another word being said. When he was alone, he pulled the device from his pocket and gazed upon his new orders. The smile faded as he scrolled down the list.
The end of the list blinked at him before he turned the device off and shoved it back into his pocket. He knew this wasn’t the job that he’d signed up for, but he needed to play along until all of his options were exposed to him. He heard Lache’s ship lift off the ground, rattling the overgrown trees that brushed against the building.
Knowing that he was clear, Jones left the meeting room, choosing to head towards the elevator. He scanned his wrist, bringing the lift to life. Several minutes passed before the doors opened. As he descended to the lower levels, he pondered the impact of Lache’s plan. He wasn’t gullible enough to believe that Lache wanted to save the people of the Earth. Only a child would buy into the diluted lie. He developed his own reasons for Lache’s actions, weighing the consequences of the orders resting in his pocket.
The doors opened, revealing the vast chamber, hundreds of feet below the surface of the planet above. The tall man made straight for the control panel, using his security chip to bring the computer to life. He activated all of the wall panels, instructing the computer to open every one of them. With the command entered, he turned and went to each panel, making a mental inventory as he went.
There was no surprise that the medicine and weapons inventory had been vanquished. The medical equipment and tooling shelves had several empty spots as well. The missing hover boards made him ponder the value of atronium on the market, realizing that there were other facilities that shared the same wealth of the rare metal. All of the exposed panels were pointless as the final panel was the only one that concerned him. There was no entry on the computer for what lie behind the last panel, meaning that either no entry had been made or that the entry had been deleted from the file. The trace evidence in the empty shelve offered him little possibility other than a cryo chamber. The empty hydraulic lift sat ready to use though the paint had been scraped off on several of the bars. There was a plug-in for a monitoring device as well as a filtration system built into the back wall.
Jones thought the steps through his head. He hadn’t lied when he said that the video footage had been deleted. Luckily, he had just the device to aid him in determining whom the thieves were. He would scan the panels for prints and end the mystery once and for all. It would be difficult to complete the tasks laid out by Lache, as well as follow up on whatever evidence he could find in the abandoned facility, but many hands make for a light load.
4 CHAPTER four
Janys saw the wide, terrified eyes looking back at her as she squeezed the trigger on Bearden’s assault rifle. The stock of the rifle kicked hard against her narrow shoulder, sending a stabbing pain through her collarbone. Despite the muzzle rising higher than she’d wanted, the first shot of the three-fire burst managed to hit the target, spraying the white wall with crimson. The man fell just before the butt of a rifle edged around the corner.
Janys had already dropped to one knee, realigning her next shot. The shots from the corner sailed over her head, ricocheted off the walls behind her. Her mind calculated the shot based upon the where the rifle was peeking out from the corner. She aimed at the wall and gently squeezed the trigger. The heavy assault rifle responded, drowning out the shouts from down the hallway as the burst crashed through five inches of the plastic wall. Once more, the shot found its mark as the rifle dropped to the floor.
She slung the heavy rifle over her shoulder and grabbed the dazed Sargent by the boots. Her first attempt yielded no result other than to turn the man perpendicular with the wall. She would have grabbed him by the shoulders, but she knew she would
The end of the list blinked at him before he turned the device off and shoved it back into his pocket. He knew this wasn’t the job that he’d signed up for, but he needed to play along until all of his options were exposed to him. He heard Lache’s ship lift off the ground, rattling the overgrown trees that brushed against the building.
Knowing that he was clear, Jones left the meeting room, choosing to head towards the elevator. He scanned his wrist, bringing the lift to life. Several minutes passed before the doors opened. As he descended to the lower levels, he pondered the impact of Lache’s plan. He wasn’t gullible enough to believe that Lache wanted to save the people of the Earth. Only a child would buy into the diluted lie. He developed his own reasons for Lache’s actions, weighing the consequences of the orders resting in his pocket.
The doors opened, revealing the vast chamber, hundreds of feet below the surface of the planet above. The tall man made straight for the control panel, using his security chip to bring the computer to life. He activated all of the wall panels, instructing the computer to open every one of them. With the command entered, he turned and went to each panel, making a mental inventory as he went.
There was no surprise that the medicine and weapons inventory had been vanquished. The medical equipment and tooling shelves had several empty spots as well. The missing hover boards made him ponder the value of atronium on the market, realizing that there were other facilities that shared the same wealth of the rare metal. All of the exposed panels were pointless as the final panel was the only one that concerned him. There was no entry on the computer for what lie behind the last panel, meaning that either no entry had been made or that the entry had been deleted from the file. The trace evidence in the empty shelve offered him little possibility other than a cryo chamber. The empty hydraulic lift sat ready to use though the paint had been scraped off on several of the bars. There was a plug-in for a monitoring device as well as a filtration system built into the back wall.
Jones thought the steps through his head. He hadn’t lied when he said that the video footage had been deleted. Luckily, he had just the device to aid him in determining whom the thieves were. He would scan the panels for prints and end the mystery once and for all. It would be difficult to complete the tasks laid out by Lache, as well as follow up on whatever evidence he could find in the abandoned facility, but many hands make for a light load.
4 CHAPTER four
Janys saw the wide, terrified eyes looking back at her as she squeezed the trigger on Bearden’s assault rifle. The stock of the rifle kicked hard against her narrow shoulder, sending a stabbing pain through her collarbone. Despite the muzzle rising higher than she’d wanted, the first shot of the three-fire burst managed to hit the target, spraying the white wall with crimson. The man fell just before the butt of a rifle edged around the corner.
Janys had already dropped to one knee, realigning her next shot. The shots from the corner sailed over her head, ricocheted off the walls behind her. Her mind calculated the shot based upon the where the rifle was peeking out from the corner. She aimed at the wall and gently squeezed the trigger. The heavy assault rifle responded, drowning out the shouts from down the hallway as the burst crashed through five inches of the plastic wall. Once more, the shot found its mark as the rifle dropped to the floor.
She slung the heavy rifle over her shoulder and grabbed the dazed Sargent by the boots. Her first attempt yielded no result other than to turn the man perpendicular with the wall. She would have grabbed him by the shoulders, but she knew she would
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