“I know but I don’t like it,” Iska responded as he flipped the transmit switch. “Enara, your shuttle will be using the Bagwis landing pad. The location beacon is active.”
Warlock nodded her approval and walked out of the command deck. She turned the cart around and headed for the corridor ring and Bagwis’ warehouse.
Twenty minutes later, she pulled up, got out and went to find the warehouse manager. He was standing in the midst of stacks of burned spaceship tubes, wiring, and objects Warlock couldn’t identify.
“Are we ready?” Warlock asked as she began unsnapping her armor.
“All set,” Bagwis promised her. “I found a security guard’s uniform in your size. It’s in the changing room.”
“Give Major Kealan her PID when she arrives,” Warlock said handing him the device. “And remember, you’ll have maybe three minutes.
“That’s plenty of time,” Bagwis assured her.
***
Lieutenant Kaleva of the Empress’ Navy was excited. It was an honor to be selected to fly Major Kealan up to the Enara. As she engaged the landing computer and the ion cannons rattled up for the touchdown, she daydreamed about bonding with the famous Traveler. Maybe the Major would regale her with stories about her time as an undercover agent deep in the belly of the Galactic Realm. Her thoughts ended when the skids hit the pad and the airlock tube clicked against the hull.
The pilot unbuckled and went to stand by the hatch controls. Absentmindedly, she checked her flight suit to be sure it was as squared away as the pressure garment allowed. Then she stood at attention, put a serious expression on her face, and pressed the release.
Rather than the Major, a security guard rushed through the hatch.
“Bug check. Please depart the craft,” ordered the woman. She had a goggle over her right eye and a hose in her hand. “Salvage base requirements. It’ll only take a minute.”
The hose carried by the guard had a nozzle on one end and the other was attached to a tank on her back.
“The Empress Constabulary does not have insects on our ships,” declared Kaleva. “Where is Major Kealan?”
“Your passenger is in isolation until the bug check is completed,” the guard informed her. “I don’t have all day. There are other ships to be checked. Leave now. Or, we can stand here and let the Major wait for you to comply.”
Lieutenant Kaleva hesitated before taking the airlock tube to the base. This was exciting for her as she’d have a chance to see a Realm base and sample the air. In the reception area, she wrinkled her nose at the waste of oxygen, the stink of spice in the air and the unwashed bulkhead and deck. Three minutes later, the security guard came through the tube.
“You are cleared,” the woman assured her. “I’ve sent notice to isolation. Your passenger should be along shortly.”
Without a word, Kaleva spun on her heals and marched towards the airlock tube and her shuttle.
“Have a nice day,” Warlock called after the pilot. “I hope you enjoyed your visit to salvage base.”
***
Major Kealan didn’t talk to the pilot during the flight to the Enara. She seemed preoccupied with her PID until they entered the flight deck. Then, the Major marched off the shuttle without even acknowledging Lieutenant Kaleva.
On the bridge, Oskari and Kealan exchanged salutes. While Enyd breathed in the ketone tinted air and smiled at being back in a familiar environment, Oskari turned to the ship’s captain.
“Captain Musa. Get us underway,” ordered the Commodore. As Musa issued orders to the bridge sections, Oskari returned her attention to the Major. “I had a scorched earth apparatus inserted. If we can’t use the moon, then no one should.”
“I agree,” confirmed Kealan. “I’d like to watch. Once we’re a safe distance but can still view it on a screen, you have my vote to activate it.”
The warship broke orbit and as the internal drive powered up, the Major and Commodore watched a screen. A tiny image of the base grew smaller as the Enara put distance between the warship and the moon.
“We’ll lose details soon,” commented Kealan.
“Alert Combat Control to activate the apparatus,” Oskari ordered the communications section.
“Activating the device,” confirmed the radioman after a momentary pause.
The Major and the Commodore waited expecting to see a flash and a cloud of dust on the moon.
“Fire details to the hanger deck,” an announcement came over the speaker.
“What’s the nature of the fire?” demanded Captain Musa.
