Corruption_Age Of Expansion_A Kurtherian Gambit Series

by Sarah Noffke

  Bailey halted, catching Lewis’s eyes. They both wore haunted expressions. Bailey pushed up out of the seat, looking back at it with hesitation.

  “Why don’t you come sit here and channel this person,” Lewis suggested, pointing at the workstation nearest him.

  “That particular workstation belongs to Chester Wilkerson, considered by many to be the “master” of the Dark Web,” Ricky Bobby answered.

  “So a hacker, eh?” Lewis said, sorting through papers on the workstation behind Chester’s.

  “Not just any hacker; one of the best, from the sound of it,” Bailey said, trying to piece together the significance of the notes around her. She spun around in the swivel chair, taking it all in.

  “He was apparently a fan of sticky notes,” Lewis observed.

  “Yes, Chester is a fan of the “old-school” method of keeping notes,” Ricky Bobby said. “He often says that a modern mind needs old ways.”

  Lewis drummed his fingers against his lip, thinking. “So two great minds.”

  Bailey shook her head. “Not just great minds.”

  “No, the supreme sources in their fields,” Lewis agreed.

  “Maybe that’s what Solomon Vance is after,” Bailey considered. “He wants the greatest minds for his database.”

  “I can confirm that some of the brightest minds could be found here on Ricky Bobby,” Jack said from the doorway.

  “Then is it possible that Vance is farming intelligence and expertise?” Bailey asked.

  Jack teetered his head back and forth. “Honestly, anything is possible. We know that Ghost Squadron was getting close to Starboards Corp, although I don’t think we realized how close we were, or how dangerous the stakes. Vance might have been trying to blot out a potential problem.”

  “Who knows how many others he’s blotted out—like those at Phoenix Tech,” Bailey said.

  “Maybe that’s something we can learn from the monster,” Lewis mused.

  “Maybe, but Hatch says he’ll need some time to study the sample,” Jack related. “Usually when Hatch says that, though, he means thirty to forty-five minutes.”

  Lewis laughed. “The old ‘underpromise and overdeliver’ method.”

  Jack nodded with a smile that reached his eyes. “Yeah, Hatch isn’t like any other scientist out there. We should be grateful that he wasn’t uploaded; then, I’m afraid, we’d be doomed.”

  “Maybe capturing his consciousness was part of Starboards’ plan,” Lewis stated. “Having a mind like Hatch’s in the database might be crucial to whatever Vance is planning.”

  “But he wasn’t uploaded,” Bailey stated adamantly. “Jack, did you learn anything from the files we brought back from Phoenix Tech?”

  Jack pointed at Bailey with a wink. “That’s why Hatch likes you. You cut right to business.” He brought his chin up, directing his voice to the ceiling. “Ricky Bobby, will you please bring up the image of Starboards Corp?”

  “Yes, of course, Jack,” the AI said. A moment later, an image of a large skyscraper sitting on manicured grounds flickered onto the screen.

  Jack cleared his throat. “They were pretty thorough at Phoenix Tech, probably per Starboards’ direction. The mineral and its properties aren’t listed anywhere in any of the files. When referenced, the stone is referred to as ‘D-Factor’, which tells us nothing.”

  “The files were probably cleaned before the upload,” Lewis reasoned.

  Jack nodded. “My thoughts exactly. They were too thorough to allow anything like that to slip by them. However, I was able to find something. Although my hacking skills are nothing compared to Chester Wilkerson’s,” Jack pointed to the main workstation where the hacker used to sit, “I do have some old tricks. Chester probably would have been able to extract the old files, telling us what this mineral is and what Starboards Corp wanted it for. Alas, all I was able to find was a connecting IP address from a correspondence they missed.”

  “Someone at Starboards Corp?” Lewis guessed.

  “That’s correct,” Jack fired a finger at his nephew. “But the location didn’t make sense. It wasn’t on a planet or space station, like I suspected.”

  “A spacecraft, then,” Bailey offered.

