Rafe picked up random cartridges on Fred’s table, clearly amused. “Alright smart guy, tell me about my stuff.”
Fred pretended to make notes on his tablet. “I have your security policy but that needs to wait till later. Just tell me about the product.”
Rafe watched the librarian sneak a look at him. He winked at her, barely hiding his amusement when she blushed and looked away. “Don’t worry, Bagpipes. I got your candy.”
“No eating in the library.”
Rafe looked to the left and gently scratched the side of his nose. The go sign. Fred nodded.
An impatient drum beat in Fred’s chest. “Let's get out of here.”
The librarian adjusted her white cardigan around her bony shoulders, staring at Fred the whole time.
Rafe smiled at her and held up his hand, palm facing the librarian. “It's okay ma'am. I've got this.” He turned to Fred and angrily hissed. “Shhhh!”
Fred detached his tablet from the book desk and grabbed Rafe’s arm. “C’mon.”
Rafe laughed hysterically as Fred pulled him out of the library, inspiring hissing from every librarian they passed
Fred stopped when they descended the library steps. “What's so funny?”
Rafe caught his breath. “Sorry, man. I've just never been shushed during an illegal arms deal before.”
Fred folded his arms. “You said you had the Talon-R.”
“Why yes, I do. And the weapons?”
“You know how it works, man,” Fred protested. “When you ask for high-end stuff, I have to pull down the stock as needed.”
Rafe smiled and slipped Fred an amber bottle and some pills in an exaggerated handshake. “Yeah, I got it. I got to get back to my warehouse. I just bought everybody a group health plan, so we need to afford it now. Enjoy your trip.”
“It should be an adventure.”
“Oh, Fred?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you find a better place for this sort of thing next time?”
+++
Vlad’s Office, Physics Department, Tesla University, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros
Vlad leaned back in his chair and tossed a light-up ball in the air repeatedly. One of his feet was on the ground and the other on his desk as he spoke to his colleague on speaker. “So you can do it then, Cynth? I know it’s last minute and all…”
“It shouldn’t be a problem,” she replied.
Vlad sat up straight, looking at a Holo-Portrait cycling through all the science greats that hung on his office wall. “Thank you so much. The team will be so excited.”
“I have to go,” she told him over the comm, “but we can finalize the details in a couple hours.”
“Oh yeah? Hot date, Cynth?”
He could hear Cynthia MacLeod laughing over the speaker comm.
He smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes then.”
“Bye, Vlad. I’ll get you those details soon.”
Cynthia disconnected the call, leaving Vlad alone with Tesla and Max Planck staring at him. “Yeah, I guess we should check in with Good Queen Winterbourne.”
Vlad dialed Merry and reached for the cigarette case in his pocket, making sure to close his door and turn on his smoke filters. He inhaled deeply, feeling the smoke fill his head and lungs. A certain tranquility flowed through his muscles and made his thoughts move at a more agreeable pace.
Merry answered the call. “Hey, Vlad.”
He quickly sat up straight again, coughing. “Hey, Ms. Winterbourne. I spoke with my contact.”
“About time. What did they say?”
Vlad inhaled again, responding only after the smoke worked its magic. “I was able to get us some last-minute slots as an academic team.”
“That’s great! So what is this academic team studying?”
Vlad exhaled through his smiling teeth. “You’re going to owe me huge for this one.”
Merry sounded exasperated and impatient. “Why do we owe you for doing a job you agreed to do?”
“I have to lower myself to feign interest in non-linear pseudo gravitational physics,” he explained. “That was an effort.”
Merry repeated his statement quietly to herself before responding. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s your problem with non-linear pseudo gravitational physics?”
Vlad laughingly coughed out a huge puff of smoke. “You mean other than it being celebrity physics? I’m surprised a subversive like you doesn’t find NLPGP too commercial—”
“Look, Vlad, if you think that any form of physics is ‘too commercial’ you need to hang out with some real people for a change. You sound like a douche.”