“Mostly smoke from a shuttle, Captain,” a voice replied.
Oskari and Kealan watched as the intact moon grew smaller.
“Captain. There is a disabled nuclear device on a shuttle,” the voice called. “We’ve removed a smoke bomb. And sir, there’s a note attached.”
“What does the note say?” inquired Musa.
“It’s addressed to Major Kealan,” the voice replied. “I don’t think it’s for the public.”
“Read it any way,” ordered Commodore Oskari.
“Yes ma’am,” he replied and began to read. “Dear Major Kealan. Your friends left their toy laying around. I’m returning it. Until we meet again, yours truly, Diosa.”
Captain Musa depressed the transmit button preparing to speak. Before he could say anything, his mic picked up a scream of frustration from Major Enyd Kealan.
Chapter – 21 Sleight of Hand
Sweat poured off Iska Maricor’s forehead. Between violent swipes at the moisture, his eyes returned to the air defense screen.
“Was it necessary to poke the Constabulary Navy in their pride?” he asked.
“They were going to blast your salvage base out of existence,” replied Warlock.
“You don’t know that,” suggested Iska.
“I’ve dealt with the Constabulary before,” Warlock assured him. “They aren’t known for their mercy. Or for misplacing nuclear weapons. They were going to use it.”
“And suppose they turn around and fire missiles at us?” inquired Iska.
“There’s a slim chance of that,” Warlock said. “You have to remember the Enara is needed by the Empress for bigger battles.”
“I’ve got a contact,” Iska announced.
“Missiles?” Warlock asked in disbelief.
“No. From the back side of the moon. A big signal just appeared on my screen,” Iska replied. Then into his headset. ‘Unidentified ship, this is salvage base, please state your affiliation.’
‘Salvage base. This is the Galactic Council Navy ship Tres el Fuerte,’ a voice carried over the speakers. ‘Are you in need of medical assistance or evacuation?’
‘Negative Tres el Fuerte,” Iska replied. ‘An Empress warship just left our area.’
‘We are tracking it,’ responded the voice.
‘And we have a Soldier of the Empress, Captain Ritva and a couple of his soldiers. They are being held for you,” Iska added with a smile. ‘Would there happen to be a reward?’
While they talked, Diosa’s PID buzzed.
‘Warlock. A heavy cruiser was the biggest warship I could find,’ sent Walden. ‘All the battleships were tied up.’
‘I’m sending frequency codes for a microwave transmitter on the El Enara Loco,’ Diosa typed including the long list of numbers. ‘Alert the Fuerte.’
Minutes later, her PID lit up.
‘The Navy thanks you,’ Walden replied. ‘They’re notifying all the ships in this sector.’
‘Get me off this rock,’ Warlock sent. ‘We have a new mission.’
‘We’ve trekked a quarter way across the Realm and you aren’t satisfied,’ teased Walden.
‘You’ve been playing with civilians for too long, Poet,’ replied Diosa. ‘Marines don’t stop until the battle is won.’
‘I picked up on that,’ Walden sent back. ‘Six hours to orbit.’
‘And twenty minutes to do a combat insertion and another five minutes to reach a pad,’
Warlock typed. ‘I’ll be waiting.’
***
The Talon entered orbit and twenty-five minutes to the second, Poet landed the gunship on the pad. Shortly after the airlock tube attached to the hull, the hatch popped open. Warlock jumped in and sealed it.
“Good to see you,” Walden said as Diosa buckled the harness.
“How are your code breaking skills?” she asked the pilot.
“I’ve been known to untangle a few cryptanalytical knots,” Walden replied as the gunship rose. “Why do you ask?”
“I have Enyd Kealan’s PID,” answered Warlock. “Not her actual device but a complete mirrored copy of the information and circuitry.”
“That makes it achievable,” Poet replied as he increased the power and elevation.
“Good. You can work on it during the trip,” Warlock said as the corridors of salvage base shrunk to concentric circles of rusty tubes.
“Where are we going?” Walden inquired.
