by A. K. DuBoff
He shrugged. “Five seems like it would be more important, right?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Then let’s do that.”
“Okay, I’ll have Alyssa set the fake meeting with the Blue Rabbit associates so they’ll be there when the Vorlox swoop in.”
“Good, but there’s one other challenge. Ramone said that the Blue Rabbit peeps locate the transport ships when they arrive in-system, so we’ll need to have some credentials for us to dock directly at the pink star base, assuming they try to escort us somewhere else.”
Triss frowned. “Sending some forged emails is one thing, but we have no idea what their certified orders might look like.”
“But we do have a contract from Perfect Touch.”
“I guess it might be based on a similar template, but that’s a big gamble.”
“Yes,” Jack agreed, “but we should have a document prepared just in case.”
“All right, I’ll see what I can do.” Triss drummed her fingers. “There are a lot of moving pieces here. I think we need to do a briefing.”
Jack lit up. “At the conference table? Like a real op? Do I get to run the meeting?”
Triss sighed. “Yes, Jack, you can run this one.”
He clasped his hands. “This is so exciting!”
“What’s going on over there?” Alyssa called from the bridge.
“I told Jack he could run a briefing,” Triss replied.
“Oh, stars, now you’ve done it…” the captain mumbled. Then, louder, “The hyperspace path is almost set; I’ll be there as soon as I can put it on auto-pilot. Do you have the image ready?”
“Yes, forwarding to you now,” Triss replied.
Jack went ahead to the dining room, which also functioned as their meeting space for op planning.
Finn moseyed in after him. “Did I hear something about a meeting?”
“Yes! I get to run it.”
“Good for you.”
“Yeah!” Jack grinned, then his smile faded. “What am I supposed to do, exactly?”
“You’ve been to meetings, Jack. Do what Alyssa normally does.”
“Yell at everyone?”
Finn shrugged. “Yeah, or you can just tell us what we’re supposed to do.”
“That seems nicer.”
“Making these decisions is the burden of leadership.” Finn eased into one of the seats.
“What did you find out about the base?” Jack asked.
“Located the coordinates of the gas giant and Alyssa is taking us right to it.”
“All right, that’s one step down.”
Triss and Alyssa joined them in the meeting space soon thereafter.
“Welcome to the official briefing for Operation Starbreak,” Jack announced, leaning forward with his hands on the table.
The captain raised an eyebrow. “Did you come up with that name?”
“Yeah! Do you like it?”
She shrugged. “It’s actually not terrible.”
“There’s a star-shaped base and we’re breaking into it, so—”
“Yes, Jack, we got it,” Finn interrupted. “Now, what are each of us going to do, exactly?”
“Well, the summons has been sent to the associates, yes?” Jack asked.
Alyssa nodded. “Done.”
“Okay, when we arrived at the base, we’ll need to get access to the network so we can get a lay of the land and override security controls,” Jack began. “One we’re in, we’ll enter and go after the loot and the IDs. We might encounter guards, so we have to be prepared for a fight. Since this is a big place, we’ll likely need to break into teams—possibly three, depending on if the IDs and the loot are being held in the same place.”
Triss nodded. “We won’t know until we get network access.”
“We shouldn’t have anyone go in alone,” cautioned Alyssa.
“But there are only four of us. We might not have a choice,” Triss said.
“What about Morey and Latrina?” proposed Jack.
Alyssa frowned. “They’re not exactly members of the crew.”
“They’re not not members, either. And they aren’t human, so we don’t need to give them a cut,” Triss pointed out.
Alyssa raised an eyebrow. “Is this just an elaborate way to go on a date with Latrina that’s not a real date so you can see if you actually like her?”
“I will not confirm or deny that statement,” Jack replied.
“Really smooth, Jack. Real smooth.” Alyssa shook her head.
Jack shrugged. “Hey, if this gets us the loot, may as well multitask.”
“Fair point.” Alyssa turned back to the plans. “Okay, so we should set up Morey as a distraction—something that will get him inside to a place with network access.”
Jack thought for several seconds. “Well, there are a bunch of workers in there, right? I bet they get tired from, you know, working. What if we send in a masseuse to relieve some tension?”
“You have seen Morey’s claw-hands, haven’t you?” Triss said. “I wouldn’t let him touch me.”
“Then we’ll just need to do a quick retrofit,” Jack told her. “I have something in mind; I’ll take care of it.”
She waved a hand. “If you say so.”
“So, Morey will go in to get access to the network and Triss will stay with the ship to monitor our progress and help with remote security overrides,” Jack continued. “The rest of us will go after the IDs and loot, dividing up if we need to. Finn will take care of any safe-cracking needs we may encounter.”
“My pleasure.” Finn mimed tipping a hat.
Jack rubbed his hands together. “All right. We’ll arrive in two hours. Let’s get everything prepped.”
No one moved.
“I guess we’re listening to Jack now,” Alyssa said. She stood up.
The others rose from the table.
“Okay, then,” Finn agreed.
