“That’s assuming it wasn’t damaged in the crash,” Katashi cautioned over the transmitter. “I’m on my way to your location now. ETA should be less than five minutes.”
Angelika moved to the side of the drone opposite the one in which she had retrieved her weapon. Prying open the three-foot by one-foot panel with a nearby piece of scrap, she withdrew a large, scarab-shaped metallic case. Seeing the status lights on the side of the unit were still a brilliant green, she pulled the thick nylon straps over her shoulders and secured the flight pack around her waist with another.
Reaching back, she unhooked two wrist straps that were attached to the pack by microfilament strands, then placed them on tightly. Hearing the requisite “snap,” she slipped her arms to her sides once more. Taking a breath, she ran forward, lunging for the gaping hole in the side of the tower. Jumping free of the structure, she quickly outstretched her arms, and metallic wings unfurled from the pack and down along the path of the filament strands to her wrists.
With a limited amount of propulsion by the micro-fusion drive slightly above her backside, Angelika had just enough time aloft to enjoy the sensation of flight before she neared the ground. Seeing Toyo’s approach around the rim of the crater to her north, she angled her wings down, then made a perfect feet-first landing just outside the mine’s furthest ore lift.
Chapter 11
Under the shelter of a hastily erected tent, Angelika and Toyotomi were deep into planning their next moves. With mining operations temporarily shut down and with no power to any of the buildings, it had been wiser to stay outside than to bake inside the non-air-conditioned spaces. The mine—what was left of it—was now decisively under OSI control. Now it was time to decide what to do with it.
“Excellent work up there, Agent Jordan,” Toyotomi said, nodding toward the mine’s central control tower not far off in the distance.
“I’m just glad everything went as planned. At least now we can move forward.”
“Agreed, but we will have to work quickly. We have won only a small battle here today, and there are undoubtedly going to be more before we are finished with our mission.”
Angelika knew Agent Katashi was right, and it seemed there was little left on Torval that would further their goal. “I need to get offworld and stop Krador before he makes his next move.”
Katashi nodded. “Yes. First, we will need to keep Krador and his forces in the dark as long as possible as to what we’ve done here today. If he catches wind of it in any way, he will undoubtedly send forces to assess what has happened and attempt to restart the mining operations.”
“How long do we have?” she asked.
Toyotomi turned his attention to the tower once again. “I can’t say for certain.” He turned, withdrawing a small computer from a duffel near his feet, and then placed it atop an overturned packing crate that doubled as a makeshift table. A blur of information began to spread across the screen. The dizzying array finally ended with a long-range sensor scan of the planet and its surrounding space. There was a small green blip quickly approaching the furthest orbit of Torval.
“That is Krador’s latest cargo ship,” Agent Katashi said as he pointed to the blip. “Again, it’s completely automated. When it arrives here, it will request a data link with the mining station. The station then sends a materials manifest to the vessel. This, in turn, initiates a sequence in the ore freighter to begin retrieving materials from the ore-processing station.”
Angelika nodded in understanding. “And with the mine without power, and Stoval dead, there’s no way to get that information to the ship.”
“Correct. If the ship does not detect a manifest, an encrypted broadcast will be sent directly to Krador’s people, and we will be discovered.” He then locked eyes with her before continuing. “I know what you are going to ask, and the answer is ‘no.’ I cannot break into that transmission with this equipment. The encryption level is too sophisticated.”
“So we’ll need to somehow broadcast the manifest ourselves.”
Katashi smiled. “That was my thinking exactly. I will take a detailed sensor scan of what was brought up by the drills before the mine lost power. Hopefully it will be enough not to arouse any suspicions for the time being.”
“But that will only buy us a limited amount of time,” Angelika agreed. “Since the mine isn’t going to be operational, the next cargo ship will receive nothing.”
“Precisely. And since the cargo ships do not come at regular intervals, it is difficult to say with any certainly how long our subterfuge will hold up. That is why I cannot say for certain how much time we have.”
Angelika looked out to the scorched remains of the tower. “Best guess?”
Toyotomi sighed as he weighed everything he’d learned about the mine and cargo operations. “As long as two weeks, or as little as three days. My guess would be the latter.”
“Why?”
“If we can manage to get the manifest information to the cargo ship, the load will still be far from full. As far as Krador’s databases would be concerned, his shipyards would likely require another delivery sooner rather than later.”
“That makes sense.” She nodded. “Then we’ll have to work fast, and three days is a very tight schedule for an operation of this magnitude.”
“No argument there.” Katashi smiled as he answered, but his words were laced with trepidation. “I should be able to restore minimal power to the mine with two of the portable generators we brought with us. You said the computer terminal in the tower was destroyed?”
Angelika nodded, looking downcast.
“No worries, Agent Jordan. It was unavoidable. We should be able to link up our computer with the tower’s antenna to send the manifest.”
“But I thought you said it was encrypted.”