  Jack shook his head. “That was my third guess, but that’s not what we found when we investigated.” The image on the screen changed to a planet that was mostly covered in water. “Thanks, Ricky Bobby, you read my mind,” he said, noticing the new image. “This is the planet of Kai, home to the Trids.”

  “There’s an underwater research facility on that planet,” Bailey stated.

  “Yes, as well as an entire network of underwater cities,” Jack confirmed. “But that isn’t where the IP address originated from.” He strode over and pointed to an area above the planet on the northeastern side. “The IP address came from a computer somewhere near here.”

  “That would be a spacecraft in Kai’s atmosphere,” the lieutenant observed.

  “You’d think so, which means it would be impossible to find the source if the ship has moved,” Jack said, hiding an excited grin. “I had Ricky Bobby do some investigating, and he found something incredibly interesting.”

  The image on the screen changed back to that of the tall skyscraper. “We are fairly certain that the correspondence came from this building.”

  Bailey looked between Jack and the image of the building, remembering the picture of the planet mostly covered in water. “How, though? There is no land on that part of Kai.”

  “Starboards Corp isn’t located on land,” Lewis guessed, combing his fingers over his chin.

  “That’s right, Lew,” Jack said triumphantly. “It took us much longer to arrive at that conclusion. I sent Pip out in a transport ship to investigate, and, at first, he couldn’t find anything in this location. That’s when I remembered the cloaking technology that we have here on Ricky Bobby and our Q-Ships. That is something unique to Ghost Squadron, though, so I doubted that Starboards Corp’s headquarters were cloaked. I had Pip do several passes; each one, he captured thousands of images at different angles. What he brought back was puzzle pieces to the building you see before you now.”

  “You mean each photo contained a small part of the image here?” Bailey asked.

  Jack nodded. “Yes, which didn’t make sense until Ricky Bobby considered optical dispersion.”

  “Plainly, Starboards Corp headquarters is camouflaged using a mirage technique,” the AI supplied. “Look at the building straight on and you won’t see it at all. Look at it from an angle or from the corner of your vision, and you might catch a patch—or puzzle piece, as it were.”

  Jack rubbed his hands together, an eagerness in his eyes. “It took over one thousand, two hundred and sixty photos for the AIs to piece this structure together.”

  “Well, that explains how this building has gone unnoticed by the Trids and the Federation, but how is it suspended above the surface of the water?” Bailey asked.

  “For that, we’ll need to zoom out,” Jack said, a slight apologetic smile on his face.

  The image of Starboards Corp headquarters zoomed out until the entire building was shown floating high above the sparkling waters of Kai, the sky surrounding it on all sides.

  “Holy hell!” Lewis said.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Intelligence Center, Ricky Bobby, Tangki System

  “Is that a hydrogen balloon holding up a twenty-five story building?” Bailey asked, gawking at the impossible image on the screen.

  The large building hung in the air, suspended by a silver balloon. The top of the concrete platform where the building sat was decorated with a manicured lawn and shrubs.

  Jack laughed, delighted to reveal this bizarre secret. “We don’t believe it’s helium or hydrogen, since there’s no way they could support the weight of such a structure, let alone hold it ten thousand feet above the surface of the water.”

  “So Starboards Corp has developed something similar to helium, but much more eff
icient.” Lewis strode over to the image, hands behind his back. He leaned in close, inspecting the details.

  “Yes, but we have no idea what it could be,” Jack explained. “We know it’s patented technology and that it’s one of the many scientific projects that the company has championed—under Vance’s command, of course.”

  “The D-factor being another one of them,” Bailey guessed.

  “That’s correct. And now we know where their headquarters are,” Jack said, angling his head around to watch Lewis, who was nose to nose with the screen.

  “What’s in the platform at the bottom?” Lewis asked, whipping around.

  “We believe that is actually Federation technology,” Jack began. “Vance would have had access to the blueprints for the gravity engines before he fled the Federation R & D. From a few of the other images, we caught a glimpse of something resembling those gravity engines.”

  “So is that how they move the building?” Bailey asked.

  Jack nodded. “I think so, although I’m sure it stays mostly stationary.”

