Maya beamed. Some of the effervescence came back to the skin around her cheeks as she pulled the picture again to bump it to his holo.
“Thank you!” she gushed. “I’m Maya, by the way.” She held out her hand to shake his. He took it straight away. “Ned,” he told her.
“Ned, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me.”
Ned smiled goofily, blushing a little. When she released his hand, he used it to ruffle his dark Estarian hair. “Don’t mention it.” His voice caught for a second in his throat. “Happy to help.”
She turned to the door, and then turned back. “Hey, I don’t suppose…” she hesitated, not wanting to push her luck.
Ned looked at her, expectantly.
She continued. “I don’t suppose that maybe you know which ship he came in on? And if that ship is still here?”
Ned flicked back to his screen, and swiped a few times.
“Yeah, I’ve got the tail number here. XC-094B.” He glanced up at her again. “It’s not here, though. Want me to let you know when it lands?”
Maya beamed again. “Would you?”
“Of course! For a smile like that…” He suddenly blushed deep red under his blue skin, embarrassed by his own cheesy boldness.
Maya grinned at him and waved. “Thank you Ned, so much!” She trotted off away from the security lodge and back around to her car, blushing somewhat herself.
Maya got back into her car and started the engine. Window still down, she waved at him before reversing back out of the driveway to a point where she could turn around.
As she drove off to the strato highway, she glanced in her rearview mirror. Ned was still standing outside his hut, watching her leave.
Press conference outside Memorial Hall, Spire
Garet Beaufort stepped away from the podium, allowing the mayor to take over the press conference taking place in front of the memorial building, where the Ministry of Health Care met for their annual meeting.
He looked out at the assembled reporters, brandishing holo recorders, monitoring and capturing his every word and movement. He had toed the line in his statement, and yet, something made him feel on edge. He tried to shake the feeling from his body, pretending to just be warming up against the cold morning air.
Scanning the crowd, something made him look for familiar faces. Maybe it was the loneliness. Every now and again, he thought he might see Paige. But he knew that wasn’t right; she wouldn’t come back here. Not after everything that happened.
Not after he didn’t choose her.
“…and that is why the mayor’s office is also proud to support the motion.” Mayor Gains finished his statement, and the press erupted into a clamor of questions.
Garet glazed over.
It had quickly all become quite routine. He took a breath, looking for an escape route away from the onslaught of questions and brashness, but his eyes fell to a figure at the back of the crowd.
He looked more closely, recognizing the body shape before the face.
It was Sean Royale.
As soon as it was appropriate to leave the platform, he shook hands with the mayor, and made his way down to the street. His team fussed around him and he waved them off.
“Gimme ten minutes,” he told Nancy, the newest blonde addition to his entourage. She nodded obediently, and watched as he moved off around the crowd, striding purposefully across the road into the memorial park on the other side.
She didn’t notice the heavy-set super soldier follow him shortly after.
Sean casually caught up to Garet. Hands in pockets, each just looked like a guy taking a walk.
Hidden by hedging and greenery from the road, Garet didn’t look at Sean as they walked more slowly now. “How did it go?” he asked.
Sean spoke in a low, but very clear voice. “Well. There are still some loose ends - which I will handle - but they built a device. I checked it. It will do the job.”
Garet stopped walking.
Sean pulled the little storage pod out of his pocket. “You can put data on it, and then upload it using any public XtraNET port. Just don’t use it at home or in the office. Or anywhere they can trace you.”
Garet nodded.
He looked at the device, and then slipped it quickly into his pants pocket. Then he looked up, knowing he shouldn’t be asking. “How are they all?”
Sean reported as professionally as he could on the question. “They all seem in good health. Good spirits. They’re building a new team together. They’ve just taken on a new tech guy.
Garet’s eyes narrowed. “Did he check out okay?”
Sean nodded briefly once. “Affirmative. Although one thing is suspicious.”
Garet looked concerned.
Sean continued, his eyes dancing a little. “His dress sense is way too good for a nerd.”
Garet laughed out loud. He turned and continued walking, ambling along with Sean now in tow.
“And Paige?”
Sean bobbed his head slightly. “The hybrid?”
Garet looked up at him. “Yes,” he smiled at the term. “The hybrid.”
Sean smiled a little again, and looked back at Garet. “She looked in excellent health and humor.”
Garet bobbed his head, wondering if he should ask more. He decided against it. He looked straight ahead and continued walking.
He was silent for a moment.
“And did you meet Joel?” he asked.
“I did.”
Garet was now watching Sean’s reaction, even as they walked. “Impressive guy, no?” he prodded.
Sean wasn’t giving much away. “Seems to be.”
“But you could take him?” Garet smiled, genuinely curious.
“Probably,” Sean admitted, stiffly.
The pair was approaching a gate to the park. If Garet stepped out here, he could walk casually back up the street to rejoin his people.
He nodded at the exit, signaling his intent. “Okay. Great job. I’ll wait to hear from you about everything else.”
Sean nodded, and then casually continued on a route deeper into the park, avoiding the possibility of anyone snapping images that might place them together for their conversation.
