Soldiers of Fortune (20 page)

             
It was nearly two full minutes before Kage spoke again, “I can open the outer airlock hatch without activating an alarm. You’ll have to get me a remote connection for me to handle the ship’s internal security measures.”

              “We can do that,” Jason said, moving to walk off the bridge. “Open the drop hatch and shut off the gravity in the cargo bay.”

              “Copy.”

              The ventral “drop hatch” was a design consideration meant to make it easy to ferry ground troops into a hot landing zone without risking the ship by opening up the main cargo hatch. It was a small, circular, iris-type hatch that had been fitted with a pressurized cofferdam to allow ship-to-ship transfers. Since the hatch was on the
Phoenix's
belly, and they were entering the yacht from
its
ventral side, Jason had opted to kill the artificial gravity in the cargo bay to avoid the disorienting shifts. He wasn’t all that savvy at zero-G operations yet, but just maneuvering around in his own cargo bay shouldn't be an issue. Besides, Lucky had a full set of maneuvering repulsors and ionic jets built into him, if it got too bad he could always just grab a hold and hang on for the ride. 

             
He went back into the armory to collect his two crewmates that would be joining him and grab his helmet and weaponry. He opted for a simple plasma carbine with a formidable stun setting as well as an electrostatic stun sidearm, all contingency items; Jason wanted to slip in and out without being detected if at all possible. His helmet had originally been a dull, black affair with no visor; the sensors built into the helmet fed directly into his neural implant and provided him a full field of view in multiple spectrums while eliminating the weak point of a transparent visor. In the tradition of his spec ops background, he’d had Kage paint a stylized skull’s face on the front, complete with improbable fangs and an evil glare.

             
“Time to make some money,” he said with a smile as he opened the blast door that led out into the cargo bay. Jason made a grandiose “after you” gesture to his friends, who had no idea the gravity had been turned off. Crusher stepped through forcefully and ended up launching himself end-over-end into the hold.

              “You little shit!” He exclaimed. He flipped himself over and hit the far wall in a crouch before pushing back off towards the floor in an impressive display of acrobatics. Jason activated the relatively weak mag-locks on his boots and strode carefully out into the bay, laughing out loud. Lucky, always unflappable, walked calmly out to the middle of the cargo bay without so much as a stumble. Jason turned the remote link box over in his hand and made sure it was actively connected to the ship’s computer. Satisfied with the winking green light, he called up to the bridge, still laughing to himself inside his helmet.

              “Kage,” he said, “we’re ready for you to open the hatch whenever you want.” Almost immediately a large, circular section of the deck began to rotate and recess into the floor. After it sank about five inches, it sectioned itself into four curved quadrants and disappeared into the ship, leaving a gaping hole that led to the yacht they were flying in formation with. Jason peered over the edge and saw that the other ship’s hatch was hanging open and the inside of the airlock was dark, all good signs. He slid over the edge and entered the flexible tunnel head first, wanting to be properly oriented when he was within the artificial gravity of the yacht.

             
Once he was in the other airlock, he looked around for the access terminal to interface with the remote link he carried. It took only a moment to locate it since it was the only control panel in the small chamber. He was standing in an auxiliary lock that was meant more for maintenance than anything else, but it would serve their purpose just fine. He stuck the box against the edge of the panel like he’d been told and watched, fascinated, as tendrils composed of nanobots threaded out and disappeared into the panel, creating hard circuit paths within the guts of the control panel itself. It would then allow Kage to work his magic via the wireless link between the box and the
Phoenix's
computer. It was all very much over Jason’s head, but he’d seen it work enough times before to trust the process.

             
After planting the remote link, he turned and hopped back through the still-open outer hatch, drifting down towards his own ship until Lucky grabbed him and pulled him through, back into the cargo hold. They would wait there until Kage was able to break into the other ship’s computer; if he was unable to, or was caught in the process, Jason wanted them all inside the
Phoenix
so they could make a run for it the instant they were detected. The process sometimes took as long as thirty minutes, so the three members of the boarding party kept a loose grip on the edge of the hatch opening and floated in place, watching for any sign that someone on the other side of the airlock’s inner hatch was trying to come through.

             
Nearly ten minutes ticked off the mission clock before Kage called to the team. “
Intrusion successful. You can open the inner hatch from the control panel in the airlock. I’ve also taken control of the security and internal sensor subsystems, they’ll give no warming to the bridge crew and I’ll also be able to put up the security personnel positions on your HUDs. Happy stealing
,” the little Veran said as he signed off. Jason drifted back into the yacht’s airlock and, after verifying on his floating heads-up display that there were no security guards roaming in the area, popped open the inner hatch and pulled himself through. He scanned in all directions, in a combination of thermal and light amplification, to clear the area of potential hostiles. He trusted Kage implicitly, but he always cleared any room he entered. He leaned over the open hatch and waved the other two through. Lucky was the first to pull himself silently up through the open hatch, then Crusher.

             
They found themselves standing in what appeared to be a general maintenance area in one of the engineering bays. Having planned the mission out already, no signal was given as Crusher moved to the exit and covered the austere maintenance passageway beyond with his stun rifle and Lucky moved to cover another, smaller entrance to a series of crawlways that led to the engine emitters. Jason closed the inner airlock hatch as quietly as he could and locked it. He could have Kage pop it open when they needed it again and leaving it open would be an obvious sign of intrusion were someone to stumble upon it… not to mention it led straight into his own ship. A thrown explosive device into the
Phoenix's
cargo bay would cause some serious problems.

