Cloaked

by Ell Leigh Clarke

Brock checked outside of the vessel as he made his way down the ramp. “Yes. On it,” he confirmed.

  “Great,” Pieter said. “Hail us when you’re ready to leave and Oz will give you access.”

  “Ok, thanks,” he said just as the line went dead.

  Find Anne, he thought to himself, and then get them both off this ship. I can do that.

  He felt perfectly confident, until he stepped out into the open of the hangar deck again.

  He scurried out to the outer perimeter as quickly as he could without running. At least that was sheltered from view from the observation mezzanine he reasoned, as he broke into a jog.

  He approached the double doors to the elevator area and then slowed to a walk again. He peered out of the door, hoping he wouldn’t have to wait too long. Just then the doors started to open. He stayed behind the doors out of sight, just in case it wasn’t Anne.

  It was a good job he did. A second later two engineers stepped out of the elevator and headed his way.

  SHIIIIIiiit!

  He realized quickly he couldn’t ask Oz for help, because they would hear him. He turned and headed back onto the hangar deck, looking around for somewhere to hide.

  There were a couple of forklifts about twenty yards away. He hot footed it over and hid behind them. Just as he disappeared the double doors opened and the two stepped in, talking.

  “Yeah, but if they would just listen, I think we could turn up the efficiency-” the first Estarian engineer prattled.

  The second Estarian held up his hand. “Nah seriously, you don’t want to be doing that. Get too good at all this and half of us will be outta a job. You don’t wanna go there.”

  There was a pause as they walked off in the direction of the ship Brock had hacked. “Yeah, suppose you’re right,” the first guy admitted. “But you know what would be neat…”

  The voices faded, and Brock peaked out from behind the fork lift. Satisfied that they were out of ear shot he crept back to the doors and then out in the elevator area.

  Still no sign of any girl, he thought to himself.

  He tapped into his holo.

  ANY NEWS ON ANNE?

  SEND.

  The audio clicked in his ear. Pieter’s voice came on. “Not yet. She hasn’t used Sean’s access card yet so we have no idea where she is. Just hang in there. If we have to leave without her I’ll give you a heads up and then you can make your way out. You have a few minutes. The others are just making their way down to the Empress on floor twenty-five.”

  “Ok,” Brock muttered, wanting to pace, but knowing it would take him off guard if anyone were to appear. Heck if someone were to come through those elevator doors he’d be done for.

  He waited.

  He listened as the elevators creaked and cranked, transporting people between other floors.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Aboard the Flutningsaðili, Floor 25, Dock 26

  “Oh my ancestors!” Jayne exclaimed, seeing Max strewn out on the deck. She ran forward to help him, oblivious to the ship docked in the bay.

  “What happened?” she asked, wishing she had her scanner on her. She nearly always carried it, except she’d left it in the med bay earlier. She wanted to kick herself. What kind of ship’s doctor was she, anyway? she chided herself.

  Max tried to lift his head, and winced in pain. “Stun gun,” he told her. “Those spies we had on board… they’re making a run for it.” His eyes fell on the ship. “Their friends have shown up too.”

  Jayne looked at the unfamiliar ship. “We need to get you out of here,” she decided.

  Max struggled, trying to get up, but not having enough strength back. “They need stopping,” he insisted. “Get security down here!” he ordered.

  She shook her head, her expression firm as she continued tending to him as if he were a child having a tantrum. “You’ve been lucky so far, but there’s nothing to say they won’t take you out once they have what they want. They’ll be coming back through here any minute, I’ll bet.”

  She glanced over towards the shadows and a storage area with some crates and debris that had been left strewn about. “Help me get you over there,” she said signaling with her eyes.

  She managed to slip her arms under his shoulders and chest and drag him into the shadows out of harms way.

  ***

  Crash was on board the docked Empress, watching the screen.

  Paige, still emotional, came into the cockpit to see what was happening. She viewed the screen over Crash’s shoulder. “What’s she doing?” she asked, her sobs subsiding.

  Crash turned his head slightly to acknowledge her. “It’s ok, she’s unarmed. Just leave them be. Emma is keeping an eye on them.”

  He smiled, a rare expression on his face. “They so much as look in our direction wrong and she’s got authorization to take them out.”

  Paige put her hand on his shoulder a little tense now that there was another prospect of carnage, but distracted from how she had been feeling.