Spaceport, Hangar 08771A, Outskirts of Uptarlung
“Permission granted. Welcome back, XC-094B. Just remember to swing by control to get that fine paid, or else you’ll come back to an impounded ship.”
Crash rolled his eyes, but his voice was as cool and professional as a fighter pilot on group comms. “Roger that, control. Will attend as soon as we touch down.”
Fucking jumped up half-wits, he thought to himself.
Molly had given him access to funds to square it away, and hoped his license record didn’t suffer as a result of her command decision. But still, a little piece of him wanted to just shove it to the man.
He touched down gently, and received the green light to taxi straight away. Switching to wheels mode, he dropped the hyperdrive engines to zero, and allowed them to naturally power down against the friction of the air. It would save excessive wear and tear doing it that way, even though traditional safety regs dictated otherwise.
His inner rebel was flying the ship today.
Gently, he eased the ship forward and off toward the hangars. It took a few moments to normalize to the natural gravity and to gather his thoughts, but as he taxied, he thought to switch his personal holo and comms back on.
“Call Joel,” he told his holo in hands-free mode.
A moment later, the call connected. “Joel, how the fuck are you, my man?”
“All the better for hearing you, you asshole. How the andskotinn are you?”
Crash smiled to himself. “Ready for a fokking pizza before we leave for the rock.”
Joel looked over at Pieter who had brightened up at the prospect of getting off-world, finally. “Roger that. We’re packed up and ready to leave. See you in twenty minutes pl
us however long the pizza pick-up takes.”
Crash grinned, having a sneaky thought. “Hey, don’t suppose we could go with an all-out meat feast, since the boss isn’t around?”
Joel nearly hooted with laughter. “I’ll see what we can arrange!” He clicked off the comms.
“That’s us,” he said to Pieter. “Let’s get out of here.”
Pieter gathered up his two packs and headed out of the hotel door. Joel did a quick visual sweep to make sure they had everything, and then followed him out, closing the door behind him.
Pieter looked brightly over at Joel. “So, pizza?”
Joel grinned. “Hellz yeah. Pizza with meat – pepperoni, and all kinds of carnivorous fancies. There’s a place just around the corner that will see us right.”
The two headed down the corridor and out of the building, a decisive spring in their steps, despite their numerous packs and pieces of equipment.
Chapter 20
Spaceport, Hangar 08771A, Outskirts of Uptarlung
“You know, there’s something that bothers me still…” Joel started.
Pieter looked over to him, a mouthful of cheese and meat barely making it all the way into his mouth. He chewed a bit and made some room. “About the mission?”
Joel crinkled his nose. “Yeah. It’s just something about the toxin, and the scientist.” He paused, and plopped the half-eaten slice of pizza down in the box in front of him. “I mean, why go to all the trouble of developing the toxin, only to send it with the one man who can be identified as associated with all this? Surely you’d send someone a) trained, and b) anonymous?”
Pieter nodded. “You have a point. It doesn’t quite stack.” He kept chewing.
Crash continued to eat, watching the conversation back and forth, like a game of ping-pong.
Joel was unsettled. “Have you still got those cameras hooked up?” he asked Pieter.
Pieter nodded, reluctantly surrendering his pizza back to the box so he could open his holo to find the feed.
Joel continued, “You know, they could have sent almost anyone else, and got away with it. Something about this was all just… too easy.”
Crash piped up. “Don’t let Molly hear you say that. She worked like a bitch to get that antidote developed.”
Joel waved his hand. “Yeah, I don’t doubt that. But the logic, at this end… it just doesn’t stack.”
Pieter had the feed up. “All locations are quiet. Want me to scan for movement in the time you left Sean there?”
Joel nodded, “Please.” The pizza now forgotten, he stood up just to feel like he was in action again.
Crash, finishing his current slice of meaty heaven, reached over for another piece. Joel paced. While Crash chewed, his eyes were fixed on Joel like something out of a cartoon, following him backwards and forwards.
Finally something chirped on Pieter’s holo. He pulled up the footage. “Here we go.” He paused, reviewing the footage. “Holy shit, Joel. You were right!”
Joel paced back to the makeshift table and looked over Pieter’s shoulder as he enlarged the frame.
Pieter explained what he was looking at. “That’s Sean,” he pointed to a figure with his back to the camera. “And this is from about twenty minutes ago…”
Pieter hit play, and the footage ticked forward second by second.
Joel’s mouth hung open.
Pieter just looked confused.
Seeing their reactions, Crash stopped eating, stood up, pizza in hand, and walked around to view the footage from behind Pieter.
The three of them watched, dumbfounded.
“Fuck me!” whispered Joel in disbelief.
Spire Central Water Facility, Hlidargata
Sean checked in to the server dump: two new messages.
Message #1: “same location. Bogie ETA 17:20. Carrying the second device.”
There was an image attached. Sean checked the Estarian’s mug shot. He was known to the Sanguine. This was going to be straight-forward.
