War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past

by Conner Walworth

  "I'll cut him slack went he starts telling the truth about what's going on," Giustino glared at her.

  "What makes you think that he isn't telling you the truth?"

  "The Queen asked to see him and then he returns without going through the spaceport," Giustino said. "It's like the Queen snuck him back here so I wouldn't know that he was back."

  "She didn't do a good job if you found out," Kanti looked out of the window, trying to block him out.

  "I happened to pass by his house and saw lights on."

  "Don't you think that the Queen would tell you if Anlon had revealed anything?"

  "No. I think they're both hiding things from me."

  "Maybe she didn't tell you, if he did reveal anything, because you don't need to know."

  "This is my case!" His face reddened. "I deserve to know everything about it! I don't care who the Queen is, if she knows something, then I should know it to."

  "Look, he's coming out," Kanti pointed to the door.

  Giustino looked over and saw him getting in his truck. "He's all sweaty. He wasn't just in there talking. Like I tried to tell you, he's up to something."

  "Oh come on, Giustino," Kanti rolled her eyes. "What could he possibly be doing in Moran's apartment that has to do with him hiding things from you?"

  "I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Mark my words. I'm going to find out."

  "Don't get mad when you don't find anything. If there was something to find here, then we'd have found it by now."

  Giustino looked at her. "Are you hiding anything from me that you would like to share now that we're talking about hiding things?"

  "No. Are you accusing me of something?"

  "I know you've been talking to Anlon," He raised his eyebrows. "And you have yet to mention a word of it to me."

  "So what? If I want to talk to him, I can. It's not like it's against the law to talk to a friend."

  "He's a suspect in this case Kanti. You can't talk to him anymore. Those orders are coming directly from me."

  "A suspect?" she exclaimed. "He was tied to a chair and watched as his family was murdered!"

  "But he obviously knows more than he told us. Therefore, he has lied to us and when I find out for a fact he has, he will be placed under arrest and charged to the full extent of the law."

  "That's crazy!" She threw up her hands. "He talked to the Queen and she let him go! She apparently believed him!"

  "Well, I don't believe him," he replied. "You're no longer assigned to this case."

  "You can't take me off this case!"

  "I just did," He started the car. "It's apparent that you have feelings for Anlon. Your judgment is clouded and I won't have an officer on a case like that. I thought you were prepared for something like this, but it's obvious that you're not."

  "What are you going to do with me? There are no other major cases for me to work on. This is my case as much as it is yours."

  "I'm going to find a reassignment that will be a better fit for you. Something that doesn't have races involved that you can get attached to."

  Kanti didn't reply to him and just stared out of the window. She didn't want to talk to Giustino anymore, he had just taken her off Hassental's biggest case. Neither one of them said a word the entire way back to the District prison, and when they arrived, Kanti stormed out of the car to her office without a single glance back.

  "I'll email you your new assignment!" He shouted at her before she entered the building.

  He walked to the circular door and it hissed open once his identity was confirmed. Upon arriving at his office, he fired up his computer and started writing under the Valens Murder Case.

  Anlon came back from seeing the Queen without going through the Hassental spaceport. It appears that the Queen snuck him back on the planet herself, wanting his arrival to be kept quiet. I followed him today and he went to Moran Borislav's apartment for unknown reasons. He stayed inside for over five hours and when he came out, he was covered in sweat. Anlon knows more than he is letting on. Further surveillance will be put on him to keep track of his activities.

  Kanti Cordula was also taken off of this case today because she has developed relations with Anlon Valens. Having her on this case is no longer an option due to her clouded judgment. She will be reassigned accordingly.

  He saved the report to his computer and logged off. He needed to find a reassignment for Kanti quick. He wasn't sure what he was going to have her do, but he couldn't have her pouting in her office all day being unproductive.

  Camillus heard a ding go off and he strolled to the computer that had just received a report from the Valens Murder Case. He looked at it and saw that it had been written by Giustino, quickly saving it to the port on the back of his head.

  Kirill opened his buzzing holographic comlink. "I wasn't expecting from you."

  "I wasn't expecting to give you a report," The figured responded.

  "What do you have for me?"

  "Anlon is back on Gaea. He was escorted back quietly and without the knowledge of anybody."

  "That doesn't surprise me. The Queen is probably trying to protect him after what just happened."

  "He was also at Moran's apartment for quite some time today. That is what worries me more than anything. What could he be planning with Moran?"

  Kirill was silent a moment. "The boy is a problem, but I don't need you to worry about him. I have already sent someone to deal with him very soon."

  The figure grinned. "Who did you send out to kill him?"

  "Nimesha," Kirill answered. "He will be dead soon, that I can assure you. The boy won't get in the way of anymore of our plans."

  "I have no doubt about it. When will my work on Gaea be finished? Once the Queen is dead, I have no reason to stay hidden in here anymore."

  "Very soon," Kirill told him. "Once the Queen has been dealt with, you can leave and return to us."

