"So this election of yours is gonna be a close one." "I like my chances." "Ms. Rosewater, Defiance could use a friend like the Earth Republic." "With the Earth Republic at our side, this town will only prosper and grow." "I'm not letting you resign." "If Datak wins this election, he is gonna kick open the doors to Colonel Marsh and his e-rep goons, and a year from now, you won't even recognize this place." "I am going to tell your husband everything about you and me." "He has no idea that you've been chupping his favorite whore." "This will end very badly for you." "Doc!" "Doc!" "What the hell is that?" "Where's my daughter?" "Irisa?" "Rynn." "Looks like Irisa came this way." "Blood drops are getting more frequent." "Uh, blood's pooled here." "She's laying up." "Someone else has come in from this direction, and they..." "Dragged her off." "Mm-hmm." "Yeah." "See?" "It's not right." " What's not right?" "Well, you know, what he did, forcing you to quit." "I didn't quit, Tommy." "Amanda fired me, and that's the story you're gonna stick to, okay?" "Yeah." "So are you and Irisa gonna leave town?" "We have to find her first." "Yeah." "Come on, son." "Let's go get her." "Good morning, Defiance." "It's election day, and may the best candidate win." "And the polls are open for another six hours, so get to the darby building, and make your voice heard." "I think we all know who I'm gonna be voting for." "A vote for Datak Tarr is a vote for the future of Defiance." "So get out there, my little beat-freaks, and pull the lever for the man in white." "He'll treat us right." "What does he think he's doing?" "He's being supportive." " It's excessive." "North end?" " Covered." "The towers." " Covered." "Nehi?" "A simple question!" "Is Nehi covered?" "It's a street full of slamheads and adreno freaks." "And their votes will be counted." "We can't afford to lose a single Votan." "Does my husband have to do everything around here?" "Go." "Stahma." "I could lose this." "You need to relax, my love." "You've never done that before." "I'm always looking for new ways to please you." "Madam mayor, right this way." "Hi." "Here we go." "Thanks for voting." "Thank you." "Appreciate it." "Ms. Rosewater, quick photo, please?" "Of course." "Thank you." "That's great." "Hello, father Tarr." " Hello." "My beautiful wife is here to cast her vote." "Isn't she..." "She's lovely." "I'd keep an eye on her if I were you." "There's only one other person who did what you just did to me." "And I pay her by the hour." "I know you betrayed me." "I should open your guts right here in front of these good people." "But a vote is a vote." "Make sure you check the right name, darling." "You two, man the door." "Did you ever hear of knocking?" "Sukar, wake up." "I need you." "Hey, kiddo." "Glad to see you're okay." "Nice handiwork." "You the one who patched her up?" "Thank you." "No argument there." "Why'd you run?" "I don't know." "I just knew I had to go." "I dreamed I was following someone, someone who could give me answers." "I always assumed you people were after the gulanite mines." "The Earth Republic at large, perhaps, and they shall have them, thanks to your soon-to-be mayor." "But I'm after something much bigger... the Kaziri." "I'm not familiar." "The Votan ship with the extremely powerful weapons system hidden at the bottom of those mines." "You know, the one that your kind has been searching for for almost 3,000 years?" "Yes, I have been watching you and Nicky Riordan and Solomon Birch, waiting patiently for one of you to lead me to it." "Just tell me where to find the girl and the artifact that you discovered inside her." "No?" "Jonah, do we have any leads?" "I have men combing the town." "We'll find her." "That would make the doctor expendable." "I'm willing to make a deal." "Be sure to make it look like an accident." "We don't want to make a bad impression." "There are two artifacts inside of her." "So both keys are active, and both are inside the Irathientgirl." "Where is she?" "What do you plan to do with her?" "I would be more concerned with what we plan to do with you." "Doctor." "Allow me to properly introduce myself." "I'm special consultant Jonah Keller, informally known as black Jonah." "Perhaps you've heard of me." "I'm a professional interrogator, and I enjoy my work to an arguably indecent degree." "Love the hardware." "Like I said, I'm here to help." "So there's a crashed ship underneath Defiance?" "According to yewll, there's a weapon on board that could kill every human being on the planet, or every Votan, depending on how you use it." "That's what everybody's after." "The cult you rescued me from." "They were looking for the angel of death who could carry the keys." "To trigger the weapon." "It needs two, just like our old nukes." "And now, they're both inside me." "So my visions are connected." "Yeah." "Should've taken them more seriously sooner." "Sorry about that." "You know what the cult called me?" "The devouring