by Day Leitao
The girl was lowering her pistols. “True.”
Saytera wasn’t sure if lying was the greatest idea. Either way, she wanted more information. “What do you know about the truce?”
“They want to end it. Apparently, there will be a way to defeat the Lunars. Someone will send us weapons.”
“Do you know what kind of weapons?” Saytera asked.
“I think they’ll reveal it closer to the voting, right? I mean, if we get a strong fleet, the Lunars won’t stand a chance. They are not that many. If we can win this war, it’s good, right?”
Saytera was careful. “Have they mentioned the price for this support?”
Christina shrugged. “If we get back the Tahari moon, I don’t think price’s a problem.”
Saytera took a deep breath, and made a wacky decision. “The price is two hundred tons of Ilanium. We read it.”
The girl looked at both Saytera and Larissa. “How do you…” Then she aimed the pistols again. “Great, so you thought you could fool me.”
“Not me, I’m not fooling you,” Saytera said quickly. “Larissa doesn’t know you. We found out that someone will give Mainland a shieldbreaker. Do you know what it does?”
“Probably allows us to shoot shielded ships.”
That made sense. A lot of sense, and was much less nefarious than Saytera’s first thought that they wanted to destroy Sapphirlune city.
But then Larissa voiced her concern, “Or else destroy the Lunar city’s shield.”
Christina frowned. “No. That would be… And what did you say the price was?”
“Two hundred thousand kilos of Ilanium,” Saytera repeated.
Christina shook her head. “That’s impossible.”
Saytera didn’t understand. “Why?”
Christina laughed. “Why? Are you kidding me?”
That was annoying. “No.”
“Well, don’t you know how rare Ilanium is?”
Where was she going with this? “It’s only available in a few places, one of them the Tahari Moon. So?”
Christina grimaced. “Yeah. But how much? You would have known if you’d followed classes with us.”
“The Tahari moon has a deposit of almost fifty tons of it.” Larissa’s voice came softly.
Saytera blinked. “That’s… not a lot.”
“Right?” Christina asked. “So there’s no way they’d promise four times that to the company.”
“But that’s what we read,” Larissa insisted.
Christina narrowed her eyes. “In the information you hacked.”
Saytera was trying to think. “Well, an alarm sounded, right? So we did access classified information.”
Christina shook her head. “True. But it doesn’t make sense.”
Larissa was thoughtful. “Well, we don’t know. Maybe the deposit is bigger than they first thought, maybe… who knows?”
Maybe. Something else bugged Saytera. “And you don’t have any information about what a shieldbreaker is?”
Christina shrugged. “Never heard of that.” She looked at both girls. “So that’s what you accessed? Information about the truce?”
Larissa nodded. “Yeah, we found that.”
“And you risked getting caught for that?” Christina’s voice was incredulous.
Saytera shrugged. “Well, we found something.”
“Maybe not. Maybe we’ll learn about all that stuff in a couple days. Maybe they’re just waiting for the right opportunity to announce it.”
“See?” Larissa shrugged. “One reason we shouldn’t get detained.”
“Well, that was completely reckless. Why didn’t you just try to check information available to the army?”
Saytera and Larissa looked at each other. “What information?” Larissa asked.
“In the Citarella army facility.” Christina said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Look. Did you bring your identification?”
They both nodded.
“Great. Let’s go there, then, and see what’s been officially announced, stuff that hasn’t had the time to reach your base. It’s close by. From there we might understand what’s going on.”
Saytera was startled. “You want to help us.”
Christina rolled her eyes. “It’s my duty, that’s all. And you two are obviously just trying to do your job. The wrong way, but still.”
Larissa exhaled. “Thanks.”
Christina raised a warning hand. “This time, no hacking. Or they’ll figure it out before you even have a chance to blink.”
The girls followed Christina as she led them down a corridor. Saytera could feel her heart slamming in her chest as they drew closer to their destination. It was probably just the memory of their slim escape from the public archives. Here, they’d have no chance to do the same if they were caught. No hacking, though, so no worries. They’d just find out stuff that was not available to the general public. Maybe it would clarify some of what they’d found. Probably not, but it didn’t hurt to try. It was nice that Christina was helping them, but Saytera wasn’t sure how she felt about the girl. Some of her anger had ended a long time before, but at the same time she felt uneasy.
This facility was actually quite near Christina’s apartment, but they still took the car, having had to circle training grounds and a huge hangar. This was likely one of the few places with still functioning spaceships on Mainland.
The information center was next to the building housing the main Citarella army, and this was basically a resource room for personnel working elsewhere, like in the shore bases or city guard. Not that Saytera had ever known they could come in person and consult it. At least she felt less watched than in the public archives, which had the line to get in and people on every booth. This also had booths with terminals, but the room was empty.
As they researched the information, though, it was pretty much the same as in the public archives. Nothing about Somersault, project Zeta, and certainly nothing about details on shieldbreakers or any agreement to get one of those. That wasn’t surprising.
Christina stared at the screen, eyes down, then turned to Larissa. “Are you sure you read 200 ton?”