“Katrijn Industry Headquarters on Planet Uno,” Warlock replied.
“Is there a reason?” he asked.
“To steal a computer,” Warlock informed him.
“We have an expense budget,” Walden offered. “We could just buy one.”
“It wouldn’t come with the right software or programming,” replied Warlock.
“I’m almost afraid to ask,” said the pilot. “but what program would that be?”
“The program with a list of treasonous activities by Jordy Katrijn,” explained Warlock. “Unless you don’t want to be involved. In that case, just drop me on the planet and I’ll handle it.”
“No way, I’m in. Besides, I wouldn’t want to explain to Special Agent Eiko that I left you alone. To go after one of the richest and, most powerful men in the Realm, by yourself, without support,” Walden stated. “The two of us, an extraordinary pilot and a rookie unrestricted field agent, waltzing into a billion Peseta, high-security property and prancing out with the owner’s personal, private, protected, potentially perjuring, property. A perfectly plausible plan.”
Warlock was beginning to appreciate Walden when he was nervous. It let her know his mental state.
***
A week later, while The Talon hurled across space under exterior drive, Walden knocked on Diosa’s stateroom door.
“Come in, Poet,” she called out. On the screen in front of her was a diagram of a sixty-four-story building. “About two hundred meters from the street to Katrijn’s penthouse. I’m thinking of a high altitude jump to get on target. If I time it right, I might even miss the pool. The issue is exfiltrating with a computer.”
Walden reached over her shoulder and scrolled the schematic down examining each level.
“There’s a landing pad on the ninth floor,” he observed. “But, if you trip a security alert, they’ll seal the pad off quickly. Even if I landed early, you’d never make it to me.”
“And I don’t know how much weight or bulk I need to compensate for,” said Diosa. “The computer could be a tower or a pad. But, you came in for something else and we got side tracked. What is it?”
“I cracked open Enyd’s PID,” bragged Walden. “Did you know she’s a Constabulary Major in the Empress’ Royal Guard?”
“Yes, I did but I didn’t want to influence your thinking,” confessed Diosa. “Did you find anything about Katrijn Industry?”
“No. Most of the data is timelines that we already know about or have guessed,” stated Walden. “However, there is an extensive explanation of the Empress’ military hierarchy including divisions of soldiers around the Realm. The agency and our military will appreciate it. And you and I will bask in the glory of a job well done. Until we’re captured and put on trial for breaking into that.”
He pointed to the modern glass structure on the screen.
“It’s just a vertical ship and I’m trained for it,” Diosa assured him. “Jordy Katrijn keeps his secret files in a safe place and I can’t think of a safer place than the Katrijn Headquarters building.”
“Or a more dangerous one for you and me,” Walden said as he backed towards the cabin door. “I’m going to download the PID and prepare a file for a burst transmission when we evolve at our next turn point. Let me know if you solve the riddle of the vertical ship and the planet’s gravity.”
***
Twenty-four hours later, The Talon evolved to interior drive. Walden rechecked his calculations, adjusted the course and ran a survey for astronomical bodies. They would travel through the orbital paths of four planets and one comet. Pulling up a space chart, he analyzed their positions. The comet would pass days before they crossed behind it. Close but no problem. Then he turned to the four planets. Where the planets were in their orbit didn’t interest him. It was only if one planet cycled into his flight path that it was a concern. After a few more adjustments to avoid a collision, the pilot was satisfied.
Now that the ship would encounter nothing but open space, he powered up the internal drive. At the top of the power rating, the pilot brought the exterior drive online. The power bars bounced as the drives fought for available power generated by the ion wall. As the internal drive climbed, the clocks ran out of sync. With the internal drive rattling at maximum and the exterior purring at minimum, the clocks matched times and Walden shoved all the power to the exterior drive.
Yellow ions poured from the nose tube. They wrapped back and soon enveloped the spaceship. In the blink of an eye, The Talon went from a visible object shooting through space, to a slash of yellow across the blackness.
