Axis crossing, p.9
Axis Crossing, page 9
Bot-boy’s expression couldn’t have displayed more elation, and he regarded the other gang members with pride.
Jasper offered his hand to Escher. He wanted to say something to remind Escher of his promise to return, but those words seemed misplaced. Instead, he said, “Good fortune, Escher. Ceda and you are about to face myriad tunnel disasters.”
Escher chuckled at the image and shook Jasper’s hand. “Be careful, Jasper. Take good care of the gang and my sister.”
With that, Escher and Ceda slipped out of the lair. Ceda was dressed as the evening before, and Escher had returned to the surface clothes he wore when he had first run from the agents.
Walking through the lower tunnels, the couple appeared out of place until they gained the main tunnel. Then they merged with the foot traffic of mining managers, surface engineers, and clones.
Exiting an elevator at the surface, Escher reminded Ceda that they were a couple.
“Oh,” Ceda replied. “I forgot. I was being careful not to indicate our relationship.”
Then Ceda companionly slipped her arm inside Escher’s. “This is nice,” she remarked. “I could get used to this.”
Two agents approached the couple, and Escher took the opportunity to nuzzle Ceda’s ear. She laughed softly, and the agents passed them by.
“That was scary,” Ceda said afterward.
“Play your part,” Escher reminded her. “Don’t give agents an opportunity to become suspicious of us.”
“Or vid cams a good look at us,” Ceda added, to which Escher tipped his head in agreement.
At the Racer-Paula residence building, before they were in sight of the security cam, Ceda threw her arms around Escher’s neck. He twirled her to the front door and swiped his cid across the door panel. Then the couple danced through the lobby.
In the corridor, Escher and Ceda kept up the ruse, as they passed residents and clones. Passersby might have thought they were witnessing a newly partnered couple relishing each other’s company. However, if they knew of the excessive pounding of their hearts, they’d have thought differently.
On entering the apartment, Ceda stopped short. “What do we do first?” she asked.
“Before we left the lair, I inserted a delay into the building’s security system,” Escher replied. “We’ve fifteen minutes before the apartment’s panel access will be reported. I don’t know if dome security is monitoring this residence yet, but I suggest we be gone before the fifteen minutes end.”
“You disconnect the computers,” Ceda directed. “I’ll start packing the couple’s personal belongings.”
In less than ten minutes, Ceda had the bags waiting at the apartment’s front door. “Shame that nothing will suit either of us,” she commented. “Racer and Paula had some nice clothes.”
Escher addressed resident services on his slate and directed them to immediately convey their baggage to their shuttle. He added the launch time. Then Ceda and he exited the apartment and reengaged in their act on the way out of the building.
Dropping to the main tunnel, Escher and Ceda caught public transport to move under three domes to the shuttleport.
Two agents were on the same transport, and Ceda took advantage of the situation to publicly embarrass Escher. There was nothing he could do but go along with her antics.
When the agents exited the transport two domes later, Ceda leaned into her seat. She wore a mischievous grin, and Escher’s color was decidedly pink, which made her laugh.
The couple accompanied several other transport passengers to board the elevator to the surface. Then they queued for the security check and the sentinels.
Ceda nervously slipped her hand into Escher’s. In return, Escher squeezed it gently. His composure was slipping too.
The sentinels weren’t AI, but their programming levels were extraordinary. They were designed to operate as gatekeepers. In addition, the sentinels were autonomous bots. They had the authority to read the cid of every traveler. Any nonapproved traveler would be seized and held by them until dome security arrived.
This event was something that Escher couldn’t test. It was his hope that the newly implanted cids would allow Ceda and him to ghost past the gatekeepers.
“Don’t run, if I fail the security check,” Escher whispered to Ceda. Then he released her hand and stepped in front of her.
Two passengers later, Escher slid his hand under a gate panel. The panel turned green, and Escher walked through. Every fiber in his body urged him to turn and wait for Ceda, but he kept walking toward the shuttle gates.
