"We could both abandon our weapons-" Tom nearly loses his breath, catches it- "not that I've given you terribly much reason to trust me on that."

No, he won't be talking his way out of this one. Instead, as they go up the stairs, Tom notices something on the rig, something he'll have to take a risk for. He tries as hard as he can to get Hubert off-balance, and then, when he thinks he might have a chance, he grabs the rail of the stair and swings himself over, down ten feet.

The impact as he hits the ground sends a familiar and unpleasant twinge of pain up his bad leg, and he rolls under the rig to try and avoid staying a target too long.