Getting out of his vehicle he marched up to the structure where he’d jumped Joel. It was a good spot not to be seen. He took cover, squatting down, out of sight. The natural daylight from Sark was low, meaning long shadows, making it easier to hide.
He waited. 17:15.
Eventually, he heard movement. A civilian-looking guy, spindly and low-key, appeared. He had a backpack, and walked idly. Anyone not looking for him would have disregarded him as a threat.
Sean knew better.
He waited, allowing the man to approach the grating where the toxin device would need to be dropped. Sean quietly crept out of his hiding place, and stepped forward.
Before the man could reach into his bag, Sean had stunned him, and slung him over his shoulder, lifting him up as if he were just a sack of potatoes. In one swift movement, he also grabbed hold of the bag the man was carrying. He opened it and rummaged inside, making sure it contained the second device, then closed it up again, and stalked off with the terrorist over his shoulder.
After just a few paces, he remembered something. He stopped, turned, and then looked up at the camera that Pieter had fitted. He smiled a half smile, and gave it a casual two-finger salute before carrying on, out of the frame.
That would get them, he chuckled to himself. If they’re half as good as the General thinks they are, they’ll check the footage eventually.
His chuckle turned into a satisfied grin as he stomped away back to the car.
Newstainment Offices, downtown Spire
“Hey, did you hear about the conspiracy to poison the city’s water supply?”
Maya overheard a snippet of a conversation as she walked from the elevators past a couple of ladies standing in the hallway.
“Yeah. Couldn’t believe it was the scientist…”
Maya made her way through the bustling corridors. Almost half past five in the afternoon, and the place was still in full-swing. She needed to get to her desk and find out what was actually being reported. Just because she knew the truth, it didn’t necessarily mean that the truth was what Newstainment were reporting.
She swung past her desk, ditching her jacket, and made her way closer to Bob’s office. He was there, shouting at a journalist.
Okay, he’s fine, she calmed herself. And as long as he’s running the story he was told to, he’ll stay fine.
She hoped she was right.
She pulled up her holo and connected it to the work network. Quickly, she searched for the official story.
She read it, then clicked on a video report. It all looked pretty vague. At least Molly Bates wasn’t featuring yet; although, that might just be a matter of time. Though, without video evidence… She wondered if Molly was even on Estaria. After all, if Joel Dunham had been off-world, likelihood was that she would be too.
She scanned through her messages, deleting and clearing, trying to get her head clear, while standing up now and again to see if Bob was still in his meeting.
Ugh, the other journalist just sat down. Looks like he’ll be a while. Fucker.
She sat down again for maybe the fifth time since she got there. She pulled her attention back to the job at hand.
If these guys were going off-world, then there would be a limited number of places they could go in the XC-094B they were using.
She pulled up a chart of the system and started scribbling on distances.
Next, she pulled up the range of the ship, given a full fuel cell and minimal crew. Drawing a sphere around Estaria, she then zoomed in to see what might be within range.
Ogg was out. Just at this time of year; it was almost on the exact opposite side of Sark right now.
She turned her visual model so she could see what else was around. There were a few minor planets, but none of those were habitable. Either too hot, or even molten.
She spun the visual representation again. The sphere intersected with the asteroid belt. She zoomed in, watching the
asteroid labels flick by as she did.
What if they were hiding in the asteroid belt?
Her father had told her stories when she was very young; stories about how people would have secret bases in asteroid belts around systems. Bases that got closed down and decommissioned. She wished she could remember more about what he’d said.
She flicked her holo in to code mode so she could see where her representation was pulling data from.
One of the university servers. Government owned, therefore probably fit for public consumption, and completely fictitious.
She needed better data.
Fokk, dammit, she thought to herself, realizing that to get it was possible, but that it was going to take a lot more work.
There must be an easier way. Her hatred for hacking through the dark web was unmatched by anything.
Well almost anything.
Just then, a message hit her holo. She turned her wrist, and it flicked open. It was from Ned.
Her eyes scanned the short text, and almost without thinking, she closed her screens and stood up. She picked up her jacket that had slipped onto the floor behind her chair, and walked out the way she had come just a few minutes previously.
“Yo! Maya, where you off to in such a hurry?” It was Drew, one of her few work “buddies”.
“Chasing a story. Catch up later!” she called, waving, walking as fast as she could out to the elevators again.
Drew stood peering over his cubicle partition shaking his head at her. “Fokk, I wish I could catch stories the way she can…”
He slumped back down in his chair, frustrated, and flicked at his antigrav mug.
Chapter 21
Spaceport, Hangar 08771A, Outskirts of Uptarlung
Maya pulled up at the security lodge at the main gate. As she arrived, Ned stepped out looking concerned.
She got out of the car, and Ned headed over. “I came on duty, and they had already logged in. I’m sorry.”
Maya smiled at him. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m grateful you let me know. Which hangar are they in?”
Ned beckoned for her to follow him back to the lodge. “Looks like they’re all up there right now. They’ll probably be leaving soon, depending on when they can get a window.” He led her into the office and pulled up a holo screen. “The ship is in Hangar 08771A.”
The Ascension Myth Box Set Page 44
