Russell opened the hatch and slipped out. Aaron and Jessica followed him, with Susan the last out. The last thing she did was slam the hatch shut.
They waited a moment to allow the shuttle to get a little ways away from them and then Russell gave a short burst with the backpack to get them started in the right direction. Basically, the backpack was full of something akin to compressed air. By directing a burst of the air, he could steer the small group towards the prisoner transport. They had chosen this particular type of propulsion because it should not show up on the transport’s scanners. Some of the more modern backpack propulsion methods might trigger an alarm. Using the backpack was rather easy, but he had to be careful. The last thing they wanted was to hit the ship going too fast. In that case, they would probably be lucky to come out with only a few broken bones. He also had to conserve the air supply. Once it was gone, it was gone.
The prison ship slowly grew larger as they floated closer. It was roughly rectangular, although since the ship was never meant to enter an atmosphere there were large protrusions and projections that jutted off at weird angles. Enormous radio antennas covered the surface of the ship like nasty boils. Sensor arrays and gun emplacements were minimal, but as this ship had once been a warship, there were plenty of empty pockets where weapons had once been located.
The shuttles were already docked as they approached. Aaron wasn’t worried about being spotted when they got near the ship. If someone did happen to be looking out a port, they would be hard-pressed to spot the four soldiers floating past in their smoky black suits. Still, Russell brought them in from up above the transport and slowly nudged them into place, floating five feet above their intended landing spot. Then a miniscule shot of air and he gradually lowered down until his feet brushed the metallic deck. Russell’s magnetic boots clicked down and he was safely on the transport. The other three still floated above him, but it was simple for him to reel them in using the cable. After a few moments, they were all safely standing on the ship’s hull.
Russell looked back at Aaron who pointed at a tall rectangular structure farther back towards the stern. Russell nodded and began slowly walking towards it.
It took them only several moments to reach the airlock. It was just to the side of a massive platform that had once supported a railgun.
Russell looked at Aaron, who only shook his head. He felt it best to wait until their current canisters were nearly out of air before trying to gain entrance to the ship. The shuttles should have already docked and the virus was hopefully already uploaded, but he didn’t want to take a chance. Waiting a few more minutes wouldn’t harm anything and it might just make this little boondoggle a success.
They stood there in silence for nearly another twenty minutes before Russell’s air gauge entered the yellow, and then Aaron slapped him on the shoulder and nodded his head at the lock.
Russell nodded and reached out and pushed the open button. The lock, of course, required an entrance code, but if things had gone well, the virus would bypass the code. If there was a problem with the virus, or if it had not propagated through the ship’s systems, then they were about to set off every security alarm onboard the ship.
A green light lit up on the display panel and a red one winked alive inside the airlock. There was no sound that they could hear, but undoubtedly there was a hum inside the airlock as it pumped out the air.
After a moment the door slid open. Russell gave one worried glance over his shoulder and then he stepped through. Aaron, Jessica, and Susan followed quickly.
The airlock was rather oversized since it had been used for maintenance on the railgun, and it took a protracted time to refill with air. As soon as the airlock quit cycling, the red light blinked out and a solid green one came on.
Aaron moved up close to the interior airlock door and looked through the glass. He hesitated only a moment before he tapped the controls to open the door. He stepped through and quickly double-checked the atmospheric readings. Reassured that everything was alright, he quickly removed his helmet and took several deep lungfuls of air. Like every military ship he had ever been on, the air had a slight mechanical taste to it. The air wasn’t unpleasant, rather it just seemed a bit stale.
The emerged from the airlock into a long dull grey corridor. Two large double doors were immediately on their left and a smaller door was to the right a little ways down the hall. Aaron glanced at Susan and raised his eyebrows.
“I can’t sense anybody nearby,” she said in answer to his unspoken question.
It took several minutes to get their suits off and then Aaron pointed to the double doors. “Russell, you and Jessica check that room out.” He then turned his gaze to Susan. “You’re with me.”
Aaron led Susan to the smaller door on the right hand side of the corridor. The door was solid metal and there wasn’t any indication what the room was. Once there had been a lock on the door, but it had been removed and there was just a single button. He looked at Susan again, and she grinned and nodded for him to go ahead.
Reaching out Aaron slapped the button. The door slid open to reveal a room in shambles. The walls straight ahead and to the right were basically unadorned, but something had been attached in the past and when it had been removed, deep gouges and holes had been left in the walls.
Susan stepped around him and into the room. “What the?” she began but Aaron interrupted her.
“I think it was where the engineers changed into their suits to go outside the ship,” he said, following her inside.
Susan nodded. “Makes sense, but why’s it all tore apart?”
Aaron shrugged. “Probably not being used right now. Ever since they removed the main railgun, there probably hasn’t been any use for this airlock.” It was a guess, but it made sense. Railguns were notorious for constantly needing adjustment, but with the gun now gone, there would be little use for the airlock or these rooms. He glanced to his left and pointed at the far wall, “See? There’s still some old lockers over there.” In addition to the lockers, there was a small computer terminal just to the right of the entrance.
