Cloaked

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Brock bobbed his head. “Yeah. Probably snuck off somewhere to chill out or something,” he said.

  “Yeah. I don’t blame them,” Jack agreed standing up. “I’ll leave you to finish eating,” she said.

  Brock understood the words to mean finish eating and make an exit that doesn’t look suspicious.

  He nodded and she turned to leave. Just then Jayne appeared at the table with a tray of food. “Greetings all,” she said, looking at the boys and then at Jack. “You not eating?” she asked.

  Jack shook her head. “Already ate. You haven’t seen Marissa or Rex anywhere have you?” she asked.

  Jayne hesitated for a moment. “No. No. I haven’t… why?”

  Jack shrugged. “Just wanted to see if they were around to have a drink is all.”

  Jayne sat down next to Brock and settled in to eat. “Hmm. If I see them…”

  “Great. Thanks!” Jack said as she waved and then disappeared out of the hall.

  Jayne watched her leave, a glint of suspicion in her eye as she picked up her fork to eat.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Flutningsaðili, Floor 4, Restricted Access Area

  Maya sat down at the table with the other three hostages. Sean continued to pace.

  “Why aren’t they calling through?” she asked trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice more for the benefit of the others. Her eyes traced Sean’s movements, watching him prowl like a trapped tiger.

  “Probably a glitch in the tech,” he responded. “No idea how this shit works…”

  Suddenly his facial expression changed. “They’re connecting,” he said, nodding at Maya.

  Maya’s face relaxed a little, and the three others looked from her to Sean and back to her again hoping for an inkling of what was going on.

  Sean put his hands on his hips and looked off across the room. “Hi, Pieter? Things have taken a turn over here,” he started explaining. “Maya and I have been rumbled. They don’t know how much we know, but they’ve put us in with the scientists and they’re going to eject us into space at their next scheduled trash dump.”

  “Shit,” Pieter hissed under his breath.

  Sean continued to look off across the tiny glass room. “Yeah mate, I was hoping for something a little more useful than that.”

  “Hhh..hang on. Let me call Molly,” Pieter stammered. There was a shuffling on the other end of the line, and a moment later Pieter’s voice returned. “She’s on her way. Will be here in a moment. Are any of you injured?” Pieter asked.

  “No,” Sean’s voice came back. “We’re ok at the moment.”

  “Hang on, I hear Molly’s foot steps. She’s here,” Pieter told him.

  A moment later Sean could hear Molly’s voice on the line. “Sean, what do you need?”

  Sean glanced at Maya who was starting to look scared. “We’re ready for an extraction,” he said calmly, trying to make it sound that they were in more control of the situation so that Maya and the others wouldn’t be too nervous.

  Maya could almost imagine he was calling for a car to pick them up from a shopping trip.

  Molly was to the point. “Ok. We’re coming for you. Do we have any idea how long you’ve got?”

  Sean shook his head. “No idea. Could be minutes, could be hours or days.”

  Paige and Joel arrived at the conference room and stepped inside, quietly taking seats at the table so as not to interrupt.

  Molly nodded. “Ok. Oz is looking into the garbage dumping on the ship. Since ADAM was already in the system with Maya’s patch, he has some access… but it’s going to take a little time to work it.”

  Sean exhaled. “Ok. Cool.”

  Molly, there’s something that may be useful.

  Oh?

  Yeah it seems that there have been a few communications between the ship and Gaitune.

  From here?

  No. Not from us. Someone else on Gaitune. A couple of kilometers away.

  Who?

  Hang on. Oz’s voice paused, then the intercomm sparked up again. “Carl Milberg’s place.”

  Molly’s eyes snapped on Paige.

  Paige‘s mouth dropped. A stunned silence filled the room. After a moment Paige’s voice found its way through her mouth. “Shipping,” she said making the connection.

  Molly nodded. “Oz, see what you can find out. Get Crash to start up the Empress. We’ll be heading out shortly. Paige and I just need to pay Carl a visit. Sean,” she said, lifting her voice a little so he would hear her clearly. “Hang in there. We’re coming for you. Stay alive.”

  Sean nodded. “Will do, boss.” He glanced over at Maya as he spoke. “See you shortly. Keep us posted about ETAs, eh?”

  Molly was already half way through the door. “Sure thing. Oz and Pieter will keep in touch.”

  The line disconnected, leaving Sean staring now into space feeling a little more nervous than he had been just seconds before when the connection was live.

