by M. Garnet
The Captain shook his head at his thoughts as he watched his pilot bring the ship slowly into the dock at the satellite. There were many old docks on the satellite, but only two that could be used. Once a shuttle was unloaded, it would move over to one of the damaged docks and hold on until they were released to return to pick up another load.
Soldiers piled out of the large side exit that was open on both sides of the airlock of the shuttle. Each soldier had a tote and a long weapon with a small standard pistol high on their waist attached to their belt. The tall Sub-leader pushed his way through the soldiers, trying to get off the ship.
His long legs were taking him down into the dark hallways of the satellite. Keenan's thoughts were that he didn't like these older metal coffins. Before the stronger transparent metals had been made cheaper, so many of the older satellites were just closed up long halls with doors and rooms, all attached like a warren for mice.
There were many problems now that Keenan was on the space station. First, he had no idea where Nor was located. There was also the fact that a Sub-leader was not high enough in the status to have access to the High Commander of the entire military group.
If he couldn't get to Nor, he had Plan B. His team had done some real magic in getting him ready to join the Transformed. First, Thea had to find just the right shuttle in the correct position on its trip with a full load of soldiers.
The meteor had been a problem for several shuttles on their trip over to the metal box where Nor was collecting an army. Then Bruno coaxed the right size of small ice to nudge a certain shuttle. The bumps meant the people running the shuttle didn't notice the big stealth ship clamp-on, while Poly forced the shuttle's outside door lock open.
The rest was up to Keenan, who entered the airlock, closed the outside door, and floated to the ceiling. When air filled the airlock and the soldiers opened the inside door, no one thought to look up. They just came in to check the seal on the outer door.
Removing his breather, Keenan dropped down beside some of the soldiers, nodded, and left to continue down the large room to be with many more people in brown uniforms.
What he needed to find now, as he wandered the depressing dark metal halls, was the engineering department. Keenan had his long gun over his shoulders and was holding his small standard tote in one hand as he pushed on, looking as if he belonged and knew where he was heading.
On a big old space station, where would the working engineering department be located? Where was the mechanics that ran the electrics, the water, and the atmosphere? Where was the real heart of this satellite? On the modern built metal monsters, the heart was in the center, and everything just continued to grow out from the place that kept it active.
But on the old ones, things were done differently due to maintenance and importing parts, along with engineers to help run the machines. Now, Keenan decided he needed to find some way to make his way to the bottom of all these rooms and halls with flicking or dead lights. He would find stairs and go down a couple of levels, but the stairs would end into some big room in the area that he needed, and he had to find another dirty, rusty hallway, hunting for more stairs.
There were no working elevators here, but when he reached an elevator that had its doors jammed open, it gave him an idea. Looking both ways to make sure he wasn't being watched, he entered the elevator box. Looking up, he jumped, and with a hand above his head, he pushed one of the panels aside. Getting up on the metal railing that ran waist-high around the lift, he stepped up high enough to grab the edge of the upper opening.
From there, it was easy to pull himself up onto the top of the elevator lift box. He carefully replaced the tile, and in the shady area showing a couple of distant red lights, he saw a ladder on one side. Yes, a way to the bottom. The metal ladder was inset into the wall so that even if the elevator was moving, it was safe for someone to be on the steps. Still, these boxes had not moved for years.
He started down the long climb that was nothing but a dark hole below him. He adjusted his items, the rifle over one shoulder and the tote over the other. With hands-free and sure feet in heavy brown boots that Poly saw to be a good fit, he went down at a steady pace.
Even for a male as strong as Keenan, with the help of the mother earth for assistance, the climb was wearing him out, and he had to stop a couple of times. He would step into the side ledges that would have been openings to levels but didn't open the doors. He sat down on the ledge and leaned back, bringing out a bulb of water from one of his many pockets. One time he even pulled out a chew of dried meat.
After each break, he again was on the ladder, heading for his destination. He lost track of time; on one of his breaks, he had pulled on gloves to ease the movement of his hands.
At last, he was at the point wherein the dim light, but with his better sight, he could see the dirty, rusty, full of debris, bottom of the elevator shaft. He needed to get out on the final floor, so he stopped at that point, and with one foot on the ladder and the other on the ledge by the double door, he began to push against the opening. Slowly one side did give, so he used more strength to push against it and soon had the door back into the wall. He stepped out and was pleased that it was not another hallway.
There was the flickering of lights above, in the high ceiling. He was looking into a large endless room full of massive machines, some of which were operating. Taking a moment to rotate his arms and stretch his legs after the long climb down, Keenan was now where he needed to be for Plan B.
He pulled the tote off his shoulder and shifted it to carry it in one hand as he began to walk through the engines and apparatuses. He didn't need the most important unit in the department that stretched forward among so many devices. What he wanted was a mechanism that ran on a volatile fuel. He was going to help something blow up and destroy the entire satellite.