  He hung up his comlink and took in a deep breath. Things hadn't gone according to plan so far, but he knew things would come together soon. Nimesha wouldn't fail with her assignment to kill Anlon. Once the boy was dead there would be nothing meddling with his plans to kill the Queen. Obviously it would be difficult now that Donnchadh had screwed up and had put the Palace on high alert, but was nothing his men weren't prepared for. They trained day in and day out for high alert missions like this and he had no doubt that the Queen's days were limited.

  Chapter 16

  Anlon left the house as soon as the sun started to set on the horizon. His nerves were starting to become unsettled, realizing that he was about to break into the District prison. He hadn't really thought about it until now and was having second thoughts about just how simple it would be. When he arrived at the apartment, he was immediately met at the doors by Moran who looked ready to get things rolling.

  "Follow me," He led Anlon into the apartment. "I have a few special things to help you out tonight."

  Anlon followed him in the beat up building and onto the elevator where he pressed the button to go to the one hundredth floor. The elevator lurched up and rose for several nerve racking minutes, leaving Anlon's mind to rush with thoughts about things that could go wrong. When they reached the top, the doors slid open, revealing a room filled with guns, swords, and gadgets of all types.

  Moran stepped out of the elevator. "There's a reason I own the whole building. There's no way I could possibly keep all my stuff in one apartment."

  Anlon stepped out in amazement, wordless at everything laid out before him. He followed Moran to a matte black glider bike resting in the middle of the room. It was similar to a motorcycle, but sported a much more compact design with levitation devices placed underneath it in place of wheels.

  "This is what you'll use to get through the prison security. It can cruise miles in the air, so you'll be able to get on the roof without any problems. Gaea may be a great planet to live on, but they still haven't caught up to the rest of the Galaxy technology wise. There won't be anything to det
ect you coming in from above," Moran informed him.

  "What about all of the lights the prison has? I'm sure even if I can get through security from above that I'll still be seen landing."

  "No problem. I have a little something for that too," He walked over to a rack and pulled off a small oval object. "This is a pulse jammer. It'll take care of your little light problem."

  "How does it work?" Anlon asked holding it in his hand.

  "Just stick it on the glider and when you press this button," He said, pointing at a red button on the glider's handle. "It'll activate the pulse jammer and the lights will temporarily be disabled."

  "Won't they kind of, you know, notice that someone cut their lights out?"

  "They're night guards," Moran rolled his eyes. "Rent a cops. You really think they care if the lights go out for a couple of seconds. It won't take long for you to land and reactivate the lights. Most of them are probably in some room asleep anyway, so it's not very likely they'll notice."

  "Just saying," Anlon shrugged. "They may take their jobs seriously."

  "Don't worry about it," Moran assured. "If they do notice it, they'll probably just shrug it off when the lights come back on. It won't be worth calling in, maybe the second time, but you'll be gone by then."

  "Okay. So I've made it on the roof undetected," Anlon played out. "Now how do I get past all of the security keeping races out?"

  "Well," Moran made his way over to a table. "I know security to get in is pretty tight. Eye scanners, finger scanners, and code-locks are all over the place, so I have something for all of those. You'll wear these custom made eye lenses and these custom made finger prints on your fingers," He handed to Anlon.

  "I'm guessing they do exactly what I think they're going to do."

  "Yes. They're going to get you in with ease. I got Giustino's fingerprints and eye pattern when he visited me," Moran winked. "You should be able to get in just about anywhere in the District prison with his level of clearance. I don't think there's anywhere he doesn't have access too."

  "How did you manage that?"

  "He left fingerprints all over my apartment when he came over and I had the robot downstairs scan his eyes when he first came to see me," Moran said. "I can assure you that you won't find anyone who can do a better job than I have with these."

  Anlon smiled. "Cool. I guess being in the GSOU has some perks."

  "But there's still more. I also have this for you," Handing Anlon an object.

  "A stick?" Anlon turned it over. "How is this going to help me?"

  "Not just any stick," Moran took it from him. "A frequency corrupter. It'll force any code-locked doors to open. Most anyway, I don't think the prison will have any locks that'll resist this. Some code-locks are built to resist it, but I doubt Hassental District prison put that much money into their security. They forget that just because this is a peaceful planet doesn't mean there aren't bad guys lurking around."

  "How does it work?"

  "Just point it at the pad," he demonstrated. "Then press and hold this button. It'll trick the pad into opening the door without setting of any alarms in the process."

  "What about any cameras inside of the prison?"

  "You'll have to take care of those immediately after landing on the roof," He picked up a small circular container with a metal bug inside. "There should be a box that controls all of the electricity up there. You want to locate it, find the camera wire, and then put this little fellow on that wire."

  "So it eats through the wire and cuts of the cameras?" Anlon asked. "Wouldn't it be just as easy to cut it?"

  "Not exactly," Moran shook his head. "Once it has the wire you want, it burns it instead of just cutting through it. It'll make it look like a fire started inside instead of someone intentionally cutting wires. May not seem like a big deal, but it saves trouble later if you get caught in a bind."

  Anlon grinned. "You thought of everything."

  "This is what I do for a living. If I don't think of everything, I die," he replied. "I just have a few more things for you and then you'll be ready to break into a prison."

