by Drew Avera
It took us about thirty minutes to find the galley. Once we were there we found that it was large enough to seat about six hundred people at a time. Many of the seats were already taken but the line to receive food was fairly short. We made it through the line and were amazed to find that we did not have to eat freeze dried food, everything was fresh fruits and vegetables, they were even serving grilled meats. This put a smile on our faces, at least the first meal would be a good one.
Kara and I collected our trays and presented our tickets to pay for the food, it was more of a voucher that allowed us three meals each day so that they could conserve food. We found a table in a corner and sat down. There was a media device at our section and it showed maps to help people find where they were going, there was also a timer at the bottom of the screen to let us know how many days until we would reach Earth. Seven months, thirteen days, four hours, twenty six minutes and counting. Reading it like that made it feel like we would be stuck on this transport forever.
We ate our food and reclined in the relative comfort of the galley. It was open in order to allow people to come and go as they pleased without disturbing each other. The galley was not as large as the cargo bay had been, but it was infinitely more comfortable. Kara and I sat and talked for a while after we finished our meal, the sound of a hundred other people talking did a lot to drown out our conversation.
"Where do we need to start?" Kara asked me as she pulled her hair back behind her ears.
"I'm not sure," I said. "I guess it all depends on what it is that we are starting."
"The mission, Serus. Where do we start with the mission?"
My smile faded somewhat at the thought of her being so interested in getting down to business. There were several factors in our operations that needed to be sorted out first. She needed training on how to use the gauntlet, we needed to figure out which members of the Syndicate were on board this transport, we even needed to know what part of Earth we were scheduled to land in relation to the other transports. If we were across an ocean from the main members of the Syndicate then that needed to be calculated now. It could be difficult killing people and disposing of their bodies while we are here in space, that was a factor that could not be overlooked.
"Well, I think the first thing we need to do is to take the list that White gave me and bounce it off the roster of names on board this transport," I said. "From there I can train you in some essential fighting techniques as well as how to use the gauntlet."
"Do you still have the list?" She asked.
"Yes, it's saved on my communicator," I said.
"We'll if we can find a computer that has access to the roster then I can bring it up and bounce the names off of those on the list," she said.
"Perfect. Where can we find a computer that would have that sort of information?"
Kara pulled out the map and set it on the table in front of us. She ran her finger along the diagram and read the name of each compartment that she came across. "Here it is. Administration, passageway bravo on the seventh level. It's pretty much on the other side of the transporter," she said.
"Then I guess our tour will take us to the seventh level and passageway bravo," I said.
"It seems that was," Kara said as she began to stand up and collect her tray. I followed her to the scullery to dispose of our trash. Kara still held the map in her hand and approached one of the placards on the bulkhead to figure out which direction we needed to go. Kara took a right down the next passageway as I followed her.
It took us several minutes to find a ladder to take us to the seventh level, but once we found it we were set. It was a quick climb up three levels and passageway bravo was to our left. The administration office was down the passageway on the right. The door was locked due to the department being closed. I jiggled the door knob uselessly and sighed. There always seemed to be a barrier in my way.
"Hold on," Kara said as she pulled a pin from her hair. She bent the pin straight and jammed it into the lock. She twisted the hair pin for about fifteen seconds and suddenly the lock clicked and the door opened.
"How did you do that?" I asked in shock at the uncharacteristic skill that I had just discovered in my little sister.
"I've locked myself out of my house more times than I would like to admit," she said. "It comes to a point where you either keep paying for service calls or you figure out how to break into your own home." We both smiled at the circumstances that enabled us to succeed at breaking into the administration office.
Kara and I walked into the office and looked around at all of the computer systems set up throughout the room. She sat down at one of the stations and began typing commands into the interface. I stood over her shoulder and watched her work. The programs opened before our eyes as she typed away and scrolled down the lengthy list of names. In less than two minutes she had found the roster of the names of everyone on the transport with us. She pressed the print icon on the display and a stack of pages printed out.
I grabbed my communicator and read the list of names that White had sent me. "Damian Wise?" I asked.
She shuffled through the pages to the names that started with 'W' and browsed through the names. "Not on this list," she said.
"Lea Harris," I read aloud.
"No."
"Ghon Abert?"
"Yes," she said and circled his information on the list. I continued through the list until I found Sorell's name. I did not expect him to be on the same transport as us. “ Delyn Sorell?”
"Yes, Sorell is on this transport," she looked up at me with wide eyes.
"It's alright," I said. "Both of us are armed and ill teach you how to use the gauntlet. We can just stay in our state room as much as possible to avoid any possible contact with him until you're comfortable."
Kara nodded her head and collected the pages that she had circled the names on and stuffed them into her pocket. I closed my communicator and placed it into my breast pocket as we started to leave the admin office. Kara grabbed the rest of the papers and placed them in the shredder as she left. I hit the door lock on our way out still thinking about the fact that Sorell was out here with us. The thought of that happening had never crossed my mind, but now I knew just how careful we would have to be in order to succeed.