Vlad settled back in his chair. “How dare you suggest something so crass, Ms. Winterbourne. If I sound like a douche, then what about those commercial physicists who repackage the ineffable in a vain attempt to get idiot children to think? They offer them something so overly applied and pre-fabricated that by the time they get to my classroom, they don’t know the good stuff exists.”’
Merry stopped holding in her laughter. “Oh. Wow. Vlad Vostock, I dub thee King of Pretention Land! Overly applied? What’s wrong with understanding general relativity and how antigrav fields work? It’s instrumental in getting students to understand life on the Tarem ring… and any space station for that matter.”
Vlad shook his head with shame. “I thought better of you, Merry. Here I go being wrong again. Understanding the Tarem ring is the only thing it’s good for! It has such limited applicability beyond comprehending the effects of gravity on a Dyson ring. Never mind understanding the nature of reality, the fabric of the universe. No… that’s obviously too lofty an expectation!”
Merry sighed. Vlad could feel her blank stare of apathy over the comm. “So you’re saying you can’t stand non-linear pseudo gravitational physics because you’re an academic purist. A snob?”
“How dare you, Winterbourne! I mightily resent that implication---”
“I think I was pretty direct, Vlad.”
“As I was saying, I take great umbrage to your statements. I wouldn’t call myself a snob because-”
“You’re a narcissist?”
Vlad felt himself inhale as if to quell anger and frustration. His joint was clenched between his fingertips, untouched for the longest time since he lit it. “No, I am not a narcissist. I resent you calling me a snob because I am not a snob. I hardly think wanting a branch of science to explain more than one event is snobbery. I just like my physics to be more theoretical, more abstract…”
“And less useful?”
“Yes. Now you-Wait! No! I wasn’t saying that at all… I’m very stoned right now.”
Merry interrupted his waffling. “Whatever the case, I suppose your academic snobbery got us passage on that shuttle.”
Vlad heard keystrokes in the background for the first time during this conversation. “Aaaaaanyway, I’ve got a ton of stuff to do. As much as you would love for me to continue giving you attention, I have to get going.”
“What?” Vlad shook his head. “Unbelievable. I do you a favor and all I get is abuse.”
Merry sounded humbler. “Well, yeah… Thank you.”
Vlad was just formulating a reply when the call disconnected.
He sat back in his chair and took another hit of his joint. Clearly Merry Winterbourne was proving to be something of a challenge.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Theron Techcropolis Gateway Building, L45, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros
Merry exhaled, breathing out Vlad’s pompous child energy. “In with the good, out with the Vlad…”
She texted Jayne.
V CAME THROUGH. IT’S ON TOMORROW AM.
She went back to her hacking. Merry chuckled to herself, wondering what IT super genius was in charge of the fake grain farm. “Oh look,” Merry giggled, “they even named the proxy Human Resources.”
She decided to go in through Human Resources, eventually using the facilities email for information. Merry wondered how far the gove
rnment went in creating the illusion of the grain farm. She turned up what looked like civilian records. The IDs corresponded to actual Tarem citizens. “Well, whadd’ya know? The actual employees have no idea it’s fake…”
The passwords looked like simple ternary cross-coding, which Merry yawned at and then cracked in under a minute. She found two accounts with administrative privileges and appeared to speak in overly banal terms. “Hmmmm… Something smells a little too squeaky clean.”
Accessing Hashes.txt now.
The two vanilla admins exchanged at least 75 messages about ‘the processing unit’ in about three weeks. “Way to make it obvious, you guys.”
Merry noticed these two admins had privileges to a private server too. “Not a hashcat situation here… Must be the government server.”
Merry slurped her noodle soup, avoiding getting the chopsticks in her mouth. Or in her eyes. GUI hacking was out, as this set up seemed more layered. Curiously, though, one of the admins appeared to get several XaaS emails. She scrolled through some of the communications. It looked like a personal account, complete with online orders for domestic products. Her jaw dropped when she saw most of what was ordered had a unicorns-and-glitter theme.
