by Nathan Pedde
“Come over afterward,” Elsie said, “Silly boy.”
“That’s fine,” Des said, “I’ll be over in about an hour or so.”
Des hung up his phone.
“On hour?” Susan said, “We’ll be back in 5 minutes. You can go over afterward.”
“I have my reasons,” Des said.
“Fine. Whatever.”
Des helped Susan load the groceries into her car. Just as he put the last bag into it, his phone rang again. Des picked the phone out of his pocket. The call display was blank.
“Hi, Des. This is Cooley,” Cooley said as the phone crackled.
“What’s up?” Des said.
“I can’t get in contact with Cryslis,” Cooley said, “She went to work to keep up appearances, and now I can’t get in contact with her.”
“Hold on,” Des said, then he thought about Cryslis, “You there?”
Cryslis didn’t answer.
“I’m not sure,” Des said.
“Listen,” Cooley said, “I’m getting interference all over the place. Something is going down. Be ready to move. The white scooter is parked in the paid parking spot. Get there and grab it. I’ll monitor things from here.”
“Okay,” Des said.
Des turned to Susan. He was going to tell her something had come up and he had to go to work, but then alarms rang throughout the station. A voice echoed amongst the buildings.
“Level four alert,” the Emergency Voice said, “All civilians please evacuate to the nearest shelter. All Emergency Personnel, please report to your duty stations.”
“Hang up and get moving,” Cooley said.
Des hung up the phone. Susan looked at Des with a worried look plastered on her face.
“We have got to get to the shelter,” Susan said, “It isn’t far.”
“No,” Des said, “I need to go to work.”
Susan looked confused, “What? Your delivery job isn’t worth-”
“I don’t have time to explain,” Des said, “Drive me to the 8th Ave Parking garage and then you can go to the shelter.”
“What are you talking about?” Susan said.
“Shut up,” Des said, “Either drive me where I need to go, or I’ll have to start running.”
“Fine,” Susan said, “Get in, but I will be calling your uncle about this.”
Des and Susan got into the car as it sped off before the door had shut or Des had fastened his seat belt.
Chapter 13
Des drove the white scooter down the road, the speed limiter warned a red flashing light on the display. He wanted to ignore and bypass it, but he the hover-scooter’s controls wouldn’t allow him to mess with it. Des raced around a corner, his knee scrapping along the asphalt.
He had his Ryder disguise was on, as Cooley had his disguise projector in the storage compartment. However, he hadn’t bothered to change his clothes. His street clothes were as good as any.
“Cryslis, are you there?” Des said for the hundredth time.
“Yes yes,” Cryslis said, “Stop shouting.”
“Where were you?” Des asked.
“I was checking out our bosses. Seeing what they’re? I was in deep and couldn’t risk talking.”
“Did you find anything?” Des asked.
“No,” Cryslis said, “No obvious connections to anyone outside of the station.”
“So the spy isn’t them?”
“No idea. Where are you?”
Des told her.
“Do you know where Elsie is?” Cryslis asked.
“At her house doing homework.”
“Maybe. Find out so we can arrest her.”
“I don’t think she’s the spy.”
“She’s a spy. You proved it.”
“We don’t have anything that proves she’s conspiring to destroy the station.”
“We can’t do nothing,” Cryslis said.
Des figured he had four problems.
Problem one. The station was under attack by missiles.
Problem two. Elsie is at her house, but Des knew she was a spy of some kind. Maybe the enemy, but maybe not.
Problem three. The real spy is in the Undercroft and is setting up a shield blocker to allow missiles to destroy the station.
Problem four. The Undercroft covered four hundred square kilometers, and many areas were up to six levels deep.
If the missiles were to get through, Des knew a whole lot of people could get hurt or worse.
“Level four alert,” the Emergency Voice repeated, “All civilians please evacuate to the nearest shelter. All Emergency Personnel, please report to your duty stations.”
“I’ve an idea,” Des said, “I need you to alter my phone so it’s Ryder’s phone.”
“What happened to Ryder’s phone?”
“It’s still at the safehouse.”
“Give me a minute. Cooley can hack your phone,” Cryslis said.
Des turned the corner and headed in a different direction. The shape of the Military Academy loomed out in the distance.
“It’s fixed,” Cryslis said.
Des pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“Is this Sheemo O’Neal?” Des said with the voice of Ryder.
Des rode his scooter with one hand.
“Yes, who’s this?” Sheemo said on the other side of the phone.
“Ryder Fly of Station Intelligence. Where are you?” Des said.
“I’m in the shelter at the Military Academy.”
“Get out of the shelter and back to your school project. I need your help,” Des said.
“What?”
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” Des said, “Either you get there to help, or I will try to use your device without you and who knows what happens to it.”
Des hung up the phone.
“I need you to get Captain Kusheeno on the phone to convince my brother to help us,” Des said to Cryslis, “and to back up my lie.”
“What’s the plan?”
Des told her about Sheemo’s device had picked out the signals from the safehouse and Courier One.