Escher joined others queuing to pass through an airlock. Within a minute, he felt Ceda’s hand in his, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief. He glanced quickly toward her. Ceda had tears in her eyes, and it hit him how much she risked by aligning herself with him. He squeezed her hand, and she returned the pressure.
Aboard the shuttle, the couple sat nervously, expecting any moment to see agents enter the ship. When the shuttle launched twenty minutes later, their anxiety didn’t fade. There was the possibility of a recall to the planet.
Three hours later, the couple departed the shuttle. They were shown the way to the Axis-ship cabin that Escher had reserved.
“Nice suite,” Ceda remarked, examining the interior.
“What are credits for if not to enjoy the pleasures of life?” Escher asked.
“Especially if the credits aren’t yours,” Ceda replied, laughing. She threw her arms around Escher’s neck and hung there. “How much longer?” she asked in his ear.
“After we sail, we’ll need a few days to reach the wormhole boundary. When the ship passes that point, it’ll be on a final approach to the anomaly,” Escher explained. “The captain might get a call to detain us before we leave the system, but after the ship passes the boundary, he can’t interrupt our passage.”
∞
The X-Ore commander, Bethany McIntyre, finished another review of Escher’s and Allie’s files. It was Escher who intrigued her. According to the profile, Escher appeared to be the usual corporate employee child. That was if an agent didn’t have a trained eye.
Bethany saw a young man who thought outside the box. He was an originator, and it showed in minute details. She considered that Escher might not know of his capabilities, until he was faced with unusual circumstances, and she’d just created those by abducting his parents.
An X-Ore agent stuck his head in Bethany’s temporary office, and said, “You might be interested in this development.”
“Details,” Bethany directed.
“Two days ago, dome security received reports of an abduction of two surface dwellers,” the agent explained. “The individuals weren’t located until today.”
“Where were they?” Bethany asked, not that she was really interested.
“The man and the woman were left hidden behind a recycler,” the agent replied. “They were drugged, bound, and gagged. It took them time to get free.”
“And this is important, why?” Bethany inquired. The man was her top investigator, and she allowed him some leeway.
“The couple declared their names to security, but records show that those individuals left the planet. They booked passage for Naiad,” the agent replied, grinning. “Oh. Here’s a fascinating detail. The recovered couple is missing their cids.”
Suddenly, small details clicked for Bethany, and she swore harshly. As she marched from her office, the agent made way. The commander’s augmentations were massive and dangerous.
Bethany made her way to security’s comtech department. She confronted Tori and said, “Run a sweep on every computer. I think you’ll find you’ve been spoofed.”
Tori opened her mouth to object, but the certainty in the commander’s eyes and tone halted the words in her mouth. She issued a department-wide directive to halt all operations and run deep searches on every device.
The exhaustive search took nearly an hour to run.
Tori paced the entire time. She dearly hoped that the X-Ore commander wasn’t right. If she was, then Escher had outsmarted her. That in itself was galling. Worse, he’d hidden within her department. The maneuver was just something that Escher would do, but what angered Tori was that she hadn’t thought of it.
Finally, through her office’s viewplate, Tori saw an agent stand and swear. Her fists clenched in rage. Then she got control of her temper, stood, straightened her jacket, and strode confidently from her office. It was pure theater, but it was all she could think to do.
Ten minutes later, Tori stood in front of the two commanders.
“I’m sorry to report,” Tori began, “that Escher infiltrated an agent’s computer within my department. At Commander McIntyre’s insistence, the department ran checks on every device. We discovered Escher had spoofed a computer to hide his machinations. We analyzed the computer’s logs to uncover the connections that Escher had made with the computer.”
“I thought you said that you could beat him,” Anthony remarked.
“I thought I could,” Tori replied.
“I’m more interested in what Escher was doing,” Bethany interrupted.
“We discovered that Escher was searching shuttle and Axis-ship bookings,” Tori replied. “Then, recently, bookings were made.”