  He glanced over at Maya again. “They’re on their way. But we need to figure out if there is a way out of here, just in case.”

  He wandered over to the table where the others were sitting quietly. Bewildered by the unconventional rescue party. “How about you tell us everything you know so we can work on a plan to keep us all alive until our friends get here?” he suggested, looking into the fearful faces.

  Aboard the Flutningsaðili, Level 2, Mess Hall

  Brock left the mess hall, scuttling from one common area to another, looking for Jack.

  He felt sure she wouldn’t have gone far if they needed to pow wow on this. He poked his head into the room that was used as a games room. It was noisy, with people playing computer games and simulations. She wasn’t in there. He stepped out into the corridor again.

  Just then, he heard a click in his implant.

  Shit. Can’t do this here, he thought to himself.

  He marched down the corridor, looking for somewhere he might have some privacy to speak out loud. He found what he thought was a storage cupboard. He’d seen the cleaning crew use it before. He tried the key pad and it slid right open.

  He slipped inside. A dim light came on, and the door closed behind him. The closet was about four feet by four feet, and fortunately there was no one else there.

  He double clicked him quantum pearl and waited.

  “Hey,” he heard Pieter’s voice.

  “Hey yourself,” Brock responded, a grin spreading across his face at the sound of a familiar voice. “What’s happening? We can’t find Sean and Maya, and I think I’ve lost Jack.”

  Just then the closet door opened. Brock’s heart jumped into his mouth.

  He scrambled to look at whatever was on the shelf so he could look like he was in here collecting supplies.

  “Hey,” whispered Jack, stepping inside and allowing the door to close behind him.

  Brock breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s ok. I’ve got Jack,” he told Pieter.

  Pieter’s voice came through again. “Ah, well that’s good news. Saves me trying to get you each separately. Lemme just loop her in too. Ok we’re good. She should hear me too now.”

  Jack nodded. “I hear you, Pieter.”

  “Good,” Pieter continued. “Ok so it seems that Sean and Maya have been captured. They found the kidnap victims, three in total, and they’re being held in the same place. We’ve been in touch with Sean, and we’re on our way to extract you. Problem is, they could be ejected at any time. We just don’t know. So we need you two to 1. Not get caught too. And 2. See if there is anything you can do to get these guys free.”

  Brock’s eyes widened. “No small order then,” he remarked with a little irony in his voice.

  Pieter’s voice was sympathetic. “I know. I’m with you. It’s intense. I’m sorry you’re going through this.”

  Brock nodded. “It’s ok. Any clue on how to do any of that?”

  “Yeah,” Pieter responded. “Turns out that before they got caught Maya and Sean had ADAM create a
patch for some off limits area, to get them in. The code for bypassing the retinal scan and everything is 1234 Enter.”

  Brock nodded. “1234 Enter,” he repeated, looking at Jack. Jack nodded, remembering the code too.

  “Oz is working on figuring out their location on the ship. He’ll have that to you soon. We’re factoring in your relative positions based on your quantum beads. Should have an answer and a map, soon.”

  Brock nodded. “But what about being seen accessing this secret area. This place has camera coverage everywhere.”

  Oz interjected. “Hi Jack. Brock. Oz here. It looks like Maya already implanted a patch to take the cameras from recording in places all randomly, but also where she wants to be. Pretty smart. It means that if they were to notice, they wouldn’t just see it happening at the restricted access area. So we can use that patch to help you, once we’ve nailed your route.”

  Jack wiped a hand over her mouth, thinking. “We have another problem, Oz. Say we go ahead and get those guys out of wherever they are… Then what? We’re on a ship with nowhere to go.”

  There was a silence on the line.

  Brock leaned his head back against a shelf for a moment. “You know, we could see if there are any ships that we can use to get out of here?”

  Jack looked at him, her eyes gradually brightening. “Yes!” she agreed. “And a freighter has limited weapons. Mostly just for blasting rocks, and they have a restricted range to what, a few kilometers?” she guessed.

  Brock nodded. “Yeah. About that. But all they’re likely to have will be something for unloading cargo at best, and then trying to out run them in what is essentially a tractor.”

  Jack pulled her lips to one side. “Uh huh,” she answered.

  Brock bobbed his head. “Well, I guess that’s it then. At least it will have more maneuverability than this beast, so we can head back in the direction of Estaria and wait for the Empress to scoop us up. It will take them hours to turn this thing around, so that’s our best bet.”