  “I would love to know what’s in that balloon that keeps a one hundred thousand ton building suspended in the air,” Lewis said.

  Bailey blinked at him in surprise. “How do you know how much that building weighs?”

  He held up a finger. “It’s only a rough guess, and I’m betting they didn’t use the reinforced concrete—not if they have a special form of hydrogen. That makes me think they have a replacement for concrete as well. However, I didn’t factor in the platform or the foundation, so it should all shake out about the same.”

  Jack looked approvingly at his nephew. “It’s a good estimate. We’ve put the building and base, with the engines, at roughly one hundred seven thousand tons. I’d love to know what goes on in that facility.”

  Lewis rubbed his hands together eagerly and gave Bailey a hungry expression. “Looks like we’d better suit up for another mission, lieutenant.”

  Jack held up his hand. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I must caution you; you two went into Phoenix Tech when we were already fairly certain that it was abandoned. I know you both risked your lives to get the sample of the monster, which was well done; however, infiltrating Starboards Corp headquarters is a totally different situation.”

  Lewis slid his hands into his pockets, nodding at the ground, his eyes distant in concentration. “We don’t know what’s in there, or how to prepare for it, unlike with Phoenix Tech and the monster,” he summated.

  “That’s exactly right,” Jack said, his voice heavy.

  “Even though we now know we’re looking for intel on the D-factor, the building is a large area for the two of us to cover.” Bailey threw her hand toward the image of the skyscraper.

  “Also true,” Jack confirmed.

  “And this mission will have to be done in stealth so Starboards Corp doesn’t figure out that we’ve found their headquarters,” Lewis stated.

  “Again you’ve got it right,” Jack said, seeming to be suppressing a laugh.

  Lewis looked at Bailey, evaluating her. “Are you deterred, lieutenant?”

  She shook her head. “Quite the opposite, Detective Harlowe.”

  “Yeah, same here,” he agreed with a wink.

  Jack let out a loud sigh. “Although I’m grateful you two are still onboard, this isn’t the scope of the missions we had in mind when we recruited you. Honestly, we didn’t know what we were up against, but with your help, we’ve already made huge progress.”

  “I don’t think there was any way to know what the missions would have included, so that’s really not relevant, Jack,” Lewis said, scratching the back of his neck. “Maybe you’re allowing your emotions to get in the way here.”

  “Yes, that’s true.” The chief strategist hesitated, his gaze full of uncertainty. “Lew, I know you’re good, but this is exactly the kind of mission I would have sent Ghost Squadron on, because that’s what they were trained for. But you—”

  “Jack, I might be out of practice, but I was trained for this stuff, too, just differently,” Lewis argued.

  Jack swallowed. His gaze fell to the ground. A moment later, he came back to himself, looking at Lewis and Bailey. “This is a big mission, and we have no idea exactly what we’ll gain. But if you two are willing to sneak into Starboards Corp, it could be incredibly beneficial to us.”

  Lewis’s green eyes sparkled as he smiled wide. “If you’re done with all that, we should start planning this mission. I don’t think it was a question for either of us if we were going to do this, isn’t that right, Tennant?”

  Bailey nodded, her pulse buzzing with anticipation. Sneaking into a hidden building floating in the clouds over a water planet… Her life had quickly gone from slightly abnormal to incredibly strange and awesome.

  Jack let out a breath of relief. “Thank you. You’ll want to pay a visit to Hatch; he’s working on personal cloaking belts for you, which will help with your stealth.”

  “Personal cloaking belts,” Bailey echoed with excitement. “That sounds badass.”

  Jack nodded. “It is a unique technology that should help you stroll into the headquarters and move around without being detected.”

  Lewis pursed his lips, giving his uncle a playful look of disdain. “And here you were, warning us that we shouldn’t do this, all the while having Hatch work on these belts.”

  Jack shrugged, looking unapologetic. “I knew I was going to give you the choice, but I also know you, Lew. There’s no way you were going to say ‘no’ to a chance to covertly investigate a secret organization.”

