More beatings came – but the men who were tackling him had actually started to get in one another’s ways. It remained the most confusing, terrifyi...g moment in Ember’s life.Thus far.Then one of the truncheons smashed into his forehead and cracked the back of his head against the pavement. White flared before his eyes and he felt everything grow distant. Ringing. He could hear, very faintly, Chirp, shouting.“Ember! Ember!”Ember closed his eyes.He gritted his teeth.The men atop him had gotten. "I don't know but a gun makes a huge difference. If we don't take him now, there's no telling what he'll do with it."KABOOM, KABOOM, Jenkins explanation was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the shotgun firing. Both she and Corrigan pushed themselves face first into the dirt as the first shot threw up clumps of grass and bushes several yards in front of them. The next one was higher, but fortunately too high. The shotgun pellets went into the trunk of a tree they were hiding under, making. " She looked at mewith both eyebrows raised slightly and a devious smile."So why do we have to stay hidden, Alex?" Jack innocently inquired.I pointed just ahead of us. Not twenty yards from our position wasAdmiral Demmit. Fast approaching from the rear and on an interceptcourse, was Emily! Motioning us closer, we listened to the conversation."Admiral Demmit? A minute if you could?" Emily's voice was loud andpleasant, but slightly out of breath.The old man turned and scowled until he saw who was. " She lifted her hands and showed me that they were still bound."You might not have been able to unclip them, but you should have been able to remove the cuffs yourself," I said."No sir, I could not!" she said emphatically, looking my in the eye fiercely. "You bound my hands, and it is not my place to undo those bonds." Am I going to have to take them off of you for your shower every day?" I asked."I guess not, sir," she replied. "If my hands are not bound together then I am willing to take.