What he found was a fuel tank near the outside wall. It took him a moment to understand that it was an exterior wall, as it was difficult to get an idea of how this space station was built so many years ago. Then it made sense, as the fuel was brought in from the outside by ships and pumped into a holding tank.
In a short aisle away stood an immense machine that spread out for yards and yards and reached almost to the ceiling. It was running, and Keenan had absolutely no idea what it was handling for this metal building. But it was precisely what he was looking for, with the pipes that ran from the machine back to the holding tank of fuel.
Kneeling where two large pipes fed into the noisy machine from the fuel tank over by the outside wall; Keenan sat his tote down and opened it. He tilted it to dump the few items out on the floor, then he took the empty tote and began to stretch it out until it lost its shape and couldn't be recognized. It was just a long soft strange piece of light brown malleable product.
From the items on the floor, he took up what looked like clay, which most would recognize as some explosive, and began to break the bricks up to push them against the pipe, where it attached to the big shaking machinery. What Bruno had done was to disguise the entire tote as a bomb. Once he got all the extra clay in place, he inserted a couple of strange-looking small devices that had small red lights blinking. These were the items that would cause the initial and immediate explosion. The last thing to be put into the clay was something that looked like a small square comm unit.
Finally, he picked up the strange rubbery flat piece that had been the original outside of the tote and wrapped it around everything, making sure it was tight and up against the machine. After it was in place, he carefully pulled out a small flamer from his pocket and touched the tip of the flame to the edge. This caused the entire wrap to turn black, the color of the pipes and the machinery.
Basically, the explosive he had built was now invisible to the eye. It just seemed to be part of the entire pipe and machinery, only a little thicker than the other pipe.
Plan B was in place. If he never got to Nor to kill the man with his own hands, he could eliminate the entire army. That wo
uld leave the Transformed without a military force to try to overpower anyone.
Keenan had to work his way back up in this rusty metal monster. If the working parts were at the bottom, the brain would be at the top. Somewhere either near the docks or at the top and there would be a place where the military leader was staying.
As compared to most of the artificial spaceports, this one was a smaller one, mostly forgotten, as it was off the path to the busy colonized planets. On the other hand, when you were on something that was still big enough to support the lives of many thousands of soldiers and had so many levels and boxes built, one on the top of the other, it felt immense.
The long ladder that Keenan had taken down to the machinery wasn't even half of the depth of the satellite. So, his first movements were to get to the dock area and check for rumors of the military leader.
There was no choice but to climb up the dark ladder in the elevator shaft. He decided that with the power running, there were probably some of the units running in parts of the different sections of the construction. What he needed was information. That usually came from gossip, and soldiers always were full of gossip. It was what they filled the time with when they weren't training or fighting.
After a couple of hours and a quick rest, he was back at the dock area and listening to the orders being given to the new ship that was unloading newbies.
"Go to seventeen twenty-one. Seventeen twenty-one. Take your stuff and go to seventeen twenty-one. Go to seventeen twenty-one." A tired-looking Sub-leader was repeating the words over and over as the soldiers came off the side airlock of the shuttle.
As the last of the soldiers came off, Keenan walked over and spoke to the Sub-leader. "Stupid work that they assigned you."
"Yeah. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The officers are all hiding, so no one will give them any work. Assholes."
"I know what you mean. I'm avoiding the whole fucking group." Keenan nudged the guy with a gentle touch of his elbow.
"Well, since the idiots took over the cafeteria on four, I just stay on the lower levels." The guy went over to a stand and punched some buttons.
"I know what you mean. Gotta' go." Keenan waved at the talker and headed down the metal hall after the confused new soldiers who were trying to read the notices on the walls.
Chapter Twenty-One
Thinking with a wry smile, Keenan decided that at least he was getting a lot of exercises. It took him hours to get up to level four. But he knew he didn't want it; he also needed to avoid the officers here, but not for the same reason as the other Sub-leader from below. That male didn't want more work assigned; Keenan didn't want to be stopped and be questioned.
What he needed to do was get something in his hands so that it looked like he already had a job to do for someone. Staying in the shadows of the halls, he watched the soldiers who were hurrying past with something they had been assigned. Some had pads, some had totes, and others had packages.
Taking his time as he observed the soldiers passing his hidden spot gave him time to rest and get his body back in shape again. This climbing and walking and reaching were working out all of his muscles, so once he had stopped and he put a hand into dust and dirt to call on mother earth for strength. If he blew this metal shit hole up, the only way he would survive would be to shift. That was something he would go to long lengths to avoid. He hated the beast in him because it tied him to his home planet that he hated more than he hated the man who killed his father.
At last, after pacing his time, the right soldier came along at the right time. A Sub-leader was carrying a package, walking alone, at a time when there was no one else in the long hallway. Keenan reached out and had the man by the throat as he pulled the man into the darkness where he was hiding.
