by Alex Kings
“And then what?”
“I don't know. It all goes blank.”
Egliante bent down to stare at the man's eyes. “Think harder,” he snarled.
“I … I …” He grimaced. He fell silent for a few seconds. “I don't know, sir. I'm sorry.”
Egliante's face softened. “All right,” he said, straightening slowly. He looked around, fist on his chin.
Then he turned suddenly and kicked the guard as hard as he could in the ribs. “You stupid bastard!” he roared, punctuating his word with more kicks. The man curled away as best he could and whimpered.. “Can't keep intruders out, can't even remember what they look like. What do you think I'm paying you for, huh?” He turned and smacked the tablet out of the medic's hand. “Forget him. He's not worth our time!”
He ordered one of his men to drag the guard outside, and then shooed everyone else out of the vault. He left the guard lying in the corridor.
This was looking bad. For the first time, he began to worry that the money might actually be unrecoverable.
It wouldn't be the end of him. Egliante didn't believe in putting all his eggs in one basket. This vault only held half his fortune. Of the rest, some was hidden even deeper, behind a ten-foot granite wall. The only way to get to it was to break through the wall itself. And then there were several offworld stashes.
He could recover from this. But even so, half his fortune.
And even worse, sensitive information hidden along with the money.
He would find whoever did this and make them pay.
But that still left him without leads.
He was taking the elevator back up to the ground level when his comm chimed again.
He answered it. The call was from the same staff supervisor as before. “Sir, are you free now?”
Egliante was about to tell the man to go away, he was busy. But the rebuke died on his lips. He wasn't busy. And, he decided, he still had to act a decent boss to these people.
“What is it?” he said with a sigh.
“One of my people saw two members of staff acting suspiciously in the drone unloading building …”
Egliante's eyes widened. He stood up straight. “What were they doing? Who were they?” he said. “Quickly, man!”
“A male Petaur and a female human. They claimed to be working for you. They took suspicious objects out of the drones, and later tried to place something back into the drones. One of my people took the initiative and stopped them until I could ask you.”
The elevator doors opened and Egliante strode out. “A male Petaur and a female human? Any more details?”
“The Petaur had yellow eyes. The human had short black hair and blue eyes.”
Egliante froze. Those two. The two who had run off towards the drone station. The two who were standing next to Eloise!
“Thank you,” he told the supervisor. “Put your man's name forward for a commendation. I'll get to him when the current situation is over.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Egliante cut the line and opened another. “I know who we're looking for,” he said.
Chapter 25: Serving Staff
With the rocket launched and the hard drives out of their hands, they left the fireworks behind. Olivia thanked the guard at the gate, and they headed back into the garden. Much to Mero's disgust, Ikki and Rayne joined them soon after.
The loudspeakers announced that the opera would be starting soon. People were beginning to gather in the direction of the largest tent.
“So, what now?” Eloise said. “Any suggestions?”
“Now the hard drives are gone,” said Olivia, “I don't suppose we could just wait it out? Egliante has to let the party end sooner or later, and even if he decides to search everyone here, he won't find anything.” She thought for a moment, chewing her lip. “But we've already done enough to make some of his people suspect us, haven't we? And if he has all night to think about it …”
“And we're talking about Tommy Egliante, former gangster, here,” said Mero. “He thinks he's been wronged, he's not exactly going to wait for incriminating evidence before he starts pulling out claws and sticking knives in places.”
Olivia paled. “Okay, waiting is a non-starter. So let's see. We're trapped in a heavily defended compound with a gangster who's after our heads, where the only way in an out is locked down. What do we do?”
“Aha!” said Rayne. “We could ride a rocket to safety!”
“Oh, Rayne!” said Ikki. “You're so smart.”
“Well, let's see,” said Olivia. “We won't fit as payload, so we'd have to hold onto the outside. If the acceleration and landing didn't shatter our bones …”
“Yes?” said Rayne in an excited voice.
“ … and if the exhaust didn't cook us …”
“Yes?”
“ … going to that altitude that rapidly would probably kill us.”
“Oh.”
They ambled alongside the slowly massing crowd towards the largest tent. Without a plan, it was better to simply try and blend in.
“He's locked down the magtube,” said Eloise after a moment. “Does anyone know how?”
No one replied.
“Yeah … Sukone and his friends at Sweetblade left out that bit of helpful information, didn't they?” said Eloise. “But maybe we can figure it out. And if we do that, maybe we can figure out a way to unlock it. At least for a couple of minutes. Olivia, you have a lot of interesting technical knowledge. Hot wiring cars, hacking fireworks … do you think you could have a look at the magtube?”
“I'll give it a go,” said Olivia, though she wasn't certain at all she could do anything.
“Good. And then … shit!” Eloise suddenly grabbed Olivia's and Mero's hands and dragged them through the crowd.
Olivia glanced back to see Egliante moving through the crowd. He was smiling at the guests, shaking a few hands. But his eyes were alert, active, and not at all friendly. He was searching the crowd.
She couldn't run. Fighting through the crowd would just draw his attention.