Agent Katashi shook his head. “Only the transmission from the cargo ship to Krador would be so. The transmission from the ground to the ore freighter is a simple protocol handshake. I know, because I’ve intercepted them before. Remember, I’ve been cataloging Krador’s operations here for a while, and that includes ore shipments.” Stepping to one of a half dozen nearby crates, he lifted the lid and withdrew a small, portable scanner. “I will examine the ore in the mine. I can then manipulate one of the previously intercepted manifests to make it appear more recent.”
“Sounds like you’re going to be doing all the work,” she smiled. “What do you need me to do?”
“As soon as the freighter receives the manifest, it will waste little time in collecting the ore shipment from the processing center. You will need to be ready the minute I initiate the file transfer.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Ready for what?”
Toyotomi smiled broadly. “Your one-way ticket to Jido, of course.”
* * *
Angelika was familiar with the automated cargo ship that was quickly approaching their position on the planet’s surface. Similar to the thousands of computer-controlled freighters that plied the commerce lanes of Unified space, the angular Type-VII ship was as simple as it was reliable. The wide, rectangular-hulled craft was purpose-built, with very little thought to the human comforts needed for extended space travel. What little space was afforded anyone who needed to travel on such a ship was limited to an operator’s helm and sensor console placed in the center of a room the size of a large walk-in closet, and an adjoining stateroom large enough for a single bed, food processing unit, and a desk-computer combination.
Angelika had heard tales of other agents having used these lumbering behemoths for covert operations in the past, but had never thought that she would one day be doing so. The inherit danger was that the ship’s control room and nearby stateroom were the only spaces that provided any type of radiation protection from both the unshielded jump drive and any hazardous cargo the freighter might be carrying. There was also the fact that the Concordian system’s jump gate was close to the orbital insertion point for any incoming vessel. Looking over the available
sensor data, and taking into account nearby space traffic, Angelika surmised she would have between eight and ten minutes to find her way from the cargo hold to the bridge, or risk being cooked from the inside out the moment the cargo freighter jumped.
Using two large field generators, Katashi had temporarily restored power to some of the mine’s electronic and mechanical equipment. His scans had indicated that the shipment the ore freighter would be retrieving was just over half the normal delivery size, and he expressed doubt as to whether Krador would become suspicious over it.
“We’ll just have to take that chance,” Angelika replied. “What can you tell me about where I’ll be going?”
“Once the cargo ship transits the final jump gate and arrives in the Jidoan system, it will head directly for the sole inhabited planet, Jido IV. Again, it will transmit a highly encrypted signal to the main ore-receiving station, which is located in the capital city of Eridu. Once the cargo has been unloaded, the freighter will return to a geosynchronous orbit and await further instructions.”
“And if none have been provided, it’ll stay parked there,” Angelika huffed. “That’s not going to work.”
“Indeed. Your objective should be to get off with the cargo, then make your way into the capital city itself. You should be able to move around there freely, as the planet contains a mix of many different humanoid species—thanks to Krador.”
Angelika remembered receiving the same information from her initial briefing on Canis-Seven. “You spend any time there during your mission?”
“My team spent several days in the main citadel, gathering as much intel as we could, but it’s not much.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small holocube, then handed it to her. “Most of the hard information we collected centers on the main military complex itself: general layout, garrison strength, things of that nature. The rest is bits and pieces of information assembled from less-than-reliable sources.”
“Such as?”
“Mostly informal communications in nonmilitary establishments, of which there are quite a few.”
Angelika smiled. She knew the routine. “Bars, nightclubs, and the like?”
Agent Katashi nodded. “As well as shopping centers, passageways, and authorized audio and video broadcasts.”
A series of beeps from Toyotomi’s computer caught Angelika’s attention. Krador’s cargo ship had just been cleared for planetary landing and would be arriving in the next ten minutes. “What about the natives? What can you tell me that isn’t covered in the official data files?”
“As a species, the Jidoans seem to be a very antisocial race, which is why I was a bit surprised that they welcomed Krador and his forces with such open arms.”
“If that’s true, then why would they have joined forces with the Kafarans in the war to begin with?”
Katashi shook his head. “The best theory I can come up with is that it was Krador, not the Jidoan people, who joined with the Kafaran Alliance.”
“You’re suggesting that Krador somehow enslaved the Jidoans and forced them into serving the war effort?”
Toyotomi shook his head. “I believe it was far more subtle than that. I believe Krador somehow convinced the Jidoans that doing so would be in their best interests. However, from a number of the civilian communications my team intercepted, I do not believe that all Jidoans feel that Krador or the Kafarans have their best interests in mind.”
Angelika nodded in approval. “A rebellion?”
Agent Katashi shrugged. “At the very least, I would say that a sizeable fraction of the population has a cautious dissatisfaction for their current allies, but I would not rule out the possibility of such an occurrence on the horizon. However, there was one underlying phrase that seemed to come up quite often during these communications—mostly in the religious broadcasts—but my team and I were unable to completely decipher the meaning behind it. It is a name: Inanna.”
“Inanna?” she repeated.
“The cultural reference translates to the name of a mythohistorical entity that, a millennia ago, helped to usher in a new way of life for the Jidoans. It was at that time that they transitioned from an explorative culture to their more introverted state. It is unknown if this reference is in relation to Krador’s arrival, but considering the optimistic setting with which it is usually applied when placed in context with a less than favorable view of Krador, it leads credence to the theory of a dissident movement.”