He broke the man's neck and, pulling him back, dropped him down a disposal chute. Going back, he picked up the package, examined it closely, and carefully removed the label. He now felt he had a reason for traveling the upper halls. But it was still a large area to cover, with long dark metal halls and many unused rooms.
Now he did the stupid act himself and found his way to the cafeteria. After all, he was hungry. He had pushed his body for hours and hours on extensive exercises. Finding a chance to get some food into his stomach seemed to be important, and maybe overhear some tidbit about the fucking guy in charge would help.
The whole idea was to walk with a purpose and look like you belong where you were going or where you were for a purpose. So, he let his long legs take him down around a turn, and with the package under an arm, he entered the cafeteria.
If he met any eyes, he just nodded and glanced away to look at the food. He picked up a plate and filled it quickly. Going to the drink bar, he was disappointed to find only water and juice but settled on the water. The last part of the service line was utensils, so he was ready to find a seat.
Fortunately, off to one side was a table with two Sub-leaders eating together. He joined them, sitting his special package on the table beside his plate.
He ate and listened to the other two grumble about their jobs and generally agreed with them between bites. At last, he got a small amount of information.
"I hate delivering to the big room." One of the men pointed to Keenan's package.
"Yep," the other guy nodded. "They search you so personally; I feel like I just had sex."
Both men laughed but kept it quiet so as not to draw attention from the higher officers in the room. Keenan let his eyes wander, decided that the lower officers were allowed in the cafeteria in a limited manner. But the others felt it was almost an insult. This military group was run with strange rules that encouraged competition among the soldiers and officers.
Over a period of time, the competition had eroded the companionship that usually would build up between men who fought together. These soldiers fought together because they were afraid to refuse to fight. Most soldiers fought together because they believed in something and stood side by side. This army would not hold together in a real war.
But their greed could probably incite them to take over a world with a casino that made everyone rich. That alone was a carrot to hang out in front of these greedy soldiers. It was the one thing that would keep them cooperating and taking orders.
What Keenan needed to find out was that fucking big room that everyone got searched right down to their butt hole was all about. Was it where Nor held court or just a secure place for storing items?
"You taking that package up there?" The first guy asked as he finished up and started to get up from the table.
"Yeah, that's what they told me. Is there an easier way to get there that you guys might know about?"
The two looked at each other, and then the guy who was standing leaned down. "Don't take the front stairs."
With that, he took his finished items over to dump them and get out of the room, avoiding all the higher officers. Keenan stuffed the last of his food in his mouth and stood up.
"Thanks." He motioned to the last man.
"Go to the left." The man nodded as he was working on his dessert.
Putting the package under his arm, Keenan went over and stashed his used items into the chute and walked out, imitating the other guy, avoiding the higher officers. He pulled the package out in front as part of his disguise and decided it helped. With long strides and no hesitation, he turned left and went down the metal hall with flickering lights.
What was wrong with all these old metal halls that someone couldn't fix the lights and clean up the dirt and debris from the floors? He knew why; this was a temporary storage place for the soldiers. It was a rallying place for them to gather before they go in to take over Expeca V.
Even if Grand mommy didn't support the idea, the fucking little boy thought that once he sent coin home, she would be proud. Keenan had to stop the ass wad from killing a lot of people on a planet and to satisfy his hatred that was burning inside.
With his distraction, he almost missed the side ex
it that had the silly sign that showed the old drawing of stairs with no words on the plaque. It was just the up and over and up and over of straight lines indicating upward. It was darker than the hall, with most of the lights out. Still, there was enough light to allow anyone to go up the steps, with a handrail on both sides of the wide stairs.
Having lots of energy from the rest and food, Keenan went up two or three steps at a time. He was soon at the next level, even though each of the levels in this old construction was very tall. For reasons he didn't understand, most of the levels were thirty to forty feet high.
Coming out at the top, there was only one way to go, and it was toward the armed guards who stood before a large opening to a room. Surprisingly the room behind them was well lit, and the bright reflection broke out on the floor of the hall.
What was in the wall, besides several armed soldiers, was a full-body scanning box. Keenan was not afraid to go through the scanner as he trusted Bruno's skill, but once he got close enough to see into the room, he was disappointed. It was just a sorting room of supplies and packages. He didn't need to enter, as Nor was not here.
There were a couple of soldiers just inside the door, and Keenan played a hunch.
"Just a delivery. Do I pass it through the scanner?" Holding out the package with one hand, he looked at the closest woman with a weapon pointed at his chest.
The woman nodded and waved the gun at the scanner. Keenan walked over to the front of the big open machine and again held out the package. He stuck it through the unit, and a soldier in the back stepped forward and took the box from his hand. It was light, so he just nodded and turned away.
No one asked what it was or who it was for, so Keenan started to walk away. Then he had an idea. Looking at the man holding the box, he asked a question.
"Anything to go back down?"
One of the soldiers with a weapon nudged him with the barrel. "You know those are down at the window at the end of the hall, smartass."