Chapter 29
Urgent, that was the only way to describe it. It was urgent that I teach Kara how to use the gauntlet. It was urgent that I train her in basic fighting techniques. It was urgent that we go undetected throughout the transport while doing so. Kara followed me through the passageways as I sought out a suitable training area. We were deep in the bowels of the transport when I finally found it. In the level below the cargo bay there were engineering spaces, long and empty passages separated by bulkheads every thirty yards. There was no one in the area to disturb us down here while I trained Kara. This would be perfect, and we could start the training immediately.
"Move that control to the right to arm the laser," I said as I pointed at the control on my own gauntlet. "Keep the level low to keep from damaging anything. When the time comes to use it for real then you will need to set the level higher. Down here we will practice targeting and firing at low levels, alright?" I asked to gauge her comprehension of what we were doing. She shook her head.
"Alright then, do you see that yellow sign painted on the bulkhead at the end of the passageway?"
"Yes," she said.
"I want you to aim for the center of it and will the laser to fire with your mind."
Kara took aim and a blue laser exited the gauntlet and struck the yellow sign just above the center. She ceased firing the laser and looked at me with a smile. "I did it. I hit the target!" she was giddy with excitement.
"Yes you did. But the thing you need to realize is that your enemy will be returning fire," I said.
"I thought we were the only people on board with gauntlets," she said.
"Maybe we are, but that's not something that I want to leave to chance. If we experience a fight
then you need to be able to take aim and fire in a split second. This time I want you to take aim and fire within two seconds, roll to your left and fire again, still trying to hit the center of that target."
Kara squinted at the target and took a deep breath.
"Visualize the target," I said.
She exhaled and threw her arm up and fired the laser. The blue beam struck below the target. She rolled left and fired again this time missing the target by more than a foot. Kara cussed under her breath.
"It takes time," I told her. "Just keep practicing. You will get better each time you do."
She stood there and glared at the target again. She thrust the gauntlet forward again and fired this time hitting the yellow target. "Yes!" She said.
"Very nice shot," I said. "Now do it again." She gave me a dirty look. "You have to be consistent. Just because you hit an unmoving target once does not mean that you can hit that same target under pressure. The mechanics of it need to become muscle memory. Now try it again."
She eyed the target again and fired just to the right of it.
"See?" I said.
"Shut up," she retorted as she fired again, another hit in the center of the target. She relaxed her stance and tried again, another hit. She smiled but it went away as she missed the next shot. We stayed in that area for two hours as she stood and took shots at the sign at the end of the passageway.
"I think that is about enough for the day," I said. "We don't want to run the power down on the gauntlet."
Kara sighed as she turned the control off. She had come a long way in those two hours. She may not have seen the progress because she was too focused on the missed shots, but the reality was that she could fire faster and with more precision than she could when she started. I put my arm around her shoulder as we walked away.
"honestly, you did really good, Kara. I’m very impressed.”
"I'm angry that I keep missing the target," she said. "I would get a few in a row and then miss. It was really frustrating."
"I know, but that's just how it goes. No one is a perfect shot every single time. Trust me though, you did great."
Kara smiled at me as we walked up the ladder leading up to the cargo bay. It was packed with people walking around and meeting other people on the transport. We walked through the cargo bay towards the passageway that would lead us to our stateroom. We stopped at a booth that had been set up to sell clothing to those who needed it. There was no line so Kara and I stopped to check it out.
The clothing selection was somewhat generic. For men they had plain mock turtleneck shirts and black pants similar to the ones that I was already wearing. For the women they had a similar outfit with a different cut around the neck to expose a little more flesh. I looked at Kara and could see that the pant suit that she was wearing was not practical and decided that it would be best to purchase some new clothing for each of us.
"What color shirt would you like?" I asked Kara.
She looked at me and then down at her gauntlet. "Black, I think it will look more militant."
"You don't have to dress militant just because of what we are doing," I said. I was a hypocrite because that was the reason that I was choosing black. Well that and the fact that it makes it easier to hide in the shadows.
"I still want black," she said with a smile.
I nodded at her and looked at the person running the booth. "Two black outfits for each of us," I said. The woman in the booth grabbed the new clothes and put them in a bag for us. I paid for the clothes with the last of the money that I had on me. It didn't matter considering the fact that the food was paid with a voucher, besides Kara brought money as well for toiletry items. I handed Kara her bag of clothing and we left the cargo bay behind us and headed to our state room to change before lunch.
Chapter 30
Kara and I stood in front of the mirror in our new clothing. The smooth cloth was designed to keep you cool in the heat and keep you warm in the cold. Kara looked like a different person now that she was dressed in all black. The black pants and black top were a stark contrast from the silver gauntlet that was wrapped around her wrist. She completed her new look by pulling her hair back into a thick braid that fell halfway down her back. I have to admit, she looked the part of resident bad ass, and I was impressed.