“Well, yes, but I guess we’ll never understand why. I mean, perhaps one day.”
Saytera was turning around to leave, when Christina said, “Wait.” As she noticed they were staring at her in curiosity she repeated, “Wait.” She took a deep breath. “I believe you.”
That was odd. Saytera was sure that her former academy colleague had bought their story a long time ago. Why was she saying it now?
“And…” she continued, “I agree with you that this might be important.”
Larissa shrugged. “Sure. What’s your idea?”
She looked at both her and Saytera. “This… is not as closely watched.” She pulled a stick from her pocket, then whispered, “If we just copy the information then leave, it can be really fast.”
A frown formed in Larissa’s face. “Are you suggesting…”
Christina nodded fast. “If it’s true they’re asking for…” She lowered her voice even more and looked down. “More Ilanium then we can give. And… I don’t know…” She looked at them. “I want to do something, too.”
Larissa had a thin smile, and took the girl’s stick. She inserted it and went back to her weird number-punching thing.
Saytera swallowed. Perhaps this wasn’t the best time to wonder if she was really interested in being arrested for illegal access of classified information.
Five seconds passed, and still only numbers, no red-framed screen. If this were like the public records, anything longer than fifteen seconds would get them caught. But that time they’d spend precious time reading. It would be different now. Except that chances were this would be a lot more secure than the public records.
Larissa still struggled to access anything. It had been what? About ten seconds now. Saytera took a deep breath, wondering if she should convince her friend to call its quits. Christin
a for her part watched her friend closely, eyes wide, probably about to regret many of her recent decisions.
Was this even worth it? They had no idea what they’d do with the information they’d found. Other than satiating their curiosity, what else would it mean? Saytera was almost about to tell her friend to stop it, when she finally got to the screen they’d seen in the public archives. But it seemed to be the same thing.
Christina voiced Saytera’s fear. “We’d better go.”
Larissa shook her head. “Just a bit.”
Saytera and her former academy colleague exchanged a worried glance.
Screens passed by, too fast for Saytera to understand what was being shown. Then more numbers. Fifteen seconds had already passed, and they were going on longer. At any moment now, a siren could blare, and then who knew what would happen to them.
Not if they left before they were caught. “Leave it.”
Larissa didn’t stop or look in her direction. “Shh. Almost there.”
Saytera could feel her pulse accelerating. There was no backdoor escape. Perhaps she and Christina could pull the stick and pull Larissa away from the terminal, but it would be worse, since neither of them would be able to get out of whatever her friend was doing. It was all on Larissa now, and she was apparently intent on getting to the bottom of things, ignoring what it could mean for them. How had her friend turned so reckless?
Finally, Larissa closed the screen and pulled the stick. “There. Nobody died. Thanks for not disturbing me.”
“Let’s go.” Saytera wasn’t sure they’d gotten through the worst of it.
If only they could run out of that place. But that would obviously draw eyes to them and get them in trouble. Instead, getting back through the corridor and passing through security in the front was an eternity. Saytera felt as if all eyes were on her, as if at any time someone would stop them.
They got in Christina’s car without a word.
After a while, Larissa broke the silence. “Guys, it wasn’t that bad, right?”
“We were lucky,” Christina said in a small voice.
Maybe. Saytera had a question. “Where are you taking us?”
“You think I’d risk my skin for that info and wouldn’t want to see it? I’m taking you back to my apartment.”
“Thanks. For everything.”
Christina kept looking ahead. “Yeah, I mean, I still wish you hadn’t hacked that.”
Larissa shrugged. “Nothing happened. We’re here. Sometimes we have to take risks, you know?”
“Maybe.”
The stairs to Christina’s place didn’t seem as decrepit as before, perhaps because this time Saytera knew where she was going, and knew it was a friend’s house. Friend? Perhaps. That was an interesting thought.
The girl wasted no time, and right away took a handheld terminal where she plugged the stick.
The bluish glow illuminated her surprised face.
Larissa pulled the terminal. “Let me see.” She then frowned.
Saytera approached.
On the screen, ZETA PROJECT.
It was a paragraph, but Saytera scanned it quickly to see phrases like annihilate Sapphirlune city, technology to destroy their city shield, two hundred tons of Ilanium from Tahari moon as payment.
There was a chair near her, which was good, otherwise she might have fallen. She felt a tug in her heart thinking about Dess, about his city, about the horrific thing the Mainlanders were about to do. And why Zeta project? What did it have to do with the killings in Somersault? Her head started to buzz.
Larissa turned from the terminal. “Are you okay?”
Barely able to breathe, Saytera just shook her head.
Christina sat by her. “It looks bad, right? Do you think it’s real?”
Larissa shrugged. “You think they’d falsify information accessible only to a few people in the government?”
Getting worked up about it wasn’t helping. “Right. So you guys read it. They’re really planning on attacking the Sapphirlune city?”
Her shore base colleague sighed. “Looks like it.”
Right. “And for more Ilanium than the Tahari moon has.”