mother." "What's inside you doesn't determine... the destroyer." " You determine who you are." "No, you were a little girl in a bad situation." "My little girl." "I don't believe you." "Believe what you want." "He threatened to kill me." "I can only imagine what he has planned for you." "I thought you said that he already knew and that he didn't care." "When I said that, I was lying." "I'm not lying now." "Well, why don't I go to Nolan or Amanda?" "You'll start a war that won't stop." "People will die." "Is that what you want?" "No, you should leave town while you still can." "That's what I'm doing." "You can come with me if you want." "And why should I believe you?" "You threatened to kill me." "You think you understand Castithans, but you don't." "You are not castithan, you are not subject to our laws, and you don't deserve to be hurt by them." "If you gave a shtako about me, you would have stopped your husband from hurting my sister." "I suppose I'm not as brave as you." "I'll be at Edmund field at 1800 hours." "We're gonna get you away from here, find a real doctor, and get those things out of your body." "And we're gonna go back to plan "a" like we started." "We're gonna head South." "We're gonna put the town of Defiance in our rearview." "Move." "Go, go." "These guys don't look or move like e-rep regulars." "They're mercenaries." "I think I recognize the leader." "Hard case by the name of black Jonah, works out of marin." "To get him all the way out here." "Shut up!" "Sit down!" "We could take 'em." " No, no way." "Too many." "We let this play out." "What do you think you guys are doing?" "You have no jurisdiction here." "You can't just bust into the camp like that." "Come out, come out wherever you are, sweet pea." "Stay down." "I will run out of bodies long before I run out of bullets." "Don't." "It's Tommy." "No more shooting." "There." "On the Ridge." "I'm coming down." "While he's distracted, climb the Ridge and get clear." "One rule:" "We live or die together." "You're an idiot." "I'm the idiot." "Here's the final tally, councilwoman Bailey." "Thank you." "This one there." "Yeah?" "Okay, now this one." "Yes, okay, yes." "Fellow citizens, the election results are in." "All votes have been tallied and verified." "It is my duty to announce the name of the next mayor of Defiance..." "Datak Tarr." "Datak Tarr wins the election by a narrow margin." "The final count was 2,436 votes for Tarr, 2,110 for incumbent Amanda Rosewater, and 87 votes undecided." "The election of Datak Tarr comes after a long and acrimonious campaign rife with allegation, corruption, and mismanagement." "It's official." "Looks like you backed the right horse, sir." "You know, I miss horses." "They had such dignity." "Let's head over to the mines and get this over with." "Bring them all out!" "Hey." "Hey!" "What do you want with her?" "The girl's under arrest." "What for?" "Stealing." "Bullshtak." "I just received confirmation." "Regular army's secured the I-7 mine." "They've set up a perimeter." "Sounds like a party." "Let's move." "Stay here." "Clean up." "Good night." " Sorry, Amanda." "Thank you." " We did everything we could." "Hey." "Oh." "I'm sorry." "Who wants to be mayor, anyway?" "I mean, all day, everyone I meet say they're angry at me or want something from me." "And either way, they're never satisfied." "At least in your line of work, people like you." "And they're always satisfied." "Almost always satisfied." "You were a great mayor." "Mm." "No, not great." "But I was pretty damn good." "A really good sister." "You've sacrificed a lot for me." "Are you okay?" " Yeah." "I'm fine." "I just wanted to say that if I... if I didn't say thank you enough, it was because I was so jealous of you." "Oh, Kenya, no." "Look, I lost an election." "Shh." " You don't have give me a hug." " I'm fine." "I'll be fine." "I'll be fine." "I'll be fine." "I did not think you would come." "I'm surprised myself." "I have a roller on the other side of the hill." "I've arranged to rendezvous with a land coach headed to Chicago." "I'm sorry I made you walk so far in the cold." "Here." "Drink something." "Stahma..." "What's in the flask?" "Drugs?" "Poison?" "Nothing of the kind." " So drink it." "I'm not thirsty..." " drink it." "All of it, now." "Yeah." "I thought so." "Move." "Now." "Let's find that roller of yours." "It was penance." "I had to show my husband I was serious about atonement." "I know." "A nice strato-carrier in the middle of nowhere." "And if your husband wants to see you alive again, he'll have to meet my demands." "Which are?" "Get out of Defiance for good." "He'll never agree to that." "Then you're dead." "Did you ever care for me at all?" "What does that matter?" "Was I always just a client to you?" "Nothing more?" "Just a client." "It was a new experience for me, opening myself up to a relationship outside my liro, outside my family." "It was..." "Exhilarating." "The poison was on the flask." "I've got you." "It's all right." "Go