  Jack nodded and shifted her weight, moving back towards the door. “Ok, it’s a plan. Not an airtight plan by any stretch of the imagination. But better than sitting around waiting for them to execute Sean and Maya.”

  Pieter cut in. “In the meantime Molly is on her way to you soon, and we’ll be in touch with updates. Hang in there. We’re coming for you. All of you. I’ll let Sean and Maya know what’s happening.”

  The line clicked off.

  Brock and Jack stood in the half light of the closet. Brock suddenly got a twinkle in his eye. “You know, this is one of those times that some day in the future we’re going to laugh about, and tell stories to rookies about tight spots that we got out of.”

  Jack smiled. “Yeah. I’m sure you’re right. Ok. You wanna try stealing us some transport? And I’ll find the restricted area and grab the others as soon as we get their location through?”

  Brock nodded. “Sure thing. Stay in touch on holo message only. Better than getting overheard.”

  Jack turned to leave. “Defo,” she agreed. “Count to ten before you follow me out,” she said, and then she was gone.

  Gaitune-67, Carl Milberg’s residence

  Molly rang the bell. Paige nudged her. “I have a key,” she told her sheepishly.

  Molly shook her head. “It’s ok. This is an official visit. I want him to come and invite us in.” She leaned on the bell again.

  Nothing sounded on the outside, but since it lit up she assumed it was ringing inside.

  Several moments later there was movement on the other side of the airlock. Once Carl recognized them through the two doors he waved at Paige, and beckoned them in, hitting the access switch on the other side.

  The airlock door clicked and started to slide open in it’s circular swing. The two women stepped in, and it closed behind them, then normalized the pressure.

  A moment later the other door swung open, allowing them through into the second semi circular chamber. Once they were clear, the door slid back, and the pressure normalized and the door into the house opened.

  Carl had wandered away as they went through the airlock rigmarole. Molly looked left then right.

  “Through here,” Carl called from the right. “Just putting the kettle on. You ready for a brew?” he asked.

  Molly headed down the hallway following the sound of his voice. Paige followed, feeling more awkward about this than she would have guessed originally.

  “We’re not here for a social call, Mr. Milberg,” Molly started as she stepped into the kitchen. “I’m afraid we’ve intercepted your communications with Max Pike, and we have reason to believe that you are involved in a criminal operation involving the kidnapping of a number of scientists as well as two of our crew members at this point.”

  Carl stopped what he was doing with the cups and turned around to face the two women. He’d heard a lot about Molly from Paige, but never had she described her as quite this formidable.

  Mind, she perhaps didn’t relay any tales where her boss was in a situation where her team had been captured and about to be killed.

  Carl looked over at them with a shocked expression, a tea bag in his hand. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about?” he told her.

  “Cut the crap,” Molly responded without missing a beat. “We’ve traced communications to here. You’re in the shipping business are you not?”

  Milberg nodded once, and turned back around, placing the tea bag in a cup. He continued to make tea. “I am. Paige knows I am.”

  Paige took a step forward and placed her hands on the counter top island separating them. “I also know you have covert shipping operations. Just the kind of operations that would be facilitating things like illegal fracking of an inhabited planet.”

  Carl spun back around, his eyes defensive. “Hey look, there are lots of people, lots of organizations that require covert shipping. Governments for one. If the Oggs are arming the Teshovians or the Leath are doing deals with the Yollins under the radar, they pay for discretion. Heck, for all I know you people have used my services for bringing equipment onto this rock!”

  He paused, then went back to the tea, muttering under his breath. “Not that I’ve ever been told anything about what you do for a living over there,” he added poignantly.

  Molly glanced at Paige, who was flushing a little on her chest. She sensed this was an issue in their relationship. “Sounds like you’ve both been keeping secrets,” Molly commented. “The point is, we need to know everything you do about this ship, in order to get our crew and the kidnapped scientists back safe and sound. You need to make this right. Transporting kidnapped victims… you’ll be going away for a long time. You’ll lose everything.”

  Carl had started pouring the tea.

  Molly paused, and lowered her tone a little. “Can we count on your help?”

  Carl paused pouring, thinking for a moment. Molly sensed his sudden anxiety, even though his back was turned.

  Carl resumed pouring out the third cup. “Yes. Of course,” he responded after a moment, keeping his tone even. “In fact, I think there is a way for everyone to get what they need out of this.”