"What the hell is this stuff?"

Wha…who is that talking? Pacifica blinked and raised her head. Then she realized her hands were tied behind her back. She was sitting in a chair.

She looked around. Dipper was passed out to her right. He was tied up in a wooden chair too. There was an electrical panel with a couple of dials and gauges, and large breaker switches. They were in some kind of shack.

In front of her were two dark haired men who were holding some of their SIRDIP electronic equipment, turning them over in their hands. One had a tattoo of a pot leaf on his neck. They were looking away from her. Leaning against the rough wooden walls were two AK-47 assault rifles, with boxes and boxes and boxes of ammunition on either side stacked against the walls. She took one more glance around and then shut her eyes and let her head fall back down to listen.

"I don't think they're cops. Maybe geologists or some shit."

"Yeah, so do we still make them an example or what? They're not here to steal the weed like the others."

"They never got near the crop but that doesn't mean they wouldn't have called the cops."

So that's it!

She heard some footsteps shuffling around.

"At least she's a looker! Let's have some fun with her!"

"Knock it off, we gotta find out more first. Put on your ski mask, and put the hoods over 'em. When they wake up we don't want them knowing who we are."

Too late you dumbass!

"Oooohhh my head…"

Keep quiet Dipper!

"Hey, the guy's awake."

She kept her eyes closed and looking down. There were quick footsteps and rustling, and a black cloth hood went over her head. Then they must have put one on Dipper because he protested.

"Hey! What are you doing? Take this off!" then there was a pause. He must have seen her slumped in the chair before they covered him.

"Pacifica! Pacifica are you OK?"

Shut up Dipper!

"Pacifica huh?" It was tattoo voice again.

"Who are you? What's going on?"

The men laughed.

Dipper could only see dark eyes behind the ski masks before they covered him.

"Whoever you are, we are being monitored by the authorities, and if we don't respond…"

"Yeah, you won't respond because you'll be dead."

There was silence.

Oh crap. I've got to let him know what I heard, that they're pot growers!

She heard footsteps, one man was stepping closer to Dipper.

WHACK!

"OW!"

"Now shut the f_ up. "

"Hey Jonesy, the microwave triggered again, must be the 'author-i-tees' haha!"

"Shut up you dumbass, don't say my name!"

WHACK!

"OW! Crap, OK, sorry!"

Ah, so tattoo voice is Jones. Idiots! But they were smart enough to use microwaves for something. It's connected somehow…Dipper would know.

"Check the cameras. Come on!"

"Yeah yeah, hang on…"

The footsteps seemed to walk away into another room somewhere. Pacifica could hear two sets of footsteps.

Then the more distant voices confirmed they were both out of the room with Dipper and herself.

"Pssst! Dipper! Dipper!"

"Pacifica! Are you OK? Don't panic but…"

"Quiet Dip, I was awake before you. Listen, they said a microwave thing turned on again. It must be the rangers looking for us! Help is close by!"

"Yeah, I was thinking about that when the RF meter…here they come…"

She could hear one set of footsteps stepping on the wood plank floor.

It was walking towards the wall with the guns. She heard what could have been the sling hardware jingling against a rifle butt, and a box of shells being opened and dumped into a pocket.

"Keep an eye on them. If you hear shooting it means get outta here, but take care of these two first."

Holy crap! "Take Care of them" doesn't sound good!

"There is only one jeep. You shouldn't have any problem with him."

So much for the cavalry! We gotta think of something and think of it fast!

She heard one set of footsteps walk out the door and then it closed.