The Yacht Job
16 Nov 2017Glasgow Evans
The Yacht Job Captain Glasgow Evans strode through a busy corridor aboard the Europa Princess, followed closely by his crewmates, Elijah Krusen and Ivy Montoya. The halls were bustling with well-to-do people, coming and going from upper observation decks. The giant Beluga-class cruise ship slowed to relative rest among a foggy ice ring of a gas giant, basking amid the beautiful natural scenery.
A door hissed closed behind the crew as they entered a private cabin. The inside was spacious and white with a small dining table in the middle of the room and a holoscreen mounted to the wall.
“Alright, will I need to go over the plan again or have we got this?” Glasgow asks, eyeing up both of his crewmates as they sit down at the table, and securing a small wireless ear-piece to his left ear.
Ivy shrugged and rested her elbows on the table. “I know the plan, but I have my doubts as to whether we pull it off without ending up in the slammer.”
“Hey now, it’s just like salvaging from a derelict, except-”
Elijah interrupted, his Gaelic accent thickening in the stressful situation. “Except that the people aboard this boat are still alive and paying attention to their belongings.”
“Although most of them should be on the observation decks by now,” Ivy said as she loaded a duffel bag with equipment.
Evans buried his head into his hand briefly before looking up again. “Relax. We stick to the plan, grab the goods, send them out of the trash chute and we’ll be back aboard Nehalennia in time for supper. We’ll be long gone before anyone realises what’s going on. Now, we ready?”
Ivy stood up, slinging the duffel bag over her shoulder. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Nehalennia, an Anaconda-class transport ship sat silently, its behemoth hull anchored to a giant ice rock, drifting. The vessel had all but essential systems powered down in order to hide its signature from the Europa Princess, only tens of kilometers away.
Wesley Bailey sat slouched on his pilot’s seat in the bridge reading from a dataslate. His co-pilot Dylan Perez stared blankly at the sensor display in front of him monitoring the area for traffic. Perez stroked his stubbled chin and let off a frustrated sigh.
“Think they’re indulging themselves with champagne and shrimp? They’ve been a while,” he said, diverting his gaze outside the bridge canopy.
Wesley shook his head. “Can’t stand that rich-people shit. Don’t understand how them stiff-lips can pay top credit for that stuff when I can get more drunk off a bottle of Old Sol for cheap.”
“It’s not always about getting drunk, you know,” Dylan responded.
Wesley turned his head back toward Dylan, grinning. “Well then what’s the point?”
“You need to broaden your horiz-” Dylan was interrupted by a beep on his panel. “Oh, it’s the captain.”
Glasgow’s voice reverberated through the vast bridge.“Stay frosty, helm. We’re almost at the safe.”
“Aye, captain,” Perez said. “You’ve got fifteen minutes before the next sec check. Any longer and you’ll have company.”
“Copy. Stay cold until we crack it. We don’t need the Feds joining the party.”
Wesley looked into the distance, nothing but frozen rocks in the horizon. “Roger that Cap’. We’ll sit tight a little longer.”
The trio aboard the cruise ship strolled down an almost empty corridor, carefully peeking around corners to avoid being spotted by crew members.
“If the schematics are correct, the bridge is that way,” Ivy said as she pointed toward an airlock door. “Which means the safe should be through that door there.” Her finger moved as she spoke, halting at a small door to the side, blending almost perfectly with the white walls.
Glasgow checked the corridor for crew before creeping to the door, pressing on it gently. The door hissed open and everyone cringed, glancing down the empty passage, hoping nobody heard. Inside was a thick, grey metal door secured by a small number pad on the side.
“There it is,” Glasgow said, running his hand down the safe door.
“Why is there even a safe like this on a cruise ship?” Elijah asked.
“Extra credits,” the captain replied. “Fill the ship up with passengers, carry a safe load of valuables on the side. It’s not that uncommon.”
Ivy pulled a knife from her belt and wedged the blade in the thin gap between the keypad and the wall. With a small amount of force she pried it off the wall, leaving it dangling by its wires. Between the panel and the wall was a tiny access port.
“You’ll be able to crack that right?” asked Elijah.
Ivy rolled her eyes and said nothing, reaching into her duffel bag and pulling out a dataslate. With a smirk, she inserted a cable into the pad’s port and connected the other end to the dataslate. Numbers and symbols began to flash on the dataslate’s surface.
“These things are about as secure as a paper door,” Ivy said.
“How long will it take?” Glasgow asked.
“Give me about a minute and I’ll have this bad boy open.”
There was a beep and a loud hiss as the latches of the safe released and the metal door swung open. The inside was large enough for two people to move around with ease and was dim with blue lighting. The walls were lined with shelves up to the low ceiling, each filled with cases and boxes.
“You should have more faith in me,” Ivy said, grinning toward Elijah as she stepped inside.
Glasgow followed soon after while Elijah stood watch outside the safe door.
“I bet we could make a generous amount on all this stuff,” Ivy said, looking around the safe.
“Let’s not get greedy. Remember we have to carry it all to the trash chute. Let’s just get what we came for and get out.” Glasgow tapped on his ear-piece. “Warm up, helm. We’re in the safe. Be ready to scoop us at a moment’s notice.”
