No Rhyme or Treason, Part 3
06 Jun 2024Naomii
CHAPTER 3Read Part 2 Here!
The main ballroom of the Cartier City Convention Center was ostentatious, but not on the level of the opulence seen in similar Imperial facilities. Lit by chandeliers, one side of the room featured an elevated stage. Naomi had arrived just as Torben Rademaker was finishing his speech. The sound of applause echoed through the space from the guests seated at the banquet tables by the stage. Rademaker was center stage, standing behind a podium featuring the old tri-hexagonal Azimuth logo, and flanked by large holo-posters of their new line of AX cannons.
Naomi didn’t think that a reverting the logo back to the pre-Salvation variant would do anything to change public perception of the company, but Torben had insisted in some minor rebranding after the debacle in HIP 22460, when the Proteus wave was hijacked by Thargoid forces and used to disable the entire human fleet. Half a dozen mega-ships destroyed, hundreds of smaller vessels, and thousands of lives lost, including Azimuth’s former CEO, Dr. Caleb Wycherly, more commonly known as Salvation. Though, according to Seo, he survived as an AI construct. The Imperator called it his “great reward” for his sacrifice in service to the Caretakers crusade.
“Thank you. Thank you. Together we will triumph against the Thargoids and secure our future.” Rademaker responded to the applause. “Now please, esteemed guests and delegates, enjoy the festivities and fine vintages we have prepared for you. I’m sure that’s why most of you are really here.” The crowd chuckled at the joke. What a fucking sycophant. Naomi thought to herself. Come up with something original. Please!
The holo-curtain behind the CEO dissolved, revealing a full jazz orchestra. They began playing a big-band swing number. Is that Count Basie, or Archie Xebulon?
Servers in tuxedos carrying trays of canapes and appetizers entered the ballroom from concealed service doors. As the smell of grilled meat hit her nose, Naomi realized that it had been about ten hours since she had last eaten. Her stomach churned, as if punishing her for being too busy.
Mammoth skewers! She rushed towards the nearest server and appropriated four of the Albino Quechua Mammoth kebabs, clenching them between her fingers like claws.
“Ms. Moon-Khan, I need you to remain on mission.” The masked man in her ear scolded her.
“Look,” she replied, “‘You try betraying everyone you know on an empty stomach. Then we’ll talk. Also–” She grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and downed it in one large gulp. “There’s no way I’m doing this sober!”
The masked man continued lecturing her. “You need to act normal. Erratic behavior and impaired judgment are going to attract attention. Proceed with the mission.”
“Oh please. You have no idea how shitfaced these corpo fucks get at these things. I’ve seen hedonism and debauchery that you wouldn't believe. No one is going to see anything other than a fellow narcissist blowing off steam.”
At that moment, before the masked man could respond, Naomi heard a voice call her name.
“Naomi, you look like shit. Did you sleep with a sewer rat last night or something?”
Naomi slowly turned around. She already knew who it was behind her. Victoria Hothis’s posh accent was unmistakable, and perfectly complemented her formidable reputation. She was the head of Azimuth Biotech Experimental Labs division (ABEL). Rumor had it that they were still pursuing the line of research that Seo Jin-Ae claimed to have been an unwilling test subject of. Any information on those projects was highly compartmentalized, though. Naomi was not privy to certain files even with her corporate security clearance.
Victoria was wearing a metallic black and gold dress that complemented her dark hair, which was perfectly styled in an updo. Her gold stiletto heels looked sharp enough to pierce the bulkhead below the faux wooden floor of the ball room, should she step too hard. She smirked at Naomi as she continued, “I see you decided to sneak in after the boring bit.”
Naomi’s face painted a perfect picture of someone who’d been caught in a compromised position. “Uhhh? Hi Victoria. . . nice dress.”
Victoria’s brow furrowed. “Oh look, it’s Bru Tarquin. I simply must speak with him.” Victoria’s eyes flitted briefly to the multiple skewers of mammoth meat in Naomi’s hand. “Save some food for the rest of us, will you? Ta-ta!” She raised her hand as if to wave an insincere goodbye as she locked on to her next small-talk target.
