by Sarah Noffke
The dog flickered and disappeared.
“Whoa, that’s still so cool,” Dejoure stated, activating her own cloaking belt and disappearing.
“Harley, you stay close to Dejoure at all times, no matter what,” Bailey ordered. “If someone tries to take her, you—”
Rip their throat out, Harley said.
“That’s right.” Bailey activated her own belt at the same time as Lewis. “Okay, are we ready to create some trouble?”
“You know I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Lewis said.
“Vengeance is going to be sweet as pie,” Bailey agreed.
They made it out of the Q-ship and to the roof entrance without any interruptions. Bailey heard a beep when Dejoure scanned her wrist under the sensor at the door.
The light above it flashed red.
She did it once more. Again, red.
“What’s the deal?” Bailey asked.
“I don’t know,” Dejoure said, frustration in her tone.
“I think they’ve disconnected her chip,” Lewis stated.
“Okay, well then, we’ll have to think of another way in.” Bailey looked around the building for options. “How do you all feel about scaling down the building and going through the main entrance? It was open the first time.”
“That’s definitely not at the top of my list of ways to get into Suck Butt,” Lewis said, using Dejoure’s fond expression for the headquarters.
“Well, we need the Q-ship up here, so I can’t fly us down to the platform,” Bailey reasoned.
The door to the stairwell flew open, and Bailey had almost no time to react as she tugged Dejoure out of the way. She could feel Lewis pressed next to her. He’d stepped back in time, too. Two guards dressed in white uniforms strode out the door.
“We’re late for our rounds,” a tall man said, looking around the rooftop.
“No one will know,” the second man answered.
The door swung shut behind them, but before it closed all the way, something stopped it.
Either Dejoure or Harley.
The guards strode for the other side of the rooftop, in the direction of the Q-ship. They were going to walk straight into it.
Bailey looked between the door and the guards, running through her options. The two men stopped, staring at the battlecruiser in the distance. It was starting to get attention; they’d be wondering if it was there by accident or trying to find Starboards.
The guards continued forward, moving faster than before, headed straight for the invisible Q-ship. Bailey yanked her pistol out of her holster and shot twice. The guards both dropped cleanly.
“DJ, I hope you had your eyes covered.”
“Uhhh…yeah…I totally didn’t see them get shot,” the girl said, unease in her voice.
The door opened all the way, and the group filed through into the stairwell. After they’d gone down the first flight, Lewis halted.
“Here’s my floor,” he said.
Bailey paused. She wanted to say something encouraging, but couldn’t find the right words. What could she say that would be equal to what Lewis could be facing? Redemption and revenge were moments away. He’d earned this, and soon, it would lead to his freedom.
However, Bailey didn’t know how to vocalize any of that in a meaningful way. Therefore she simply said, “Don’t die, Holmes. That would ruin everything.”
“Same to you, Ladybug,” Lewis said.
Bailey waited until Lewis had passed through the door to the top floor before continuing. “Chef, where are you?”
“I’m right beside you.” Dejoure’s hand slid into Bailey’s, and she squeezed it.
“Good girl. Let’s go.”
They made it down the flights of stairs easily, not running into any more guards. Bailey was impressed by how quietly Dejoure moved. She waited for Harley’s response; it came quick.
It’s clear on the other side, the dog said, having used his enhanced hearing to test the area.
Bailey peeled the door open and checked. So far, so good.
Actually, it was too easy. However, she reminded herself that they were cloaked, which was technology that Starboards didn’t even know existed, so they could easily fool all the facility’s security measures. They passed quickly through the stark white hallways.
At the door for the children’s ward, Bailey paused. “You okay?” she asked Dejoure, who she suspected was wrestling with a lot of old feelings.
“I will be,” she said, her voice strong.
Another locked door.
The sensor beeped when Dejoure ran her wrist over it. Again, it flashed red.
“I had to try,” the girl stated.
“Absolutely,” Bailey agreed.
“So, are we hoping that someone exits this way, like before?” Dejoure asked.
“According to what you said about the schedule, no one should be coming and going for the next hour,” the lieutenant reminded her.
“Yeah.” Dejoure sounded defeated.
“Holmes?” Bailey said over the comm.
“Yes?” he answered a moment later.
“How much longer until you’re in position?”
He scoffed. “Come on, I’ve been copying your ninja moves. I’m already here.”
“Nice work. That’s impressive,” she said with a smile. “So you didn’t run into any trouble?”
“Well, I’m fairly certain I broke a couple of fingers,” Lewis stated.
“All in a day’s work. Can you open the children’s ward for us? We don’t have access.”
“Absolutely.”
A moment later, the light above the sensor flashed green.
“Sweet,” Dejoure said.
“Gotta love having friends in the right places,” Bailey said.
Chapter Twenty-One
Starboards Corp Headquarters, Planet Kai, Tangki System
Shaking his hand, Lewis tried to shut out the pain. He’d heard the bones breaking in his hand as he threw his fist against the guard’s face. Casting his eyes at the slumped figure in the corner, Lewis smiled to himself. I still had the last laugh.