Jack went to his cabin, where he accessed the workstation in the corner. To date, it had only been used for digital correspondence and placing his SpaceMall orders, but he now got to work modeling his vision for Morey’s retrofit. When he was satisfied with the design, he sent it to the 3D printer in the hangar and relayed instructions to Morey for how he should install the new attachments.
Next, he sent a message to Latrina explaining they had an op and he’d like her to accompany him. He tried to word it as non-date-like as possible without it sounding like strictly business. After numerous iterations, he settled on the phrasing:
He admired the refined words. “Yes, that’s perfect.” He sent the message.
Ten seconds later, a reply from Latrina popped up on his screen. It simply read: <?>
He sighed. His original message couldn’t have been clearer.
Jack stared at the heart. “Uh oh.” He decided it was better to not write anything else. Clearly she wasn’t understanding his messages.
With the preparations complete, Jack took a quick shower and changed, then headed down to the hangar to wait for Latrina to emerge. When he arrived, Ramone wandered over.
“Are we almost to Rufan?” the other man asked.
Jack nodded. “We’ll be there within half an hour. We have a plan to get you your lives back.”
Ramone beamed. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“There’s no reason to thank us until you have your IDs.”
“Still, you are trying. No one has cared before.”
“Everyone deserves to have control over their life,” Jack told him. “I spent plenty of time without that. I know what it’s like.”
“You are a good man,” Ramone said.
“I don’t know about that.” Jack smiled.
“Maybe I have moments.”
Ramone nodded. “You try. That’s what matters.”
“I suppose.”
“Do you need any help with your preparations?” the other man asked.
Jack shook his head. “No, I’m just waiting for my date for the op.”
“Who’s that?”
“Latrina.”
“And she is…?”
“The ship’s waste processing droid.”
Ramone’s eyes narrowed and his head tilted. “I thought you said this is a date?”
“It is.”
He crossed his arms. “So, wait, you’re dating the robot that recycles your excrement?”
“She’s very industrious,” Jack replied.
Ramone let out a long breath. “Sorry, I don’t think I could do it.”
“A lot of people have responded that way. I guess I don’t need to worry about someone trying to woo her away from me.”
“Yeah, I can’t imagine you would.” He bit his lower lip. “What about the, er, smell?”
Jack waved off the question. “It’s not a big deal. She has a special spritz.”
“Sure, that must take care of all the issues…”
“Hey, make fun of me all you want, but she saved my life—and she’s not bad to look at, either.”
“If you say so.”
A clang sounded near the left bulkhead in the hangar, and a hatch swung open, releasing a cloud of mist carrying an aroma of honeysuckle.
Out stepped the magnificent android beauty who had captured Jack’s attention in their brief meeting only a week prior. Her brunette hair framed a striking face with bright green eyes and cherry lips. A black latex suit hugged her perfect curves, terminating in a set of flippers. The fins retracted into her ankles as she stepped out from the hatch, replaced by high heels.
She beamed at Jack. “I wasn’t sure you’d write me.”
He smiled back. “Not many ladies return my messages, so I’m equally surprised and happy to see you.”
Ramone gasped loudly, as though taking in air after holding his breath for an extended period. “You’re… Latrina?” he managed after a moment.
She turned to him, tilting her head. “You are not a member of this crew. Who are you?”
“R-Ramone,” he stammered, struggling to keep his mouth from falling open.
“Ramone and several of his friends are being forced to work against their will,” Jack explained. “We’re going to break into the bad guys’ facility, steal back their ID chips and some other bounty, then tip off the Vorlox so we don’t have to deal with retribution.”
Latrina frowned. “That sounds like a dangerous plan, Jack.”
“It is, which is why we need you and Morey to help.”
Morey stepped out from behind a crate sporting the attachments Jack had designed for him. “They’re making me wear this,” he stated in his flat monotone.
Latrina burst out laughing. “Stars, what is that?”
The robot gathered himself. “I am a massage bot. Apparently, my buffing mode has other applications.”
Morey’s new additions consisted of a set of wheels attached at the joint where his claws normally were. Around the circumference of each wheel were eight silicon hands arranged palm outward. He revved his arm motors in his buffing mode warm-up, and the hands flopped forward in a patting motion.
Jack grinned. “It’s perfect.”
CHAPTER 7: Infiltration
— — —
“Moment of truth…” Alyssa said under her breath.
Jack stood behind her looking out the front viewport of the Little Princess II’s bridge. They were moments from dropping out of hyperspace at the destination. If the Blue Rabbit gang was indeed waiting for them, they’d have only minutes to act to make sure they could follow through with their plan.
The blurred starscape out the front viewport snapped back to normal space. A gas giant loomed in front of them, with a nearby icy moon in orbit.
Alyssa directed the ship toward the moon. “No sign of the ‘pink star’, but we’ll figure it out.”
The front console chirped with an incoming communication.
Triss, seated next to Alyssa, answered it. “This is the Little Princess II.”