“How did he do that?” Anthony asked. “Escher’s and Allie’s cids were flagged.”
“Recall, Commander, that the newly recovered man and woman, who had been abducted, were released without their cids,” Tori explained. “Those bookings were made in the names of Racer Deeming and Paula Palbrute, the abducted couple.”
“When do they intend to sail?” Bethany asked.
“We attempted to review shuttle imagery of loading passengers to ensure that the bookings weren’t a ruse, but the recordings were erased for a period of a half hour. It’s our assumption that Escher and Allie Talons have flown, Commander. Their Axis-ship looped for Naiad yesterday.”
Tori emotionally prepared for the explosion that was sure to come.
Instead, Bethany chuckled. “A wily one,” she commented. “I’d like to meet him one day.” Then she slapped Commander Jenkins’s desk with a bang. “Well, that’s that,” she said. “They’re unrecoverable, which means my job here is done.”
“We’ll miss you, Commander,” Anthony said, straight-faced.
Bethany barked a harsh laugh. “I’m sure you will,” she said and exited without another word.
As the office door slid closed behind Bethany, Anthony muttered, “Good riddance.”
Considering what the various events meant to him, Anthony eyed Tori and asked, “What happened? How did Escher operate within your department?”
“Commander, I think Escher was placed in desperate circumstances, and he exercised a temperament that he and I never knew he had.”
Anthony thought about what Escher had accomplished, and it was his turn to laugh. “Then X-Ore better watch out,” he said. “I can think of only one reason that Escher and Allie are headed to Naiad. They want allies to help them recover their parents. I wish them well, and the X-Ore directors deserve whatever punishment comes their way.”
“Commander, do you want me to notify Naiad of the stolen cids?” Tori asked.
“No, Tori. Escher and Allie did what they had to do to stay out of the clutches of X-Ore. Naiad will have to sort it out,” Anthony replied.
“What about the clone?” Tori asked.
“Who?” Anthony queried.
“There was a house clone assigned to the Talons. Her name is Ceda. What do you want to do with her?” Tori asked.
“She’ll need to be reassigned,” Anthony said, wondering why Tori brought up the subject.
“The reason I’m asking, Commander, is that Ceda hasn’t been seen since she showed up at the Talons’ apartment to swipe Escher’s computer,” Tori said. “Afterward, Commander McIntyre had me lock the clone out of her cubicle. She’s disappeared.”
“Well, she has to be on this rock somewhere,” Anthony said. “I’ll have a small team search for her. I expect she’ll turn herself in when she runs out of support.”
Anthony waved a hand at Tori to exit the office. He was tired of the whole business of kidnapped metallurgists. It meant he would file lengthy reports with corporate headquarters, and there were bound to be repercussions.
∞
Jasper’s crew debated for hours after Escher and Ceda left for the couple’s apartment. At the heart of the arguments was how and when to deliver their captives to the surface.
Those who opted for immediate release often glanced guiltily at Allie, who remained quiet.
When the anxious discussions wound down, Allie turned to Doc. “How much longer can Racer and Paula be kept under?”
“Not much longer,” Doc replied. “They need water and nutrients, and I’ve no medical supplies to support them with intravenous delivery.”
“What are you thinking, Allie?” Jasper asked, which engendered some ire among gang members, who thought Allie shouldn’t have a say.
“We’ve got the second storeroom,” Allie offered. “We move them there. Let them wake up. Doc and I can cover our faces. We can give them water and feed them.”
“Then what?” Red asked defiantly. He was one of the individuals who didn’t like Allie speaking out on a subject that was crucial to gang security.
“Then we take care of their personal needs and put them back under,” Doc interjected, smiling at Allie. “That will give us a couple of days before we release them.”
“We can’t wait that long,” Bibi said. “Agents are already sweeping cubicles on the main tunnel level. It’s only a matter of time before they descend to the lower levels.”
