed a way to get the gun away from the man.

"SOMEONE! HELP! PLEASE! I CAN'T HOLD ON FOR MUCH LONGER!"

Dorothy!

Dorothy was yelling from her position. She had heard the gunshots and came out of hiding to see what had happened. The man was still visible from her point of view. But her yells had succeeded in what she wanted. They had distracted the man as he turned himself and his gun on her.

"What the…"

Roger seized the moment and came out from his hiding place, rushing the man, taking him down to the ground. Roger put his hands on the rifle, trying to take it from the man, but he refused to let go. The man pushed himself up and rolled over. Roger was now on the ground, the barrel inching ever close to his face.

"Bad luck pal."

Roger let out angry roar, raising the man off him just enough for him to raise his head and head butt the man dead center of the forehead, momentarily stunning him, but the attack also stunned Roger briefly. The man backed off in pain, Roger refocusing his concentration, yanked the gun from him, turning it on the man, pushing him back. The man fell over onto the ground. Roger got to his feet quickly.

"Seems like the tables have turned."

The man began to crawl away still holding his forehead.

"Don't move," said Roger, firmly.

"Like hell, Negotiator. You won't do shit to me."

"Tell me what you're boss is planning."

"Go to hell! Every knows you're a softy with a gun."

Roger began closing the distance between him and the man. He had no time for games. He needed to get to Dastun.

"Tell me what I want to know and I'll see to it that the Paradigm Justice Bureau goes easy on your sentence."

The man reached in his pocket and threw a knife at Roger, before Roger could tell him to stop. Roger instinctively raised the butt stock to his face, the knife landing dead center. Roger then finished closing the distance before the man could react, raising the butt of the rifle up and bringing it down hard on the man's face. The man laid motionless. Roger sighed, shaking his head, and checked for a pulse. The man was alive, but was knocked out. Roger then ejected the magazine and cleared the chamber of the rifle, pocketing both the magazine and bullet. He threw the empty gun to the ground and went over to check on the other man.

He too laid motionless, yet had a bloody welt across his head, but he was breathing. The man needed medical attention. Roger picked up his gun and repeated his actions from before with the previous gun. As he did so, the radio on the man crackled. Roger picked it up.

"Oi! What's going on up there? Give me a status report!"

"Your men need medical attention. I suggest you come retrieve them," said Roger, calmly, but firmly.

"Who the hell is this! Answer me!"

Roger shut the radio off. It would only be matter of time before they send more men their way. Roger pocketed the radio, before taking a few steps back. He took a running jump off the ledge, this time sticking the landing, by rolling first, slapping the ground as he did so. As he stood, he saw Dorothy peek her head out.

"You're alright…"

"You sound surprised."

"No, just worried. I know what you said, but I heard the gunshots…."

"Your quick thinking saved me, so don't worry about it."

Roger rotated his left arm, still sore from the sudden jolt from saving Dorothy. "This arm is out of commission for a bit though."

Roger turned his head back to the direction from which he had came.

"Let's keep going. There's not much cover here to hide and we don't need to get pinned down again."

They both took off running once more to get out of sight and out of the line of fire. The dome kept curving and every so often the wind would blow, whistling by them. They ran in silence for some distance until finally, Dorothy stopped. She looked back. She couldn't see the ledge anymore.

"I can't. I need… a break… please…"

Roger stopped. "Just for a moment. We need to keep moving and find a way down."

"I know, I know. But.. my legs feel weak, and I feel like I'm going to be sick."

Roger nodded, wincing as he moved his arm to check on his watch. Seven missed calls, four from Norman, three from Dastun.

"Oh darn. It seems like I've been summoned." He pressed a button on his communicator.

"Norman?"

"MASTER ROGER! Thank heavens! Are you and Miss Dorothy alright?"

"For the time being."

"Where are you, sir?"

"We escaped through the dome maintenance access. We've had a scare, but we're okay for the most part. Dorothy and I are outside along the dome, and we need to find a way down."

"Understood… excuse you, Chief!"

"Is that Roger?! Give me that watch! ROGER! You…"

"Dastun! Dorothy's with me," warned Roger. But Dastun was having no attitude from anyone today.

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN IF YOU HAVE THE PRESIDENT WITH YOU, OR THE MEGADEUS! I NEED YOU HERE, NOW!"

Roger held the watch away from him. The audio was coming in loud with excess static. However, this prompted a small chuckle from Dorothy. Roger shook his head.

"Easy Dastun. Your friend you've been looking for has half of the Paradigm elite hostage. I managed to get out, but I need a way down."

"Where are you?"

"Outside the dome."

"Can you tell me where?"

Roger looked around, scanning the buildings around him for a familiar site or location he could pinpoint their location. He saw a neon billboard, advertising a cola drink.

"You know that neon cola billboard?"

"Yeah?"

"I can see it from here. There's a building nearby where Dorothy and I can jump to. We'll be on the street in a few moments."

"With all due respect Chief, I'll be taking that back now. Thank you! Of course, Master Roger, I shall come fetch you and Miss Dorothy at once."

Norman ended the call.

"Have you tried using your grappling hook yet, Dorothy?"

"Phrasing Roger, and no."

"Eh, phrasing? Ah, jeez Dorothy, cut me a break."

Roger shook his head, saw an old clock tower with overhanging gargoyles. Beyond the building was a shorter one that looked like apartments.

"If you fire your grappling hook at that gargoyle, you can swing down to that building over there," Roger said, pointing out the building.

"Roger, when I said dancing, this is not what I had in mind," said Dorothy dryly.