At that moment, Russell and Jessica entered the room.
Aaron looked around quickly. “Everything alright?”
“Yes,” Russell answered. “I think the other room was some sort of repair shop, but it’s basically empty now.”
“Good!” Aaron said and smiled for the first time since boarding the shuttle. “Bring our space suits in here and hide them in the lockers.”
Aaron and Jessica nodded and disappeared back through the doors.
“Now let’s see if this terminal is still connected,” Aaron said as he moved over and began inspecting the outdated equipment. Luck was on their side as the terminal lit up and prompted for a Shipnet username and password. Smiling, Aaron took the computer stick from around his neck and plugged it into the small computer port on the wall. A small blue light on the stick blinked on for nearly a minute and then it turned back off. Turning back to the terminal, Aaron hit a single button on the dusty keyboard and a welcome screen appeared on the terminal. “We’re in,” he said as he knelt down to better see the monitor.
As Aaron began typing on the keyboard, Susan hurried over and helped Jessica and Russell stow the spacesuits in the empty lockers. “Well?” she asked as they rejoined Aaron. “Did it work?”
“Worked perfectly,” Aaron replied. He looked more at ease, more relaxed than he had all day. “Ship time is just past 1400 hours and the ship’s departing in six hours. Give them another couple of hours to get everything tied down, and that means I think we’re stuck here for the next ten hours.” They could move about during normal hours, but there should be less crewmembers active after midnight and therefore less chance of someone noticing something out of the ordinary. “Get some rest.”
“Were you able to locate the target?” Russell asked.
Aaron nodded. “Yes, he’s four decks below us and in the middle of the ship. They refer to it as PDB.”
/> “PDB?” Susan asked, looking confused.
“Prisoner Deck Beta,” Aaron explained quickly.
“What about security?” Jessica asked.
“Well, at the moment there’s not much, but that’s because the prisoners aren’t due to arrive for almost two hours. It will take a while to get all the prisoners in their cells and then once we’re underway, security will be lessened. After midnight ship’s time, we’ll try and get access to our target.”
Chapter 21
It was not easy to sleep under such circumstances, but they managed. Having served in the military during a war, they all knew to take advantage of free time to rest—there wasn’t any telling when such time might come again.
Aaron had learned a long time ago to clear away all the worrying and angry thoughts and focus on enjoyable memories. He tended to daydream and let his mind wander. If he was even the least bit tired, he would go to sleep quickly. Despite their current situation, it had only taken a couple of minutes for him to drift off. Russell had shook him awake after only a couple of hours to stand watch, and Aaron had quietly wandered around the room. Eventually he had nudged Susan awake for her turn and he had gone back to sleep.
He woke up mere moments before Jessica was about to shake him awake. He wasn’t sure if he heard her moving or if his body just recognized that it was time to wake up. “Everything alright?” he asked as he climbed to his feet.
“Yes, sir. Everything’s quiet,” Jessica answered quickly.
The answer brought a smile to Aaron’s face, a smile which slipped away quickly. She had replied just like they were still in the military which, of course, they weren’t. He had authority over them because they chose to follow his orders; there might come a time when that changed.
Aaron stretched, rubbed his eyes, and then moved over to the computer terminal. Russell was already kneeling down and typing on the keyboard.
“Status?” Aaron asked. He stopped just behind Russell and looked over the man’s shoulder. He could hear Jessica and Susan stepping up behind him.
“Well,” Russell began as he scanned the screen, “ship’s underway. We’re still in the Karbarsh system and will be for the next six hours. It’s the mid-watch and it looks quiet. As you suspected, the security around the prisoner’s cells has been reduced. There’s only one guard per deck.”
“Wandering or stationary?” Aaron asked.
Russell typed some more. “Looks like they’re stationed at a security desk, uh, each deck has its own security station, but the guards also make rounds every thirty minutes.”
“How about the prisoner cells? Do they have any cameras or listening devices?” It was a common practice of the Miram Union, recording the conversations of prisoners. He didn’t expect anything like that here, though; there was only one prisoner per cell.
Russell punched some keys for a couple of moments and then shook his head. “No, nothing like that.”
Aaron considered for a moment and then decided on the direct approach. He motioned towards the terminal. “Can you pull up the ship’s schematics and show us the safest route to the brig?”
After several minutes of typing, Russell leaned back out of the way. The ship’s schematics displayed on the screen with the brig being emphasized.
“All right,” Aaron said in a sharp commanding tone, “I want everyone to memorize the routes in and out. We’ll wear the enlisted uniforms and, if asked, our story is that the Captain received intelligence that the prisoner had a lethal dose of poison concealed on his person. Any questions?” There were none and Aaron nodded around the locker room. “Let’s make sure all our stuff is out of sight,” he paused, considering. “I think we’ll take two of the computers we brought. Russell, you carry one and I’ll carry the other.” Russell nodded but Aaron continued, “There are a few other things I need you to do,” he said motioning towards the terminal. “First, I need some secondary codes added,” he began.