Naomi watched as Victoria swaggered away towards the Engineer. I’ll bet she has to plug herself in to charge at night. There’s no way a real person could be that put together.
She sighed and stuffed one of the kebabs into her mouth. The man in her ear spoke up again, “Go, schmooze. Make sure everyone remembers seeing you at the party. They’ll be less likely to suspect it was you when they realize that someone broke into the data-vault.”
Naomi weaved her way between inane conversations. Laughing appropriately, greeting dignitaries, and accepting congratulations from the guests on behalf of the corporation. She saw the CEO talking with a group of Federation officials. I should probably go suck up to Torben. Wait, is that? No way what the fuck is he doing here?
The man Rademaker was talking to was former Federation ambassador Nathan Moon, her father. She thought he had retired. Apparently that assumption was incorrect. Naomi’s relationship with her father was tepid. She hadn’t met the man until she was 16 years old, and he had not known of her existence before she showed up at the gates of the Federation embassy on Achenar after running away from the governesses that had raised her in seclusion to protect her mother’s reputation.
For a man with his history, he did seem sincere in his desire to get to know his unexpected daughter. But Naomi found it difficult to let him get close enough to possibly do any real damage.
Torben motioned her over to them. “Naomi, I believe you are already acquainted with our esteemed Federation guest. I’ve been telling him about all the good work you’ve been doing since you joined us.” His tone was warm, but there was a glint in his eye that suggested he was aware that she had missed his speech. “The ambassador here shared a few anecdotes with me as well. I had no idea you collected ancient Earth music.”
Nathan spoke, his voice was commanding yet also reassuring. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry Nai, I haven’t shared any embarrassing stories about you with your boss.”
Naomi attempted her sweetest smile. “You better not. Torben, would you excuse us for a few minutes?” Torben bowed out gracefully. “Of course of course. We value family here at Azimuth.” He turned towards Nathan, “I do hope you will keep our little proposal in mind the next time you speak with the President. Please do enjoy the party, Ambassador.”
Naomi all but dragged her father into the corridor outside the ballroom. “Dad, what the hell are you doing here?”
Nathan looked bemused. “Well hi hello there my lady. It’s nice to see you too.” He liked to poke fun at the fact that his daughter was technically Imperial nobility. It was one of the few joys they shared. She wasn't particularly pleased with what life as a noblewoman had brought her, and she had mostly rejected her upbringing.
“Seriously, Nathan. Why are you here?” Naomi tried not to reveal how tense she was. “Don’t you know Azimuth is at war? It’s not safe here?”
Nathan was slightly taken aback. “Oh come now, the President asked me to serve on an exploratory committee to evaluate the new weapons your company just released for possible use by the Federal Navy. Plus, I wanted to see my daughter.” He pulled her in for a hug, which she did welcome. It was almost a safe enough feeling to take her mind off her current situation. “You worry too much. The security on a station like this is airtight.”
“You’d be surprised.” She muttered under her breath.
“Careful.” the masked man spoke in her ear. “You are coming dangerously close to blowing your cover. Complete the mission, and dear old dad will be just fine.”
Naomi pulled herself out of the hug. “Dad, I have to go. Some stuff to take care of. You know the drill. I’ll call you later, ok?”
“Is everything ok?” The look in his eyes demonstrated that he was prepared to jump into action to protect her. It was strange, Naomi didn’t remember him caring that much when she was young. Maybe retirement was good for him.
“Yeah Dad, everything’s fine. Just, do me a favor, ok?” she implored.
He winked at her. “Anything for my Lady.” He actually managed to induce a small giggle in her. “Ha ha. Um, just um, Don’t stay here too long. I’m sure you’ve probably had enough of these pontificating lobbyists by now.”
He nodded. Displaying a trust in her that she wasn't used to experiencing from anyone, let alone him. She wondered as she walked away Is that really my dad? Or did Victoria replace him with a therapy bot?