“Okay,” Cryslis said, “Let me know when you need him to call.”
***
Des walked into the small classroom in the middle of the Military Academy. It was filled with a larger version of the diagram which Sheemo had in his bedroom. Among an extensive list of times and places, included on it were the times and locations of when Des would have conversations with Cryslis. Even Des’s house was listed. A small note beside it said, ‘broken.'
Standing in front of the device was Sheemo and two of his friends.
“What’s the meaning-” Sheemo raised his voice.
“Shut up,” Des said and then placed a finger to his ear, “Have him call.”
Des’s phone rang, the number said it was, ‘Unknown.'
Des handed the phone to Sheemo who answered it.
“Hello, Sheemo-” Sheemo said before standing straighter, “Captain- An Agent- Yes, sir- Yes, sir- I will, sir-”
Sheemo hung up the phone.
“Okay punk.” Sheemo said handing back the phone, “You happen to be a secret agent. What the fuck do you need?”
Des walked over to the board.
“How long have you been looking up the different signals?”
“A couple months? Why?” Sheemo said.
“Seven different attacks in that time,” Cryslis’s voice said in Des’s head.
“Can you tell who had sent and received those signals?” Des asked.
“No. We can only tell if it was an authorized phone. But authorized phones are sanctioned by the government and the conversation and data are reviewed by government people. If traitorous activity were to happen to someone that stupid, they would be caught.”
“So these people are using illegal, untraced signals?”
“Maybe not illegal, just untraced. Judging from some of the spots being sent, there are some signals from government agents in this mess.”
&nb
sp; “We have had seven different attacks in the same time,” Des said, “I need to see the communications from just before the attacks and just after.”
Sheemo sat down at a computer.
“The device records, dates, times, and places sent from and received from,” Sheemo said, “However, I think it’s broken.”
“Why?”
Sheemo opened a couple programs on the computer. One showed a map of the city with lines going from different places. Sheemo clicked his mouse. It showed the location of origin and the location of the destination. It also showed the date, time, and length of the signal.
“Cause it has started to read signals going around the station which start and finish at my own house.”
“Is there a way to tell the signal apart from all of the rest?” Des asked.
“Yes, easily.”
“Can you isolate the signal type and then discount them.”
“Discount?”
“Hide it,” Des said, “Remove it. It’s not important.”
“I can, but which ones.”
Des pointed at a handful of signals around the station.
Sheemo clicked a couple buttons on the keyboard.
“Done,” Sheemo said.
The lines that Des knew were his communication with Cryslis, disappeared.
A handful of the lines were still around. Des’s eyes found the signal from Elsie in the school’s bathroom.
Cryslis buzzed in his head, “Have him discount any which originate from the safe house and the captain's office.”
“Discount those signals,” Des pointed at the safe house and the Captain’s office.
Sheemo did as he was told while he looked at the screen. Elsie’s signal stayed on the screen.
“Discount any signals that don’t leave the station.”
Sheemo did so, and Elsie’s signal also disappeared.
“How many different types of signals are still on the screen?”
Sheemo clicked a few more buttons, and a new window popped up.
“Eight,” Sheemo said.
“How many have a signal leave the station just before and during the attacks.”
“They all leave the station either during or before the attacks.”
“I want to know both before and after,” Des said.
“Why?”
“Cause the saboteur sends a signal just before,” Des said, “maybe twelve hours before to set up the attack. The attacker responds and gives a time. The saboteur then gets into the Undercroft to set off an undetectable shield disruptor and then the attack heads for that area.”
Sheemo’s eyes lit up.
“Shield disruptor? How do you know that?” Sheemo said.
“Cause it’s the only way an attack could succeed,” Des said, “The station's defenses are too good otherwise.”
Sheemo opened a couple other windows with a flurry of mouse clicks. One of Sheemo’s school friends nodded and flipped a couple switches on the device.
The computer screen went back, and a load bar flashed on the screen.
“Do it,” Sheemo said to his friend.
The load bar raced forward and completed itself. The computer screen flashed once more before returning to a map of the station, which was blank but started to fill in bit by bit.
The station rocked and vibrated.
“That was close,” Des said
“Sweet Jupiter…” Cryslis said over his earpiece, “Long range reports indicate there is over four hundred missiles headed for this station. The enemy has sent more than four times than any other attack. You need to hurry.”
“I think this may be the one,” Des said, “The defenses aren’t going to hold. We need to hurry.”
Des looked at the station map.
“There is one signal in the Undercroft,” Sheemo said.
“Where?” Des said.
“Green sector,” Sheemo said, “The mechanical room 1126.”
“Got it,” Des said, “Now get to the shelter.”
Des turned to leave.
“I’m coming,” Sheemo said.
“No,” Des said, “You, cadet, are going to do a final sweep of the school, and then you’re going to get to the fucking shelter.”
“But-”
“That’s an order,” Des said.
Des ran out of the room towards the exit of the school.
“Cryslis,” Des said as he repeated where it was.