to sleep." "I'll take care of you." "Pretty little human." "I want those keys removed from the girl and implanted in one of our soldiers." "That may be difficult." " Why?" "You said both keys were inside her." "We can't find them." "What?" "They seem to have been completely absorbed into her cells." "If you're playing us," "I will scalp that golf ball head of yours and wear it for a hat." "What's a golf ball?" " She's telling the truth." "Let's run the high-voltage charge, try and draw them back together." "No, it'll burn her to a crisp." "It's survivable." " So is castration." "I'm sure you'll do it in the most tender way possible, doctor." "Let's go." "Congratulations." "You have earned this." "You've managed to suck this victory dry of any joy I might have experienced." "Oh, the mines, yes." "Well, I'm sorry about moving up the timetable like that." "You blockaded the mines during my victory party." "I had to hear about it from a newspaper reporter." "I had no idea what she was talking about uh-huh, well, the Earth Republic will find a way to make it up to you." "What was the rush?" "Why didn't you wait for me?" "This was never about the gulanite, was it?" "Smart man." " What, then?" "What's down there?" "Sorry." "Need to know." "Oh, I think you need me to know, now, right this minute." "I've worked hard to take control of this town, to win respect, and in one reckless act, you've trivialized me." "Come morning, every soul in this town will be asking themselves, "who's running the place," "Datak Tarr or the Earth Republic?"" "Yes, well, as I say, you will be compensated." "Yes, Castithans love money, can't get enough of it." "Amusing." "Now, I strongly suggest you dig deep and afford me some courtesy." "You are one uppity little haint." "You know, after all of this is over, you're going right back to being a nobody." "Whatever you did to me in my office, do it again." "What are you doing?" " Checking her condition." "She needs water." "Getting soft in your old age, doc?" "Word is you used to dissect humans while they were alive and kicking." "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was a monster." "I regret my past, and I'm trying to do better." "You should be taking notes." "I've done as you asked." "Thank you, Stahma." "You are a good wife." "They're looking for the colonel downstairs." "They won't find him downstairs." "He's right there." "Colonel Marsh?" "Sir?" "The Earth Republic will come for us." "Masters of our fate no longer." "I miss home." "I know." "So do I." "Sir!" "Colonel Marsh." "Full power." "Hey." "What's goin' on?" "Our new mayor didn't waste any time." "Seized the mines and turned them over to the Earth Republic." "The bastards rolled in here waving guns and paperwork." "Once my boys get the word out, we're gonna drive these punks out of Defiance." "No." "No time for that." "They got Irisa." "You're determined to get me shot, ain't ya?" "Yeah, it's a lifelong ambition of mine." "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Move!" "Let's go!" "Go!" "Good girl." "Hey." "Hey, kiddo." "It's all right." "It's all right." "I'm here." "All right, we're gonna get you out of here." "Move it, move!" " That's the way." "That's my girl." "It came out and attacked everyone." "It's back inside me." " Okay, all right." "Just look at me, okay?" "Keep your eyes on me." "I'm gonna get you out of these." "Gonna get you home." "That's it." "That's it." "Nolan, hurry up." "Well, looks like you caught a couple." "I'll live." "Get Irisa, and get out of here." "I'll cover you." "You up to this?" "Don't worry about me." "Let's go." "Okay, let's find a roller, so we can get rafe outta here." "Irisa!" "Okay." "Run." "Run." "No." " Yes." "Shut up." "We have one rule." "We live or die together." "It's a stupid rule." " No." "I'm sorry." " No, Nolan." "Nolan!" "No." "No!" "Nolan." "Nolan, get up." "Nolan." "Get up, Nolan." "Nolan, come on." "We have a rule, Nolan." "Nolan." "Nolan." "Get up." "I love you." "Sukar?" "Nolan no longer walks your path." "Your fate lies below." "There is a great evil in that mine." "You must face it and make your choice." "What if my destiny is to set it free?" "Who are you?" "You can call me Irzu." "Irzu." "You're not real." "I'm as real as you are." "I don't believe in you." "You're fooling yourself." "You've come this far." "You want what I offer." "No, I don't." "I didn't wanna be here." "Nolan, we..." " you wanna bring him back." "It's okay." "Admit what's in your heart." "I can't lose him." "What will it cost me?" "Everything, devouring mother, destroyer." "You must become." " How can I become?" "What do I need to do?" "You must become my weapon." "Each stone is a step..." "In Irzu's path." "I will show you the first step, but..." "You must take the next." "Are you ready?" "Become." "Nolan." "Irisa?" "What did you do?" "Irisa!" "Irisa!" "Irisa!" "Attention, all citizens of Defiance." "This is the Earth Republic." "We have assumed control of the town."