“I say we go with Allie’s idea, but with a twist,” Scrounger volunteered. “Allie and Doc take care of our guests. When they’re finished, Doc puts them back under. Then we take them to the surface and hide them, bound and gagged.”
“I like that,” Ditz added, nodding appreciatively. “We get rid of the pair fairly soon, but we buy Escher and Ceda as much time as possible.”
“That’s the plan then,” Jasper pronounced. It was a good compromise.
Scrounger procured two packing crates. Air holes were drilled in the lower corners.
When Doc said the couple was ready for transport, the bodies were loaded into the crates and stacked on the motorized cart. Then Jasper and Scrounger walked the cart to the surface during the cover of night.
A hiding place was found. Then the gang members unloaded the bodies and tied them to a water delivery line. When the gags were in place, they restacked their crates and returned below.
The next day and the following morning, Bot-boy monitored the tunnel networks.
Jasper and the gang went from being elated that the plan had worked to worrying that they might have secured Racer and Paula too well.
“I could have gotten out of those restraints within hours,” Jasper opined. “What’s taking those two crats so long?” Belatedly, he added, “Sorry, Allie.”
“Well, you know crats. No physical skills. Never did a hard day’s work in their life,” Allie replied, with a grin.
The crew laughed mildly at Allie’s joke, but they were too concerned about the couple’s safety to really enjoy it.
“Should we go back and check on them?” Lita asked. “They’ve got to be awake, right?” She eyed Doc, who nodded vigorously. “We can give them water and loosen their knots a bit.”
“We wait until dark,” Jasper said. “Then Scrounger and I will go back to the surface.”
In the early evening, Bot-boy announced excitedly. “They found them.”
“Who said so?” Jasper asked, rising. The gang had finished their dinner meal, and they were relaxing on their sleeping pads.
“Newsfeed from a mining director’s office,” Bot-boy reported. “He wanted to assure mining managers that interruptions caused by the agents’ searches were at an end. A couple has been found, he says.”
“Does the newsfeed mention the couple’s names?” Allie asked anxiously.
Jasper poured through the text floating above the computer’s virtual pad. “No, it doesn’t,” he said triumphantly. “It just says an unidentified man and woman from the surface have been found.” He turned and grinned at Allie and Doc.
Allie reached an arm around Doc’s shoulder and hugged the teenager close. They’d successfully given Ceda and her brother as much time as they could without endangering the crew.
Now, Escher, let’s hope you’re as clever as I believe you are, Allie thought.
8: Welcome!
BETA TWO, MONART SYSTEM
X-ORE PLANET
“Welcome to Beta Two,” Harlyn Blackwell, X-Ore’s head of research, said to the newly landed Raw Metals metallurgists. She smiled winningly, but she received nothing but scowls in return. “Well, I can imagine you’re a little upset about what’s happened to you.”
“What’s happened to us?” Timor Talons retorted angrily and rhetorically. “What’s happened is that you invaded our company domes and kidnapped us.”
“Worse,” Dahlia Talons added, “you’ve separated us from our children. Where are they? What have you done with them?”
A heavily augmented and imposing security lieutenant moved to impose some discipline on Timor and Dahlia, but a hand signal from Harlyn halted his action. He stepped back and tapped his armored arms warningly against his sides. The clash sent a clear message.
However, Timor and Dahlia weren’t intimidated. They were worried parents. Furthermore, they knew that X-Ore must have a critical need for their services.
“How long are we to be here?” a father, whose entire family was present, asked.
Harlyn looked decidedly uncomfortable, despite the half-hearted smile she’d pasted on her face. “That’s unknown,” she replied. “More than likely, it’ll be up to the group of you.”
“We’re not doing any work for you until you reunite us with our children,” Dahlia stated defiantly.
“If you take that position, I can’t help you,” Harlyn said. Her smile faltered, and she indicated the lieutenant standing next to her. “And I don’t think you’d like the alternative.”
