Octavia pressed her fingertips against the door, fighting the urge to scratch an uncomfortable itch on her head that was stemming from the inconvenient truth Mr Fischer pointed out. Not that this was unexpected. But she had planned for the patience to wait for an opportune moment to sneak past the guards. She was far too excited to wait patiently when they could make the opportunity themselves.

"Outside the gate, so he's not investigating on the grounds," Octavia suggested. She took her key from her pocket, calmly, carefully turning the lock in the knob. As soon as the guard was away they could rush inside and lock the door from the inside. Then it was on to preparing the Orion as much as possible before opening the wide hangar doors and getting the ship out and up in as little time as possible.

Once they were in the hanger, breathed a sigh of relief. The hardest part was over. Now he just had to fly the Orion out of here.

"You start on the doors, I'll get the ship prepped." Max said before climbing aboard the ship. He had done this dozen's of times before, but he never thought he'd have to do it under duress. Thankfully, once he got started with the processes needed to get the ship running, it all came naturally.

First was the engine-room, and everything there seemed to be in place, though he wouldn't know for sure until he turned the ignition. From there, he did a once over of the balloon for holes. Everything seemed fine, so he then went to the cockpit. Part of him wanted to check the storeroom for supplies, but Max decided that he would worry about that once they got out of the hanger and out of Hubert's reach.

Finally he got to work in the control room. Everything was looking nominal and within tolerances. "Everything is good in here." Max said out loud to Octavia. "How are those gates coming?" He wanted to make sure the doors were open and the mooring cables untied before starting the engines.

Every one of the hinges on the mammoth doors had been oiled within the last two weeks. Octavia had come over to the hangar one morning to ask advice from one of the pilots about flying her hot air balloon near a canyon. Then she hung around and helped sweep dust until everyone went away for lunch and she had the room and an oil can to herself.

Last Thursday Octavia hid in an air balloon basket in another hangar until dark. She snuck to the Orion's hangar much like they had done tonight. She set up a ladder and climbed each rung painfully slowly to reach the upper hinges and clear the track above the door along which the accordion doors folded.

The cables stop the doors were well maintained so when one door moved it's partner mirrored the movement. It was a simple and effective design father had borrowed from mother's drapes. But even with the pulleys, it required more force to open two doors than one.

Tonight Octavia walked along the doors pushing one corner out a few inches, pulling the next corner in, pushing the next one out. Not much. Just enough to give her peace of mind that nothing was going to jamb and stand in their way.

Mr Fischer's voice seemed to signal the adrenaline to start coursing through her. Octavia wedged her shoulder against the edge of the door and pushed against it with all her might. Slowly at first the door began to roll along it's track, the partner opening as well. She gained momentum and the doors buckled and folded to the sides just as they were designed to do. They thudded into place against the walls fully open.

Though the process was effective, it could not be considered silent. Octavia turned and ran for the Orion. "They're open!" she called.

She side stepped one of the cables and realized to her horror she hadn't released any of the mooring lines yet. She hadn't released the Orion! Was that her heart thundering in her ears? Was that footsteps? It didn't matter at this moment, what mattered was loosing the Orion.

She crouched down and started the untying of the line from the mooring. When it was free she left it dangling from the Orion and moved forward the next one. They could pull them all up later.

Almost immediately she growled and threw up her hands. Octavia pivoted on her toes and hurried back to the first line and gathered it up. She tossed it up over the orion's railing so it wouldn't be in the way when Max tried to get the ship out. Then she went to untying the second line.

These little delays were beginning to drive her crazy. She had this theft so carefully planned out. Why couldn't she stay focused and calm and just get it done? She was wasting too much time!

"For Hubert. For Hubert." She whispered to herself pulling apart another knot. The plan was still working, she just had to keep moving and stop spinning her gears.

The shadow of the security guard appeared in the vast open space of the doors. Octavia cringed, they were so close! The guard hadn't made a move yet, probably adjusting his eyes to the light Octavia guessed. She unwound cord frantically.

Max cursed to himself when he saw Smythe standing in the door. They were way so damn close to actually pulling this off, but it would all be for nothing if them got caught now.

The engineer quickly thought about his options. Octavia was (hopefully), close to getting the last mooring line undone, then all they needed to do was start the engine and take off. They could try and wait it out, but Max knew Smythe was good at his job. He would be thorough, and that meant getting caught. Max had only one crazy idea that could work, and he hoped that Octavia would take the hint and keep working.

"Hey, Smythe." he said while climbing down the ladder. He did his best to make it sound like there was absolutely nothing wrong with him being here.

"Mr. Fischer?" called Smythe. "What on earth are you doing here?" So far the plan was working, as Smythe hadn't gone for help. Not yet, anyway.

"I'm just saying goodbye to the old place. You heard that Hubert was letting me go?" he said, casually approaching the guard. He knew he was distracting, but was it enough for Octavia to get the job done?

Octavia looked up at Mr. Fischer's voice and then pulled at the mooring lines again. Maximillian Fischer are you foolhardy? Yes, of course. He is coming with me. He had just proclaimed his involvement in her crime. Unless he was successful and could talk the guard out of reporting them.

Octavia finally got the last line free. The motion of tossing and the noise of the line landing over the railing were too risky. She left it dangling.

There was a moment of indecision then as she hadn't planned for this. Announce herself and help the persuasion or go start the engines? They were flying out of here with another alli or not. Mr. Fischer better talk fast.

Octavia climbed up the ladder as quietly as she could manage and started the engine of the Orion. The balloons lifting the airship slightly from the floor and she increased the heat to raise it just a bit more.

Going to the controls she began moving the ship. It lurched before moving toward the open door. Her stomach was in a knot. She'd have to wait for Mr. Fischer, there was no going alone any farther than the doors.

When the engine began turn over and the balloons of the airship began to fill, Max knew the gig was up. Smythe wasn't a fool, and he would easily put two and two together.

"Look." Max began. "I don't have a lot of cash, but you can take it all if you forget that we were ever here."

"Is this about screwing over Hubert?" Smythe said with a smile. "Honestly, I wish I could pay you instead. Take care of yourself, Mr. Fischer." With that, the security guard walked away from the hanger, whistling a jaunty tune. Laughing to himself, Max hauled himself up the ladder of the Orion and onto the deck.

"That... was surprisingly easy." Max said to Octavia once he reached the control room. "I think it's time we got out of here. What do you say?"