"Too close!" he shouted at the man with the gun.
His hands, still bound, took hold of the pistol and spun it upside down around the agent's trigger finger. The self-same finger which was to push against the trigger as he thrust the gun back towards the officer.
There was a flash. His aching eyes winced at the laser blast - "enough with the bright lights already."
He felt the other man's grip on the gun go limp as he fell to the floor with a hole burning through his chest.
"Guns aren't sticks," he said to no one in particular, "don't point them, unless you're firing them."
He jumped up and pointed 'the stick' at each of the officers in turn. Three more flashes, three more bodies on the floor.
"I'm afraid we need to leave," he said to Tracy who just sat staring at the carnage before her.
He took a knife from one of the officer's utility belts and cut his bindings, followed by hers.
"How did you...?" asked Tracy, she was duly ignored.
He took each of the body cams from the officers' tactical vests and smashed them with the butt of the knife.
"No more movie night for HQ."
He shuffled over to Fred who still hadn't moved. Fearing the worst he reached for the unconscious man's throat and felt for a pulse. He couldn't find one, but then he'd always struggled with that. It was a mystery to him how doctors pronounced death so confidently, he struggled to find a pulse on a body even when it was talking back to him.
"Sorry for making things ten times worse for you both," he said, re-evaluating his grip and trying again. "But judging by their - hmm found it - eager questioning, none of us were getting released again this lifetime anyway."
"Is my dad okay?"
"There's a very weak pulse, we're going to have to leave him."
"Leave him?" Tracy asked in surprise. "Why? Where are we going?"
He moved over to her and held her firmly by the shoulders. Tracy's eyes were full, tears about to burst through as the reality of what lay around her registered. The coldness came easy to him, a situation dictated an action which his brain would execute. As simple as that.
For most people emotions trigger behaviour. Tracy's emotions right now weren't helpful, she was panicking, she was worried about her father. That primordial chimp that all humans have, long buried by evolution, had taken over and instinct was coming up blank.
"Tracy, listen to me. This is important."
She nodded, stealing a glance at her dad.
"These men wanted information from you. More will be on the way, we can't be found here." His hand pointed out the four bodies on the floor.
Those full eyes were overflowing down her cheeks now. She made no sound.
"I need to get away and off this station. I strongly suggest you come with me or they'll pin this on you and lock you both away for a long time."
She looked around at the four bodies lying on the floor, then back to her dad, tied up on the chair still unconscious. She wiped away a tear.
"What will happen to dad?"
"He's tied to a chair and unconscious after agents raided his flat. They'll have a hard time prosecuting him for anything that happened here and I doubt they'll even try - too many awkward questions for them to answer." He looked into her eyes, they understood. "But we need to go, now!"