It took nearly ten minutes to get the room squared away, but in the end everything looked just as when they had entered. Everything that is, with one exception; a small box sat next to the computer terminal. It was plugged into the computer port and was recording the security footage along the several possible routes into their target’s cell. Shortly, once it had a long enough recording, it would disconnect the real security cameras and begin replaying the taped version.
After changing into their stolen uniforms, they marched boldly out into the corridor. The uniforms were black pants with a red and black shirt. Gold insignia of enlisted rank were pinned to the shoulders. Aaron and Susan led the way. It was important to have her in the lead, not only could she sense the presence of other people, but with any luck she also would be able to detect any suspicion.
In the rear, Russell and Jessica walked side by side. Jessica’s role was minimal at this point, but Russell was the rear guard and he was counted on to catch anything that Susan missed.
They made good time as the halls were primarily deserted, but Aaron’s heart skipped a beat when they passed a man in the corridor who was going the other way. The stranger had his head down and he was punching on his tablet—he didn’t even look up as he passed.
It took less than five minutes to reach one of the six elevators that reached the prisoner levels. For security reasons, only six of the thirty elevators on the ship could even stop at those decks.
Taking a quick look around, Aaron pressed the button to call the elevator and then quickly stepped on once it had arrived. The others followed and the door slid shut. Aaron punched the button for Prisoner Deck Beta. The computer screen prompted for the code and Aaron punched in 7, 6, 5, 4 and punched enter. It wasn’t the standard code but one that Russell had used the terminal in the locker room to add for their use. It was slightly different than the regular code. For one thing, it wouldn’t show up in the logs, and secondly, the elevator would stop but the door wouldn’t open. Instead, the doors would remain closed until they hit the enter key. It was Aaron’s desire that they could wait until the guard began his rounds and then open the doors. With any luck they should be able to get to their target’s cell without being seen, at least that was what he was hoping.
It took nearly two minutes for the elevator to come to a stop and the computer screen to indicate that they had reached their destination. The elevators didn’t just go up and down, but they also travelled horizontally as well.
“Well?” Aaron asked quietly of Susan.
She shook her head. “He’s at his post, just outside the door,” she whispered back.
Aaron took a deep breath. “Alright. Let me know the moment he leaves.”
She nodded and they settled down to wait. It was rather nerve-racking. They weren’t worried about another elevator trying to stop at this exit; if that happened then the elevator they were in would just move to a different level and they would have to decide what to do.
Aaron checked the time and was surprised to see only a minute had ticked by. He forced himself to relax and began to slowly count. Gradually, the visible anxiety disappeared. The anxiety was still there, just out of sight.
Susan placed her hand on Aaron’s left shoulder. “He’s gone,” she said. This time she didn’t whisper but spoke in her normal tone.
Aaron swallowed hard and reached out and punched the elevator button.
The door slid open silently and they stepped out. A hallway ran away from the elevator and it was empty. Numerous doors opened off of the passage and they could only be the prisoner cells. Another hallway ran from their left to right directly in front of the elevator doors; it too was empty.
Just off to their right sat a small desk. There were two chairs pushed up, but they knew that only one guard was currently on duty. Papers covered the desk and several computer screens showed the various corridors.
Basically the prisoner area was a large rectangular space that had been carved up into cells. Numerous hallways crisscrossed the prisoner deck. They were well lit; the light showing
off the dull grey walls and heavily scuffed floor.
Aaron glanced at Susan. “Where’s the guard?” he asked, being sure to keep his voice down.
“He’s that way,” Susan said, pointing off to the left.
“All right, let’s go,” Aaron said. He turned to the left and led them down the hallway. Kyle Grayson was in cell 210. It was located towards the center of the prisoner cells and just a bit to the left of the elevator. They didn’t remain in the corridor for long as they turned right into the second passage that opened off to the right.
They walked quickly but silently. Their fear wasn’t of being seen on the security cameras, but rather that the wandering guard might spot them down one of the intersecting corridors, but that fear was unrealized as they soon stopped outside a metallic grey door. To the right of the door was a small plaque that read 210.
Aaron took one more hasty look around and then he punched in the same code they had used on the elevator; 7, 6, 5, 4. Russell had used the computer virus to add this code as well. It would open the door to cell 210 and there wouldn’t be any record of it.
The door slid silently open and they quickly stepped inside.
The cell was, well, there was no other word for it, tiny. Aaron guessed the cell was eight feet by six. There was barely enough room for the small cot and lavatory. There were no chairs or any other types of furnishings.
The lights were dimmed but it was still possible to see a lone man lying on the bed. He sat up as they entered and looked wide-eyed around at the group crowding into his too-small room. He was a young black man, maybe thirty years old. His hair was cut short and he was clean shaven, but the most unusual thing was the glasses. He had been wearing them in the hologram that Morgan had shown them but they still caught the eye. He was wearing a short-sleeve shirt and boxer shorts, both a bright neon pink. The color would undoubtedly mark him as a prisoner.
Long Shot Page 17