by Boris Mosso
—Pranus… yes.
—Excuse me Captain… I called you to your quarters and since I didn’t find you, I called your personal intercom.
—It’s fine, what’s wrong?
—It’s Fromdert, Captain. He requested to talk with you if you weren’t asleep yet. Apparently, he wanted to adjust some details in the spaceships’ Captain’s logbook… for their track records. If you wish, I’ll tell him you’re busy and not to bother you until tomorrow.
—No, tell him I’ll call him from my quarters in ten minutes.
—Right.
Once the call ended, Lena gave Renar the cup back without looking at his eyes, and then left. She turned around to speak to him in the threshold.
—My apologies again, I won’t interrupt you again in your virtual leisure time. It was rude of me. See you later, Renar.
The star archeologist couldn’t say anything when the expedition’s Commander had already disappeared through the artificially reproduced hallway. He felt very disappointed seeing her leave, although a little relieved also.
With a cup in each hand he headed back to the main balcony.
A call from Dirva shocked him when he was already outside, while some strong flashes indicated that the summer storm was already over him.
It was an agonizing ten second conversation from which Renar ended up running in search of the premise’s exit. At the same time, he took out his lighting projectiles compact gun from his hiding place amongst his clothing, verifying it had a full magazine.
16 - Iko
Some ten minutes before Lena’s and Renar’s encounter, Lagras performed an inquiry in the Vector’s intermediate areas, following a gut feeling.
He remained very vigilant all afternoon on his antimatter engineer’s and quantum systems colleagues’ movements, present in the huge machine room.
Days before, Renar had ordered to pay special attention to the low-rank technicians who operated the fractionator, the antimatter synthesizer and the ions rotors. After exhausting weeks following those instructions, Lagras was longing his berth at that point in time.
The Vector’s gravitational modulators were there also, which became a strategic place for constant monitoring. Renar, on his part, followed the Officers’ behavior very attentively, who moved constantly through the command bridge, switching to remote holographic surveillance in different spaceship’s strategic sections.
Lagras also did what he could during previous weeks, since the technicians and systems’ engineers worked shifts in different areas and, therefore, came in and left in a never-ending cycle.
Now, Lagras followed one of the assistant technicians going into the night shift, who he had been watching for days now. Something in the technician’s behavior seemed strange, in fact, after his shift was over some minutes ago, he didn’t head to his rooms or to other departments for his rank’s personnel.
Iko, the antimatter technician, walked on the central and spacious area then; Lagras stalked him at a safe distance, being sorry of being unable of deploying the tiny automated tracking devices, as the intelligence services knew the enemy had sophisticated trackers as a countermeasure for that technology, hence, he should follow him personally reluctantly.
The lighting was dim, with due regard to the night cycle which had just begun. However, Lagras didn’t give up his purpose. Clearly understanding that if two spies tried to contact each other inside the spaceship, their conversation could be traced and recorded; if they needed to coordinate, they would be forced to meet somewhere a bit isolated, and at a time with less transit. That’s why they decided to be very attentive to unusual movements, which could indicate something suspicious and begin monitoring them discretely.
Iko turned at one of the corridors now, towards a supply transit area which was vertically fed from the lower warehouses.
Lagras frowned. It wasn’t common for an antimatter technician to head there out of his shift.
He also turned in that intersection, making sure Iko didn’t see him. The technician turned on his heels and scanned behind him, coming to a full stop.
He moved to a dark strip, where he hid holding his breath. Iko, on his part, scrutinized the wide panoramic hallway, taking something out of his clothes, but without disclosing the nature of the object.
The suspect continued walking and Lagras emerged from the dark strip to catch up with him. The technician stopped again in an intersection, near some vertical traffic tubes. He looked around everywhere climbing in one of the elevators and disappearing. Lagras hurried to that point, making certain that the elevator was going down to the spaceship’s last level. He was taken aback, he headed to a levitator’s ancillary tube and climbing into a small one, he slid into the Vector’s depths thirty meters below. He was hoping to arrive seconds after Iko did, and without using the big elevators that would expose him.
When he arrived at the last level, he found the suspect coming out of the elevator and immediately going towards several cargo containers. Someone else emerged suddenly from the shadows. It was someone that remained in semi-darkness until then.
Lagras called Renar on his intercom, but he couldn’t contact him. Surprised and in complete secrecy, he tried again, but Renar didn’t answer. He suddenly understood the suspects used a short distance broadcasting blocker, undetectable by the Vector’s systems, but powerful enough to block calls from a warehouse.
He reprimanded himself for not alerting Renar before going down to the last level. He thought about going back where he came down from, but after doubting a couple of seconds, he decided to remain there and watch. He’ll report back to Renar later.
He needed to find out the identity from the other suspect in the shadows, and what they were both up to.
He let out a couple of quiet insults when he remembered he didn’t have his tactical operation’s bracelet on. This allowed him to camouflage himself, see in infrared holographic and produce a small repellant force field against small caliber shots, in case it was needed.