“Alright. Family reunion is over. Time to get my data, Ms. Moo–”
Naomi seethed at him through the comms. “You did this! I dont fucking know how you pulled it off. But somehow you are responsible for getting my father assigned to that delegation so that you’d have more leverage!”
He ignored her anger. “Get yourself out of there before you blow your cover.” She knew he was right, and it made her hate him more for it. She walked as fast as she could in her heels. She made her way towards the building’s elevator lobby and entered a waiting turbolift.
“Verity, activate executive turbolift priority override.” She heard the beeps from the turbolift’s interface as it acknowledged her override. That protocol ensured that no one else would interrupt her or enter the elevator until she had exited. “Happy now? No one else can interrupt.”
“Yes. And yes, it is true. I may have. . . exerted some influence to bring your father here. I needed to be certain that you would cooperate. So it was necessary to establish some insurance.”
“You’re a fucking psychopath you know that?”
“Yes. I am aware. Now please proceed with the mission.”
She spoke to the elevator “Azimuth Main Office. Floor 99.” The turbolift whirred to life.
They spent the rest of the elevator ride in silence. Naomi contemplated the drastic change in course her life was about to take. I am going to have to leave everything behind before they realize it was me. She had seen how Azimuth and the Order both treated those in their custody. To say the least, it was a fate to be avoided.
The lurch of the turbolift reaching its destination returned her focus to the immediate situation. She signaled the masked man. “I’ve arrived.”
“Good. Get to work.”
Naomi made her way across the empty floor to the former CEO’s office. The bronze plaque next to the carved wooden door read, Dr. Caleb Wycherly, Chief Executive Officer. Salvation had supposedly died months ago. I guess no one was brave enough to take down the sign just in case the bastard really survived.
The door had no handles. No apparent locking mechanism either. She searched the rest of the wall, looking for any clue as to how to gain entry. She didn’t want to risk turning up the lights lest a passing guard notice the floor was occupied. “Verity, can you help me find the door control? Passive scans only. Don’t wanna trigger any security alarms.” Her COVAS responded, “One moment, Commander.”
Naomi waited patiently while Verity analyzed the environment. “Commander, I have detected a thermal signature consistent with electronic control systems. Would you like me to highlight it for you?”
Naomi nodded, “Yes Verity. Please.” From the wearable holo-interface on her wrist, the COVAS projected a thin green, rectangular outline on the wall below the plaque. She approached the wall and ran her fingers along the outline. She could feel the slightest groove indicative of a hidden compartment.
She pressed her hand firmly against the center of the panel. After a moment, it gave away with a slight click, then retracted, revealing a holoscreen, and a physical pad with an outline of a human hand on it. The entire assembly slowly extended out of the compartment until it was flush with the wall again.
“Crap.” She muttered. “Looks like a biometric scanner. Hey Skullface, you hacked the station. Do you think you can bypass it?”
“Negative. I’m not seeing it on any of the station network maps. It’s probably air-gapped.”
“I guess that tracks considering his penchant for megalomania. If it’s not on the main network that means that my clearance probably won’t work here.”
The masked man chuckled, “Megalomaniac. That’s a rather strong characterization. I suspected you wouldn’t turn out to be an Azimuth bootlicker. Glad to see I was right.”
She snapped back at him, “Don’t push me numbskull. I’m just trying my best to do some good with this shit toolkit the universe dropped in my lap.”
The man was clearly amused. “Heh Numbskull. I haven’t actually heard that one before.”
“Just, stooop!” She begged him, “This isn't supposed to be fun. You’re holding me hostage, remember?” This was, in fact, one of the most stressful days of Naomi’s life. Though she’d have been lying to herself if she claimed that there was no part of her that was exhilarated by this mission she’d found herself on. There was definitely something compelling about cliche. And a mysterious man in a mask was about as cliche as one could get.
