“Then why did you get caught the last time?” David Rawlins asked.
“The experienced burglar who gave me so much support betrayed me.” Rivan said. “How can you expect me to break in without knowing the security system or the layout of the building. Do security guards patrol it?”
“We won’t know that sitting here.” Rawlins said. “Look Rivan, we are in a desperate situation. The chandlers have messed us around once and, after tomorrow with our business concluded, we may find ourselves shown the exit very fast. We really need this. I need this. Please.”
Rivan sighed and looked at his hands. He had really hoped that he had put his past behind him. He enjoyed working with Rawlins, enjoyed the feeling of trust, being part of the team. Now he needed to do one last job. It was always just one more job. He looked up.
“All right then.” Rivan said. “I will need someone to advise me what to do about the computers and someone to watch my back.”
“Mercer has agreed to go in with you, she is very computer savvy.” Rawlins said. “I can watch your back.”
“I want Lea.” Rivan said. “To watch my back that is.”
Rawlins smiled enjoying the young man’s confusion.
“Lea then.” Rawlins said. “What tools do you need?”
Rivan crossed to the sleeping compartment. He flipped over his mattress and used a small knife to cut along a hidden seam.
“I have everything I need here.” Rivan said.
He drew from the mattress a small Pulsaro computer. There were several wires dangling from it. Next he drew a small tool kit wrapped tight. Rivan unrolled the tool kit to reveal a selection of tools including two wicked claw hooks.
“My climbing spikes.” He explained. A harness with a thin rope attachment completed his kit.
“Tell me when, tell me where.” Rivan said.
*
Tyler Hart screamed obscenities at the Peace Officers as he was dragged along the narrow corridor. Stan was holding one arm, Lea the other. Lieutenant Hammond was the target of most of the vile curses from Hart.
“I thought you were part of the team, someone we could trust.” Stan whispered to Hart. He glanced guiltily at Hammond.
They arrived at the kitchen where two Peace Officers were busily clearing out a large cupboard. They stacked cans of food untidily on the kitchen counter while the cook fussed as he tried unsuccessfully to organise the chaos in the kitchen.
“You will remain here until morning.” Hammond said. “Your mattress is currently being cleaned and will be provided for you when it’s ready. By morning, my officers will have constructed a brig area in the larger hold where you will remain until we return to Soros. Do you have anything to say?”
“You have no jurisdiction over me.” Hart said.
“You’re correct Mr Hart.” Hammond said. “The Captain however does have jurisdiction over you. As Captain of the ship he is within his rights to try you on the charge of endangering the ship and the crew. The penalty for that is death. He has however agreed to return you to Soros under our charge.”
Hammond nodded to his two officers, then stood to one side as Stan and Lea pushed Hart into the cupboard. They locked the door. Muffled screams and shouts came from inside.
“Perhaps we can persuade the cook to allow us to put on some music.” Stan said.
Hammond consulted his comms.
“Lea, Rawlins needs you in engineering.” Hammond said. It seemed like the plans were moving ahead.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“What is this?” Mike Leyland asked.
It was a large flexible tube that had been hurriedly taped into place in the umbilical tube between the space station and the ship. The open end faced the station and was drawing air noisily. The other end was connected to a pumping machine which hummed contently. The Peace Officer guarding the entrance shrugged helplessly.
“The engineer dragged it up here and told me not to touch it.” The Peace Officer said. “The other end of the pump is connected to the vents for some reason. I think we’re pumping air into the ship.”
Leyland thanked the officer and, stepping carefully over the tube, entered the ship. Deeper into the ship he could hear loud, raucous music coming from the kitchen. He frowned and would have turned to see what was happening when the door to Stateroom Two opened and Rosie Ire stepped out of Simmons’s room.
“He is expecting you.” Ire said. Leyland smiled a polite smile which she ignored as she returned to her own room.
“Leyland. Welcome back and well done.” Paul Simmons said. “Come in for a moment and close the door.”
Simmons strode across the stateroom and they shook hands.
“We are almost finished and ready to return home.” Simmons said.
“What is happening outside?” Leyland asked.
“One of the engineers, Tyler Hart, went crazy and smashed up the heat exchanger.” Simmons said. “The captain has informed me that we cannot detach from the space station for any reason until this is fixed.”
“Has he said when it will be fixed?” Leyland asked.
“He said that he will have it fixed before morning.” Simmons said. “He did not anticipate any delay in leaving the station.”
“That’s a little worrying.” Leyland said. He paused for a moment to organise his thoughts. “Although the Senators that I met were very polite to me, I had the uncomfortable feeling that they shared a great joke among themselves. Almost as if they did not expect us to be able to leave once we had secured our vote.”