  Aboard the Flutningsaðili, Floor 25

  The elevator doors opened on the twenty-fifth floor to a corridor that was empty, apart from Joel.

  Molly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him.

  “We’re all clear,” he informed her. “Crash says someone has shown up to help Pike, but Emma has a lock on them. If they move, she can blow them away. We’re good to go.”

  Molly stepped out and instructed the group to move ahead. Joel led them down the corridor: a chaotic mess of footsteps. Some confident and urgent. Some hesitant and bewildered.

  Arriving at dock twenty-six Joel went in ahead, gun sweeping the area in front of them checking for any risks. The others hung back, flanked by Maya and Sean, both of whom were still carrying the rifles they had taken from their captors.

  “We’re clear,” Joel called back. Maya and Sean ushered their charges through and over to the open hanger door on the far side of the Empress.

  Molly brought up the rear, spotting Max and Jayne watching them leave from several yards away.

  Max called across from a sitting up position now. “Count yourselves lucky this time,” he snarled. “Next time I see you, it will be your end. So,” he said menacingly, “make sure we don’t cross paths again.”

  Molly wandered over calmly. Serenely. She bent down and moved close to his face. Jayne had shuffled back in fear, leaving Max, half paralyzed to fend for himself against the approaching wrath.

  “I think,” Molly said quietly, “it should be you hoping we never cross paths again.”

  Pike froze in fear of her presence. Her tone carried no venom, and little emotion. It made her eerily dangerous.

  Max shriveled from her, averting his eyes in surrender. Jayne watched the exchange from crouching, a few feet back, her face fixed in shock at what she was witnessing.

  Molly quietly stood up, turned and walked away, her gun still holstered as if she felt no threat from him.

  The ship powered up, and she disappeared into it, before it gently undocked, reversed out and then disappeared into the abyss of space beyond.

  Aboard the Flutningsaðili, Hangar Deck, Level 1

  Several more minutes had passed and there was finally a click in Brock’s ear piece. “Ok man, you’re going to have to get out of there,” Pieter told him. “Leave the girl.”

  Brock hesitated. “Since when do we leave people behind?”

  Pieter struggled to find his words. “We’re going to have to. She could be anywhere. We still haven’t got a trace on her. For all we know she isn’t even on her way.” His voice was full of remorse having to relay the order.

  Brock racked his brains. “What if I were to just stay… and you guys go on ahead. I’ve got a vessel. I can catch up.”

  Oz clicked on this time. “Molly says she’s not leaving you. So unless you want to put Molly in danger while she comes to - and I quote - drag your ass back to the Empress, I’d get going.”

  Brock huffed in frustration, his hands up on his f
ace as he could no longer resist the urge to pace.

  Just then there was a rattling, and a thumping from above. He looked up, and there was something moving behind the air vent. “Anne?” he called, in as loud a whisper as he dared.

  “Yes?” came a girl’s voice.

  “Pieter, Oz. I’ve got her,” he announced.

  There was a sigh of relief on the line from Pieter. “Ok great. Now get moving,” he told him firmly.

  Brock looked up, craning his neck, trying to see into the vent. “Can you get it open?” he asked quietly.

  “I think so,” Anne replied. “It hurts my fingers. I’ve had a few of these to do along the way, else I’d have been here sooner.”

  Brock stepped back, thinking. “It’s ok. I’m right here. We’ve got a ship waiting. Just as soon as you get it open, you can drop down and I’ll catch you.”

  Anne struggled some more with the grating and soon it dropped down, and two feet appeared. “Ready?” she asked.

  Brock got underneath her. “Yeah, ready. Drop.”

  She wriggled forward and then dropped. Brock caught her, staggered back a few paces and then found his balance and put her down. “Wow, that went a lot better than I thought it would,” he remarked.

  Anne smiled. “Thank you,” she said shyly.

  “My pleasure,” he responded. “I’m Brock, I’ll be your escape buddy today.” He held out his hand not to shake, but for her to take. She put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her off through the double doors to the hangar deck.

  “Ok, now stay close,” he told her quietly. “There are some engineer types around. We just need to act casual and if anyone asks you’re an intern, doing some work experience with me, right?”

  Anne nodded, and continued to follow him back around the perimeter on the same route he’d originally taken.