Amidst the darkness, he saw them exchanging something. Despite that, he was able to see an elongated object that fortunately passed through a lit strip. Afraid, he identified a metal cylinder measuring about thirty centimeters, instantly recognizing it as a high-power energy micro nucleus bomb.
He tried to control his despair pleading for himself that they didn’t detonate it then. Apparently, they were just passing it one to the other. While that happened, he tried to recognize Iko’s mysterious partner’s identity.
In a blink of an eye, the suspects disappeared from the same place they were at, understanding terrified, that the spies had some tactical operation’s bracelets or something similar with them; it was most likely that Iko had seen him before. He knew instantly that both spies would go after him and get rid of him.
He stepped back instinctively and took a shock wave’s gun out. It was the only weapon he had to defend himself.
He retreated without making any noise, surrounding some three meters high levitators standing in a row, seeing a chance to slide out behind some food containers, which were placed behind the multipurpose levitators. He hid there and sharpened his hearing.
He could only use his ordinary senses and succeeded, as he suddenly heard voices whispering. He understood that the possible spies, either had detected him or were leaving, which it was why he tried to determine if the voices were coming closer or moving away. While he was doing that, he found an empty container opened at the top, located a couple of meters away from him.
Suddenly, he heard the voices very close, and he suspected the spies were walking around behind the cube that covered him. It was forthcoming that they would surface any second now and find him.
He jumped carefully inside the container and closed one of the hatches over him; the ultralight metal cover was exactly the size to cover his thin body.
He waited a few seconds that seemed like hours, until he heard Iko’s voice just beside his improvised hiding place; he was about to jump i
nside. He did notice that he finally understood the conversation.
—I saw someone back there. I’m sure.
—There’s nobody here either, but it’s worse for us spending more time down here.
—Very well, let’s go. Each one from where they came from.
—Right, we already agreed about the following moves.
—We have orders to wait… our time will come. We need to wait until they find System X.
Lagras was impressed. The other voice was that of a woman, although he couldn’t recognize it since the sound came into the container a little garbled.
After a reasonable time went by, when nothing else was heard, he peeked quietly out of his hiding place before climbing out.
He decided to return to the upper levels through another longer but safer path. He then went around some emergency stairs and then walked through an upward path hallway. That route would take him to the spaceship’s second to last level. He followed it, but attentive to noises coming from his surroundings.
When turning at the last corner, almost arriving to his destiny, he suddenly stopped as a body appeared in front of him at four meters away. It was Iko, disengaging his camouflage system exactly at that moment. To complete the scenery, the spy aimed at him with a neutronics’ ova gun.
—I knew I had seen you.
—Why are you aiming at me with that weapon?
—You know why. You’re not wearing the tactical operation’s bracelet. Unforgiving negligence for an Espacian Exterior Intelligence Office’s agent. Let me tell you that at some point I suspected you, I even followed you once…
—You’re crazy, I’m an engineer technician just as you are, but of higher rank. Let go of that weapon. You should explain a lot of things. Beginning with that gun which belongs to the Browns and you’re pointing at me with.
—My name isn’t Iko. Let go of the shock waves’ gun you have and throw it to the side. Do it slowly…
—Then, what’s your name?
—You couldn’t be privileged to hear my real name, even if you were born again; let go of the gun, for the last time.
The agent obeyed, and the gun ended up five meters away from him.
—You were the Espacian Intelligence agent, the quantum systems’ second Officer. Estrader’s favorite antimatter technician, who would have thought it.
—And who would have thought you were a damn spy, who were you talking to before, back there?
—That’s none of your business. What’s delaying your death, are some questions you must answer; the names of the other agents here in the spaceship, for example.
—There are no more agents.
—Come on, don’t say stupidities. There’re more agents around there for sure… I know they suspect of our presence. Which is the approach against us?
—I don’t know anything.
—What about Captain Lena?
Lagras shrugged his shoulders, since his sense of direction was trying to find an escape from the desperate situation. The room had limited measurements and no nook could be seen where to jump in; he didn’t see any strong object either, which he could grab and throw it at Iko within a reasonable time. They chose the ambush place very well.
—What about her?
—We don’t understand the reasons of placing her in charge of this mission. They had Stradius, a very qualified Captain. Who they removed at the last minute to place the young Captain into the incursion’s command, having a lower rank even than Fromdert and besides, inexperienced regarding important issues. There’s something strange about that. Confess everything about Lena and the object.
—You have a bad memory, everything was said at the bridge in the beginning; there’s no more information about it.
—I don’t believe you. You’re going to tell me everything, even against your will. It’s already said by Trivian himself; there’s something about the object that has not been revealed, if he knows, then you should too.
—I don’t know anything else.
