The Centauri Conspiracy

by G Russell Peterman

Chapter Twenty-six

  Stacking and bomb

  Down in a thirteenth floor warehouse Woodin, Algrin, Maag, and Bakman gather around a group of screens that show the latest scenes of spaceship construction work inside each new section. Welders are on every screen working on floors and walls. A few screens show partially built hallways and framing. All those watching are impressed at the speed of construction.

  "They'll get it done ahead of schedule, but not under cost," Maag repeats Harry OpDyke’s prophesy.

  "Something will go wrong causing a delay, you'll see," Algrin responds also taking Harry’s view.

  Before the old argument can start again, Bakman asks, "Will our cargo cases work?"

  Maag walked across the large open warehouse to stacks of two different sizes of cases and motions for them to follow. He stopped at one of the largest case saying, "In these cases Zee, Vee, and Dee will have to lie." As he talks, Maag opens a lid, steps inside of one of the large empty cases, and holding on to the sides lies down. "Two mechanicals are both shorter than me, but Zee is taller." His hand lifts to feel of the ample space between his head and the case.

  "Just a minute," Bakman tells them. He walks to the warehouse door, opens it a crack, and asks, "Zee, come in here for a minute." Bakman opened the door wider and Zee steps through. She waits and watches until Bakman locks the door and then Zee follows him across the warehouse.

  "Zee, we need to know if that case will be tall enough for you. Please lie down in it," Bakman orders as Maag grabs both sides to rise. After Maag steps out of the case, Zee stepped in and lies down. Everyone checks and Zee has just less than two inches space at her feet and just over two inches at her head of clear space. A tight fit to try to get out of in the dark with the lid sealed.

  "It will work, but she will have trouble doing any work. I think your programming should focus on the other two cutting free first. Then, they can get her out of her case, but encase something goes wrong Zee should have the program and necessary tools too. Some kind of a delay, maybe an hour or two built into her program and a tap signal before she tries.”

  They all nod agreement all around, and Bakman holds out his hand to help Zee out of the case. Zee walks back to the door to stand guard while Maag continues.

  "These are the seals the government will put on the cases. We have duplicated them and have a tool used to clamp the soft metal and wax parts of each seal shut. It's the real thing. Cost Traud some money after a tip by Woll the Clone. Don't know how much and don’t want to know who."

  Maag holds up the wax and metal seal and the crimper, pliers like device, and his fingers slides the two parts of a seal together, squeezes, and crimps one shut. Maag hands the U.N. official crimped seal and the crimping tool around the group. They all look at both carefully.

  Walking away toward a stack of cases Maag motions for the group to follow him and he stops them with a point. “Four rows of cases high with a narrow half-inch-wide space between rows and almost an inch around the compartment walls. It is a tight fit. The door lock hardware needs a little space. The size of a room and a need to have space to get cases in and out through the doorway makes us put stacks of boxes the long way. All will sit on top of the box below them except a case on the fourth level over the door opening. Lastly, in front of the door a stack of three cases a foot shorter leaves three and three-quarter inches of open space for the door hardware.”

  Maag points at a demonstration stack of cases, “Like that. The stack has three rows of regular cases and a row of longer cases forming a roof over the door space, and three smaller cases in the doorway. Stacked this way the ceiling has less than a foot of unfilled space, to be exact eleven and one-quarter inches, in every compartment,” Maag finishes explaining the stacking system and waits for questions. Not hearing any he continues.

  “Zee and the others will be in the long cases on the top level. We have no idea where their case will end up other than to stencil a compartment number and level number on each case. First, they will have to cut enough on either side so they can turn around, if need be. They could be in the two sticking out over the door opening and need to just cut out the bottom and work downward or cut a hole in the wall. Any other place, they will have to know to cut in the right direction and push what they take out above and behind them. The only help we can give them is to put a sensor in with them so they don't cut though the outside hull of the ship."

  Thoughtfully each of them walks around inspecting the stack until Maag motioned to two workers. They bring a three-wheeled lift with a full case and set it down in front of painted lines labeled “door.” Another two workers slide the first case through the doorway and put the case on the floor in a corner. For a time they push and slide cases down the narrow space and between the stacks to complete level one, except for the doorway space. The next case goes into the wheeled lifter. A panel is pushed and compressed air lifts the case to position two, level two. The lifter slides the case forward in the center of the stack where a white line indicate a doorway. Two men slide that case back to the rear right corner. This continues until level two is full. Then, the next case is lifted to setting three before wheeling it into place. The same process continues until the third level of cases is full. A row of long cases fill the fourth, and at last they slide in three shorter cases to leave space for the door hardware. Finally, a compartment is completely filled.

  "As I understand it, they will have something less than a foot of space above them. We estimate the void at eleven plus inches. If they cut out the tops of their case above their heads, they can look around the room. We will include a light. Their case may be forward or backward. Try to find out in the plans if there is any way to tell with just the top foot and using a light, which side the door is on? Anyway that might be better than a sensor," Bakman decides.

  Woodin scratches his chin before he speaks. "It would have to be something in all storage rooms."

  Before Woodin finishes Bakman is already walking back toward the screens. Maag beside him brings up the plans for several rooms. Each screen fills with an inside view of a different room. On Bakman’s command Maag's fingers work on panel keys and all of the room views slowly rotate. They study the walls of rooms for three rotations.

  "Simple," Maag finally says after studying the rotating display a moment. "See there! They have welded a square piece of precut metal the width of the door above each. All the mechanicals have to see is two weld lines as wide as a doorway. Notice all the other weld lines are wider. Even a good coat of gray preservative will not hide it. Workers will not grind as much inside a cargo area as they will in living quarters or hallways.