Roger shrugged. "Nothing about this night has probably been what we had in mind at all."

*************************

After swinging to the building Roger had pointed out, Roger and Dorothy had proceeded down the fire escape to get to the ground level. Roger descended on the final ladder first.

"I'll use my weight to hold it in place, so that the ladder doesn't retract back on you."

Dorothy nodded and proceeded to climb down. However, as Roger looked up, he accidentally looked up Dorothy's dress. The view made Roger turn extremely pink in the face. He panicked, lost his footing, and fell off the ladder onto the ground. The ladder retracted quickly, but stopped as Dorothy was on it. He rubbed his tail bone.

"Ow. I can jump twenty-thirty stories high and land perfectly, can't land two feet from the ground."

"Really Roger? What are you doing?" Dorothy was annoyed and getting tired of heights.

"Nothing, nothing!"

Roger got up, grumbling, still rubbing his tail bone. Dorothy climbed all the way down. He walked over to Dorothy, picking her up and setting her down gently, avoiding her gaze to not give himself away. Dorothy pulled out her shoes from her bag, putting them back on. Roger sent a signal on his watch to let Norman where they were. He shoved his hands in his pockets, the disappointment of the night finally getting to him. He gave a sad smile.

"I'm sorry…"

Dorothy looked at him. "What are you sorry about?"

"Tonight. I wanted to make it… special. Seems like I bungled everything."

"Roger… it's not like you asked those men to hold us hostage. You don't need to apologize."

"I just feel bad. I wanted you to have a special night, something you can remember fondly."

"Believe me, I think I'll remember this night, Roger Smith," Dorothy snickered.

Roger laughed. "Norman should be here any moment." He offered his arm to her, Dorothy smiling, accepted it. She leaned on it as they walk out of the alleyway to the sidewalk. They began walking in the direction of the dome.

"You know, dinners with you at the mansion are just as fancy and they're much more quieter dates…"

Roger raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you saw our dinners for the past month?"

"Well, doesn't it make sense? We were warming up to tonight?"

"I honestly never thought of it that way, just that dinner was nice with you…" Roger sighed, frustrated.

Dorothy gave Roger a sardonic smile, raising one eyebrow at him. She hugged his arm tighter. Roger noticed and moved his arm closer to him, so he could pull her closer. His face grew serious.

"Dorothy… I need you to sit this one out."

"Why? I've proven I'm more than capable of negotiating. I can do this."

"I know you can and it's not a question of your skill, but of your safety. I'm pretty sure those guys I knocked out have come around by now and they know you're with me. They'll use you against me to get what they want. And to be honest, after everything in the past couple of years, I could really care less about everyone else, just you and those close to us."

Dorothy had no argument. He was right. She lowered her head, disappointed.

"So, if we had stayed…"

"Same result."

"Then what can I do? I don't… it's not right for you to do this alone. You don't think I won't worry about you, in there?"

"Can you hold Dastun back? If Dastun thinks he sees an opportunity, he'll take it. He knows I can handle myself, but still. I'll need all the time I can get. Plus, you know my methods, so you can at least give Dastun an idea what's going on, if he gets impatient. It doesn't sound like much, but when it comes to Dastun, I'll take what I can get."

Dorothy sighed, closing her eyes, shaking her head. Her breath escaped her floating into the night. Roger stopped walking, turning to face Dorothy. He gently turned her chin up towards him. He saw the worry in her eyes as they trembled at the thought of him putting himself in danger to save a group of citizens that probably wouldn't have done the same for him.

"It's not the first time I've done this. Dorothy, I will come back. I promise."

Roger's hair from the night had come undone somewhat. He had a sizable lump on his forehead now from headbutting the man earlier and his bangs draped around the frame of his face. Dorothy reached up, gently touching the knot on his forehead, him wincing in response. She then moved his bangs aside, moving her fingertips down to his cheek, resting them there. Roger leaned his face into her hand, closing his eyes, enjoying the warmth. He opened them only to see Dorothy eyes lock into his, surveying all of her emotions swirling in her deep indigo eyes. Dorothy saw his eyes, calm, collected, determined, and steeled with one desire in mind. Dorothy understood, moving closer to his face, him leaning in closer to meet hers, both of their eyes closing.

Headlights came into view, startling them, forcing them to pull away. Dastun had pulled up, Norman riding with him in his patrol car.

"ROGER! Quit messin' around!" he yelled. "Or did you forget you have a job to do?"

Norman stepped out of the car, looking somewhat annoyed at Dastun's behavior.

"I do apologize for the intrusion, sir. However, your services are needed." Norman sneaked a peeved look at Dastun, before bowing to Dorothy and Roger as he opened the door for them to get inside the back of the car.

The moment, which seemed to have dawn on both Roger and Dorothy on what may have happened prior to Dastun and Norman's arrival, made the two of them laugh nervously. They walked over to the car, Dorothy getting inside. Norman followed suit. Roger paused as he searched his inner coat pockets and pulled out the bullets, magazines, and radio he took from the men and tossed them to Dastun. Dastun caught them.

"What are these… hey, this is our stuff! What's with the radio?"

"A link to the hostage takers and I found some of your missing items. They also had some grenades and blew one of the maintenance access doors open to outside the dome."

Dastun groaned. "Anything else?"

"Well, I won't charge you for the labor it took getting these. Considered it an early Heaven's Day gift."

Dastun glared at Roger, and made an obscene gesture with his middle finger in Roger's direction, before getting into the car. Roger snickered.