Week Two, Wednesday - 1832 hours...

"What's taking so long," one of the inmates whined.

Jackson rolled his eyes and huffed, "will you shuddup, already?"

"Why bother talking to the ingrates," Dimitri mumbled from his perch on one of the computer consoles.

"Do you even know what that word means," Eyal asked absentmindedly, refusing to make eye contact with Dimitri and instead checked his rifle chamber. He turned his attention to the control center, on the other side of the soundproof glass behind the consoles, where Kara was on radio with 'the other side' ordering a transport. His lower lip twitched involuntarily and he put his rifle down on the console before walking away, towards the bulletproof glass that separated the hub from the hallway.

Kara came out from the control center on their side of the hub, "Okay, I got a hold of Ruth. He's opening the passageway now."

"Good," Dimitri said as he fidgeted. He jumped down from the console and shifted his weight from leg to leg, drumming his fingers on the side of his rifle.

Kara indicated to the gun lazily, "That won't do you any good. The bullets went right through it."

"Maybe it's not for them," he replied darkly, his eyes shifting around the room at the dozens of prisoners that moved around the small hub like a lost herd- the smell of sweat mixed with cleaning chemicals could make anyone gag.

"What is wrong with you," Jackson asked, his lips curled in disgust.

"What?" Dimitri shrugged then made a harsh sound in the back of his throat, "It makes me feel better, 'kay?"

Jackson frowned and ignored Dimitri by conversing with Kara, "How long until TOS starts the transport?"

"Don't know, maybe half an hour," she diverted her gaze and looked around the room.

The tension in the hub was palpable, the inmates quiet and tense. Kara was genuinely surprised and relieved that the prisoners weren't trying to make a move but she figured the impending doom of death by radioactive wraith was enough to keep them in line.

It didn't help the mood that Dimitri insisted on holding the rifle and twitching like a drug addict coming down from a high. She turned away from the jumpy man to her left in order to look for one specific man in a crowd of testosterone. Eyal was standing in the corner, his nose nearly touching the glass to the hall.

"Eyal," Kara greeted as she came up behind him and placed a gentle hand at the small of his back, "you okay?"

"Don't do that again," he said harshly without looking away from the hall he studied, watching for signs of the wraith.

She blinked rapidly and pulled her hand away as if burned, "do what again?"

He pivoted so quickly, to face her, that Kara didn't have time to step back. He took her arms in his hands, holding her in front of him, "risk yourself like that. I don't want you sacrificing yourself for anyone, you hear me?" Eyal's voice was low but forceful, "I won't lose you."

Kara smiled even as she felt her hands start to tremble, "Eyal, you-"

"The door's open!" Dimitri announced and was the first one in the room despite procedure. The prisoners piled in like scared animals.

"Wait, only fifty people at one time! It won't work if there's any more than that," Kara shouted and shoved her way through the shifting bodies to the front of the hub to look at the status panel above the door; 57.00. "No, it won't work, there's too many in The Room right now. I need seven of you to get off!"

Eyal got on top of the console and counted heads, "Kara, we'll have to do at least four trips."

"Okay, seven of you, off now!"

The prisoners in the NTTR began to push and shove others to the front of the room, attempting to shove them over the threshold. Clothes started to rip and fists began to fly. Dimitri threw himself into the back corner and planted his feet, his gun held down in front of him.

"That's enough! Seven volunteers, please, or I'll start picking people," Kara shouted, her voice cracking. "We will all make it out of here, I promise."

Three men at the front of The Room stepped out and Kara patted them on the shoulder or arm as they passed by in thanks. "I need four more," she petitioned.

One of the women stepped off. When no one else moved and continued to step back further into the the Tesla, Kara started to grab at two other men.

"Whoa, hey, why do you get to decide," one shouted, ripping his arm from her grasp.

"Because I'm in charge, asshole. Get out," she demanded.

The inmates behind the resistant one shoved him out, into Jackson who restrained him with handcuffs. One more volunteered and the countdown began immediately after.

She glanced up at the HUD; 50.28

With the proper amount of people inside and the others waiting anxiously, Kara turned to look at Eyal who still stood, balancing on the console. He winked and it brought a fleeting smile to her lips.

Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds the female, automated voice chimed.

She turned back to the Tesla and caught Dimitri's gaze. He held it despite the fear in his eyes. The door started to close and he looked away, down at the polished white floor. A bright light filled the NTTR and shone under the cracks, like a flash of lightning. The door opened again and the room was empty.

Kara filed in the prisoners, counting them off until the capacity was at forty-nine. "Alright, that's it, we just need a guard," she announced to the two remaining military men in the room.

Jackson, still holding the churlish prisoner, nodded at Kara, "after you."

She took the inmate by his elbow and restrained him herself, "No, you go." The countdown had started; 49.21. Twenty-one seconds and the door would close, one more person or the spot would go wasted.

"Whoa, wait, you can't be serious! You're punishing me," the prisoner questioned when she refused to let him on. He tried to wriggle free but Kara maneuvered herself behind him and kicked behind his legs, bringing him to to his knees.