His gaze flicked from person to person, coming closer. Beside her, Eloise released her hand and removed the orchid and the pin from her own hair with a slow, casual gesture.
Olivia knew the trick well. Just vanish into the crowd and try not to be noticed. She looked away from Egliante, her heart pounding, and began to move slowly through the crowd. None of them were particularly tall. And from behind, with the uniform, she looked like just another one of the serving staff.
He could be looking at her right now. She fought the urge to turn around. The hairs on the back of her neck went up. She slid behind a Varanid, hoping he could obscure her even more.
There was a faint commotion behind her – she could sense some jostling.
She kept moving forward as naturally as possible.
The moment felt like an eternity, but then they were out of the crowd.
Olivia looked around quickly, and found the others. They moved away from the crowds, keeping a few feet between them so they wouldn't look like they were together.
“Egliante's on the lookout,” Eloise said, loud enough that they could all hear. “That means he has something to look for. And that means he's probably told his people what to look for.”
“Ooh, this is exciting!” Ikki said.
“Death-defying feats and dangerous escapades are daily life for the professional thief, my dear Ikki,” said Rayne.
“Not for you, they're not,” growled Mero. “We're the ones they're after!”
“That may be so,” said Ranye. “But in my eyes we are now comrades. We look out for one another. Our stars rise and fall together.”
Mero snarled softly.
A new, friendly voice rang out: “Excuse me, excuse me!”
Olivia briefly considered running, but that would stand out too much. She turned to see who it was.
An old but rather fit gentleman was approaching her and Mero. His grey hair was slicked back, a
nd his tuxedo was impeccable. He smiled when they saw him. “I have a problem with the seating in the opera tent,” he said. “I was wondering if you could help me.”
Olivia stared at him. “I, uh,” she began, scanning the crowd for any sign of Tommy Egliante. Mero growled, and she elbowed him.
“Come with me, I'll show you,” the man said.
“What … what problems are you having?”
“Ah,” said the man. “Well, you see, I called in advance and booked luxury padded seats for me and my wife. Seat numbers 16 and 17, right at the front. But we've just checked, and there is only standard seating there.”
“I … I'm really sorry. That's not my area,” said Olivia.
The man frowned. “Mr. Egliante has always said any of his staff are on hand to help with anything.”
Olivia glanced at Mero, who had sidled out of view. He shrugged at her.
She grabbed a stolen staff tablet from her pocket and extended it like she was going to make a note. “Of course. What's your name, sir?”
“Archibald Urquhart.”
Behind them, Olivia caught sight of Egliante off in the distance. He was leaving the opera tent. The crowd parted before him. He was still clearly looking, though his gaze was turned in the opposite direction.
Olivia shifted slightly so Urquhart would be hiding her. Then she gestured at the tablet as if she were making a call, then spoke into her comms. “Hello! Seats 16 and 17 in the Opera tent need to be replaced with luxury seating. Now, if you could. Mr. Urquhart paid for this service, and right now we're disappointing him.” She paused, looking across the garden. “Yes, it is urgent. The opera starts at any minute … okay, good.” She turned back to Urquhart. “It's being done right now.
A large hand settled on her shoulder.
It was James.
“Excellent work,” he said, with a thin smile.
Chapter 26: Disguises
Urquhart thanked them and wandered off, looking satisfied.
“That's what we're here to do,” said James. “Look after the guests. Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I hope I didn't mess up your plan too much?” His grip was firm, one hand on Mero's shoulder one on Olivia's.
“No, it all worked out fine in the end,” said Olivia with a strained smile.
James looked at her and nodded. “Wonderful. Glad to hear it. Listen, do you have a moment? There's someone I want you to meet.”
“That's okay,” Olivia said, trying to extricate herself. “I have stuff to do.”
She glanced at Eloise, who was standing a couple of yards away behind James. Eloise caught her gaze and put a finger to her lips.
“This won't take a moment,” said James. The grip on her shoulder increased suddenly, becoming painful. He began to lead them – or drag them – towards the tent.
“Hello! Hello! We are in need of great assistance. Isn't that right, my dear?”
“Great assistance, Rayne!”
Ikki and Rayne appeared in front of them,, their hands moving with nervous energy.
James paused. He seemed unsure what to do. As far as he knew Ikki and Rayne were guests. “You'll have to excuse me,” he said. I'm in the middle –”
He grunted suddenly, and the pressure on Olivia's shoulder released. She and Mero pulled free simultaneously. Eloise stepped back behind him.
James' hand went to one of his kidneys as he struggled to remain standing. Mero moved in a flash. At first, it looked like he was helping James. Then Olivia saw the bolt gun pressing into the man's ribs.
“You want to be a hero, do you?” Mero whispered. “Do you know what happens to heroes in real life? I'll tell you now, it's a lot less pleasant than what happens to people who know how to mind their own business. You get me?”
The pistol was mostly hidden. From a distance, it would look perfectly innocent – just two members of staff having a conversation.
James nodded. His eyes were wide. His throat bobbed.
“Good,” said Mero. “I don't want to shoot you. It would draw too much attention, and that would make things messy. But if you make it my only alternative … Well, I believe I saw something suspicious behind the mansion. Perhaps you should go check it out?”