The way into a government employee’s account is through a unicorn onesie!
Merry explored the server’s first two layers of script patterns. Then she checked her burner laptop for the right frameworks. “Guess we’re stealing the staff pass when we get there then…” as she figured out the easiest way into the facility.
+++
Theron Techcropolis Gateway Building, L45, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros
Fred and Merry stared into each other’s eyes with a steely intensity. Merry snarled and Fred blinked. “You’re going down, you filthy gun trafficker.”
“That’s Mr. Filthy Gun Trafficker to you.”
Vlad knelt on a large pillow, looking at each of them with great amusement. “Ready?” He waited for the affirmative sign. “Ro… Sham… Bo!”
Merry and Fred each pounded a fist against their open palm three times before declaring their choice: Merry with paper, Fred with scissors.
“Awwww, man!” Merry whined.
Fred triumphantly took the last piece of supreme pizza. “Sorry, Merr. Scissors beats paper.”
Jayne smiled. “Hey. Let’s finalize our plan. Tomorrow’s go time. Vlad,” She pointed for emphasis, “give me the details again.”
Vlad cleared his throat. “Certainly, Ms. Austin. Per my contact, the lovely Cynthia MacLeod, we leave tomorrow at 0800. She would like me to emphasize this time is set in stone, so you cannot be tardy—”
Merry gave him a sideways glance. “Watch us,” she muttered rebelliously.
Vlad ignored Merry and continued. “We meet at the shuttle station I texted to you. Map should be there. Remember, though, I’m the only one who gets in on an academic discount—”
Jayne nodded. “Not a problem.”
“Okay,” he continued. “We land in the New France section of Tarem, then take the rail to the New Germany section. And on to New Bavaria. Unfortunately the protocols are going to be way more rigorous than the rest of the ring. Everything’s a security risk, you understand.”
Jayne cocked her head. “So what exactly is this academic mission we’re concocting—er, completing?”
Vlad straightened his posture proudly. “I told Cynth we were coordinating with the New Berlin team for some atmospheric readings. The official story is that we’re comparing the effect of gravity on the Dyson ring in agricultural centers versus big cities. The study is important because it will determine how the planet will engineer the seeds for maximum growth.”
“Not bad. Not bad.”
Merry munched on a funkle strip dipped in buffalo sauce. “And once we get to New Germany, I need to find a point where I can connect with the ship and get through the firewall.”
Jayne turned to her. “Have you worked out how you’re getting in the system?”
Merry gave Jayne one of her ‘thank you, Capt. Obvious’ looks. “There’s a high probability I’ll get in. I found a couple admin accounts through the grain farm they’re using as a front. One of them has quite the unicorn fetish—”
Vlad laughed in disbelief. “You’re hacking a system using a unicorn?”
Merry looked as though he told her computers run on thoughts and prayers. “Uhhh, no. I faked an XaaS email that offered a discount on a unicorn throw pillow and loaded the thing with enough trojan horses to start a ranch. I’m monitoring how their IT department is getting rid of the horses, then going in through the back door. I have a few buffer overflows up my sleeves for tomorrow in case they come sniffing too close.”
Vlad looked utterly verklempt. “God damn.”
Merry turned her attention back to Jayne. “What’s your likely trajectory once you’re inside?”
Jayne smirked and activated the projector function on her tablet. She pulled up the “grain farm’s” schematics so that they hovered above her desk. She pointed at a section of the blueprints that looked like an entrance. “I’ll enter through about here. You got a way to get us in yet?”
Merry nodded. “Yeah. Best option seems to be using the human vulnerability.” She made eye contact with Fred.
Fred took a staff keycard from his messenger bag and showed it to Jayne. She took it and examined it. “Wow. This looks truly official. Where’d you get it?”