“I trust that the Captain will keep us informed if there are any delays at his end.” Simmons said. “Lieutenant Hammond has taken charge of the prisoner. He is currently being held in a small cupboard in the kitchen, which may explain the loud music.”
“I need to speak to Lieutenant Hammond.” Leyland said. “I may have a way around his difficulty.”
*
“Rivan, pass me the ...” David Rawlins’s voice trailed off as he realised that Rivan had already left the engine room with Lea to make plans for the mission.
Captain Stone had refused permission for Rawlins to leave the engine room as he wanted the four condensers removed and the remains of the heat exchanger disassembled before morning. The new condensers and heat exchanger would need to be installed as quickly as possible, so they could depart for home at the first opportunity.
Rawlins pulled the tool bag towards him using his foot. The large adjustable spanner was hidden at the bottom of his tool bag and he had to search for a moment before he found it. The railing system they had installed had proved its worth. Tyler Hart had not managed to damage the railing significantly, so Rawlins was able to slide the first condenser free without any additional aid. Rivan was a genius for suggesting it.
“That’s number two disconnected.” Rawlins said to himself.
He connected a small hand winch to the condenser. He had thought of this idea himself to winch the heavy condenser until it was high enough to strap a harness around it and attach it to the railing.
Rivan should be leaving about now, Rawlins thought. Taking the leggy Lea and the tiny Mercer to the hub would probably provoke comment at any time of the day, this time of night however they would be mixing with the revellers.
He silently wished them luck, they might need it.
*
“Does anyone want me to go over the plan again?” Captain Stone asked.
He was seated in his stateroom on his chair. The tall Peace Officer, Lea was seated opposite him, next to James Rivan. Seána Mercer and Stan, the other Peace Officer, were seated on his bed. Lieutenant Hammond was standing, leaning against the door.
Stan raised his hand.
“Yes Stan?” Stone asked.
“He doesn’t need to hear the plan again Captain.” Lea said firmly. “He just wants to make what he thinks is a funny joke. We do need to get you a new sense of humour Stan.”
Stan had an injured expression on his face.
“I just
wanted to ask why can’t I hit her instead of her hitting me.” Stan said.
“If you hit her then someone will call Security and the last thing we want to do is to attract the Security Officers to the restaurant.” Stone said. Hammond gave him an encouraging smile. “If she hits you it merely causes a distraction.”
“The last time she hit me, she nearly broke my jaw.” Stan said.
“Yeah he’s right.” Rivan said. “Pick on someone your own size Lea.”
Lea flashed him a quick smile.
“It’s important that you cause a scene and get out.” Stone said. “Make sure you leave sufficient money on your tables before you leave. Restaurants have a long memory for people who forget to pay their bills.”
“Yes Captain.”
“Rivan, do you need anything?” Stone asked.
Rivan shook his head.
“As long as these plans are accurate I should be able to climb along the overhead ducts from the restaurant toilets to the chandler premises.” Rivan said. “Once there, I can only hope that they have limited security.”
“Good, remember that Mercer has never done this type of thing before.” Stone said. “I want her back safe and in one piece.”
“Yes Captain.”
“Don’t forget the heat exchanger.” Stone said. “Let’s be about it then.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Remember to split up into two couples before you enter the restaurant.” Lieutenant Hammond whispered.
He was escorting the four through one of the spokes towards the inner hub. He was worried about Seána Mercer. Stan, Lea, and James Rivan were looking tense as they approached the restaurant, Mercer was looking excited. He was worried that she thought that this was just a big game and had not thought enough about the consequences.
“Do you all have enough money for the meal?” Hammond asked. He looked around at the confirming nods. “Don’t forget to leave a tip, not too much of a tip though. I’ll be waiting outside the restaurant with five of my best Peace Officers. If there is any sign of any trouble, any trouble at all, I want you to walk away and we can make some other plan.”
“Lieutenant, with respect, we know what we’re doing so stop making us nervous.” Rivan said.
Hammond nodded tightly and turned away to join his officers.
“I presume that’s our restaurant ahead?” Stan said.
“Not quite the restaurant I wanted you to take me on our second date.” Lea said. “I suppose it will have to do.”
“Wait until our third date beautiful.” Rivan said. “I’ll make sure we don’t have Stan and Seána as chaperones.”
“Get a room you two.” Stan said. Mercer nudged him with her elbow.
The four separated into two couples: Stan and Lea walked ahead first; Rivan and Mercer followed at an appropriate distance. Lea looked back over her shoulder and mouthed ‘luck’ to him.
