On Galaxy's Edge: Ascendance (29 page)

They obliged, and in short order the hover-boards were empty of their cargo.

Adira spoke as Hena went to fetch their payment. “If this planet is so tightly controlled by the CSG,” she said, “then why do you need to obtain medications in this manner? If you don’t mind my asking.”

Hena returned with a small package, and offered it to Trix. “Why? The answer is in your question I’m afraid. The CSG control things so tightly here, they can’t allow an excess of medicine to corrupt their perfect system.”

“Corrupt it?” Adira asked, as Trix opened the package to flick through the stack of bonds.

Hena gave Adira a questioning look, not understanding how she didn’t know how things worked. “The CSG actively limits basic supplies. Surely you know that?” Adira shook her head, and Nero glanced around to see the others, except Trix and Reese, looking equally confused.

Hena continued. “Gosh, how out of the loop are you guys? The CSG, they run the whole galaxy, yes?” That was a rhetorical question, Nero assumed. “Well, they don’t do that just by being friendly and giving people whatever they want. They do it by exerting control over everyone.” She paused, as if to think how to explain it. “It you had plenty of food, medicine, water, heating, that sort of thing, you’re going to be pretty happy and content. Maybe a bit too content, and you might start questioning why the CSG - that often provides no obvious benefit - needs to take so much of your money. And why they should control your planet, when they’re far away in the centre of the galaxy.”

“Which would be a fair point,” Ando said.

“It would,” Hena agreed. “But the CSG doesn’t want people thinking that. After all, as powerful as they are, they can’t put down a full scale rebellion. So what do they do? They limit the basic amenities, the things necessary for life, so that people are so preoccupied with finding food, that sort of thing, that they don’t think about questioning their overlords.” Hena paused again. “It’s quite a clever strategy, really. They have the whole galaxy in line this way.”

“So the shortages of food, medicine...?” Adira asked.

“They’re all manufactured by the CSG. There’s plenty to go around, or at least plenty of production capacity on the planets they control. They just limit it, and control the distribution.” Hena shrugged. “Smart, as I say. Hence why we need these medications. We have too many patients, and too few drugs to treat them with.”

Nero was silent as he absorbed this information. How many had starved, or sickened, just so the CSG could stay in power? Might his mother still be alive, if her murderer had had enough food? The CSG had been the bane of his life, from the start, he realised.

Hena watched them, interested in their reaction. “You know,” she said, “the CSG’s regional headquarters is in this city. They organise the distribution of food, medicine, weapons even, to this whole quadrant, from right here. It’s relatively well known, among certain circles, that the CSG have huge stores under their base. Obviously, highly fortified, and virtually impossible to get into, but...” It wasn’t necessary for her to finish her sentence.

“But if someone were to break in,” Nero supplied, “it could be rather... lucrative.”

“Quite,” Hena said. “And of course, I and my colleagues would be willing to pay for any drugs said person might find. Should they get in, and out again.”

Nero exchanged a glance with Trix, and saw the intrigued expression on her face. He also saw the same anger reflected in her eyes that he felt himself, at the CSG’s deception. He glanced quickly at the others, and was relieved to see determination there.

“Well,” Trix said, “we’d better take these h-boards back to our ship, for now. But we appreciate the information Hena. Perhaps we’ll be back in contact in the future.”

“I shall look forward to that,” Hena replied, and led them to the door of the surgery. It slid shut behind them, and the crew of the Fafnir made their way back to the berthed ship.

****

“So we’re agreed, then?” Reese asked, looking around at the others. They were sat around the dinner table, in the ship’s kitchen, all much more serious than normal.

“How could we not?” Ando asked. “There’s money, and we get to stick it to the CSG. Win-win, really.”

“Win-win, except for the possibility of losing,” Trix interjected. “How are we going to break in without taking any casualties?”