James began to walk away slowly towards the opera tent.
“No, not that way,” said Mero. “Not towards Mr. Egliante. Behind the mansion. This is a ranged weapon, you know. Don't look back. Just keep going.”
James sighed, and turned towards the mansion.
“We can't stay out in the open like this,” said Eloise once he was out of earshot. “Come on, with me.”
She led them across the garden, while Olivia and Mero kept a lookout for Egliante – and anyone else who seemed to be watching. Eloise took them to banks of toilet stalls.
“Olivia, Ikki, with me,” she said. “Mero and Rayne …
“Oh for crying out loud,” muttered Mero.
“Your options are wearing a dress or getting caught by Egliante,” said Eloise.
“Fine, fine,” said Mero.
He went into a stall with Rayne. Olivia followed Eloise and Ikki into one beside it.
It was roomy, big enough for a Varanid, and perfectly clean, thanks to automated sanitation systems.
“What are we doing?” Olivia asked.
Eloise was already at work, raking her hands through her hair. She paused to grin at Olivia. “A bit of the Princess and Pauper. You're changing social class, girl.”
“What?”
“If they've got descriptions of us, those probably include clothes. So we're going to mix things up a bit.”
“We're changing disguises!?” said Ikki. Her tail flicked back and forth with excitement.
“Yep. Not perfect, but from a distance, or for anyone who hasn't seen us in person, it should work.” Eloise set about tearing a strip off the hem of her dress, a big grin plastered on her face.
A few minutes they emerged. Eloise was dressed in the magenta velvet staff uniform. Olivia had the chiffon gown, turned inside out and modified slightly. Ikki had turned her jacket inside out, and seemed quite pleased with herself for having thought of it.
They found Mero and Rayne waiting for them outside. Mero had gone for a simpler solution – he had taken Rayne's snakeskin coat, which obscured most of the magenta uniform.
Ikki grinned and clapped her hands. “No one will recognise us now.”
Mero's ears fell flat against his head. “Can we get out of here?”
“I hope so,” said Eloise. “Let's get to the magtube.”
*
They were heading across the garden when Olivia noticed a pair of security guards approaching them. One had his hand resting casually on the handle of a pistol in his belt. The other caught her gaze.
No running away, then.
Eloise quietly separated herself from the group, and moved a few metres away to avoid arousing suspicion.
“Pardon me, miss,” said the guard as he approached the rest of them. He didn't seem to notice Eloise.
“What is it?” said Olivia.
The lead guard looked them up and down while his companion stood looking menacing. He frowned slightly as he looked at Mero, who pulled the coat tighter around himself. “Security check,” he grunted.
“What do you mean?”
“There's been a theft. We're doing a bag search.”
“I … of course,” said Olivia.
The only one of them who still had a bag was Ikki, who offered it for inspection.
The guard took it, looked inside, then reached into it. After a second, he took out an orange.
“I love Earth fruit!” Ikki said brightly.
“I see,” said the guard. He put the orange back in the bag and returned it to Ikki.
He insisted on patting Mero and Ikki down, then nodded. “Everything seems to be in order,” he said. As he was leaving, he told Ikki, “Your coat is inside-out, by the way.”
Chapter 27: A Technical Fault
Olivia knelt beside an op
en access panel, frowning at the machinery and computer terminal within.
“I don't know,” she said, at last. “I don't recognise anything. I … I think the power's turned off at source. If that's the case, we can't do anything without going to the power supply. But I have no idea where that is. Sorry … ”
“It's alright,” said Eloise, giving her a hand up. “You can't be expected to solve all our problems on your first day.”
The five of them stood beside the magtube, behind the treeline a few hundred metres from the party where they'd be hidden from prying eyes. In the far distance, the giant wall surrounding Egliante's compound was barely visible in the atmospheric haze.
Ikki and Rayne was chattering to each other with glee.
“But Rayne~?”
“Yes, Ikki, my dear?”
“Everyone here does what Mr. Egliante says, right?”
“Everyone … except us!”
“Oh, wow, you're right! But … what if we were to dress up as Mr. Egliante. Then everyone would do what we said and would let us out.”
“A fantastic idea, my love. But I see one small problem. You see, Mr. Egliante is one person. And we are five people. It is, I fear, difficult for five people to dress up as one. Unless he is a Varanid.”
Ikki's ears fell flat against her head. “But Mr. Egliante isn't a Varanid.”
“No, he is not.”
Mero stared at them in disbelief for a moment before ducking to look at the open panel.
“What happens,” he said, “when a power cable is damaged.”
“The trains don't run?” offered Eloise.
“Yes, but … how do they fix it? Especially if it's in the middle of nowhere.”
Eloise looked at him, eyes wide. “A maintenance car.”
“Which should be independent of the main system, because it needs to run when there's damage to the power, or the control systems, or anything else.”
“So if we can get our hands on a maintenance car, we can escape.”
Mero nodded, looking through the dozen or so staff cards he'd lifted. “Come on,” he murmured. “One of you has to be a technician or engineer or something … aha!” He took one of the cards, then gestured at the terminal screen.
