Skylar Holmes: The Last Hope

2. SKYLAR'S HEIST OF THE MILLENNIA

"To the thief goes the spoils, more like," said Piron, gratefully grabbing the bracelet, his innocent steel-blue eyes briefly filling with greed.

"That doesn't sound as good. Anyway, Piron, I'm not a thief. We know sod all about these aliens. Trust, but verify, I always say."

"You're full of warlike proverbs today, I see."

"I've always been full of something," jested Skylar. "Although, in my opinion, my proverbs today have been more political than warlike."

"Is there such a difference?" Piron's eyebrows knotted and the corner of his mouth was fighting a smile. Piron could not help asking questions of Skylar as he found her answers both intellectually brilliant and entertaining, and sometimes simply amusing.

Skylar gave Piron a slow nod, but made no effort to hide her smile. She knew Piron well enough to know he was fishing for a glorious answer to his question. "I would just say that war brings the volume 11 setting to politics."

"I don't get it ..." said a befuddled Piron.

"When one goes fishing, one must not always expect to catch a fish." Skylar giggled.

"You've definitely lost me. I best let this go."

"The one that got away." Skylar giggled again. "Don't worry, there's a media file I possess that will explain everything. It's titled Spinal Tap."

"Sounds interesting."

"'Sound' being the operative word."

"Well, anyway, Skylar, now what? Don't we need to find the location finder pads? They could be anywhere. They might not even be in any of these eight alien property trunks."

"The only piece of information the Equalisers gave us was the portion of the alien property manifest that told us where the bracelets were. But clearly we must use the bracelets in some way to find the location finder pads. Maybe we could see if there's anything else worth nicking."

"Are you crazy?" Piron took an anxious look around the subtly lit Main Cargo Bay paying particular attention to the Main Cargo Bay door window.

"Stop fretting. I'm obviously joking. Anyway, what's the hurry now? We've got the bracelets."

"But, Skylar, how do we know they will work? Maybe they're tied in function only to particular alien life signs. Perhaps, alien bodily cells. Something like your DNA."

"Well, there are three different types of aliens owning these bracelets, and they are not just from different planets, but different galaxies. I think the bracelets will work just fine on us—if they work at all."

"I suppose so." Piron seemed consumed in a fog of uncertainty.

"Look, Piron, the Equalisers must believe they work, I would have thought. Such advanced beings would surely not waste their time on such an elaborate hoax. But if we only look at the facts, which is all any good detective should ever do, we only have the aliens' statement of fact that they work. In any case, what have we got to lose?"

"Erm, our liberty. Maybe even our lives."

"Sorry to disappoint you, sir, but freedom is an illusion. And as for life, the moment you have it, you are destined to lose it. So, my shapeshifting friend, we'll try the bracelets out now. See over across the Main Cargo Bay?" Skylar pointed to a distant door.

"The Main Cargo Bay Office?"

"Yes. We've been in there before, so let's attempt to teleport inside the office now. We know it's locked and empty, due to the wishes of the soon-to-be arriving aliens. And we would have been caught by now if it wasn't."

"How do we teleport if we don't have the accompanying bracelet's location finder pad?"

"Using the bracelet teleportation by thought function, Piron. Remember, according to the aliens' statements of fact, we simply think of a place we have previously visited. Then a press of the square button on the teleportation bracelet should teleport us there instantaneously. The location finder pads additionally allow us to visit places we have never visited before. And in both cases, it is claimed there is no speed of light limitation; teleportation is truly instantaneous."

"Yes, that's right. Sorry, Skylar, I've never committed a crime before and it's obviously affected even the most rudimentary of my thoughts and memories."

"I hear you. Me? I'm London born and bred. Crime is part of my DNA. Though it's fair to say, I was born to a family that fights it, rather than commits it. So, getting things back on track, once in the locked Main Cargo Bay office, we might be able to find out where the location finder pads for the bracelets are. There are bound to be twelve of them. If we can steal two of them, the aliens might think they simply forgot to pack twelve bracelets and twelve location finder pads. And that's all assuming the teleportation by thought works in the first place."

"That's quite a big assumption, Skylar."

"Big assumptions come with big assertions. So I would expect them to be validated as much as any others."

"You really think instantaneous teleportation by thought or even by any method is possible?" Piron's eyebrows knotted.

"Agreed, it seems improbable, but who are we with our limited knowledge of the nature of things to know if it's impossible? Thus its possible truth remains. And here we are in a position to eliminate or vindicate truth. Ready to seek the impossible, Piron old chap?"

"I admit I'm scared. However, as you say, the Equalisers put us here for a reason, a reason of which we currently have little understanding. So let's just get on with it."

They both slipped on their bracelets around their wrists. As they expected, the bracelet strapping was loose at first but quickly tightened to a comfortable secure fit.

"In for a penny, in for a pound," said Skylar to Piron. "I'll go first, you follow."

Skylar closed her eyes, thought of the inside of the Main Cargo Bay Office and imagined herself there. Keeping her eyes closed, she pushed down on the bracelet's square button until it made a subtle clunky click ...

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I hope you enjoyed this Chapter. I welcome any votes, comments or constructive criticisms (style, spelling, grammar and punctuation errors).

T. J. P. CAMPBELL.