by M. D. Cooper
“Shite, no…” Amanda cursed, and moved to summon an Aegis around the room, pulling Essentia in as quickly as she could.
These moments of dizziness and weakness were really throwing her off her game and distracting her from some basic things she should be doing, like conjuring an Aegis around a fight like this.
With a whipcrack of air before she finished her work, the Magus Ported out. In the same instant, the remaining Reavers—the ones that were still alive—also disappeared.
“That is going to get really annoying,” Jessica said as she approached, a look of worry in her eyes.
Amanda again felt far more out of breath than usual, and as her heart rate began to fall, the now-familiar feeling of weakness flushed through her. She crouched down and then fell to her ass, using her hands to steady herself and keep from collapsing completely.
“Are you okay?” Cheeky asked, rushing to Amanda’s side.
Amanda gave a stoic smile and nodded as the feeling began to fade, her strength returning as quickly as it had left.
“I’m okay. Honestly. I think it’s just a little harder for me to use my Magic here, or maybe I’m just not used to it—this whole, crossing into another universe thing. It seems to be taking a lot out of me.”
Cheeky held out a hand, and Amanda took it, even though her legs were steady as she rose once more, her eyes on the group of Cerka police who were moving toward them.
TWO’S COMPANY
STELLAR DATE: 05.11.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Ring Nine cargo bay, Cerka Station
REGION: Mullens, Virginis System, LoS Space
“You keep busy, General,” Detective Alla said by way of greeting.
Jessica looked up from the body she was standing over and nodded to the woman. “Sure seem to. Though I wish I wasn’t. All I wanted was a night off, you know?”
“Night off?” Alla asked, laughing as she knelt next to the dead Reaver. “I don’t even remember what those are, anymore.”
“Me either.” Jessica knelt as well. “I was trying to rekindle said memory, but no such luck.”
The detective nodded absently as she pulled a pair of gloves on and began to look over the man. “Any idea who this guy is?”
“Part of a gang called the ‘Reavers’,” she said, deciding to give the detective at least that much information. “We think they’re here to steal something, though we’re not sure what.”
Alla glanced up at Jessica. “Some of his gear is similar to those thugs you took out earlier.”
“I noticed that too. Not sure if they’re with this guy’s group, or if they were just hired for a job.”
The detective sat back on her heels, her eyes serious as she stared into Jessica’s. “Well, this is a hell of a step up from a little break-in. Buggers wrecked a ship and blew a hole in the station! Not the sort of thing we can ignore.”
“I know,” Jessica replied. “General Hera is considering putting the entire station on lockdown, but with everyone finally just getting back to normal after the coup, she and the president are hesitant to make a drastic move like that.”
Alla lifted her hands and rubbed both temples. “Looks like no sleep for me anytime soon, let alone a night off.”
“We’re scouring station security’s cams,” Jessica replied, rising from the dead Reaver. “We’ll find where these bastards are operating from.”
“Think so?” Alla asked as she also stood. “The CPS guys who were on-scene said that the bastards just disappeared. No trace on scan anywhere. With stealth tech like that, they could go anywhere on Cerka.”
Jessica nodded, her thoughts turning to Sabrina, where she’d already ordered the crew to get armored and armed in case enemies appeared in their midst.
“Trust me,” she replied after a moment. “I’m all too aware of that. Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.”
Alla stared down at the dead Reaver for a long moment and then sighed “Well, I guess we’d best get these bodies to the crime lab. We’ll want to check them over and find out how their stealth works so well.”
“Sorry, Detective,” Jessica shook her head. “We’re going to have to take possession of the bodies. I think my team is better suited to the task.”
The woman standing on the other side of the body cocked her hip and her eyes narrowed. “Fine. I assume you have the admiral’s backing on this?”
“I do,” Jessica replied equably. “I’m not trying to step on toes, but given what we’re dealing with here, we both know my team can learn a lot more about these Reavers and their abilities than your crime lab.”
Alla’s expression shifted from resentment to resignation. “Do you need me to arrange transport?”
“No,” Jessica turned and nodded to a nearby airlock. Just beyond the viewports set into the hatch, the Sexy—Sabrina’s small pinnace—eased into view. “We’ll transport them, though we won’t object to a little help loading them up.”
