Chapter IV - Jayrock II

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If you're caught, you're on your own! Sandywick's voice still rang inside Jayrock's head. So, you'd do better to either pull it off successfully... or die.

Jayrock placed his hand on the hood of the car he was sitting on, as turbulence caused it to shudder in its place. He was in the massive cargo deck of the Miracle, a freighter spacecraft transporting cars manufactured by an automobile company based on planet Zapstrom. Rows upon rows of exotic cars occupied the dimly lit cargo deck, chained to the floor. The cargo door, large enough for a dozen vehicles to enter through side by side, was some distance away to Jayrock's left. Behind him, set in the wall a few feet above the deck, was the airlock hatch.

With the mission being a covert operation, Jayrock had dressed in civilian clothing. He wore a loose, teal shirt over a dark-red camp shirt, charcoal tactical pants with slate-blue slash pockets, and blue-gray sneakers with white soles. His VBP lay in the breast pocket of his camp shirt.

"I have half a mind to take one with me," quipped Gylith.

Jayrock looked up to find Gylith sitting behind the steering wheel of a yellow car he had somehow managed to unlock. He was a lean commando with neat, brown hair and playful, amber eyes.

"I suppose you could shove one out before we jump," Jayrock replied. "Although then you'd have a tough time convincing people, it's a car you own."

"A sports car plunging out of a spacecraft!" Gylith gave a chortle, stepping out of the car. "Now there's a sight I want to see."

"I thought you wanted a car."

Gylith didn't seem to hear as he went over to inspect the next car. The first time Jayrock had seen him, he had wondered if Sandywick had inflicted Gylith on him as a joke. He had greeted Jayrock, chuckling. "So, you're the one who shot his own friend!" And then he had raised his hands in mock horror. "I'd better watch my back, right?"

At first, Jayrock had assumed it was just mockery, but by now, Jayrock was fairly certain it had been a genuine attempt on Gylith's part to ingratiate himself with Jayrock.

It had only now occurred to him if Gylith was guilty of something, too, to be assigned to this deadly mission.

"So, what did you do?" Jayrock asked.

Gylith wrinkled his nose in confusion as he turned back to face Jayrock. "What do you mean, what did I do?"

Jayrock gave an exaggerated shrug. "I mean... to get sent to Karomoz on this mission?"

"I... honed my skills as a sniper and practiced my aim and practiced and practiced and practiced until one fine day Colonel Sandywick saw it fit to summon me and tell me I was going to be your subordinate on this mission," Gylith said, looking up at the ceiling as if trying his best to remember.

Jayrock realized with a pang of guilt that Gylith had no idea whatsoever about the stakes involved. He was just here, happy to get the chance to prove his worth.

He had already proven to be surprisingly capable, though. They had been on Qragenyal, one of the many asteroids surrounding Grebros, orbiting the sun. They were waiting for a spacecraft, bound for planet Karomoz, to pass. Sandywick had ruled out deploying one from Fort Pedralt, reasoning that it was much more feasible to sneak aboard a civilian spacecraft, preferably not Grebrik, which would safely take them past Karomozian surveillance systems. They would then parachute out of the airlock hatch just before it landed on the planet and enter the spaceport as civilians.

The Miracle had arrived on Qragenyal for refueling. The asteroids surrounding Grebros, often erroneously called the "moons of Grebros," had been developed into fueling stations and were a popular site for this purpose owing to their sheer number — spacecraft never had to venture far off course to reach one for refueling.

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