Nero nodded, thinking back to when he’d orchestrated infiltrations. Scrapers were relatively easy, he reflected, with very little active security. They purely relied on passive defence, like thick glass, and inaccessibility. Same went for the CSG cruiser he’d taken down. That had a small security detail on board, but no active defences, no external weapons systems. This CSG headquarters would almost certainly be very heavily defended.

“I’m sure it’s possible,” Nero said. “We just need to use our strengths.”

“Strengths?” Trix asked.

“Yeah.” Nero raised his hands, and began counting off as he spoke. “We’re a small group, so we’re fast. We have the element of surprise. We have a technical expert.” He glanced at Reese. “And we have me,” he finished with a menacing smile.

Trix paused to consider how those elements could be used, before giving up. “So what you’re saying is...?” she prompted.

He smiled. “What I’m saying is, we can sneak into the base. They’re going to be focused on concerted break-in efforts, not small scale infiltrations through the front door.”

“But we already saw the place, Nero” Kess said. She, Ando and Trix had gone on a short recce before they’d convened in the kitchen. “They have a massive perimeter fence. How would we even get past the checkpoint to sneak in the entrance?”

“The perimeter is heavily monitored, I presume?” Nero asked. Kess nodded. “Perfect,” he said, getting a confused look from the others. “They’ll have lots of sensors monitoring movement outside, damage to the fence, that sort of thing, so if we get loads of those going off repeatedly...” he looked at Reese.

“... then they won’t pay any attention to us when we break in. They’ll just think it’s another false alarm,” Reese finished.

“Precisely,” Nero said.

“And then we just walk in through the main door?” Kess asked.

“Their security is all focused on the perimeter, and the security checkpoint there. Once we’re inside the perimeter, then they’ll just assume we’re meant to be there.”

“And once we’re inside...?” Trix asked.

“Reese or me should be able to hack into their systems. Find out where the stores are, and once we have them, well, we just walk out.”

Adira gave Nero a cynical look. “Walk out? As simple as that?”

“Why not?” Nero asked. “They’re focused on stopping unwanted people getting in. There’s too many people inside to monitor everyone on the way out too. As I said, if we’re inside the perimeter, then we’re meant to be there.” He shrugged.

“Alright,” Trix said at last. “Let’s do this. Space is dark, after all.”

“... and we’re alone in the darkness,” the others responded quietly.

****

The street opened up, widening until it reached the large flat building at the end. From this distance, not many details were visible, but the hulking building had a purposeful, sterile presence. There was no colourful lighting or advertising on its walls, and visible in front of it was a large metal fence. It wasn’t the sort of place you would choose to go for pleasure, that much was clear.

Nero, Trix and the rest of the Fafnir’s crew walked down the street, the late evening sunlight making them perspire as they strolled along. They chatted casually, in an effort to reduce the tension, and to make their little group less obvious, but they were apprehensive all the same. They frequently glanced at the building looming ahead of them, and Nero became aware of just how tall the fence was that surrounded the place. Maybe ten metres tall, there was sinister laser wire on the top to prevent people from climbing over, and on the far side was barren ground stretching at least a hundred metres to the building itself.

“So that’s not intimidating, then,” Ando said as they walked closer, pretending to be interested in the shops, and not the government building.

At the end of the street they were on was a crossroads, joining onto a circular street that entirely surrounded the CSG property. They stepped onto this road, and a quick glance to the left revealed what could only be described as a bunker set just behind the fence. It looked like it could withstand a huge attack, and just in front of it, there was a group of perhaps twenty security guards. All were armed with powerful laser rifles, and wore body armour on their chests, and they were stood in front of and behind the closed gates.

Before Nero looked away, he noticed a man, dressed smartly, being searched by the guards. Another glance a moment later revealed the gates being swung open to admit the man, and then they were closed again, the guards returning to their former positions, again standing completely still. Nero looked away again, and caught up with the others, who had already started making their way around the perimeter road, away from the security checkpoint.

“Thinking about going through the checkpoint, Nero?” Kess asked as he caught up.

“No, it looked a bit easy. I want a challenge.”

“Of course you do. Well, I think we’re all going to get one.”