“We have been expecting you. Do you have our product?” a man with an accent similar to Betty’s replied.
“Yes, intact and ready to work,” Triss responded.
“Meet us at these coordinates.”
A datapacket downloaded, and a flight path appeared on the HUD overlaid on the front viewport. The path led away from the moon.
Triss muted the comm channel. “Do we follow the path or trust the intel that the base is by the moon?”
“I say we shoot for the moon,” Jack said.
Alyssa sighed. “Terrible phrasing aside, that does seem like our best bet. I imagine they’re having us rendezvous at a freighter or something to keep traffic away from the base.”
“Do you copy?” the man asked over the comm.
Triss held up her finger to silence Alyssa and Jack. “Yes. We have instructions for a different flight path.” She sent a datapacket of the forged orders based on their best guess of what such instructions might look like.
The man was silent for twenty seconds. “Ugh, did they change the template again?” he said at last.
“Yeah, you know how they are,” Triss replied, relaxing the slightest measure.
“Well, this is way better than the old one,” the man said. “Proceed. I’ll let the base know to expect you.”
Another set of nav instructions downloaded and appeared on the HUD, this time heading to a location behind the moon.
“Acknowledged.” Triss severed the link. “Well, that was surprisingly straightforward.’
“Good work on the template, Triss,” Alyssa praised.
“Lucky guess. I hope the summons we sent to the division heads gets the same results.”
The captain checked the time counting down on the HUD. “The requested meeting time is just under an hour from now. That should work out just about right with our looting and escape.”
The ship glided through the black toward the icy moon, the course progressing along the HUD overlay for the nav instructions. As they rounded the moon, a space station came into view—an eight-pointed pink star.
Jack cocked his head. “When they called it a pink star, I was thinking that was an exaggeration.”
“Nope, that is exactly what the name implies. Huh.” Alyssa nodded.
“Looks like they want us to dock at one of the central points,” Triss said. She directed the craft in for the landing.
The Little Princess II shuddered slightly as the docking clamps locked into place.
Jack took a deep breath. “All right. I guess now we find out how well the rest of this plan is going to work.”
The three of them exited the bridge and met Finn in the common room by the main hatch.
Morey poked his head up from the ladder shaft. “Have we arrived?”
“Yes, are you ready?” Jack replied.
The robot spun one of his hand-wheels. “You have made me into a mockery.”
“A useful mockery that will be an asset to our cause.”
Morey finished climbing the ladder. “A role I will fulfill, so long as you return me to my proper form when this is over.”
“You installed those hand-wheels yourself, can’t you get them off?”
“No, I could place my arm on the attachment peg, but I have no way to manipulate the necessary components to get them off. I am trapped in this form, and it is utterly useless for fulfilling my other duties.”
“We’ll get you back to normal after this, don’t worry,” Jack assured him.
“I suppose I have no choice but to trust you.”
Alyssa released the hatch in the side of the craft. “Then it’s settled. Game time.”
“Lead the way.” Jack motioned toward the open portal to the gangway. He slung an empty
duffle bag over his shoulder and patted his hip to make sure his laser pistol was in place.
“This is your idea. You go.” Alyssa nudged him forward.
“Fine,” Jack agreed.
He led Morey down the umbilical to the station. Waiting for them at the bottom were two armed guards dressed in white plastic molded armor, who were sporting expressions somewhere between confusion, amusement, and fascination.
“What is that?” the left guard asked, eyeing Morey.
Jack smiled. “That, my friend, is a Massagebot 6000.”
The guard cocked his head. “Haven’t heard of them.”
“Well! You’ve been missing out.” Jack flourished his hands, presenting Morey as a showpiece. “The sixteen hands offer the massage power of eight masseurs, giving you maximum relaxation in a fraction of the time.”
The guard on the right squinted. “That sounds interesting.”
Morey gave a test-whir of his hand wheels, sending the hands flapping wildly around. “You won’t know what you’ve been missing until you try it.”
“The 6000 offers the latest innovations in massage technology,” Jack continued. “As thanks for your good work, we are offering you complimentary massages during this shift.”
“What about the cargo?” the first guard asked.
“We’ll handle the offloading and check-in for you,” Jack told him in his best salesman voice. “You’ve earned a break.”
“I don’t know about you, Ed, but a massage sounds great to me,” the second guard said. “My left shoulder just hasn’t been the same since the koala incident.”
“Frickin’ drop bears.” The first guard shook his head. “Yeah, you know what? We have earned a break.” He nodded to Jack. “Thank you.”
Jack smiled back. “You’re very welcome. Massagebot, work your magic.”
Morey whirred his hands again. “Bliss awaits. Could you direct me to a quiet place where we might create a more relaxing mood?”
“Well, there’s a communications room down the corridor,” the second guard offered.
“That would be perfect.” Morey followed the two guards.
“So difficult to find good help,” Jack murmured as they disappeared around a bend. “Okay, we’re clear,” he said into his comm. Triss, let me know when you have access to the station layout via Morey’s network link.”
