12/22/3051
Windows rattled as a chill wind blew through the hastily erected huts of Somerset’s ‘prisoners.’ Andrew and the others fell into their beds tucking themselves as best they could into the thin comfort of their issued wool blankets. Something crumbled in his pillowcase as the guards shut off the lights.
He pulled the note out sluggishly.
'Someone important is on the Cato. We are ready if you are. Launch within two days.'
Andrew swallowed the edible paper and laid back down. This was to be the last rest for a while, so he enjoyed it.
12/23/3051
Ambulances howled into Somerport’s medical center, EMTs and Prison Guards burst out of the doors as eight prisoners were wheeled into the emergency room. Attending doctors and nurses rushed to the aid of the vomiting or near comatose patients. A cacophony of voices filled Andrew Steiner’s mind even as his stomach emptied, “This is the worst case of food poisoning I’ve ever seen.”
“Get them IVs right away.”
“Run cultures to make sure it isn’t something else.”
“Put them in quarantine just in case.”
12/24/3051
Andrew snapped awake within the darkened quarantine rooms followed by the others. He turned toward the young woman across from him, “That was some prison escape Jacqueline.”
“Making my own Ipecac was not something to be taken lightly.”
“Well, you are the only person I’d trust to try.”
“Are you sure you made it correctly?” Oscar paused as he rose and slipped his legs over the bed.
“It got us here didn’t it.” Allie answered. “Now what’s the plan?”
“Break out of the hospital, head to the starport, steal a shuttle, then take the Cato as agreed.”
Another man replied, “Kapiten, are you certain your contacts are trustworthy.”
“Edgar, I am trusting them with and have known them all my life, so yes. We’ll swing by the abandoned Grange and upload your code. They will blame the lightning for the communication mishap rather than admit to sabotage.”
The conspirators gathered in the middle of the room whispering to one another, “How do we get out of here?”
“Oscar and I will get the door for you.”
Although heavy the door to the quarantine block was not immovable. Both men strained to keep it open long enough for Allie to reach the other side to disable the lock and alarm. To their relief the nurse was vacant and there were no guards present. The incessant beeping of tell-tales and whir of medical equipment disguised their efforts. “Good thing you are a small woman.”
“It helps get me into tight spaces which is very important on a ship. Even though it makes me look boyish.” She looked down at her prison uniform, “We have to ditch these clothes.”
“There is a locker room nearby.”
“How do you know Kapiten?”
“I was Academy Commandant before my brother. I spent some time here, chasing nurses.”
Jacqueline expressed her disapproval with a huff and jab to his back. “I thought you’d take that as a compliment.”
“Get on with it.”
“Yes, ma’am”
The Medical Center was eerily abandoned at night, cleaning robots mopped floors, transported linens, and disinfected procedure rooms. Jacqueline, Edgar, and Jeremi donned scrubs and a demeanor matching the night shift medics everyone else found street clothes in the lockers although Allie was forced to don men’s clothing for lack of a proper fitting disguise. They split up in the parking garage to find cars matching the keys they lifted from the locker room.
Both VW sedans rolled out to the rain-streaked and abandoned pavement of Somerport. Clan Patrol and Somerset Constable vehicles crisscrossed the town enforcing curfew. However, since their cars were registered to night shift hospital workers they passed without issue.
They pulled over around the block from COMSTAR’s former grange as lightning struck nearby. The grange was now covered in graffiti, abandoned, and dark. Andrew paused before to ensure it was clear of anything other than vandalized cars and fences.
“My contacts have left our disguises and kit within the dorms here. You all know your roles; we meet back here in fifteen.”
Fifteen minutes later Andrew and the others returned, both arms laden with duffels. Twenty minutes later took shelter under an overpass before changed into Merchant, Technician, and Laborer uniforms complete with codex IDs. Three Clan Pulse Laser rifles registered full charges as did two laser pistols, three stunsticks, and eight Buster E(ntry/ngagement)-Tools.
There were also two sets of false number plates for their cars. Allie changed them over with the blur of a whirring screwgun. She sat beside Andrew in the backseat of one of the cars, “How did they know we would be taking two cars? And my size?”
“Hard to fit eight people in one vehicle. Don’t you think?
Also, your size is registered for your prison uniform.”
She smoothed her damp hair, then looked down at her tan Technician’s coveralls with their three red sides on the upper arm pentagon, “I guess that makes sense.”
Andrew’s team approached the West Gate of Somerset Space Port, two Patrol Officers approached them while three more maintained their positions with hands on the Gauss SMGs visible on the outside of their foul weather ponchos. Oscar rolled down the window for them, “Name and Codex ID.”
“Oscar, Senior Laborer Two, Alpha Eight Five Bravo Mike. Heading to Hanger Echo-Niner.”
“What are you doing here this late? It is quarter past Oh Three Hundred.”
“This Starport is an all-day all-weather operation, quiaff?
“Aff,” The Patrol Officer looked at the number plate, his Commpad, then signaled to his companions who opened the gate, “move along.”
Hanger Echo-Nine was dark but open revealing the Ares Landing Craft within with its ramp down. The cargo hold was already filled with crates including one marked ‘Weingarten Specialty Liquor,’ alongside more common cargos such as liquified gases and spares parts. A large refrigerated container marked ‘frozen seafood, keep cold' dominated the other crates which were netted together on pallets locked into the floorboards.
Jacqueline, the ‘MedTech,’ found a place in the hold for her equipment, “How are they going to unload that container into a jumpship?”
Andrew kept watch from the ramp while Florentin, Edgar, and Allie started the pre-flight checklist, “You want to take this one Jeremi?”
Jeremi looked aside to her with his laser pistol out, “Normally they just unload crates directly from the container, it’s just easier to refrigerate a single larger package than a bunch of smaller ones.”
“That still seems very inefficient.”
“It is, but so would having corridors and carrying gear large enough for containers on a jumpship. They are almost all KF drive.”
“What is up with these Clanners and seafood anyway?”
“Beats me, we should ask our hostages when we get up there.” The ramp raised as the engines spun to life, Jump seats were built into an Ares’ cargo bay as they frequently carried soldiers into battle, “Now strap in everyone. We will have plenty of time for cultural exchange soon enough.”
12/18
SLS Cato drifted listlessly below Bone-Norman as an Astrolux shuttle approached it escorted by a pair of Sabutai fighters. As they approached visual range the stenciled writing on its flanks revealed the Explorer’s true name ‘Catoblepas’ and an insignia of a black octopus marked with sparkling blips of white reminiscent of stars. The Astrolux docked and disembarked its passengers while the Aerospace Pilots drifted into the same bay. A man waited by the ramp as a fit man with specks of gray in his coiffed black hair descended toward him, “Welcome aboard Director Peltier.”
They shook hands, both possessing signet rings marked with the same insignia as on the hull.
“Thank you, Cell Commander Knightly. I looked forward to our reunion and this liquor that the Somerset Merchant Factor raves about.”
“Yes sir, we shall arrive within that system in a few standard days.”
“Very well.” One of the Director’s assistants carried a stainless steel cylindrical with a strip registering its internal power supply, “Then we should get back to work.”