"Jackson, get on. We don't have much time," she ordered. Jackson glanced at the clock and saw the remaining time, he immediately stepped into the Tesla.

Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds.

He nodded once at Kara then to Eyal before diverting his gaze to watch the clock on his side of the door. The door slid closed.

A terrifying, bloodcurdling screech echoed in the halls that shook the glass between the hub and the main hall to the rest of the block. Eyal jumped down from the console and ran up to Kara and began to push her towards the NTTR.

"Time to go," he said.

"Wait," she said and ushered the rest of prisoners in first, still holding onto the restrained one, who began to protest both verbally and physically.

Another deafening shriek.

"They're coming," one of the prisoners shouted from inside The Room. The remaining inmates were stacked as far back from the door as they could be, packed in like sardines in a tin.

Kara looked up at the display above the door, 48.00.

"Only room for two," she said, looking into Eyal's eyes. Between the two of them and the restrained prisoner, they were all that was left standing in the hub.

"You're not leaving me- it's your job to protect me," the prisoner shouted, pulling on his restraints and attempting to throw himself into the NTTR.

Eyal looked over his shoulder then to the clock and finally Kara, "Then I'll stay." he said, swallowing thickly.

"No! That's not happening," Kara reached for Eyal, grabbing him around the wrist. She glanced down at the struggling prisoner when another shriek sounded right outside the glass. Everyone looked to the hallway and froze. Two wraiths floated just outside the bulletproof glass. "Okay, we leave the prisoner," she finally said, her voice mumbled as she started to back away from the glass and towards the Tesla.

"No, you can't! Don't leave me here!!"

Kara kept the prisoner at arms length as she stepped beyond the threshold with Eyal. She locked her arms to be certain he couldn't get in. The countdown began, 50.27

The prisoner shouted and begged the other inmates to help him but everyone's eyes were locked on the wraiths, too terrified to do anything else. One or both of the wraiths shrieked again, the glass vibrated violently like waves on a frozen lake.

One of the prisoners pointed and shouted, "it's going to come through the glass!"

"No, it can't it-"

It came through the glass.

It floated through and the second one phased through directly after the first. They floated just inside the control room, unmoving. They didn't have eyes so she couldn't be certain they were staring at the occupants but she could feel it like one feels the heat of the sun without seeing the rays.

"Nobody move, just stay calm," she managed an even voice despite the terrified screeches from the restrained prisoner that shook her to her core.

Panicked screams cut through the air as the group of prisoners shifted to push others in front in order to get to the back.

"Close the door! Close the fucking door!!"

"It's going to kill us all!"

"Why aren't they attacking?"

"Close the door!"

The hud read; 50.12

One of the wraiths started to float closer. Kara's arms shook with strain as she pushed back on the prisoner still trying to get in, her eyes locked on the movement of the wraith. She could feel the warmth of Eyal's body heat even as her blood ran cold. Her plan was set, she knew what she had to do but knowing how close Eyal was to her was made her ache even more- made her want to change her mind.

Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds

"No, please! Don't leave me here," the man blubbered at the end of her reach.

Kara swallowed thickly, her eyes flicking to the clock; .04. She glanced at Eyal, who missed her last desperate look at his face. The words she planned on saying were lost in her final movement. She bent her elbows, relenting to the force of the prisoner's body and in one swift motion, switched places with him.

He landed with a thud on the floor of Nikola Tesla Transportation Room and she stood with her back to the wraiths that were inching closer.

Eyal shouted, his eyes wide with terror as he reached for her but the door slid closed. She heard him throw his weight against the door, heard him scream her name with a raw voice. But when the light shone through the cracks his protests were cut short.

Before the light had faded or the door could open again, she felt her arm begin to burn as the wraith flew past her and through the door.

It was inside the The Room.

She threw herself against the door and slammed her fists on the heated metal, "No!!" The light faded and the display over the door read; 00.00. Kara stepped away as the door slid open, she was alone in the hub. The wraith, like the people, were gone.

Despite the radiation burn that marred her skin and seared pain through every nerve in her arm, it was the fear gripping her heart that hurt the most. The wraith was in a box filled with people- on its way to TOS, to the past, where unsuspecting victims stand waiting just outside the door.

She felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck and she turned slowly, her shoulders leading the rest of her body until finally her head snapped to look towards the glass. The second wraith, the one she'd forgotten about, floated a foot from her face.

Kara slowly began to step backwards, her breathing shaky and chest shuddering. She could feel the heat and it singed her arm hairs. Guns did nothing to the wraiths but she wanted hers in this moment, perhaps not to shoot the wraith with. As she backed herself to the back wall of the NTTR, the wraith followed.

There was no face to look at, no eyes to look into as she stared down the radiation cloud in front of her. As it got closer and closer to her she could feel the heat start to burn her face and neck. She whimpered as she pressed herself against the wall, turning her head from it. There was nowhere to go.

Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds

She gasped. She'd started the countdown by getting on. With her peripheral vision, she looked at the HUD; 01.06.

"No," she screamed but choked on her own voice as it came closer and started to burn her. She threw up her arms to protect her face.

The door hissed and a bright light emanated from within The Room.