  They all stood looking and nodding. The longer they look the more obvious it was and none of them had seen it. Maag brings up all the rooms one after another; they were all the same.

  "What means do you have to stretch their food supply," Bakman asks after solving one more problem and moving on to another.

  Millisen Algrin answered. "I've got a group still brainstorming, gathering known reprocessing equipment, and looking at the use of sunlight. We're gathering all ideas and information about large food production in minimum spaces. I think by the end of the month we will be able to start answering that question in detail. Right now it looks supplementary."

  "Good work all around," Bakman tells them looking at the time and shakes his head. "I've got to rush upstairs to prepare for a meeting downstairs with Woll the Clone. Woll sent word he has a problem." As they nod, Bakman walks toward the door, and waits while Zee checks outside. Waiting for Zee’s all clear he had another thought and turns back to tell it to them.

  "What if a case drops and breaks open?"

  All looked at him like that was a new idea.

  “Fill some with food and drop them from three times the height they could fall from. We may have to make them stronger. If a case of food breaks and food is inside of it, there’s no problem. But, if a housing unit or food case breaks with something else inside, say like a mechani
cal, it will be a very serious problem. Any problems that late in the game and we will not have a chance to recover. They will look in all cases, every one, while they are rounding all of us up. So if one breaks, the project fails, and we're all in prison."

  Zee motions all clear and Bakman slipped through the door leaving his staff with a new problem.

  Outside in a long empty hallway, Zee and Bakman walk arm-in-arm toward the elevator with Zee in the center. Halfway there the yellow in service light blinks on and then a red light as an elevator car stops on their floor. The elevator door slides open and a mechanical cleaner in a gray tunic starts down the hallway toward them glancing up the hallway and down at the guiding control of his barrel-hover. Sticking out of the barrel are the handles of a cleaner’s shovel and broom. Everything looks normal.

  At just under fifty feet away the cleaner mechanical looks up at Bakman, making sure it is his target, and suddenly points the control unit at Bakman. It puffs.

  Instantly, Zee grabs Bakman, slaps her purse in front of Bakman’s chest as the cleaner’s control puffs two more quick times. Bakman hears a thump, thump, thump sounds from Zee’s purse.

  “Down,” yells Zee and whirls Bakman to the floor behind her while twisting her puffing purse in line and aims at the cleaner and changes to trying to stop the barrel. Two explosions burst from the barrel and one from the fake-mechanical. The assassin takes one more suddenly stiff legged step forward, continues guiding his damaged barrel-hover straight at Zee and Bakman while falling. Ignoring the barrel Zee’s purse puffs twice more at the cleaner; the falling fake-mechanical jerks twice and slumps forward over the barrel in an exploding spray of red. The falling assassin’s weight hits the barrel; it slides along the wall toward them.

  Zee yells into her purse, “Vee . . . ambush,” turns while talking to knock down a stunned Bakman trying to stand up again, punches the side of her purse, slams it down in front of her feet, whirls, and drops down on top of Bakman.

  Her weight knocks the wind out of Bakman.

  Trying to gulp a lungful of air his eyes watch the front side of her purse ejects backward and the fake cleaner barrel’s slides ever closer. A smoky puff and a silvery square suddenly unfolded outward and upward at a 45-degree angle propelled by air filling a small tube on each side—a shield. The bottom of the shield puffs twice, fastening it and purse to the floor, and downward falls a cord from each upper corner of the rising shield. Zee grabs the dangling attached cords and yanks the shield down over them.

  The moving motorized barrel slowed by dragging the dead assassin’s feet along the floor and leaves a reddish smear. The corpse's fingers are frozen in a death grip on the forward control. The edge of the barrel hits the bottom of the shield fasteners, jars the corpse off the barrel, falling yanks the controls loose, and it explodes. The force of the blast roars up and out over Zee and Bakman. Their shield and hallway is sprayed with pellets and bits of metal like hot rain.

  In the dusty hallway an eerie quiet moment during which nothing moves as dust settles. Motionless for a time, Zee rolls off Bakman and pushes the shield away asking, “Duffy, are you injured?”

  “Bruised … ears ringing,” was Bakman’s answer shaking his head to try to get the ringing out of his ears. Zee lifts him to his feet.

  Behind them the warehouse door bursts open. His group and warehouse workers spill out running and stirring up dust. Breen takes charge and shouts into his hand Com, “We need a cleanup in the hallway on thirteen.” With a look of disbelief on his face that either of them is still alive, Breen turns to Zee and Bakman to ask, “You both all right.”

  They both nod.

  Zee gave her report. “The hallway was empty. Halfway down a fake cleaner came out of the elevator. He knew we were leaving.”

  “Somebody talked,” Breen blurts out. “How did they know you were on the thirteenth floor today? How did a fake mechanical get past security? How did they know when our meeting was over and you were leaving? Someone in that warehouse told and even worse signaled Bakman was leaving. I want a list of everyone in that place, a list of all cleaners, and a list of everyone on security for the last twenty-four hours. I want all three lists in my hands in the next five minutes.” Breen had ticked off questions that needed to be answered in a hurry.

  “I want whoever is responsible out of our building. Gather them up, use restrains on all adults and children over six, and transport them that way . . . and tell me about it later,” Bakman ordered Breen with his head still ringing. He let Zee lead him past the rubble pile to the elevator.

  Upstairs in his office Bakman needed recovery time. His ears and head still felt funny, so Zee took him upstairs to get Dee to talk Bakman into lying down for a few minutes.