“From a shadow web friend.” He made sure to direct the line in Merry’s direction. “It can be an occupational perk of running guns. When Merry told me about the plan I figured it was one less thing to steal when we get there. It would also give us more time before the alarms inevitably go off.”
Jayne continued to examine the chip in the pass card. She made a mental note to wear something put together, but casual enough to be able to maneuver around a vent system. “Great thinking, Fred. You totally came through for us on this.”
Fred blushed, eyes darting as if he were looking for the nearest exit. “It was the least I could do, especially after the whole bomb thing.”
Jayne smiled at him. “Dude, you’re forgiven.”
Fred smiled politely back, but he still looked weighed down with guilt. Jayne’s energy dampened a couple notches watching it.
She went back to studying the map carefully, attempting to deduce Burrett’s location. “I can move freely until I get to where the sally port meets the lobby. According to the CCTV map you sent, there’s a major blind spot by these stairs here.” Jayne circled the area with her finger. “There’s also a vent, which would let me off at Burrett’s cell block. If I followed it up and to the left for about a mile and a half.”
Merry frowned. “Do you even know where Burrett’s cell is? There was no roster in the stuff I saw.”
Jayne shook her head. “But I’m sure I’ll find it.”
Merry looked up from her tablet. “His records show the only human contact he gets is when he whines for a session with the prison shrink. I don’t imagine they’d be terribly fun conversations.”
Jayne nodded, looking up from the map. “Sure. And we have every indication Burrett is highly unstable. Fred, do you have the Talon-R?”
Fred took the amber bottle and pills out of his bag and showed it to Jayne. “Yeah, but you’ll need a way to dose him with it. I’ve got some needles to get it working right away.”
Jayne motioned for Fred to toss the funkle container, which he did. Jayne caught it with one hand while looking at the map hovering over her desk. “The staff logs show they only check twice an hour, coming as close as they can to the top of the hour and the middle. Even if my timing isn’t exactly perfect—which it will be—the CCTV doesn’t really show the guards are too bothered if an inmate doesn’t respond right away.”
Vlad shook his head. “We’re going in the middle of the day and you guys say our Burrett is known for being a talker. Wouldn’t he be more likely to respond?”
Jayne polished off her fifth fun
kle. They weren’t normally her favorite but made for good comfort food today. She licked her fingers clean between words as she spoke. “That’s what’s weird. He’s more into having an audience than company. The shrink’s notes say Burrett doesn’t care to engage unless he finds it validating. He barely grunts to the guards, unless they’re civil to him. Which reminds me, the officer on duty when we’re going to be there is known for being a real prick.”
Merry looked unconvinced. “I hope you’re right, but you may want to get a Plan B just in case. His file said he has a great relationship with the sarge, who sometimes covers for his officers when they’re sick. Officer Prick likes watching the play-offs, which will be on around that time. Given his attendance record, I wouldn’t put it past him to call in.”
Vlad moved a couple of inches away from Merry. “Your stalking abilities are downright frightening, Ms. Winterbourne.”
She flashed a faux grin at him. “I’m just as good at burying stoner bodies.”
Jayne pointed a half-eaten funkle at Merry and gulped about two ounces of kava. “What did you find out about the security system itself?”
Merry contemplated her laptop screen for a moment. “It looks like it may have been invented just for this facility. There’s no way I’ve ever seen some of these encryptions on other government sites. You know how you only need a couple protocols with firewall filters on them to keep things secure?”
Vlad got up and stretched his back. “No, Ms. Winterbourne. I think that’s just you.”
“Not surprised,” she retorted. “So anyway, whoever created this little nugget has at least two protocols on every layer of security.”
“How many layers are there?” Jayne asked.
“I poked around the first five, mostly the first two. It looks like there are eight, which I think is excessive…”
“In English, Winterbourne.”
“Yeah, so they have a firewall on the vent system, like three separate ones on the system that governs each cell block, the sally port, the gates, the control room… If there were such thing as visitation here, they’d have at least one there too.”
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