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PREVIOUSLY: While the Generals inspect WHISPER, Val, Rue, and Garr, sneak out of the cargo bay into the civilian sector of the marine base to begin their search for Red Klaw...
As Val leads the way through the corridors of the top secret Galactic Marine space station, he quietly explains, "There are security cameras everywhere, but nobody monitors them unless there's a problem. If we can blend in better, they'll never see us. I have an idea..."
They hurry to an intersection in the hallways. Cautiously Val hugs the wall and peers around the corner, Garr and Rue flatten themselves against the wall behind him. A little ways away from them, a couple of guys in long white lab coats step off of a lift. They chat as they cross the corridor and disappear through a doorway.
After they've gone, Val slips around the corner and hurries toward the door. Rue and Garr are right behind him. When they get to the door it is already closed and locked.
"Damn! I was afraid of that." Val says.
Rue snickers at him, "Step aside." He pulls out his little black case and withdraws a small laser tool. Quickly and quietly he pops the face off of the lock pad. With a tiny zap the door slides open. Val grins at him as he slips through the door. Rue replaces the lock pad faceplate then follows Garr through the door.
They find themselves in a labyrinth of research labs. Some of them have glass walls and some are sealed off behind closed doors. A few scientists are still working, but most of the labs look empty, and cleaned out.
As they make their way through the maze of halls Val speaks quietly, "There aren’t many non-humans in the Marine Corps, but this side of the station is mostly occupied by civilian scientists. If we find some of those lab coats I think we can blend in long enough to find this Red Klaw."
"Good idea." Garr grunts.
Deep in the heart of the space station, in the Command Center, the C.O., Commander Dillian, impatiently demands a status report.
"When the techs went out to fix the doors on the main hanger bay, they found this ship." The First Officer explains, he taps some commands into the keyboard in front of him and calls up footage from an exterior security camera.
On the screen is an image of Rue's ship, clinging to the side of the space station. Dillian leans in for a closer look and scowls, "Smuggler's claws! So where are these pirates?!"
"I don't know. We haven't received any reports of intruders. I've got Johnson reviewing security feeds, but there's so much footage to go through..."
"Get more men on it! I want these intruders found now! And keep it quiet, the demonstration starts in less than an hour and our guests are NOT to be disturbed!" The C.O. barks his orders then turns on his heel and storms out of the Command Center.
In the observation deck the Generals are treated to a royal feast. While Dubaal shovels food into his gullet, Goddard grills Laurine on the stealth ship in the docking bay below them.
"How many cannons? What's the engine output? Is the Whip Drive operational? How many troops can she carry? And vehicles? Are the Battle Bays operational?"
Laurine patiently answers all of his questions-- yes, the ship is exactly like you specified. Yes it is as powerful, quiet, and fast as we thought, yes it can fit a small army comfortably; our test runs have proven WHISPER is as undetectable as she is deadly. The Generals seem pleased with her responses.
While the dinner plates are cleared and the Generals wait for WHISPER'S test pilot to arrive, Rue and the boys find a lab with some spare lab coats. As they pull on the coats a peculiar smell reaches Garr's sensitive nostrils. He lifts his nose up to sniff the air. He tracks the scent to a locked door at the back of the lab.
Rue and Val stare at him curiously. "What is it?" Rue asks.
Garr sticks his nose right up next to the door, he inhales deeply before answering, "... Female."
Val peers behind them back out toward the hall, "So? There's probably lot's of females working around here."
"No... there's fear and stress here..." Garr tries the door, it is locked. He looks frustrated.
Rue recognizes that Garr is onto something that he's not going to let go of. He hurries over to the door and pulls out his kit. Val scowls, "We don’t have time for this." He moves over to the entrance, and peers out into the hall.
Rue pops the door open and Garr pushes through. Inside is a short hall in front of a glass walled cell. The cell door is shut and locked, the cell appears empty. But when Garr bursts through the door the two sets of shackles hanging from the wall rustle.
Garr sniffs again, he cocks his head to the side and squints to try and see what is in the cell. Rue looks at him, "There's nothing here, let's go buddy."
Garr shakes his head, "No, they're in there."
From inside of the cell an angry female voice says, "Great... more tests."
"Maybe you should unlock these shackles before you draw blood this time!" Another voice snaps!
Rue double takes. Garr tugs on the cell door, "We have to get them out of there."
Rue cocks his head to the side, when he looks very closely he can see the shadows cast from two shapely female forms. Their skin seems to mimic the wall behind them, but light doesn't quite pass through them.
From the door Val calls out impatiently, "We should really get going..."
Rue looks back at him, "There are two girls caged in here, can you find a control panel for this room?" Reluctantly Val comes over to help.
Garr leans close to the cell door to speak to the prisoners, "We'll have you out of there shortly."
"Who the hell are you?!" The girls are now rather confused.
"We're--" Garr hesitates. Val finds the control panel for the cell, he throws open the door and shackle locks.
Rue steps in to push the cell door open, "It's not important right now, we need to go."
There is a moment of silence, then Rue and Garr feel a slight brush as the girls slip past them out of the cell. Their skin, which behaves exactly like WHISPER'S, mimics the background behind them as they move. If they make no noise, which they seem to be quite adept at, they are virtually invisible.
The girls lead the way to the door of the lab. As they throw it open and step out into the hall, they are greeted by a troop of Galactic Marine's rushing down the hall toward them with their guns at the ready...
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