Day 48 Part 1 (Comm Series #6)
16 Mar 2018Viridian
For a solid hour, Viridian sat in the cockpit. She had landed silently on Lahun after hours of travel and positioned her ship far enough to avoid scanners, but not so far that she couldn't watch the station. The site bustled with activity. Trade ships occasionally docked. A few of them would have slaves on them. Slaves were walked into into transport ships, having been bought, and off to be delivered as plain commodities in other areas of Empire space. Viridian's blood began to curdle and she narrowed her eyes."You're not a terrorist," Hyde said.
She continued to wait. Her best method of entry was going to depend on the traffic in and out of the station.
It would be close to three hours by the time she saw them off in the distance. Driving at half-speed, a group of SRVs scaled the rocky hills. Some were coming from excavations, others from crashed ship collection. It gave Goodman a few other commodities to sell when pilots were off making trades, since not every market was interested in slave trade.
She slid out of her cockpit and ran. Her green flight suit was left behind and she wore a brown flack jacket similar to mechanics and repairman crew. The jacket fell over her slim hips and hid the two pistols, Hyde's and her Federation pistol from Section 31. Clips were slipped away in sewn in pockets. Her chokeband, a black, synthetic material that could be pulled over the carotid artery and put down a subject without much in the way of bruising, hung around like a bracelet on her wrist.
"You were a smuggler in Section 31. A damn good one," Acroci said. "So smuggle."
She throttled up her SRV just as the other flock of them made the turn for the station. She caught up with the back of them and drove into the station. The SRVs parked and she left hers with the rest of the ground crews. Nods were given to strangers faces and she answered questions simply. She moved quickly towards the central tower, where the on-site slaves were kept, separate from those for sale. She slipped inside the tall building, her eyes scanning up at the brown and black platforms and unimpressive metal walls.
First, she was going to have to find her.
She moved quickly up the stairs right side, ignoring the elevator that had a camera. The security suite was on the second floor. She reached the unmarked door and tapped it with a knuckle. "Maintenance," she said.
"The fuck," she heard from the other side. "You people were just here."
"Forgot something," Viridian said.
She slid her chokeband down her wrist and wrapped her fingers around it. When the door open, she sent her fist, reinforced by the band, into the bridge of the security guard's nose. Blood spurted from the orifice and he was too busy trying to clear the stars from his eyes to say anything coherent. She pushed his chest and he stumbled back, allowing her to step inside and close the door behind her. The guard's back hit the wall and he crumpled to the floor while holding his hands around his nose.
Viridian moved to the second guard in the station just as he was beginning to stand. She lifted her knee, chambering it in front of her, before her boot went flatly into his kidney. It was enough to make him stumble long enough for her to move. She grabbed the chokeband and extended it, pulling around the guard's neck and pulling while she stuck a knee into his back.
It takes up to one minute for a person to pass out due to a blocked windpipe. The carotid artery only takes ten seconds. Once the second guard fell to the floor, Viridian pulled out her Federation pistol and pointed it at the guard on the floor. "Stay silent or I will spray your brain all over the wall."
"What do you wan--"
She pulled back the hammer. He nodded and lifted his hands.
"Keycard," she said. The guard pulled it from his front pocket. She nodded to the closet at the back of the room. "Go there. Stay in it. If I hear an alarm, this place blows."
"You'd die if you did that," he said as blood dangled off his mouth.
"That's right. Difference between you and me is that you care if you live. Now get in there."
Guards were cowards. They were pilots too afraid to fly and guards at slave stations were the most disgusting of them. She regretted not shooting him as she looked at the camera station. Several screens sat in front. She tapped one of the screens, which responded by flickering to the next display. Empty floors were mostly displayed. The cafeteria had a few people mulling around inside.
"Where are you," Viridian muttered and then her hand dropped from the screen. Slave pens. They were similar to prison chambers, except slaves were too dejected to do humorous things like piss on guards or play with their genitals in view of strangers. She tapped the screen again.
The pens were full. All of them were full. She knew their faces. All of them were Section 31 slaves. Edge, the dark-haired one who laughed when he killed pirates. Acacia, the quiet one who fixed engines. Mask, the genius.
"They took them all back," Viridian uttered and her hand fell away. "Wait. Where's Raven?"
She flicked through a few more panels until she started opening the views to the slavers rooms.
"No," Viridian said.
There she was. Red hair was in a disarray as she sat crumpled on the floor.
"No," she said.
Her left eye was blackened. There were bruises on her bare thighs. The bottom of the screen read the room details: "Level 8, Room 6 - Isaac Bryant."
She cocked Hyde's pistol and walked out of the suite with a gun in each hand.