“Any chance I can send one of my crime analysts along to watch your people work?” the detective asked.
The question elicited a laugh from Jessica. “You’re persistent, I like it.”
With a wink and a rueful laugh, the detective turned and walked toward a group of CPS officers. Jessica watched her retreating for a moment, wishing that she could let the woman in on the truth, but it was just too much for someone to swallow and remain objective.
Not only that, but she had no idea if Alla might let it slip and send the station back toward general chaos. The detective did seem to genuinely care about Cerka, which made it unlikely that she’d spill something about visitors from another universe, but for now it was better safe than sorry.
Jessica gestured to the pinnace, which was easing through the a-grav shield.
Cheeky sent a mental snort over the Link.
The pilot laughed aloud as she walked across the dock, now angling toward where the Sexy was settling down between two rows of crates.
Jessica looked over the bay one more time, noting that none of the Reaver bodies had been disturbed, and then walked toward Iris and Amanda, both of whom were talking to a pair of the dockworkers who had been present when the Reavers had first attacked.
Iris glanced at Jessica and rolled her eyes.
Jessica didn’t reply, instead listening in as the dockworkers explained that they’d been preparing for the inbound cargo ship when they spotted several of the Reavers opening shipping containers destined for Sarneeve.
“Any idea what was in the containers?” Amanda asked.
The two men looked at one another, and one shrugged before replying, “Not one hundred percent, no. Several of the containe
rs were empty, on their way to be filled with supplies, and a few were military hardware, though I’m not sure what.”
“They all got blown out into space, though,” the other man said. “Tugs are going to have a field day trying to clean that mess up.”
Amanda cocked an eyebrow. <’Brain cases’? That sounds gross.>
Jessica nodded.
“General Keller!” a voice called out to her left, and she turned to see Alla approaching.
“What is it, Detective?”
“I’ve just gotten word there have been a half-dozen break-ins across the station in the last hour.”
“It’s a big station,” Iris said. “And you said that crime is up. That number doesn’t seem too alarming.”
The detective nodded. “Yeah, but this is in addition to the regular petty stuff. All of these break-ins were at military storage facilities.”
Jessica glanced at Iris. “Well, shit. What got stolen?”
“That’s just the thing. From what we can tell, nothing—except for at one depot that had components for those tanks the VDF uses.”
“The ones with the proton cannons?” Jessica asked, glancing at the other two women.
“Yeah, nasty things. Still can’t believe what they were operated by.”
“Thanks, Detective. Pass me the data on those,” Jessica said. “We’re going to go take a look at the scenes.”
* * * * *
Upon review of the break-ins, Iris spotted an inventory discrepancy at a military munitions depot, and separated to investigate that, calling on Jinx to aid her in the investigation, while Jessica and Amanda continued on to the facility where the proton tanks were stored.
“Are you sure you can’t just teleport us there?” Jessica asked as the two women sat in an unoccupied maglev car.
“Well…between you and I, I’ve been feeling a bit weak when I use my abilities here. I almost passed out after fighting off that other Magus. I think I’ll be OK, though…so long as I don’t go Porting groups of people around.”
“OK, but after this, we should swing back around to Sabrina and get you a regular weapon,” Jessica suggested. “Just in case you conk out again.”
“That’s not a bad idea. Better safe than sorry,” Amanda answered.
“So, do you think it’s likely that the Reavers are after the mind control tech so they can build up some sort of army?”
Amanda shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t really know what they’re planning to do with anything. But I’ll admit that someone might want the ability to make a machine-zombie army.”
Jessica snorted at the idea, and then pursed her lips as she considered it further. “You know…I guess that’s kinda accurate. And makes it so much worse.”
“Happy to help.”
They had to change maglev lines twice to get to where the break-in had occurred, finally arriving at a public warehousing district that the Virginis Defense Force had taken control of to store equipment and munitions.
As such, the security was almost an impromptu affair, utilizing human patrols and drones that roved the corridors around the warehouse blocks.
“Not sure about this being your Reavers,” Jessica said as they passed under a half-destroyed security arch. “This thing was shot to shit on the way in, from the looks of it. Your friends could have just Ported in.”