Rivan entered the restaurant, holding the door open for Mercer. A waiter was leading Stan and Lea to their table. A second waiter approached and led them to a private table. Rivan glanced quickly at the menu and made their orders. The food arrived immediately and he left sufficient money on the table.
“Lea and Stan have just been served.” Mercer muttered. “She said she was going to taste the food first before she starts causing trouble. Do you want to make your way to the toilets now and I’ll follow when the fight breaks out?”
Rivan nodded and wiped his mouth with the napkin. He stood and walked towards the toilets. He could see the air ducts that led directly to the men’s toilets. He paused at the entrance and glanced back at Mercer. Mercer nodded, she was ready.
*
Captain Stone hurried up the steps to the entrance to the Port Authority. They were the ultimate authority both aboard the space station and also dealing with the traffic control for nearby space vessels. Once a space vessel left a planet’s gravity well, it was considered to be in ‘international’ space and, unless there was blatant piracy occurring, the space station was happy to ignore external traffic.
“Can I help you?”
The receptionist was a young man dressed in a security officer’s uniform.
“I have an appointment with Captain Oscar?” Stone said.
The receptionist consulted a diary for a moment.
“I’m afraid he has marked himself as off-duty.” The receptionist said. “Can someone else help?”
“His replacement perhaps?”
“I can ask the floor manager if he has a moment.”
The receptionist spoke softly into a mic before ushering Stone into the hall.
“Third door on the right.”
Stone walked along the corridor until he reached the third door. It opened to a long room with consoles along the wall. There were ten young men and women bent over the consoles. Stone could see that they were studying scopes and directing traffic.
Stone was stunned.
He had visited the traffic control centre at Space Station Gamma above his home planet but there were only four consoles there, here there were dozens. It was the night shift and ten people were needed to support the traffic.
“Captain Stone is it?” A young man had approached Stone, his shoes were silent on the dark carpet. “What can I do for you Captain?”
“I wanted to clear our board and get it marked for departure.” Stone said. He visibly shook himself.
The young man led him over to a console at a nearby standing desk.
“Ahh, here we are the Piece of Nicias, docking bay thirty seven.” The young man said. “I can see that vacc suits have been delivered in the last hour and have been paid for. Only the docking fees are outstanding.”
Stone keyed his Pulsaro computer and paid the fees.
“Can you mark it for departure, by midday tomorrow. I mean midday today.”
The young man typed rapidly on his console for a moment. The row titled ‘Piece of Nicias’ changed to a blue colour.
“If you decide to change your departure, please update us before midday otherwise we will charge you for an extra day’s berth.”
Stone nodded his thanks. If they were not out by midday, they might not be able to leave.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
By the time Seána Mercer had joined him, James Rivan was already balanced on top of the stalls and pushed the air vent grill. It moved easily and he pushed it to the side. Reaching down he grabbed Mercer’s waiting arms and lifted her onto the stalls. A few moments later he boosted her into the air ducts, then joined her.
He shushed her as she started to ask a question and replaced the grill.
“Quiet from here.” Rivan said.
He slipped past her and started to worm his way across the duct system. He knew he had crossed from the restaurant into the chandlers by the separators. Each air duct had a separator delineating the compartment. If there was a decompression caused by a compartment opened to space, the separators would immediately slam shut to protect the other compartments from losing air.
Rivan stopped at a crossroad. He pulled out and consulted the schematic that Mercer had downloaded of this part of the space station. If he continued straight that would lead to the air conditioned room where they stored the computers and servers. Turning right would lead them to the main walkways. Turning left would lead to what the schematics said was a store room. Rivan turned left.
“It’s this way.” Mercer hissed.
Rivan shushed her and beckoned her to follow. He crawled slowly now. The duct was flexing slightly which caused a creaking noise every time they moved. He motioned her to stop. She froze as he approached the grill in the duct floor.
The room was dark so he clicked on a torch. It was as he had expected. This area was the chandler’s office not a warehouse. They had no need for a storage room and had converted the storage room into a manager’s office with a large comfortable chair and desk. On the desk was a beautiful sight, a large computer. He crawled slightly forward, trying to peer through the grill
to see what, if any, security setup was arranged. He could only see a heat sensor.
He checked again. Just the heat sensor, nothing else. The room only had one door and the door itself was protected by an impressive array of motion sensors and trackers. Then he saw it. On a shelf, next to an ugly picture of a baby, was a small innocuous sound sensor. Difficult but not impossible to ward against.
Piece of Nicias: A Sci-Fi Novel Page 18