“Got it,” She said, “We’re on route. Get there. Now.”
Chapter 14
Des soared through the mostly deserted streets. Cars and trucks were left vacant on the roads. A couple of guards rushed around the streets.
“Stop,” the Guard said.
“Out of my way,” Des yelled, “Station intelligence. Move.”
The guard moved out of Des’s way as he soared past.
Des hopped off his scooter and raced down the streets. Before he knew it, he was out of the Teal Sector. The station rocked once more, it vibrated so hard he almost lost his balance.
He flew by a sign which said, ‘Welcome to the Green Sector.'
Des raced up to a small door with faded paint saying, ‘Maintenance.'
The door clicked open as he approached it. Des looked up at a camera above the door.
“Thanks, Cryslis,” Des said.
Des slammed through the door and then raced down the tunnels. The green sector’s corridors were still in a state of disrepair, but there were some piles of supplies. The company repairing this sector in the Undercroft hadn’t gotten this far yet.
He ran up to a door with a sign that said, ‘Mechanical Room 1126’. He tried to open the door, but it was locked.
“Level four alert,” the Emergency Voice said, “All civilians please evacuate to the nearest shelter. All Emergency Personnel, please report to your duty stations.”
“Cryslis,” Des yelled, “Get the door open for mechanical room 1126.”
A moment later.
“It’s unlocked,” Cryslis said.
Des jiggled the door handle and the door didn’t budge. He slammed his shoulder into the door, however, the door still didn’t move.
“What are you doing kid?” a Voice said from down the hall.
The voice belonged to a construction worker.
“Station intelligence,” Des said, “I need in this room. Now.”
Des recognized the face. It was one of the workers he had seen before. Des thought his name was Robert.
“What do you mean?” Robert said, “You need to get to a shelter.”
“So do you.”
“I’m sweeping the Undercroft for stragglers. It’s my job.”
“And I’m doing mine,” Des said, “I’m a member of the intelligence service, and a shield disruptor is in the room behind the door. I need in this room now.”
Robert hesitated.
“Name,” Des said, “So I can…”
Robert lifted a boot and struck the door just above the door handle. The door splintered and slammed open.
Des turned to look into the room. It was completely empty except for a single large device on a pallet.
“Get out of here,” Des said.
“Why?”
“Cause when the missiles hit, they’ll target this room.”
Robert, the worker, ran out and down the hallway. His boot steps thudded down the corridor and away.
“I found it,” Des said to Cryslis, “Its a large device in the middle of the room.”
“Study it,” Cryslis said, “What does it say?”
“Sweet Jupiter,” Des said.
Des walked up to the device. It was a sizable cylinder-style object with a panel full of buttons on one side. It made a low electronic whirl sound. He wasn’t sure how to turn it off. One button flashed red. Des touched the device, and a small shock zapped up his right arm. He heard a loud pop in his ear.
“What the hell was that?” Des said.
After a few moments of no response.
“Cryslis,” Des said, “Are you there?”
Still, no answer followed Des’s voice.
Des pushed the red button. The machine beeped once, and then the whirling noise stopped. The device turned dark and silent.
He attempted to pick up the device, but it was more substantial than it looked and he couldn’t pick it up. He carefully tipped the invention to the side. It thumped when it slammed into the metal floor.
Des rolled it along the floor to the outside of the room. He pushed it down the corridor, and he passed the intersection. Des followed the footsteps marked in the dust and debris as he made his way towards the exit.
He knew he should leave the device behind and save himself. However, he hoped he could use the device to find the culprit, it was going to be worth the risk.
Outside of the station, a couple of explosions reverberated around him. The station shook, and he was knocked onto his feet, the device rolling down the corridor.
“Cryslis, that was close. Are you there?” Des said into his earpiece, but no one answered him.
The station shook once more, then a loud metallic screeching sound echoed down the hall. Des ran up and pushed the device further down the corridor. A loud bang echoed through the mechanical room behind him.
Panic filled him as the air tug at his hair and clothes.
“Hull breach in Green sector,” the Emergency Voice echoed from speakers in the corridor, “Blast doors dropping. All personnel stand clear.”
Des grabbed at the walls of the corridor in panic as the suction pulled him across the passage. He was pulled off his feet by the sudden decompression from the hull breach. Des slid along the floor towards the mechanical room door.
He looked down at where he was going. The door had bent itself inward, towards the breach in the room. Des grabbed hold of a metal pipe which was attached to the wall as he flew by.
Pain shot up his arms and hands as he wrapped his arm around the pipe. The suction of the breech pulled at Des’s clothes. His shoes flew off of his feet as his pants rippled in the wind. The disguise necklace snapped and ripped off of his neck.
A set of blast doors began to close in front of him. He was going to be trapped on the wrong side of the blast doors.
Des looked around him for some way to climb up out of the corridor to the other side of the blast doors. He only had to move four feet to get clear. All that separated him from life and death was four feet. Des thought that if he could climb higher on the pipe, he could grab the blast doors door jam.
