Lies and Manipulation

Chapter 1 - The Mercenary (year 5820)

“Fifty-seven years ago, due to constant threats because of its ideal location in regards to trade and transportation, the Karit government added the military wing to base TK7 as a purely defensive component. This base is equipped to withstand....”

As the crowd settles around me, I tune out the monologue of the tour guide. Besides, I already know the full armament of this base. Most importantly, it has a Karitan Particle Shield; we call it Karitan because no one else can seem to assess exactly how it works and they are secretive like that. We only know that it is one hundred percent effective against attacks and impenetrable by most, if not all, weapons. If by some miracle something does penetrate the shield, TK7 also has a large arsenal of weapons, from microblasters to radiation cannons, most of which are not listed on public record. (The radiation cannons use the same theory as the radiation storms to create massive space disturbances. So far as I know, they have not been tested in combat. Karit is just not a place to attack.) Then there are also ten fighters and a small military/police force as well. Realistically, while Karit claims to be non-aggressive and isolationist in nature, and station TK7 tries to pretend to be merely a lay point on most trips in this area of the galaxy, this station is a massive weapon that stands directly between Karit and the rest of the Known Galaxy and, in tact, would probably never fall without several major technical failures.

But that is why I am here. 

I glance at the tour guide, but he is too busy with his monologue and the rest of the tourist, mostly Karitans here to visit the near-by nebula, or merchants making refueling passes between trading with four other close planets and two stations. Besides, I’m not the kind of person who stands out. Short, brown hair, and pretty much average looking. Tlas would call this a perfect cover. (Rob would say I’m beautiful as always. Ha! Beautiful and fat.)

Cautiously, I edge towards a nearby bathroom and vanish inside. No one notices, or really remembers me, as soon as I close the door, especially that middle-aged merchant’s wife who thought I looked a little sick. One mental suggestion that I’m fine had her turn right back to the tour guide. Good thing she wasn’t Karitan. Might have been a tad harder. 

Once there, I wait ten minutes before I come out again, plenty of time for the tour group to move on. From here, I am simply set of stairs and passcode away from my goal. I just hope we actually got the real code and they didn’t reset it yet; it has been a year. Who knew our last legal mission together as partners would have been so important to both of us? (Or for that matter, most of our missions together.)

None too graceful--I’m sadly out of shape--I cross the hall and slip into the staircase. For about the twentieth time today, I wish I had Rob to block cameras, but, alas, things would be very different if he had come with me. Better. Safer. Three stories down bring me to the main control room. Here, most of the station’s functions and private security dealings take place. You could call it the heart of the station.

I pull up the code program on my handheld. When Rob and I got the code to station TK7, no one told us what the code was for or why we needed to replicate the code generator, not just a code, without alerting anyone to the fact that we had it. Now, if all went well, no one on Karit ever discovered what we had done and never changed the generation sequence. 

The code loads on my screen. For the next four hours, the access code should be 7-6-9-4-1-X-7-T-9-A. I type it in and hold my breath. When the display changes to a green--APPROVED---instead of an alarm and immediate lockdown, a huge weight lifts off of me. (Let’s be real; I cannot outrun an alarm right now.) 

The hall is deserted. Confidently, like I belong here, I make my way past two doors before I reach a private conference room labeled 1F, which has direct access to the main computer. (Assuming our stolen blueprints are correct.) The room is also empty, which is what I expected, though I wonder where everyone is. I walk down the length of the room to the second door and use the same code to access the main control room.