“Verity, can you identify any physical access ports on the door scanner?” “Affirmative, Commander. There is a single standard network cable port on the rear side of the scanning pad.”
Data cables were not something that had been commonly used in offices for centuries. A typical citizen of the Bubble was unlikely to ever have need of one for domestic use. However, they were on a space station. Maintenance crew usually kept cables in their toolkits as a contingency in the event that a solar storm was disrupting wireless networks.
Knowing the former Azimuth CEO’s reputation, his staff would not have wanted to ever leave him waiting long. An auxiliary IT technicians’ room would not be far. Her eyes searched the room. She spotted a door nestled between two vertical planters.The sign on the sliding door panel said “Executive IT Annex.”
“Gotcha.” She grinned and walked over to the door. “Who’s having fun now?” The masked man interjected. Naomi scoffed back at him, “Ugh just. . . Shut. . . up!” He wasn’t entirely wrong though. “Just keep your voice down.” He added.
Naomi found the appropriate cable and returned to the door scanner. She fumbled around with the data port plug for a few moments before it clicked in securely. I swear, for thousand-year-old tech, these things must be four dimensional. She connected the other end of the cable into the backup charging and access port on her wrist holo.
“Verity, see if you can upload my biometric profile into the scanner.” Her COVAS replied, “Acknowledged, Commander. Attempting upload.” Naomi watched as a loading bar appeared on her holo interface. It filled up surprisingly fast for such an antiquated data transfer technology. I guess there is something to be said for a good hard-wired connection. “Upload complete.”
“Thanks, Verity. Whelp, here goes nothing.” She placed her hand on the scanner. Her skin lit up red with the light bleeding through from the scanning beams. After a few moments the scanning panel went dark. She waited for the door to slide open, instead, holo display next to the scanner lit up with a large red X. “UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED. INVALID DNA SAMPLE. ALERTING SECURITY”.
Alarm lights began to strobe. The sound of blaring klaxons sprung her out of her moment of shock.
“Fuck, I need to get out of here. Skullface, are you hearing this?”
“Affirmative. I’m detecting a new device on the station network. Looks like it was programmed to boot up and connect to the security net if it detected a breach. I have managed to delay the data packets it's sending for now. But you probably only have about 90 seconds before station security storms your position.” He was speaking hurriedly, but also seemed oddly serene given the gravity of the situation. “It’s time for evac. Unplug your gear. Head for landing pad 40.”
“So you aren’t going to vent us all into space now that I failed?” She asked as she unplugged the cable. “Girl, I was bluffing. Life support and atmospheric control systems are on a completely isolated network only accessible from the main control room. Now move your ass! I’m not about to let you get caught so you can tell them all about me in an interrogation room!”
Naomi kicked off her heels and was about to sprint back towards the turbolift when she felt a hand grab her by the wrist. She yelped, and jumped around, ready to defend herself.
A familiar face greeted her. The woman had shoulder length, dark brown hair, which was bundled up in a neat bun. Her green eyes, sparkling from behind a pair of antique eyeglasses, signaled non-hostile intent. Still holding on to Naomi’s wrist, she placed her other hand on the biometric scanner. After a short delay for the scan to complete, the klaxons and alarm lights ceased. The holo panel signaled a green circle, and the door to Salvation’s office slowly slid open. The room’s lights activated sequentially, revealing the workspace of one of the galaxy’s most influential individuals. An artificial voice echoed from inside. “Welcome back Dr. Wycherly. The time is 8:39pm. What will we be working on tonight?” Then there was quiet.
The woman finally spoke. “Ms. Moon-Khan, you really shouldn’t be sneaking around by yourself in the dark. People might think you were. . . up to something?”
Naomi managed to stammer, “I, umm. A-Anri. WHAT THE FUCK??!?!” The man in her ear was as silent as Naomi was loud. He must have been just as surprised as she was at this apparent Deus ex Maid.