—It makes no difference; if you don’t tell me the truth, I will use another devise to get even the last drop of information out of you, but you’ll suffer incredibly in the process. Any way you look at it, you’re screwed. No one comes down here, sometimes for days; only your stupid service droids. Your death is unavoidable and if you cooperate, you’ll save yourself great pain; I’ll shoot you with this and you die instantly. I imagine you know how this weapon works?
—Yes, I know…
Lagras understood he was at a dead end, he couldn’t find any way to get out alive.
—Well, begin answering, who else is an agent?
—You need to understand that I’m not telling you a damn thing!
—Then I’m going to introduce you to a friend.
The spy took a very thin multicolor metal ring out from amongst his clothes; it looked harmless and even delicately beautiful.
—You don’t have the slightest idea what this is… if you knew, you would have already been telling me everything and pleading for a gunshot.
The spy was wrong with that, Lagras knew it well, and the effects caused by that small and apparently harmless device also. He then received the answer; it came to his mind like a flash. There was only one alternative to safe his spaceship’s agents’ colleagues and keep the information secret.
The undercover was making a huge mistake from the beginning, since he clearly aimed at him with the lethal gun. He should have used a shock waves’ one, which could end up deadly by aiming a high yield impact into a body’s vital areas, but aimed at non-vital areas, could stun or immobilize without causing death.
He would attack the spy and he would be forced to shoot him. A direct impact from a neutronic ovum without an energy field to protect him, would kill him in microseconds, taking with him the names and details from the intelligence operation; his disappearance would be an alert for Renar and his people. It was the only thing he could do; the only way to compensate his mistake.
He breathed deeply, while the undercover held the truth ring over his finger and smiled. He supposed it was his time, nothing else afterwards. He felt deeply saddened and jumped on the undercover looking at his eyes; he wanted to see his frustration look in them; that was the only thing he had left, to know he defeated him even dying doing it.
But it wasn’t frustration projected in the undercover’s eyes, instead, surprise and terror. When he was in the air, he was stunned to see the spy standing from the ground at full speed, to smash then against a wall at four meters away. A big bang was heard, produced by the savage breakage of several bones inside Iko’s body.
Lagras fell on the ground and touched every part of his body; he was in one piece; however, the undercover was badly hurt and stunned on the floor. He didn’t understand anything. Then he sensed someone’s presence by his side and upon watching carefully, he saw Dirva materializing. She had a shock waves’ gun in one of her trembling and pale hands.
—Dirva!
—Are you okay?
—It’s you! How did you get here?
—It’s a long story. I saw you by chance up there, when you were going down in the levitator amongst the main corridor’s darkness. I was headed to Gander’s rooms… that really doesn’t matter much. The thing is that after asking Renar, I got into another levitator and followed you. When I didn’t find you at plain sight, I began suspecting that you could be in some type of trouble. I turned on my bracelet’s camouflage and began a visual search, since the trackers and intercoms oddly didn’t work in this level, my fears increased …
—They blocked them.
—That’s what I thought… anyways; that confirmed my suspicion about your situation. Then I headed to the back of that warehouse and at a certain point, I saw your back turned from the lower level, climbing this chute. I climbed, and I got there just when this asshole was showing you the truth ring. Then I saw that look of jumping on him in your eyes. I didn’t have time to think about anything else. Since I didn’t ha
ve any weapons, I was barely able to pick up your shock waves’ gun and I shot him.
Suddenly, the spy began moving on the ground, drawing a little five centimeters cylinder out amongst his clothes, which he began to spin over himself with his fingers, like rubbing it. Dirva and Lagras had their eyes wide opened after seeing the undercover’s desperate try to end their lives.
—Shoot him again!
Dirva shot him several times on the body and on the head, using the weapon’s utmost power. The effects were devastating on Iko’s body. The violence of the shock waves was such, that it broke his hip and leg bones. His ribs, that had been untouched in the first attack, broke noisily inwards his chest now, piercing everything in its path; the last impact, distorted his skull.
After four short range impacts, an unrecognizable lump was left from the alleged antimatter technician. Lagras wondered what that man’s real name was.
They heard Renar’s voice coming from behind them. The star archeologist came in with a lighting gun in one of his hands.
—Well done, Dirva! You did the right thing. That’s a neutronic grenade. Without any doubt, he didn’t mean to destroy the spaceship or this warehouse. He just wanted to take you with him, it would have reached me likewise.
—They would have found four bodies, three without external damages…
—Yes, but a quick holographic autopsy would have shown our bodies’ inner injuries. Lagras, are you okay?
—Yes, thanks to Dirva; she showed up exactly when the spy was about to dissolve my inside organs.
—How about your operation’s bracelet?
—I didn’t have it on me.
—Unforgivable for an agent of your experience. Something like that could happen to me who is a field operation’s rookie; but not you, an agent with years in the game. You almost died because of a beginner’s carelessness, ruining all the operation, by the way.
—I’m very sorry…
—These undercovers are extremely dangerous and determined, we very well know that; they are hard to defeat, even with high-caliber weapons.
—I know… sorry, Renar.