They carried on round the perimeter, encircling the massive building, and noticing a couple of guard patrols inside the compound as they did so. Eventually, they reached the side of the building, and paused, finding an area that didn’t have any shops looking over them.

“Okay, here will do,” Trix said, looking around and not seeing anybody else.

Reese stepped forward, and moved to stand next to the fence. He looked it over, using the last of the disappearing sunlight to investigate the fence’s security systems.

“How’s it looking, Reese?” Trix asked after a moment.

He moved over to a slim metal box mounted on the rear of one of the thick metal posts. “Well, if I cut any of the wires, the alarm will obviously go off. Likewise, if there is too much movement in the fence, say from someone climbing it, I think the alarm would go off as well. And naturally, the guards will come running straight here...” He broke off as he pushed a laser tool through the wires, and began to lever away the panel of the metal box. “But this looks like a relay station,” he continued, grunting with the effort. “So if I can get in here...”

With a satisfied grunt, he managed to use the tool to melt the lock, and lever open the case. He then switched tools, this time pushing a tiny robotic arm with a camera on the end through. He lined this up to see in the box, took a quick look at the collection of wires, and then manipulated the arm to cross some of the wires.

“There we go,” he said. They heard a very faint alarm begin to sound, and Reese closed the metal box.

“They’re not coming here, are they?” Kess asked, sharply.

Reese smiled. “Probably not. I think I’ve made it seem like wires are being cut everywhere around the base. They probably think they’re under full-scale attack, or something. But let’s just wait and see.”

They retreated into the deep shadows of the building on the other side of the street, and watched for a time. The sun had gone down completely now, plunging the city into near darkness, but they could make out guards rushing around near the front of the building, illuminated by the spotlights centered on the checkpoint.

The activity lasted for a few minutes, but when the guards realised there was no threat, they retreated back to the checkpoint bunker. A moment later the alarm stopped sounding.

Trix made them wait another few minutes before trying it again. “Let’s get them used to it,” she said. “Reese, set the alarms off again, would you?”

“Sure thing,” he said, and stepping forward, he used his tool to push open the metal box again. Uncrossing the wires he had shorted, he then reconnected them, and they heard the faint sounds of an alarm again. They looked towards the entrance, and saw a few guards running out, but the activity wasn’t nearly so much this time. After a minute, the alarm stopped again, and the guards went back to their posts. Trix smiled.

“Okay, one more time Reese, but this time, the rest of you start cutting those wires as soon as the alarm sounds. If we’re still cutting when they reset that alarm, that'll leave just the sensors in this area firing.”

“And that will be bad news for us,” Ando finished for her.

“Quite,” she said. “Okay Reese.”

As soon as the alarms began to sound, they used their laser cutters to slice through the thick metal wires, red light spilling out from the cut ends where they sliced through the embedded optical sensors. They moved as fast as they could, but it took a painfully long time to get all the way through the thick wires. Nero’s heart was beating hard, but seconds before the alarm was reset, they finished making their hole.

“Shit, that was close,” he said, standing back up. He pulled the circular piece of fence out, to reveal the large hole they’d made. He stepped through, the others following close behind. Before they left, though, Reese bent down to the metal box and re-shorted the wires, setting the alarm off again.

“Keep them thinking it’s a fault,” he explained.

With a look around, and seeing no patrols, they ran across the large stretch of barren ground until they reached the plain walls of the building. They paused, Nero fine, but the others catching their breath from sprinting the hundred metres.

Taking the lead, Nero started walking beside the building, keeping close to the windowless wall, until he reached the corner. The others were right behind, and moving quietly, despite the fact that they were completely alone.

He looked around the corner slowly, and then continued on round the building, now walking along the front. Again, there were no windows in the building, and the thirty metre wall towering above them was completely featureless. It made them feel very exposed, particularly with the gathering of security guards at the checkpoint not far ahead now.

“Bloody hell,” Ando said as they walked along. “Is that large group of security guards not a worry?”