“If that’s the case, then it gives us a decisive advantage to overpowering Krador in his own backyard.”
“Unfortunately, my team didn’t investigate far into this line of questioning. Since most mentions of Inanna were in whispered conversations, I felt that too many inquiries would lead to suspicion on the part of the Jidoans. Since their alliance with the Kafarans was already solidified before the arrival of Krador, I felt that eliminating him was still our primary objective. However, you may find it a helpful task to research further. Just remember, elimination of the traitor is the OSI’s primary goal of this mission, and everything else should be considered secondary.”
“You make it sound like you’re not going with me.”
Agent Katashi nodded. “Correct. I am not.”
“There’s nothing further to be gained by you staying here,” she said, waving her arm grandly toward Krador’s defunct mine.
“On the contrary, there is much to be gained by Krador if I do not stay. If, somehow, you fail in your mission, I must remain behind to destroy this mining complex once you’ve left.”
“Why not just set some timed explosives?”
“Because I have only partially achieved my secondary objecting on this planet, and I must see it through to its conclusion.”
It was beginning to make sense. “You found the cache of precious materials Krador was hiding?”
He nodded in approval.
“Where?”
“Ten yards under our current location,” he said succinctly.
Angelika smiled. “That’s why you really brought out all this equipment, and why you set up your dummy operations on this precise spot.”
“Exactly. Some time ago, I turned one of the orbital satellites at this location. Since it was well beyond Krador’s mine, the scan went undetected by Stoval. After some intense geological scans, I pinpointed this spot as the location of the mineral cache.”
“But you said earlier that this spot was geologically inactive…that there was nothing below us but sand and mud.” Angelika looked down at her dusty boots in disbelief.
“I wasn’t sure until I unloaded our equipment and began excavating. The cache was in a tightly confined space.”
She nodded. “How much is there?”
“Oh, several dozen metric tons. We cannot simply abandon this wealth to unscrupulous prospectors. The need in the Unified Collaboration for such riches is unquestionable, as they will be used to great effect in the ongoing war against the Kafaran Alliance, both from a militaristic as well as humanitarian points of view. Someone must remain behind to ensure that this cache gets safely back into Unified space. It’s also very likely that Krador already knows who I am. If his information network was able to locate an entire team of elite OSI agents in a matter of hours, it’s likely they have detailed information on the entire team—including myself. As such, my presence would be more of a liability than an asset.”
Angelika had no choice but to agree. Someone would have to remain here, and Toyotomi was the best candidate for the job.
“Just make sure you do a thorough job of wiping these mines off the map when you’re done,” she said.
Katashi nodded. “I’m going to use the repowered mining equipment to bore down as far as I can. Then I’ll deploy a tectonic fission bomb. That should bury the entire site, and the resulting radiation should keep future prospectors at bay for the next hundred years.”
Angelika nodded. In the distance, the faint engine whine of the approaching freighter could be heard. She turned as she fo
llowed the sound. It was just beyond the northern horizon, and would be there any minute.
“I still don’t think I’m the best person for this job, you know,” she said with a smirk. “I shouldn’t even be here.”
Agent Katashi cocked an eyebrow as the sounds of the approaching freighter increased. “Why is that?”
“I was going to tender my resignation to the OSI, but I got corralled into accepting this mission before I could.”
“You can just as easily do that once your mission is complete.”
“Yeah, right,” she replied and rolled her eyes. “And they’ll have another mission all lined up, and conveniently make sure the paperwork gets lost.”
The ore freighter had cleared the horizon, and was slowing in its approach.
“I have some…friends,” Katashi replied with a smile. “I’ll can see what I can do about that.” He then reached up and patted her gently on the shoulder.
She smiled at his thoughtfulness. “Somehow, I don’t doubt that you would. Knowing the OSI bureaucracy as well as I do…well, you’ll forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.”
Toyotomi’s only acknowledgement was a wide smile just as the freighter neared the landing platform adjacent to the processing station.
“Get ready to transmit the manifest to the drone ship,” she said. “I’ll get into position by the ore hopper.”
Katashi reached into a nearby crate and withdrew a black backpack. “Take this. I’ve filled it with some supplies, as well as some small explosives. Hopefully it will give you an edge on disabling some or all of Krador’s operations on Jido.”
Angelika strapped the pack on, then extended her hand to Toyo, who took it firmly in his own. “Good luck, Agent Katashi.”
“Unwa tenni ari,” he replied. “I do not believe in luck, but I have come to believe in you, Agent Jordan. Good hunting.”
* * *
Katashi had prepped the shipment, and the processed ore was ready and waiting when the freighter arrived. While the mine was in operation, each metric ton of material had been sufficiently packed inside a shipping crate. This made for easier loading, as well as maximizing the cargo space of the waiting vessel. Each ounce of material had to be accounted for, both on the manifest as well as the individual labels for each crate. If the numbers did not match up, Angelika wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but she didn’t want to find out.
Traitor Winds - Kestrel Saga: Vol. 0 (Kestrel Saga - Origins) Page 12