A loud banging echoed behind Lewis.
“Come on! Let me out of here!
The other guard, the one who had been hanging out in the back of the control room, was now locked in the bathroom without his comm. Lewis had a choice in that scenario, so he’d disabled the security guard and locked him away where he couldn’t be a problem. He knew based on the current plan that there was no point in sparing the guy, but he didn’t want that blood directly on his hands if he could help it.
As he’d suspected, the security guards had all the monitors displaying feeds of Ricky Bobby when he entered. They had been watching the battlecruiser and the ships flying around it, not even suspecting that the real danger was already in Starboards’ headquarters.
Lewis cast his eyes at the bank of screens that displayed the security feed—apparently upgraded since the last time he and Bailey had broken into the place. The disappointment pooled in his chest. He stared at the image of the CEO’s empty office.
Melanie is gone.
Was it too much to ask, that the villain be there when they executed their plan? All Lewis wanted was a little bit of redemption and revenge.
He stared at the empty office on the monitor. He was holding onto the unrealistic hope that Melanie was somewhere in the building. She’s probably micromanaging the staff, pretending she knows better than the scientists and engineers. It was something that had always irked Lewis about her. When Melanie didn’t know something, she just made it up.
“The repairman is probably late due to car trouble,” she would say, trying to rationalize the person’s absence.
“There’s no fact to support that,” Lewis would retort. “Actually, he just got a brand-new vehicle.”
“You’ve heard of lemons,” she’d argue.
Facts. Lewis relied on them. If he didn’t know the answer, he figured it out. Melanie liked to make u
p likely stories and then look for clues to support her tale.
That wasn’t how detecting worked.
A good detective wasn’t attached to the outcome. Their only mission was to find the truth, whatever that might be.
Looking back, Lewis wasn’t sure why he’d trained Melanie. She was awful for the job. She was horrible for him. He could see that so clearly now, but something had obviously obstructed his vision back then. If he was honest, though, she wasn’t as bad at the job as he wanted to believe.
She had fooled him.
Lewis pulled his eyes away from the office with the crater bear rug. Melanie always had flamboyant taste. He’d manually locked down each level of Starboards. Soon the workers would figure it out, but by then it would be too late.
As Jack had supposed, Starboards had upped their security system. He had confirmed this by researching security firms and then using his contacts to find out which large organization had recently upgraded their systems. He couldn’t get specifics on the location, but his contacts were able to give him the information on the actual system the facility was using.
It was because of this information that they were able to form a plan that turned Starboards Corp’s security features in their favor.
Lewis tapped a button and smiled to himself. He watched as a security guard on the first floor tapped the button for the elevator. Nothing happened. The man looked around, trying to figure out if one of the other elevators was operating. They weren’t.
“Sorry, pal. There’s no coming up for you,” Lewis said, sitting back and crossing his arms behind his head.
Everyone at Starboards Corp was currently stuck where they were. There was only one way to override the control room, and the only one with that access would be the CEO.
Bailey peeled back the door for the children’s ward—or as Dejoure called it, ‘the boringest place in the world’.
As DJ had said, the main area was empty. The two girls and Harley slipped into the room, careful to close the door quietly.
A row of offices on the perimeter of the large room had their lights on. Bailey stayed put, her hand lightly on Dejoure’s shoulder. That was their mode of communication, since talking was too much of a risk.
A moment later, Harley’s voice rang in Bailey’s head. The scientists are all in their offices.
Bailey released a breath and tapped her finger once on Dejoure’s shoulder. Their signal that everything was clear. Just as the young girl had said, the scientists were working in their offices at this hour. The children, then, should be in their dormitory having “quiet time”.
Bailey tugged Dejoure through to the long hallway where the dormitory was located. On the other side of it was the cafeteria, where the sounds of clanging pots and pans could be heard. Again, as Dejoure had explained, two guards were stationed outside the dormitory.
Bailey tapped Dejoure’s shoulder three times. Stay here, the communication told the girl.
DJ halted, Harley beside her. He had been ordered to stay next to her and could find her even though they were cloaked due to his heightened senses.
Bailey considered knocking out the guards first before securing the back area, but there were too many issues that could arise from that. And thankfully, the cloaking belt was working without fault so far.
She crossed to the other side of the hallway, careful not to make a sound with her boots on the white, tiled floor.
Bailey grabbed the handles of the double doors that led into the cafeteria and yanked them shut. The guards spun to face the noise. There was no time to tell Lewis to lock those doors, but if she knew the detective, he was already watching and knew to do it.
Fighting two guards while cloaked wasn’t really that much fun, but it was more important that things go to plan than Bailey have a thrill. The closest guard pulled the shock wand from his hip, holding it defensively in Bailey’s direction. She wanted to laugh at how ridiculous he looked, scanning the area for her invisible figure.