"It's a good look on you," I said and she starred into the mirror mesmerized by how much she had changed.
"Thank you. It feels right, but I don't know about you."
"What about me?" I asked.
"There's something missing that we need to complete your look," she said as she grabbed my old jacket from my policeman uniform. The jacket had my rank insignia on the collar that she removed before handing it to me.
"Put this on," she said. "Don't zip it up though because I want to see what it looks like on you open."
I pulled the jacket on over my shoulders and let it hang open. The bottom of the jacket rested on the back of my calves and the open front allowed me to have more freedom of movement.
"What do you think?" I asked as I turned in a small circle in front of her.
"I think you make the jacket work," she said with a smile. "It definitely completes the look."
I laughed at what she said, but it really did go pretty well with the new clothes. "Are you ready for lunch?" I asked.
"Sure. Lets go."
Kara and I walked out of the stateroom and headed for the galley. The galley was quite a bit busier than it had been earlier, but the food was well worth the wait. It was essentially the same meal, but I was still expecting the freeze dried food to show up at any time.
"You really did well with your training today," I said trying to strike up a conversation. Kara was busy shoveling food into her face and just shook her head as she starred over across the galley. "What is it?" I asked as I tried to see what she was looking at. The galley was filled with people and I wasn't sure what Kara had seen.
She swallowed hard before speaking. "Serus, there is something that I need to tell you, and I want you to keep an open mind. Can you do that?" She asked.
"Yes, of course," I said. "What is it?"
"It's Laurel," she said. "She is on this transport."
"What?" I craned my head and tried to see her, but I couldn't find her face in the crowd.
"She's over there by the desert bar," Kara said. I looked at where Kara had pointed and could see Laurel standing there. She was dressed in a uniform representing the company that ran the transport ship. My jaw dropped at the fact that other than the uniform she essentially looked exactly the same.
"I can’t believe it," I said. "I haven't seen her in five years."
"I've seen her from time to time at the university on business. I haven't really spoken to her for a few years though. It's kind of awkward, you know," Kara said before shoveling more food into her mouth.
"How so?" I asked.
"I don't know, it's hard to explain, but she was never really the same after you were recruited. It was like a part of her died and it was hard for me to see her like that. Eventually we just stopped speaking," Kara said.
"I see," I sat there and looked at Laurel. She was still beautiful with her brown hair and blue eyes. I could see her acknowledge a patron at the desert bar and turn like she was about to leave. I couldn't lose her. I had to speak to her now. "Excuse me a moment," I said to Kara as I stood up and walked towards the desert bar.
Laurel's back was to me when I stepped up to the bar. "Excuse me, Laurel?"
She turned to look at me and I was so close to her that I could see my reflection in her eyes. Her eyes widened as she realized who I was. "Serus?"
"One and the same," I said.
"I can't believe it's you!" She wrapped me up into her arms as tightly as she could. "I can't believe that you are here, right here!"
"Yeah, it's kind of a long story about how that happened," I said as I nervously ran my hand through my hair.
"Are you still with the Agency?" She asked with a l
ittle less enthusiasm pouring out of her lips.
"Actually no," I said. "I'm kind of a fugitive."
The look of shock spread across her face. "A fugitive?"
"Yes," I said meekly.
"Who are you running from?" She asked with grave concern.
"I'm not really running," I said. "It's a long story and I would love to tell you about it, but now isn't really the time."
"Alright, I can understand that," she smiled at me and it almost broke my heart. We had been so close to having a life together before it was taken from us. I knew that I still carried scars from that moment, but the thought that she shared those same scars was hard to handle. "I get off shift after dinner tonight. Would you like to meet up then? I can meet you in the cargo bay?"
"Yeah, sure," I said. "Right after dinner I'll meet you in the cargo bay."
She smiled and brought me closer to her and kissed me on the cheek. "I look forward to it."
"Me too," I said as I turned to walk back to Kara, trying hard not to take my eyes off of Laurel, afraid that she would disappear forever. I stumbled and bumped into someone all of a sudden and looked up to see who it was.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry," I started to finish my sentence, but stopped short as I looked into the eyes of Sorell. He was inches away from me and there was nothing that I could do. I wanted to kill him right then and there, but there were too many people who could get hurt in the process.
"Serus, I almost didn't recognize you," he smiled and gave a slight chuckle when he said it. "You should watch your step. You never know who you will end up bumping into," he laughed and made a gesture to a policeman standing next to him. Apparently Kara and I were not the only people armed on this transport.
"I'll take that into consideration," I said as I started to walk away, brushing my shoulder against Sorell's as I did so. I walked over to Kara who was standing next to the table that we had been sitting at before.
"Is everything alright?" She asked me.