  They got nearly all the way round to where they needed to be, and Brock started leading her off the walkway and onto the deck.

  “Hey. You there!” A voice called out across the deck.

  Brock spun round to see one of the engineers. “Don’t suppose you saw a tool kit on the railings out here have you?”

  Brock looked around where he was pointing. “Uh, no. Not just now, but there was one there earlier,” he relayed.

  The engineer nodded. “Yeah. Just left it there while I took a break and some bugger has nicked it.”

  Brock frowned. “Some people just need a good beating,” he said, matching the guys tone of annoyance.

  “Yeah,” the engineer agreed. “You’re telling me!” He scratched his head and continued looking around.

  Brock pushed Anne on, and they hurried onto the ship. Brock went straight to the cockpit and started running the final checks. The tailgate closed and Anne came up to the cockpit to join him.

  “Grab a seat,” he told her. “And strap in, this may be a bit bumpy.”

  Anne did as she was told.

  Brock hit the bead in his arm. “Ok Oz, an exit would be great right about now…”

  Oz’s voice came through his implant again. “Ok, you’re cleared for take off. Lift off when you’re ready. I’m sending the shortest flight path out of here to your holo. You’ll want to be going no faster than 20kph to clear their shield though. Any faster and it will think you’re a rock or something and burn you up.”

  “Thanks for the tip,” Brock responded humorously while focusing on the lift off.

  Within moments they were up and out, and then away through the opening hangar door.

  Brock grinned to himself. “Ok Oz, we’re clear,” he announced, glancing down at Anne. “Heading in the direction back towards Estaria to rendez-vous with the Empress.”

  “Great stuff,” Oz acknowledged. “We’ll be picking you up any minute.”

  Flutningsaðili, Floor 25, Dock 26

  From the shadows Max and Jayne watched the Empress pull away.

  Max was still unable to move and had been propped up against a wall by Jayne for comfort. She had called for help but it was going to take several minutes for someone useful to arrive. Plus, it was a matter that they wanted hushed up, so Max had insisted on everything going through Pascal to coordinate.

  They sat waiting in the shadows of the now empty dock. Jayne looked out into the dock, absent from behind her eyes. “I knew there was something off about that Marissa girl,” she mused, thinking back to all the conversations they had had and kicking herself that she hadn’t known.

  She glanced down at Max. “So what exactly are we transporting that is causing all this fuss? And who were those other people? I didn’t see them at take off.”

  Max grunted, and then winced in pain, trying to shift his position slightly. “It doesn’t matter anymore. We’re fucked. When we show up without the personnel, the client is going to well and truly fuck us over.”

  Jayne looked at him. “You mean, we’re transporting people? Not just equipment?”

  Max avoided her eyes. “The less you know…”

  Aboard the Empress, heading back to Gaitune

  Molly watched the screen as the little vessel Brock had escaped in gently touched down inside the Empress cargo bay.

  “Ok, she’s in,” Crash announced. “Doors closing.”

  Molly got up and headed out into the lounge area. “Sean, Joel” she called. The two looked up at her awaiting their instructions. “Brock has just docked with us. He has the girl with him. She’ll be in need of treatment. Could you go help him get her down to the med bay?”

  They nodded and headed off to the back of the ship. Jack had already taken the two scientists down to get checked out and treated.

  She turned her attention to Paige and Pieter. “You two ok?” she checked. They both nodded.

  She looked over at Maya who was settling in to relax with her eyes closed. “Maya,” she called. “Get ye down to the med bay and let Emma take a look at that hand,” she instructed. “Paige, you can help her. And hop in a med dock for a diagnosis yourself while you’re there.”

  Paige nodded and silently got up and led Maya down the aisle back towards the corridor between the cockpit and the lounge.

  Oz, can you get Emma to look Paige over. She might need some downtime in a med dock. I think that was quite a shock for her back there.

  Sure.

  …

  …

  And for the record, it was quite a shock for all of us. Myself included.

  Why?

  Because you dodged a bullet. Somehow. Emma and I calculated the trajectory and you were in the path of that bullet. And then you weren’t.

  Uh huh. And your point?

  My point is, that was not normal.

  Good job for us, eh?

  I’ll say. But-

  Yeah, we should talk about it. But later, ok?

  Ok.

  ***