Van Terra

Chapter Forty-One ~ In-N-Out Hacker

The precinct computers must not have been very secure, because Thea was able to pull Prime's address in two minutes. Jax watched her work, occasionally glancing up to make sure no one noticed them.

"Got it. Let's go." Thea started toward the front entrance.

Jax caught up on her right. "How are we getting there?"

Thea held up a hand and wiggled her fingers. "I'll get us a vehicle."

One hacked police cruiser and fifteen minutes of traffic later, they were walking up to Prime's apartment complex.

"I say we go in the balcony," Thea said. "It'll be easier than dealing with building security and the front door."

"Sounds good," Jax replied.

"It's on the fifth floor."

"Sounds less good. But okay."

Thankfully, the building was easy to climb. They reached Dr. Prime's balcony quickly and found themselves facing a locked glass door.

Thea looked the door over. "Stand back."

"Be careful," Jax warned as he backed up. He'd have offered to break through the door instead, but her boots were much tougher than his sneakers.

Thea rolled her shoulders and gave the door a hard kick. Cracks ran up and down the glass. A second blow shattered it.

As Thea stepped inside, she lost her balance. Her hands waved to balance herself, and her right palm grazed a glass shard poking out from the door frame. She winced.

Jax hurried in behind her. "How bad is it?"

Thea held out the hand. The gash was already spilling blood onto her skin. "Could be worse."

"Sure." Jax pressed his palm against hers. "It should close up in a minute or so." A faint blue light glowed between their hands, then faded.

"Thanks."

The two entered the front room and split up. Thea headed for a computer on the desk in the corner. She rested a hand on top and closed her eyes. The screen lit up. Jax, meanwhile, sifted through the drawers around the room.

"Got something," Thea said after a few minutes. "Messages between Dr. Prime and the mayor of Sera. He was letting her use a room in the basement of Moon Hall."

"Great. So glad I could help," Jax joked. He paused and frowned. "Do you hear something?"

They fell quiet. Voices spoke outside the front door of the apartment. The voices stopped after a moment, and the silence was interrupted by the sound of someone kicking down the door.

"They've got blasters," Thea warned.

No time to run or hide. Jax and Thea could only watch as three men dressed in red and black entered the room. The first man took aim at Thea, but she'd already disabled the blasters.

"Damn it." The man smacked the side of the weapon.

"Mine's not working either," the second said.

The third chimed in. "Same here."

The first man shoved his blaster into its holster. "Fine. Grab them."

Jax barely had time to put his fists up before one of the men attacked. Jax blocked the first strike, then the second, but the third landed. He gritted his teeth and managed a hit to the man's jaw. The man retaliated with a hard blow to Jax's stomach.

Jax gasped and stumbled. The man blurred in his vision as took a step forward. He lifted his fist to strike again. Jax sucked in a deep breath. The man yelped in pain.

Jax's vision returned to normal as a gash opened in the man's right palm. Just like the one in Thea's palm that Jax had healed minutes earlier.

Were his powers working in reverse?

Jax took his chance to kick the man in the stomach, knocking him onto his back.

Thea stood up, eyed her attacker to make sure he wasn't getting up anytime soon, and turned to Jax. "Third guy grabbed the computer and ran."

"Should we chase him?" Jax asked.

"He's long gone. I tried to wipe the computer, but this guy kept me busy. If they're working for Ringmaster—and I'm pretty sure they are—they have a pretty good shot at finding Prime's hideout."

Thea unmuted her comm and explained the situation to the others as she and Jax returned to the cruiser.

"Ringmaster's going after Prime's hideout then, right?" Holly asked. "To steal the warp research?"

Jasper sighed. "As soon as he gets the location, I'm sure he will."

"Why don't we contact the mayor and tell him?" Grace suggested.

"He's not going to listen to a bunch of criminals who broke into her apartment," Jasper said. "And even if we did come up with a believable story, whatever security measures he puts in place won't stop Ringmaster. We'll just have to break into the highly secure government facility ourselves and steal the research before Ringmaster can. Ooh, this is starting to sound like an Earth movie I saw once."

"Sure, let's steal our ideas from movies," Holly muttered. "That'll work great."

"How are we getting in?" Thea asked. "Moon Hall doesn't do visitors. I might be able to get us fake IDs, but their security guards are thorough, from what I've heard—"

"Don't bother with all that. I have a better idea. It'll be more fun, too," Jasper said. "Thea, I have a job for you."

Thea still had access to Starchatter's backend, which allowed her to sneak a few short articles onto the website. Even though someone caught and removed them by the end of the day, they were up long enough for Jasper's idea to gain momentum. The fact that other sites quickly reposted them helped, too.

That evening, Jax and the rest of the team stood in a circle with the officers on the Prime investigation in the center of the police station.

"The star system is calling for a celebration of Si Hera's 421st precinct after articles detailing their competition with Van Terra for the dramatic capture of a dangerous killer spread around the net," Detective Park read from his tablet.

"How exciting!" Officer Parr exclaimed.

Detective Park shook his head. "The original articles were full of fabrications, and they were deleted later."

"Don't worry about the minor details," Jasper told him. "You deserve all the praise for catching Mechwell."

"He basically surrendered himself to me."

"After a thrilling chase!"

"Good news, everyone!" Captain Pool exclaimed as he emerged from his office. "I just got off the phone with Sera's mayor. His phones have been blowing up all day with calls about our celebration, and he has decided to go ahead and host a party for us the night after tomorrow."

"Guys, check this out." Tary waved his tablet in the air. "Top seven reasons Precinct #421 deserves a party right now, explained through pictures of felines. Oh, and there's another one that explains the arrest using reaction images from Star Conquerors—"

Jax glanced at Holly, who had never looked more exasperated in her life. Grace's expression held mild alarm. Thea was typing away on her tablet, undoubtedly still wrestling with net code. Jasper looked amused, but there was a faraway look in her eyes that hinted her thoughts were elsewhere.