The Reverend Lon Kalopello, Brother X'til, Security Chief Kless, and Technical Sergeant Jenkins were ambushed by a score of escaped prisoners armed with knifes and similar simple weapons.
They quickly restrained Kless, the only one who was armed with a gun. He struggled a little, but mostly as a token gesture. He knew he was overpowered.
Jenkins had been recently showing some positive signs of recovery, but this situation was too much for him to bear. He was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth, quietly sobbing, "no...no...no...no..."
Even though X'til maintained his demeanor of calm, he was agitated, looking around at all the participants around him. He kept his arms folded together, with his hands tucked in the opposite sleeves of his robe.
The Leader of the Star Cult surveyed the situation. It was not good, but it could be worse. True, they were surrounded. But no one had yet been attacked. Besides, Kless was the only one who had a serious weapon and they were only preventing him from using it; they seemed to have no interest in taking it from him. He was also confident that one or even two blasts to his torso from Kless' weapon's current setting would not do any significant harm to him.
That must mean they were waiting for something, that they wanted something. And if they wanted something, he could offer it to them, whether they were members of the Star Cult or not. "Follow my lead, Brother," he said quietly to X'til.
He held up his hands for all to see, showing he was not armed. "Friends, clearly you have us at a disadvantage. But our loss is your gain, as I am sure there are things we can provide to you that may want or need. Whether it is simple companionship or perhaps a way out of this situation."
He surveyed the crowd to see their reaction but perceived almost none.
"My fellow Children of the Stars, I am sure we can all talk this over and make this work out. We are all so much alike."
The calming voice of The Leader filled the halls. Jenkins began to unfold his arms from over his head as he heard Lon speak. He looked at the Leader through a sea of bodies standing above him. He could only see the lower half of the Leader in his right flowing robs.
Lon continued, "If we can just..."
The words died in his mouth and the corridor grew quiet.
Jenkins could see an arm flash by, brandishing a knife that gleamed as it caught the hallway lights and reflected them back at him, and plunge into the speaker's ribcage.
Jenkins let out a yell, curled up into a ball, and shut his eye tightly.