Alec followed the woman back down the hallway, leaning to one side to compensate for the list of the plane. His head snapped up when the fresh round of gunfire started.<em>What, a stowaway? Sleeper? We can't have been boarded mid-flight...</em><br/><br/>"Come on," he said. "Time's short."<br/><br/>The echo of the shots was infuriating - it made it impossible to determine their origin.<em>Couldn't they wait to have their philosophical debate once we're on the ground? They're risking turning this into a suicide mission.</em><br/><br/>It made no sense. Rifle-calibre weapons were anathema to the inside of an aeroplane. They'd puncture the hull, wreck electronics, damage machinery...<br/><br/>The slender woman ducked into the next cabin, grabbed a bag. Alec followed close behind, ready to shield her smaller form with his own bulk if he had to. He snorted to himself as he remembered the burden of the heavy ceramic ballistic vests he'd worn in Afghanistan, how he hated them in the heat. What he'd have given for one of them now...