  He led Anlon across the room and opened a cabinet.

  "That's for me?" Anlon stopped.

  "Yes. Top of the line body suit. It'll fit like skin and the black color will make you almost invisible in the dark. If you need other colors, it can switch colors in a second to match your surroundings. The suit will also keep your body cool while replenishing your stamina and endurance. If you happen to obtain small injuries, it'll also has capabilities heal them as long as they're not severe."

  "What about weapons?" Anlon pointed out. "Won't I need some if I run into trouble?"

  "I don't want to give you any because you're in a prison, but I guess I'll give you something just in case you run into anyone that wants to kill you."

  "Well, what do I get?"

  Moran pulled a pistol and knife from the cabinet. "A concussion pistol and a combat knife. They'll strap onto the belt on your suit."

  "Is this everything?" Anlon took the weapons. "This won't do much to help me."

  "This is everything that you'll need in order to get in and out of the prison successfully. This isn't a high risk mission Anlon, it's actually pretty simple. You don't need deadly weapons on you."

  "Easy for you to say," Anlon started grabbing his equipment. "How do I get the glider bike out of here?"

  "I'll take care of that. I'll also put the pulse jammer on the glider for you and the bug in one of the pouches. Keep your weapons and the frequency corruptor on your belt."

  Anlon nodded and entered the elevator. He didn't wait to start changing, immediately changing into the suit on his way down the elevator. The knife, concussion pistol, and frequency corruptor easily attached to the belt. The suit was tighter than he thought it was going to be, but after a few seconds he couldn't even feel it anymore.

  When he exited the elevator, he dropped his clothes by the door and went outside to see the glider already waiting for him. He hopped on the bike and looked over all of the controls before getting ready to leave. After pressing the button, the bike roared to life and he sped off into the darkness.

  As he neared the prison he readied his finger on the pulse jammer and hit it once he was within fifty yards, immediately cutting out the lights. He sped across the lawn, masked in darkness, and landed the glider in a spot hidden from view before deactivating the pulse jammer.

  He got off of the glider and peered over the edge of the roof to see every guard post abandoned. Immediately he started searching the roof for the electricity box and found it within several seconds placed in a corner. He walked over to it and opened it to find all of the wires neatly arranged and labeled for him. He opened the container with the small bug and put it on the purple wire, amazed at how quickly it burned through the wires.

  Anlon walked back over to the glider to put the bug back and took out the eye lenses and fingerprints before walking over to the security door. A laser came out and scanned his eyes and he put his fingers on a pad next to the door. Several seconds later a faint beep went off and the sound of locks moving emerged from the door.

  Anlon pulled it open and snuck down the hallways, staying alert for any guards that might pop out from around a corner, but didn't see any roaming the halls. The halls were strangely deserted, allowing him to quickly make it to the elevator that led to the database. He pulled the frequency corruptor off of his belt and pointed it at the pad, holding the button down, but nothing happened. He clenched his fists and started to swear at himself, knowing this was one of the code-locks Moran had said the prison wouldn't have. Anlon got off of the elevator and tried to think of other possible ways that he could get in, remembering the key that Giustino had used in front of him to operate it. He rushed down the hallway and pulled out the frequency corruptor when he reached Moran's office, pleased to see that it worked. The door popped open and Anlon entered the office, going straight for his desk. He snatched the key out of the top drawer an
d went back to the elevator. After inserting the key, he entered the code he had seen Giustino put in the last time they went down: 030194.

  The elevator lurched down and Anlon smiled to himself and his cleverness. When he reached the bottom, the doors slid open and he passed through the into the dimly lit database. Slowly, he walked to the monitor in the middle of the room, making sure not to trip on any of the giant wires trailing on the floor.

  "What are you doing down here Anlon?" A voice emerged from behind him.

  He swung his body around to see Camillus standing behind him. "I. Uhhh."

  "You shouldn't be here," Camillus moved towards him. "How did you get down here?"

  "Giustino said I could come down," Anlon lied. "He sent me down here to get some more information on my case because he was busy with some other stuff."

  Camillus cocked his head. "This part of the building is empty at this time of night. In fact, I believe the entire building is empty right now. I'm not reading a significant amount of life within the entire complex at this given time."

  "Camillus," Anlon pleaded. "I just need to use the computer to find someone."

  "I'm sure you can do that with Giustino, unless you were keeping things from him last time that you don't want him to know."

  "I know Kanti has been down here to look for people!" Anlon tried to make him feel guilty.

  Camillus looked taken aback for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. "That was different, she works here. You don't. You broke into the prison in order to get down here."

  "You let her search for people down here without Giustino's knowledge and you intentionally hid it from him. This is no different, whether I work here or not."

  Camillus was silent a moment. "If you tell me why you are down here, I will let you carry out your business. I'll never mention a word of this, or what you tell me, to anyone."

  "I'm trying to find out exactly where the races that killed my family went. I thought they went to Plouton at first, but I know for a fact now that they haven't. I believe they are still close by, but I need access to this database in order to locate them," Anlon revealed. "Are you happy now? Can I look for the races?"