Six

4 - Kindred Spirits

The interior of the ship elicited the same feeling that the exterior had, Gray found herself thinking; that a ship like this was meant for someone with a much higher pay grade.

The Horizon might have had more than enough room to spare for a platoon, let alone the five of them- being a corvette, she wouldn't be surprised if they could fit a few Titan chassises in the cargo bay.

"Very homey," Husher commented sarcastically under his breath, looking around the ship in suspicion. He had a hard time believing that anything ever went his way, so she could understand why he was so apprehensive about the sudden acquisition of both a new Ancillary AI unit and this beautiful ship- Gray would have been lying if she didn't share those same feelings, to a degree.

"Can't you take ten seconds to just appreciate how great this is?" Danvers chided him, going for the complete opposite reaction that Gray was having. "We actually have a ship of our own- and a damn good one!"

"While I can understand being enthusiastic about this," Vogel murmured to Danvers, a conflicted expression on his face, "I think that Husher may not be wrong to have reservations."

The younger operative just rolled his eyes and leaned against a wall. "Alright, alright. I will concede that all of this does feel a bit ... fast. Maybe even convenient. But let me just bask in this single moment where we're not crawling a mile through some backwater world's swamp or something- we don't ever get enough time to relax."

"Comes with the job, Danvers," Gray replied with a smirk, "but I think you're right in saying that we should enjoy the moment." Turning towards Husher, she tilted her head. "I think it's time we discussed that plan of ours."

Answering with a quick nod, he faced Ava. "Hey, tin-can- retract the ramp and seal us in."

If she felt any personal offense for being called 'tin-can', the AI didn't show it. "Of course, sir."

Walking through a door towards the loading bay of the ship, it was a minute before they heard the whirr of machinery as the ramp lifted up from the hangar floor, and rose to seal the ship's interior. There was a momentary bout of silence before she returned, stepping through the doorway and into view once more.

"The ship is now sealed, sir."

Gray looked at Husher. "Anything out of the ordinary so far?"

"I haven't picked up any hidden microphones or cameras yet, if that's what you're asking," he begrudgingly admitted. "Doesn't mean they aren't here, necessarily, could just mean they're well hidden."

"I trust your judgement," she answered, stepping into the center of the room. "So now, let's go over the plan."

"Still can't believe that they actually took the bait," Husher chuckled, shaking his head slightly. Danvers glanced at him in slight confusion.

"Bait? What bait?"

"Sorry, it was on a need-to-know basis," she began apologetically, "Husher and I were the only ones Blisk told."

Now Vogel's interest had been piqued as well. "What was it he told you?"

"The Prodigal was just a decoy," the simulacrum snickered gleefully. "We wanted to test our automated distress response system against the infiltrator without giving them anything useful- hence why we filled up the cargo bay with stuff they've never taken before, and made sure the data manifest was pretty much empty."

Danvers raised an eyebrow. "So there was never any secret haul-away?"

"No, there was; we just needed to buy time for the frigate to actually make it to its destination this time, so we sent them on a little goose chase while the real cleanup was carried out in secret, and is now on its merry way to Harmony- without the fear of being boarded by some unknown assailant."