Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
PREVIOUSLY: In their hunt for Red Klaw, the pirates have snuck into the labs on a Galactic Marine space station, they found two female prisoners whose chameleon skin makes them virtually invisible...
Rue and Garr stand behind Val in the door of the lab, frozen by the commando force in front of them--there is no where to run. The two female prisoners are just behind them. The troop commander yells, "Stop right there!"
The girls smile eagerly, "Time for some payback..." One of them says as they slide around the boys, out the door. They disappear completely as they move.
The M.P. commander steps forward and raises his weapon, "Show me your hands and get--!" The girls are on him before he has a chance to finish barking his last order.
With one quick move they drop the Commander. Before he hits the floor the girls attack the rest of the group. The M.P.'s never see them coming, they are quick, efficient, and deadly. They rip through the trained military men like wind through leaves! As they move through the patrol, men crumple on either side.
Rue, Garr, and Val, stand in the door to the lab, their mouths gaping as they watch the invisible tornado gobbling up the commandos and spitting them out. The men in the back of the group start firing at anything that moves but it's too late, all they hit are their own falling troops. With a few sharp jabs they join their fellows on the floor.
When the last one falls, the girls stand in the middle of the carnage, they take a moment to catch their breath. Garr grins--they are marvelous! Rue and Val are a bit nervous, these two are deadly!
The girls saunter back toward the lab, "We should get moving."
"Ah, er, yeah. This way." Val shakes himself out of his revere. He leads the way out of the lab, down the hall away from the pile of M.P.s.
In the command center, the station's First Officer stares at the security screen in horror. He watches as the last of his police force in the lab drop lifelessly to the deck. For a second he just stares blankly at the screen, then he scrambles to find his com-link, "Sir, we have a problem!"
In the observation deck above the main hanger, Commander Dillian scowls at his com-link. The Generals, look over their shoulders at him. "Ah, excuse me, I'm sure it's nothing." He stammers as he backs out of the room. The Generals glare at him--nothing had better disrupt the demonstration!
In the hall outside, the C.O. barks quietly into his com, "What the hell is going on?!"
"The intruders sir, they've set the Habergeon free, they just killed an entire patrol!" The First Officer's voice whines from the com-link.
"Shit!" Dillian swears. Out of the corner of his eye he notices a pilot in his flight suit marching toward him. He pulls himself together and issues his commands discreetly, "Stop them, use as many men as you need, just keep them away from WHISPER!"
As the pilot approaches Dillian turns to greet him, "Good, good, you're here, let's go!" He is Vahreen, the same species as Val; short stocky build, with long fingers and prehensile toes. His thick hair is cropped tight in Military style. The C.O. leads the way back into the observation deck.
"Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Mireck, our pilot. As you well know, the Vahreen species has always demonstrated a certain aptitude for piloting. While anyone can fly WHISPER from the bridge, the cockpit is specifically designed for his species. At the very tip of the ship's nose it provides optimum visibility and control. If you'll follow me, we can get started."
Dillian leads the group to a set of lift doors. He steps aside to allow the guests to step onto the lift first. Laurine brings up the rear, as she passes she sneers at Dillian, "Is everything under control?"
"It fine!" He answers quickly.
Then he follows her into the lift, continuing his speech. "As you know, WHISPER is equipped with forward mounted, independently vectored laser cannons, each with enough power to rip a wide hole into virtually any hull..."
In the labs Val tries to lead the crew through the maze of corridors and offices. "That was an elite team of M.P.'s! If they found us, our element of surprise is gone! Damnit! I don't even know where the hell we are!" He growls, completely frustrated.
In the labs around them, people seem to be going about their experiments, no one seems to care too much about another group of strangers in lab coats. But they can see the security cameras tracking with them on their path.
Rue peers in through the windows of the labs as they pass. Some of them are deserted, but others seem to be fully functioning. "We need to get around the security system." He says.
"You can do that?" One of the girls asks.
"Not exactly, but maybe I can make it a little harder to spot us." He stops at a door, the lab behind it is full of equipment. The lights are off and the door is locked, but not for long. It's a simple analog lock, Rue pops it open easily. The lights power up as the door opens, everybody slips inside. Rue pulls the door shut behind them.
"What's your plan?" Val asks nervously.
Rue wanders the room searching for something. "What we need is a little confusion... ahh, here we go." On the far wall of the lab, Rue finds a small red button behind a pane of glass. He looks at the others and grins as he smashes the glass and the button with a quick jab of his elbow.
Fire alarms scream! The scientists in the surrounding labs drop what they're doing and rush into the hall. "Give it a moment to get crowded." Rue tells the others.
Slowly they filter out into the small throng of lab techs, following the flow through the maze of labs. As they approach a large set of double doors that mark the exit, they see a group of M.P.s struggling against the flow of people. The M.P.s are trying to check every person leaving the lab but the herd of people who believe the labs are on fire is growing quite panicked.
Before they reach the exit Rue grabs Val by the shoulder and pulls him off to the side of the crowd. Garr moves into a position in front of Rue to hide his actions from the passing crowd. People are far more concerned about getting out of the lab than what these three might be up to. The girls see what Garr is doing and post themselves at his sides. With a little concentration, they shift their chameleon skin to blend with the wall.
Rue is almost completely obscured. He kneels down near a ventilation grate on the wall. He whips out his kit and slices the screws that hold it shut. Then he pulls it open, and holds out a hand for the others to enter. "Doubt they have security cameras in here."
Val grins as he scurries into the tunnel. Garr and the girls follow. Rue crawls in after them, he pulls the grate up behind them. With his laser tool he seals it back into place.
Meanwhile, light years away in Rover City, the dusty capitol of Mars, Red Klaw sits near the window in a sleazy dive bar called The Red Diamond. He sips a drink and casually watches out the window as a long black limo drops out of the sky to settle in front of the orphanage across the street.
Jean Degaul, the Mayor of Earth's American continent, steps out of the vehicle, his stunning red haired wife follows. The Mayor smiles and waves at the group of children gathered on the steps of the orphanage. The entire orphanage eagerly awaits the first of many of Mayor Degaul's "volunteer" visits. His wife Akeen, glances over at the bar, she winks discretely in Red Klaw’s direction.
As the Degauls walk up the steps, Red Klaw watches their limo closely. A couple of Degaul's bodyguards remain with the car, underneath it there is an almost imperceptible movement. Red Klaw smiles quietly. Unknown to most, there is a large warehouse under the bar. At this very moment, unseen by anyone on the street, his men are removing cases of gems from the under side of the Mayor's limo.
It's the first shipment of over a ton of rare, perfectly cut, blue diamonds, stolen from the Axell/Velvet diamond company. It will be a slow process to get all of the gems out of the Mayor's mansion on Earth to Red Klaw's warehouse on Mars, but the gems are essential to his plans...