Larissa shrugged. “Unless they found more. I don’t know.”
Christina kept looking at the display, her face pale. “You know what the problem is? Let’s assume they just threaten the moon with that shieldbreaker, let’s assume the best. The issue is that we’d take years mining Ilanium for this company. I mean… When we were studying about the Tahari moon, they said it could produce up to a ton a year. This would mean 200 years of mining and giving them the compound if we were to sell it at maximum capacity, which is hard to believe. It is going to be more expensive and laborious than just letting them have the moon. What was the point of this anyway?”
Saytera shrugged. “There is no point, Christina. If you think about all the losses, all the restrictions, there’s no advantage in fighting for that floating rock. There has never been.”
“It was about being fair!” Christina protested. “I mean… but this is ridiculous.”
Larissa gestured for them to calm down. “Fine. Let’s check the rest.” She took the terminal.
“What rest?” Saytera dreaded the idea of finding anything even worse than that.
“Zeta Project,” her friend replied. She stared at the screen. “Somersault, not much more. It’s as if project Zeta is a response to the killings there. Well, there could be more, but you guys were hurrying me.”
There was a soft click, click. Saytera looked around. “Do you have an alarm or something?”
“No,” Christina seemed confused.
Saytera got up. “Silence.” She could hear it, something getting ready, fire contained into something, ready to… “Explode.”
“What?” Larissa seemed puzzled.
There was no time to explain anything. “Do you have a backdoor? We have to run. NOW.”
Christina didn’t move. “Yes, but…”.
Saytera pushed the girl and pulled Larissa, who still held tight to the small terminal.
They came to a balcony leading to a ladder. Saytera said, “It’s a bomb. We have to jump.”
The girls didn’t seem much convinced. Right then a bang came from the inside, together with broken glass in their direction. Saytera hung herself from the balcony, then jumped. Christina and Larissa followed.
“Let’s get to my car!” Christina yelled.
Larissa grimaced. “You think it’s a good idea?”
Christina sighed, then looked up. “No snipers at least.”
Larissa was limping. “If we’re lucky they’ll think we’re dead.”
“Isn’t this my lucky day?” Christina sounded bitter as she stared back at what had once been her home.
Saytera tried to think, tried to come up with an escape plan.
They would be surrounded, without any chance to reach the train station, to escape that place, unless...
“Let’s go back to the military grounds,” Saytera suggested.
“Are you nuts?” Christina asked.
Just then, a zapper ray passed them. Two people were running in their direction, shooting.
Christina turned and shot them. Saytera was about to stop her friend when she fired the first shot—and hit one of the people’s legs. Another shot, and she hit a hand or the weapon.
No time to check. They ran, climbed a fence, and were in the military port.
This was a desperate, reckless decision, but she found no other way. Saytera scanned the facility and found her answer in a black L2. “The one by the fuel station.” It wouldn’t make sense to put fuel in a non-functioning ship.
Christina stopped. “They’ll shoot us down!”
“They are already shooting us. And they won’t get us if we fly low enough.” Assuming Saytera could do it, of course. “Let’s go.”
Christina didn’t move. “I don’t agree with this.”
“Well, stay, then.” Larissa snapped.
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Saytera pulled Christina’s hand. “They already tried to kill us. I don’t see another way.”
They came to the black ship. Saytera closed the fuel compartment. Larissa thankfully was able to get the main door open.
Some ten people entered the grounds, weapons in hand.
Saytera tried to recall everything she’d read about that type of ship and how it worked. Words and illustrations had to make sense and become something real. Larissa was trying to open its system. They were facing the door to the hangar and saw it burst open while six or eight people came running and shooting. This was a space-compatible model, so the windshield was strong, otherwise they’d be dead by now. Larissa unblocked the system, and Saytera took her best guess and pushed the launch button. They were accelerating upward.
Saytera sat and took a deep breath. They’d escaped getting shot on land. Would they be shot out of the air?
24
What Now?
On the pilot seat, Saytera tried to change the ship’s direction, but somehow couldn’t do it. They accelerated upward as the city got smaller beneath them.
Larissa stared. “Why is it going up?”
Saytera’s stomach formed a knot. It couldn’t be real. “It’s… It’s launch mode. As in launching into outer space.”
“That’s it. We’re dead.” Christina rested her forehead on her hand.
Larissa bit her lip. “The anti-aerial system is set for incoming ships. If we’re fast enough…”
That made sense. “Let’s hope we leave their range soon enough, then.”
Christina looked down and shook her head. “We’re so dead.”
Larissa shrugged. “Look at the bright side. At least it will be fast.”
The other girl glared. “I’m not ready to die.”
Neither was Saytera. It felt odd to be on the receiving possibility of being shot from the air, without any chance of defense. The worst was that for now the mechanism was locked, meaning that there was absolutely nothing she could do other than hope that the people in the city’s defenses took long to notice their escape.
Yes, they’d gotten the information. Yes, it was important. And yet, what would be the point, if it got blasted with them? She sighed.