Walden closed down the interior drive and watched as the interior clock slowed to standard time. It was a good evolution with no hesitation during the transfer. No snap meant no bolts or pipes to be tightened and the ship was safe. The pilot realized he was hungry and left the bridge heading for the galley.
A snack or a hot meal? Walden pondered the choices as he strolled through the ship. He’d have to make a decision but he wasn’t motivated in either direction. Maybe if he talked to Diosa, she’d have an idea that would influence his choice.
Then Walden stopped walking and froze in the center corridor. The phrase ‘influence his choice’ kept repeating in his mind. He rushed towards the aft compartments.
***
Diosa sat facing a workbench. The parts of a disassembled sniper rifle were scattered around the surface. She held the barrel cleaning it of moon dust. On one of the bulkheads hung a set of GCMC armor. She looked up when Walden burst through the door.
“Are you sure our budget will cover the armor and the rifle?” she asked.
“Although I think Captain Maricor over charged you, yes we have the funds,” Walden replied. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”
“Nice evolution, I didn’t sense a snap,” Diosa said thinking the pilot was fishing for a compliment.
“Thank you. I am good but that’s not what I wanted to see you about,” Walden insisted. When Diosa didn’t ask what he wanted, the pilot continued. “What should I eat? A snack or a hot meal? And give me your reasons.”
Puzzled at the quiz, Diosa placed the rag and bush on the bench and pivoted the stool to face him.
“Time is always a factor with chow,” she stated. “In combat situations, you snack for energy. When time permits, you go for the pleasure of eating. So, I vote hot meal. Does that help?”
“Pleasure, yes. You’ve just influenced my choice and one of the reasons is emotional,” Walden summed up. “Suppose you didn’t have to take the computer from Jordy Katrijn’s penthouse. Would that change your escape plan?”
“Of course. But securing the computer is the purpose of the raid,” Diosa pointed out. “If not for the information, we wouldn’t be planning the mission.”
“Okay, follow me. When I was analyzing our course, I didn’t care about the orbits of the planets in our path,” Walden said. “I only cared about the ones that would endanger us. When I found one that threatened the ship, I moved The Talon to a safer rout
e.”
“That is the purpose of navigation,” commented Diosa. “To prevent us from smashing into a planet. Isn’t it?”
“It is. And I was influenced by the orbital path and reacted for the safety of the ship,” Walden stated as if Diosa should see his point.
“You’ve gone from your stomach to a planetary system,” Diosa observed. “Can you break it down in plain Realm speak for a simple Marine?”
“You don’t have to take the computer,” Walden explained. “We don’t even know if it’s in the penthouse. Why search for it? You break in, make a mess, and leave.”
“Your new plan is called vandalism,” suggest Diosa. “It kind of defeats our purpose.”
“No, it doesn’t. You make Jordy Katrijn feel that the penthouse isn’t a safe place for the computer,” Walden said with a smile. “He’ll move it to a safer location. For him, where is it safer?”
“His mountain chalet,” responded Diosa. “He’ll move it out of a secured building in the city to a guarded and isolated place.”
“We will influence his choice and depend on his emotional response to place the computer in a safer location. And we’ll know it’s there for sure,” bragged Walden. “Now, I’m going to fix pasta. Want some?”
***
After a leisurely lunch, Diosa tidied up the galley before returning to cleaning the weapon. While she cleaned, Walden strolled to the command deck. A few hours later, Diosa joined him.
Walden had his feet up on a panel and a beverage in his hand as he watched a video walkthrough of a palatial apartment.
“Your dream retirement home?” she teased as she sat in the seat beside him.
“It’s an episode of a hit video show. It just came in when we dropped to interior drive,” explained Walden. “Let me replay it from the beginning.”
“Million Peseta Elements? Not my brand of entertainment,” pleaded Diosa as she started to stand.
Walden placed a hand on her arm.
“You’ll find this interesting,” he promised. “Please sit down.”
Diosa plopped down, displaying by her body language her total lack of interest in the home design show. But her pilot and researcher wanted to watch. Sacrificing for the team, she thought, settling back to appease her partner.
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