  “Be careful,” Lewis said with a laugh. “One day, I might surprise you.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Q-Ship, En Route to Starboards Corp Headquarters, Tangki System

  Bailey flew the Q-Ship into Kai’s atmosphere, a new confidence on her face that had not been present on her first flight through the asteroid belt. The cloaked ship swam through a thick layer of clouds. When it came out on the other side, the glistening seas of Kai stretched out below them.

  For as far as Lewis could see, there was water. He knew there were small areas of land, but for the most part, the islands on the planet of Kai had disappeared. Under the surface of the blue ocean water, a city with technology unique to the Trid race could be found.

  Lewis stared straight ahead as the ship leveled out. Maybe one day, he’d have the unique honor, as a human, to explore the Trid nation, but today his mission was to investigate a specific secret location.

  “Even though the ship is cloaked, a rough landing would still gain us unnecessary attention,” he warned while suppressing a grin, knowing his comment would get under Bailey’s skin.

  She shot him a scathing look. “I’ll land this baby so smoothly, even the bugs in the grass won’t know we’ve arrived.”

  Lewis whistled and looked at her, impressed. “I’m ready to see this fancy work.”

  Bailey checked the radar, her eyes looking worried suddenly. “Pip, do you have the coordinates for the headquarters? I don’t see them here.”

  “Nah,” the AI sang overhead. “I’ve been there before, so I was going to take over the controls here in a minute. I’m currently working on my Minecraft game, but I’ll be free momentarily.”

  “I don’t need you to fly the ship,” Bailey argued.

  “Reeeeally?” Lewis asked. “That’s your concern right now, and not that the AI’s playing video games?”

  She shook her head. “He’s always looking for attention. It’s part of his act.”

  A gasp echoed overhead. “I don’t act out for attention like some toddler,” Pip insisted. “And, as the detective mentioned, the landing has to be pristine, or your cover is blown. I’ll take care of it.”

  Lewis watched as Bailey’s hands tightened on the controls. “Please put in the coordinates so I can land the ship,” she said, carefully enunciating each word.

  “But I really think—”

  “I can land this ship,” Ba
iley urged, cutting the AI off. She looked at Lewis with pure conviction. “I can do this.”

  “Coordinates have been inputted,” Pip said resignedly. “The ship is all yours to run into the ground. I’m going back to crafting my stone axe, otherwise that mob is going to have my cheeks the next time they return.”

  Bailey gave Lewis an amused look. “He’s a very strange AI.”

  “I. Can. Hear. You.” Pip stressed each word.

  “Strange is a good thing,” she assured him.

  “According to The Doors, that’s not necessarily correct,” he stated.

  “I’m not sure that a twentieth century band from Earth really supports your case,” Lewis argued.

  “Well, I’d prefer for people to remember my name,” Pip said.

  “I believe you had a game you needed to get back to.” A tension rose in Bailey’s voice as she prepared for landing.

  The sky in front of them was clear open blue with a few puffy clouds. Lewis didn’t even see a piece of the headquarters, but Jack said they wouldn’t until they landed on the platform. That meant Bailey was blind, needing to rely solely on the instruments for landing. He pushed back in his seat, momentarily wishing she would have allowed the AI to land the ship.

  “I’m better flying blind,” Bailey assured him, as if she’d heard his thoughts.

  “Say what?” Lewis muttered, blinking as the clouds skipped over the front of the Q-Ship. The craft ripped through them, slowing as it soared through the blue skies.

  “When we rely on visuals, we can miscalculate based on what we perceive; using the instruments is much more precise,” Bailey said, her attention honed on the gauges and dials in front of her.

  “I’m not worried, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Lewis lied.

  “Pip, what is the detective’s current heart rate?” Bailey asked.

  A loud sigh skipped overhead. “I’m kind of busy, but it’s elevated,” he answered, sounding distracted.

  Bailey gave Lewis a knowing smile. “Not worried, eh?”

  “I might be a little concerned, but that’s more to do with the mission,” the detective qualified, as Bailey pulled back on the controls, the Q-Ship nearly halting.