Bailey reached forward, grabbing the guy by the opposite elbow and yanking him forward. She threw her forearm against the shock wand, knocking it out of his hand. His arm flew through the air, trying to find her. She ducked, enjoying the game. Then she drove her fist into the guy’s stomach, making him double over. She grabbed him by the shoulders and rammed him head-first into the opposite wall. He hit hard, crumpling to the ground.
“Watch out!” Lewis said over the comms.
Bailey spun around to find the other guard lunging straight for her. He had pulled on a pair of glasses. Infrared, she guessed.
She rolled onto her shoulder on the floor, sweeping her leg around to kick the guy down. He fell halfway before catching himself with his hands. Bailey brought her other leg around and up, kicking the man straight in the face. He shot back from the force, knocking into the wall.
“Seriously, watching that without being able to see you is pretty strange,” Lewis said.
“Cafeteria locked?” Bailey asked.
“Yes, and the scientists are securely imprisoned in their offices,” Lewis stated. “However, they haven’t figured it out yet. They sit like monkeys and work.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Bailey said. “That makes the next phase of the plan easier.”
“Yep. We’re just going to waltz out of here.”
“Oh, great, now you’ve jinxed us. Dammit, Holmes.”
Lewis chuckled. “So talented and strong, and yet you still think that luck is a factor.”
“Well, I don’t think it hurts.” She felt Dejoure’s hand wrap around her forearm. The girl had found her. “Ready to go release your friends?” Bailey asked her.
“They aren’t my friends, not like you all are,” she answered. “But yes. Let’s set them free.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Starboards Corp Headquarters, Planet Kai, Tangki System
Lewis watched as the door to the children’s dormitory opened. He couldn’t see Bailey, Dejoure or Harley, but he could picture them walking into the large room. He looked forward to watching the next part, where they blew the children’s minds. As children who were created to be special, they were about to witness something that for any young person was true magic.
He smiled proudly. Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that are the most persuasive.
The main, large screen beside the rows of monitors flickered. The image of a woman sitting on a beach materialized. Melanie.
She was wearing a bright pink bikini, and her black hair was swaying in the wind. Behind her, several cabanas could be seen, and the curve of the ocean behind that.
She squinted, pulling her device closer to her face. “Carl? George? Where are you worthless shits?”
Lewis remained silent, his eyes smoldering as he watched the video comm of Melanie. So she was not, in fact, at Starboards Corp. By the looks of it, she was taking a vacation on one of the rare beaches on Kai, which was mostly water.
Melanie moved until she was under the shade of a cabana. “Guys, where are you? I’m getting reports that the staff are locked in their offices.”
How long had Lewis dreamed of this moment? The instance when he would tell the woman before him that she was worthless no matter what she stole. He’d rehearsed the speech so many times. He’d announce every lie she told him, calling her out. Tallied every misdeed. He would make her feel like trash.
But the truth was that those rehearsed speeches were only for his benefit. She was a narcissist; those kinds of people didn’t care if they deceived others, cheated or lied to get ahead. What did it matter to her? She didn’t even believe in karma. Life, to people like Melanie, was a game, and she played to win.
Melanie searched the control room through the video comm, her large, brown eyes narrowing.
Lewis could tell from the expression on her face that she was piecing things together. What he had to do now was stall. His moment had finally come.
His eyes swiveled to the monitor displaying the children’s dormi
tory. Bailey only needed a few more minutes.
The dozen children sitting quietly on their beds looked up when Bailey opened the doors to the dormitory. They stared around, probably wondering why they were being retrieved early. Dejoure had said the schedule was engrained into them from day one. It was never altered, no matter what. For one hour, the kids were expected to sit quietly on their beds either reading, meditating or sleeping. To talk during this time resulted in punishment. Dejoure, consequently, was punished many times.
To expect children to be quiet when their intuitive nature was to express themselves burned Bailey up. Dr. Ass was one of those who subscribed to the belief that children should only speak when spoken to.
“‘Children are meant to be seen and not heard’,” Dejoure had recited to her when explaining how the program worked.
“And how were you punished if you talked out of turn?” she’d asked Dejoure.
The girl lowered her head. “Solitary confinement, usually.”
Bailey’s chest burned with anger. She’d never believed in sending a child away when they did something wrong. Yes, sometimes she had to cool down before dealing with her sisters, but there was a difference between taking a few minutes of timeout and sending them away. Children needed to understand the rules and the reasons behind them. More importantly, they needed rules that made sense; staying quiet for the purpose of social order wasn’t good enough.
She stared around the room at the children who didn’t dare move, although the doors to their dormitory had seemingly opened by magic.
The boy closest to the door noticed the guards lying on the floor. He backed up on his bed and tucked his knees into his chest.
Bailey laid her hand on Dejoure’s shoulder and tapped once. It was time to proceed.
Dejoure materialized a moment later, making everyone in the room gasp.
“Dee-Jaw!” a small boy with bright blond hair yelped from the back of the room. He scooted off his bed a few inches and then, thinking better of it, pushed himself back again.
“What are you doing?” a girl with red hair, cut to her chin in the style of the rest of the females, asked.