“Maybe,” Amanda replied. “Or maybe my counterpart is feeling worn out like I am.”
Checking the timestamps on the attack, Jessica saw that it had occurred just minutes after the Reavers had Ported out of the shipping bay on the lower ring. If they were facing just one enemy Magus, chances were that they would be too tired to do it again—but she wasn’t prepared to assume they were only squaring off against a single enemy.
Once through the destroyed security arch, they met with the commander on the scene, Major Olaf.
“It’s weird,” he said while leading the pair of women into the warehouse that had been hit. “It’s one half smooth op, and the other half smash and grab.”
“Oh?” Amanda asked as they strode past rows of containers and caged-off sections filled with weapons and munitions.
“Yeah.” The major nodded toward a cage that had been cut open. “Whoever did that was sloppy…and a little dumb. They probably spent a few minutes with a plasma cutter to get through the wire, when they could have just cut the lock open.”
“Does seem a little silly,” Jessica agreed. “So where are the smooth parts?”
“Over here.” The man stopped in front of a pair of opened containers that held a pair of proton tanks. “These two were accessed by someone who had the codes. Only thing is, they didn’t take anything. Only looked inside for a minute, from what we can tell.”
“Caught them on the feeds?” Jessica asked.
“Sort of, there was a lot of interference—some type of jamming tech—but the logs show when the doors were opened, and we got a clear view just three minutes later. But they were already gone.”
“Doesn’t seem like enough time to get anything…” Amanda said. “I don’t think these proton tanks are what they’re looking for.”
“They?” the major asked.
“Just a hunch, Major,” Jessica replied. “We’re operating on the assumption that these break-ins are connected to the attack down on Ring Nine. From what we can see, they might have been after the proton tanks down there that were shipping to Sarneeve.”
Amanda shook her head, turning to look around the warehouse. “Except that if that’s what they were looking for, why did they leave without so much as touching them?”
“A really good question.” Jessica drummed her fingers on her thigh as she walked into the first container, confirming that the access panel to where the brain case would normally be stored was untouched.
“We checked it,” the major said. “These tanks had their control tech removed last week, though. They’re slated to get refitted to use NSAIs.”
“Just had to check,” Jessica shrugged. “You know how it is.”
“Sure.”
“So from what I see, all that got stolen were small arms and ammunition from some of the cages.”
“Yeah, petty stuff, in all honesty,” the VDF officer replied.
“When did your forces arrive?” Amanda asked.
“I didn’t get here till ten minutes before you. We lost our two guards, so station police were first on scene—our military police were running all over already.”
Jessica met Amanda’s gaze.
The
red-haired woman nodded soberly.
As they walked out of the warehouse, Jessica spotted a small security drone laying on the ground behind a crate. It had been shot and smashed, but the scan-dome was intact.
“What’s that?” Amanda asked as Jessica picked it up, feeding a nanofilament into the device.
“Well.” Her brow lowered in concentration. “It’s probably nothing. Looks like the storage card is shot…literally. But there just might be something in the buffers….”
She connected her nanofilament directly to the optical sensors and fed power into them. They initialized and began their reset, but she quickly halted that process and checked the temporary storage.
“Bingo!”
“Found something?” Amanda asked.
Jessica set down the drone and held up her hand, displaying a holoimage of a man and a woman fleeing the warehouse.
“They look scared,” Amanda commented as Jessica started the playback and it caught a full visual of the woman’s face.
“Not as much as they’re gonna be when we come to visit them,” she replied.
“You have an ID?”
Jessica nodded. “That is Alma Ameris. She’s the captain of a privateer ship that has a bit of a reputation for getting up to mischief.”
“Well, that rules them out, then,” the Magus said. “My guess is that they’re running from the Reavers, not working with them.”
“Sure,” Jessica nodded as she led the way out of the warehouse. “But that doesn’t mean they didn’t see anything.”
A mischievous grin crept onto Amanda’s lips. “Then, I assume you know where their ship is berthed?”
Jessica matched the other woman’s expression. “Wouldn’t you know that it’s just a ten-minute walk from here. They’ve put in for a departure, but the STC—”