             
Leap-frogging forward, the three ghosted up the passageway, covering every hatch and branch as they made their way forward. Most of the aft part of the yacht was made up of engineering, crew quarters, and storage. The luxurious forward and upper decks, well away from the hum of the engines and reactor, housed the owner’s stateroom and the entertainment areas. The service passageway they were in spanned the entire length of the ship, conveniently providing access for the crew and as well as a trio of would-be thieves.

             
Crusher, being the one currently in the lead of the column, held up a closed fist to indicate a stop; they were at the set of stairs they would take to the upper decks, this was where it became interesting. The big warrior turned around and smiled broadly, obviously enjoying himself immensely. Despite the potential danger, Jason found himself smiling back in his helmet. After slogging around on barely-developed worlds and playing the role of a glorified delivery service, this was the most fun they’d had in weeks. Crusher waved Jason up to take the lead. “You’re the one with the display showing the location of the guards,” he whispered. Jason didn’t respond, he simply went to the hatch and pressed the pad to open it. The door slid silently away revealing a curved stairway leading to the deck above. Leading with his sidearm, he began to ascend the steps, followed by the other two.

             
They emerged into a well-appointed room that seemed to be just a sitting room as all there was were sets of curved couches surrounding a circular table. Jason switched back to thermal mode on his display and called up a false-color overlay since the ship was on night-hours and the lighting was dimmed down to almost nothing. The view was disconcerting at first because it didn’t include the shadows of objects and tended to throw his depth perception off just a bit. He led them out of the room and deeper into the living quarters of the yacht. Their ultimate target was the main salon that was amidships and one deck above them, but to access it they would need to go forward into the galley, then up, and back aft again. He just hoped Kage was able to keep the internal sensors tied up until they could grab the loot and backtrack the convoluted path back to the airlock.

             
They were in the galley when, all of the sudden, the overhead lights came on and they heard a sharp, startled gasp. Turning quickly, Jason took aim and fired, his sidearm coughing once as it fired an electrostatic charge at the target. A woman with pale green skin and long black hair, wearing nothing but a night shirt, went down without a sound. The pistol delivered a stunning charge of electrical energy that overloaded the nervous system and put the average-sized being out for at least a few hours. The person then woke up with little recollection of what happened and a near-debilitating headache.

             
“Good shot, Captain. Truly you saved our lives from this dangerous warrior,” Crusher whispered.

              “Shut up,” Jason answered. He walked over to the pantry, grabbed a bottle of what was probably a very expensive wine, and handed it to Crusher. “Empty most of that out,
without
drinking it, and spill a bit on her shirt. Take her out to one of the couches we passed and lay her on it and place the bottle nearby. When she comes out of it she won’t remember that she didn’t actually suck down a bottle of wine and pass out. Then move as quickly and quietly as you can to catch up, we’re pressing on.”

             
With Crusher carrying the unconscious woman out to the sitting area, Jason and Lucky climbed a narrow, spiraling stairway that led from the galley to an area just forward of the main salon, obviously meant for the serving staff. The salon was dimly lit with side accent lights and was luxurious beyond anything Jason had ever seen. Along the aft wall was an expansive display case that housed a veritable treasure trove of unique and exotic items, many of which were probably illegal to own as a private collector. He knew the item they were after was a priceless cultural artifact that should be turned over, but to him it was a way deeper into an organization that had been, hopefully, running attacks up and down the Cluster’s shipping lanes. For the moment, the latter was of greater value to him.

             
He motioned to Lucky to post up and stand watch. The battlesynth, able to move with astonishing stealth for his stature, made his way quickly to an area that enabled him to cover the entire room and remain somewhat hidden. As he made his way to the display case he saw another, large shadow move against the forward bulkhead; Crusher had made his way up to them and was now covering the forward passageway. Looking the large glass case over, he thought it seemed straight-forward enough to open, but he would not be so easily fooled. “Kage,” he said, his com transmitting on an open channel. His video feed was also being linked back to the ship so the other three could see what he saw.

              “
Working on it, Captain
,” Kage confirmed. “
The case is tied into the ship’s main security protocols, but it operates under its own subroutine. This may take a moment
.”

             
Jason knew his code slicer was working as fast as he could, and far faster than anyone else he had ever met. Cajoling him or distracting him with pointless words of encouragement wouldn’t help them out, so he remained silent. It wasn’t long before there was a
pop-hiss
and the glass raised into the ceiling. His displays warned him momentarily about an increase in argon gas concentration in the room and he realized that the case had been filled with the inert gas to help preserve the items. He called up an image he had been provided by Dowarty and began comparing it to the items in the case. Several seconds later he was lifting an absolutely ancient looking wood box out with the reverence it deserved. The case was exquisite, and when he opened it he knew he had the correct item; nestled inside, carved from colored gems the size of his fist, were what looked like a pair of four-winged hummingbirds in breathtaking detail. The statues were thousands of years old and were literally priceless.

             
Closing the box, he motioned Crusher over and told Kage to close and re-purge the display case. Crusher came forward, removing a padded bag as he did to place the box into. Once Jason slid the box into it, the bag formed itself around the item, squeezing out the air and inflating a series of bladders to pad it. He took the bag and motioned for the big warrior to turn around and kneel, then slipped it into the pack he was wearing. Once the item was secured and they were on the move, his adrenaline really started pumping, this was the most exhilarating part of a job: the getaway.