Anri LaRosa, head of the Azimuth Biotech Logistics subsidiary (AZLX). She was colloquially referred to as “The Maid” by Azimuth field operatives due to her reputation for being sent to clean up the messes left behind by other elements of the corporation. She and Naomi had served together during the Wandrama conflict. The two of them had sat across the table from the Man in the Skull Mask, and another ACA general, a Commander KingKarper01, to negotiate the ceasefire.
Naomi didn’t exactly consider Anri to be a friend, but she was one of the few people she’d met at the corp that didn't seem to be driven by a lust for power. That made her seem trustworthy, and that made her dangerous. She wasn't worried about Anri stabbing her in the back, like she would with people such as Victoria, but she had a feeling that Anri LaRosa wouldn’t hesitate to stab her from the front, if she deemed it necessary. If it was ever going to happen, catching someone breaking into Salvation’s office would probably be justification enough for her.
“Look, Anri, I can explain. Just–” The Maid interrupted her. “You’re working for Mr. No-Name,, aren’t you Ms. Moon-Khan?” Naomi was too stunned to respond to the accusation. Anri continued, “People often assume the eyeglasses mean I can’t see much, but I’m actually much more observant than most people give me credit for. I’ve been monitoring a security breach in our computer systems since this morning. I recognized Mr. No Name’s code. You see, he’s attempted to breach our systems before. I consider it the polite thing to do to let him play around with his toys. If he doesn’t play nice. I can always send him home.”
Naomi continued to listen, slack-jawed, as Anri explained further. “So a couple hours ago I was alerted to a malfunction with the turbolift system. The lift originated from your office suite.”
She paused briefly to look at Naomi, then started rifling through her clutch purse, “Ms. Moon-Khan, you seem a bit out of sorts. Lemon drop?” She reached out to Naomi offering a small piece of hard candy wrapped in foil. Naomi gingerly accepted. Ms. LaRosa continued speaking, “ So anyways, I was keeping my eye out for you at the party when I saw you heading for the elevator looking quite upset. Honestly though, I’m feeling a bit crushed that you didn’t come say hi to me at the ball.”
“Umm. I’m sorry?” Naomi replied meekly.
Anri smiled at her, “No worries. I understand now that you were occupied. It’s not a proper ball without a few masked characters, is it not?”
Naomi wondered if she was perhaps the victim of some elaborate prank. Were Torben, and the rest of the company about to jump out of the shadows and shout “Surprise!” at her? Offer her a promotion, having even invited her father to celebrate with her? Anri’s voice broke her out of her trance. “Well Ms. Moon-Khan?” Anri beckoned towards the now open door. “Aren’t you going to retrieve what you came for?”
Naomi proceeded into Salvation’s office still wondering if she was dreaming. She took in the room. Ya know this is honestly not what I expected from a man with his ego. The furniture in the room was quite unassuming. There was one conspicuous item. A glowing blue Guardian relic crystal, mounted in a standing frame. It was connected to a computer terminal via adapter cables. She remembered using similar adapters to analyze the tech she unearthed at Guardian ruins in the Synuefe Sector.
“Here, let me unlock the computer for you.” Anri spoke softly. She tapped the holoscreen a few times. Then removed a data storage chip from the console, and handed it to Naomi. “I believe this is what you came here for.”
“Why are you helping me?” Naomi asked her. The Maid smiled, “What I want, what Caleb wanted, what Torben wants, and what Mr. No Name wants. The agendas don’t line up so neatly. At least, not in the ways you would expect. That's all I'm really prepared to say for now. You should go now. Return to the party. It’ll be easier if I’m the only one here when security arrives.”
Naomi collected her discarded shoes and began walking away, still barefoot. She turned around as she reached the door. “Wait, can you at least tell me how you managed to access a room that's coded to Salvation’s DNA?”
The Maid responded, “That is a question for another day. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Ms. Moon-Khan.”
The Maid sat herself down at Salvation’s desk. “Oh one more thing! When Mr. No Name finally manages to reestablish comms with you, please try not to tell him it was me that helped you. I’m not ready for the game to be over.”