“Roger that, Cap’,” Wesley’s voice crackled through the speaker. “Warmin' up the engines now. See you soon.”
The Anaconda’s downward thrusters roared into life, pushing the large vessel off the asteroid, followed by a long burst from its main thrusters sending it hurling toward the Europa Princess.
“Ease the speed a little,” Perez said.
“Helm, we’ve got the stuff and we’re heading for the chute,” Glasgow said through the comms.
Perez adjusted his sensor display, zooming in on the orange dot representing the Europa Princess. “Monitoring for your suit beacons now.”
The trio aboard the cruise ship scrambled down the corridors carrying four brief cases between them, peeking around corners in hopes of not being spotted by crew members. The ground rumbled as the ship’s thrusters engaged, ready to move to its next destination.
“Shit,” Glasgow said. “Helm, they’re preparing to move.”
“I see it Cap. We’re in position now waitin’ for your signal,” Wesley replied through Glasgow’s dataslate.
The trio reached the trash chute as the Princess started to pick up speed. The room was grimey and dimly lit. A large hatch stood out at the end of a line of containers filled with sterilized trash, ready to be vented. Cruise ships were notorious for their unlicensed dumping of trash into space.
Elijah pressed his hand on a large button beside the hatch. It hissed open slowly revealing an airlock to the icy ring outside.
“Quick,” he said. “Throw everything in and let’s blow this.”
Ivy threw her briefcase and duffel bag into the airlock, followed by Glasgow and Elijah. They hit the exterior airlock door with loud thunk.
“Told you we’d pull this off,” Glasgow said with excitement. “There’s only room for two of us at a time though.”
“I’ll go last,” Ivy said.
Glasgow and Elijah tapped a button next to their necks and their Remlok helmets snapped shut.
“We’ll see you outside Ivy,” Elijah said.
Ivy pressed the button, closing the hatch and cycling the airlock, sending Glasgow and Elijah flying out into space with the briefcases and debris.
“Alright,” she said. “My turn.”
She cycled the airlock again, opening the hatch to let her in. A heavy hand clapped on Ivy's shoulder as she was about to push the garbage release. She spun, face-to-face with a suited security guard.
"No passengers allowed on this level," he said, one hand on his shock baton. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
The woman's eyes widened in mock apology, taking a slow step backwards. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
A smirk lifted the side of her mouth. "Sorry that you grew up to babysit ship trash."
With that, she punched the release, ejecting herself along with the rest of the detritus into the vacuum of space. Her Remlok snapped shut around her head as the emergency door sealed itself between her and the guard, narrowly avoiding crushing his arm. Twirling in space, she keyed her personal comms.
"Wes," she said. "They're onto me. We've got to move!”
“I see your beacons. We’re movin’ to pick you up, hold tight,” Wes replied.
Four lights flashed in the distance, accompanied by four red dots on Dylan’s display. “Shit, Wes, it’s the fuzz.”
The cruise ship disappeared off into the fog as the Anaconda’s forward thrusters spewed out glowing plasma to slow it down as it approached the drifting trio.
A large cargo ramp on the belly of the vessel lowered slowly as it came to relative rest.
Wesley’s voice raised. “Get in, the cops are closin’ on us.”
Small bursts of compressed gas released from the arms of the drifting crew’s suits, steadying their tumble and propelling them toward the cargo ramp.
“Unidentified Anaconda, you are ordered to power your vessel down and submit to an inspection. Any attempt to flee will be met with force,” a voice echoed throughout the bridge. A wing of three Vipers and another Anaconda beelined toward the ship, deploying their weapons.
A notification flashed on Perez’s screen, indicating that the cargo ramp had closed. “Alright, they’re aboard. Go! GO!”
Nehalennia’s main thrusters burst into life as Wesley slammed the boost control, bringing the ship to rapid acceleration toward the security vessels.
“Unidentified vessel, you leave us no choice but to fire upon you.”
Nehalennia lumbered past the wing and the vipers broke formation to pursue the fleeing transport, firing rapid burst lasers. The shield rippled blue as it absorbed the incoming fire.
“I hope that new shield is worth the money,” Wesley said, gritting his teeth, twisting and turning his joystick with a firm grip as he navigated the ship through the field of icy rocks.
Perez locked in a nearby star system, 18 light years away. “I’ve set a destination. Punch it, Wes!”
“Ya don’t have to tell me twice. Frameshift drive is chargin’, shields are holdin’ at 50%.”
The charge cycle completed and the stars stretched as Nehalennia tore into hyperspace.
“Yeehaw!” Wesley yelled. “Not bad flyin’ if I do say so myself.”
“Do you think they ID’d us?” Perez asked.
Wesley shrugged. “Probably. Not a lot they can do when we leave their jurisdiction.”
The bridge door hissed and Glasgow strolled in. He took a seat in front of the leftmost console. “Good job, helm. Let’s set course to Kremainn and cash in.”
“Course is already set, Captain,” Perez responded.
Glasgow gazed out of the bridge canopy, watching the wispy clouds and bright lights zoom by as the ship traversed witch-space. Couldn’t have asked for it to go any smoother.