War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (26 page)

Anlon stepped out in amazement, wordless at
everything laid out before him. He followed Moran to a matte black
glider bike resting in the middle of the room. It was similar to a
motorcycle, but sported a much more compact design with levitation
devices placed underneath it in place of wheels.

"This is what you'll use to get through the
prison security. It can cruise miles in the air, so you'll be able
to get on the roof without any problems. Gaea may be a great planet
to live on, but they still haven't caught up to the rest of the
Galaxy technology wise. There won't be anything to detect you
coming in from above," Moran informed him.

"What about all of the lights the prison has?
I'm sure even if I can get through security from above that I'll
still be seen landing."

"No problem. I have a little something for
that too," He walked over to a rack and pulled off a small oval
object. "This is a pulse jammer. It'll take care of your little
light problem."

"How does it work?" Anlon asked holding it in
his hand.

"Just stick it on the glider and when you
press this button," He said, pointing at a red button on the
glider's handle. "It'll activate the pulse jammer and the lights
will temporarily be disabled."

"Won't they kind of, you know, notice that
someone cut their lights out?"

"They're night guards," Moran rolled his
eyes. "Rent a cops. You really think they care if the lights go out
for a couple of seconds. It won't take long for you to land and
reactivate the lights. Most of them are probably in some room
asleep anyway, so it's not very likely they'll notice."

"Just saying," Anlon shrugged. "They may take
their jobs seriously."

"Don't worry about it," Moran assured. "If
they do notice it, they'll probably just shrug it off when the
lights come back on. It won't be worth calling in, maybe the second
time, but you'll be gone by then."

"Okay. So I've made it on the roof
undetected," Anlon played out. "Now how do I get past all of the
security keeping races out?"

"Well," Moran made his way over to a table.
"I know security to get in is pretty tight. Eye scanners, finger
scanners, and code-locks are all over the place, so I have
something for all of those. You'll wear these custom made eye
lenses and these custom made finger prints on your fingers," He
handed to Anlon.

"I'm guessing they do exactly what I think
they're going to do."

"Yes. They're going to get you in with ease.
I got Giustino's fingerprints and eye pattern when he visited me,"
Moran winked. "You should be able to get in just about anywhere in
the District prison with his level of clearance. I don't think
there's anywhere he doesn't have access too."

"How did you manage that?"

"He left fingerprints all over my apartment
when he came over and I had the robot downstairs scan his eyes when
he first came to see me," Moran said. "I can assure you that you
won't find anyone who can do a better job than I have with
these."

Anlon smiled. "Cool. I guess being in the
GSOU has some perks."

"But there's still more. I also have this for
you," Handing Anlon an object.

"A stick?" Anlon turned it over. "How is this
going to help me?"

"Not just any stick," Moran took it from him.
"A frequency corrupter. It'll force any code-locked doors to open.
Most anyway, I don't think the prison will have any locks that'll
resist this. Some code-locks are built to resist it, but I doubt
Hassental District prison put that much money into their security.
They forget that just because this is a peaceful planet doesn't
mean there aren't bad guys lurking around."

"How does it work?"

"Just point it at the pad," he demonstrated.
"Then press and hold this button. It'll trick the pad into opening
the door without setting of any alarms in the process."

"What about any cameras inside of the
prison?"

"You'll have to take care of those
immediately after landing on the roof," He picked up a small
circular container with a metal bug inside. "There should be a box
that controls all of the electricity up there. You want to locate
it, find the camera wire, and then put this little fellow on that
wire."

"So it eats through the wire and cuts of the
cameras?" Anlon asked. "Wouldn't it be just as easy to cut it?"

"Not exactly," Moran shook his head. "Once it
has the wire you want, it burns it instead of just cutting through
it. It'll make it look like a fire started inside instead of
someone intentionally cutting wires. May not seem like a big deal,
but it saves trouble later if you get caught in a bind."

Anlon grinned. "You thought of
everything."

"This is what I do for a living. If I don't
think of everything, I die," he replied. "I just have a few more
things for you and then you'll be ready to break into a
prison."

He led Anlon across the room and opened a
cabinet.

"That's for me?" Anlon stopped.

"Yes. Top of the line body suit. It'll fit
like skin and the black color will make you almost invisible in the
dark. If you need other colors, it can switch colors in a second to
match your surroundings. The suit will also keep your body cool
while replenishing your stamina and endurance. If you happen to
obtain small injuries, it'll also has capabilities heal them as
long as they're not severe."

"What about weapons?" Anlon pointed out.
"Won't I need some if I run into trouble?"
"I don't want to give you any because you're in a
prison
,
but I guess I'll give you something just in case you run into
anyone that wants to kill you."

"Well, what do I get?"

Moran pulled a pistol and knife from the
cabinet. "A concussion pistol and a combat knife. They'll strap
onto the belt on your suit."

"Is this everything?" Anlon took the weapons.
"This won't do much to help me."

"This is everything that you'll need in order
to get in and out of the prison successfully. This isn't a high
risk mission Anlon, it's actually pretty simple. You don't need
deadly weapons on you."

"Easy for you to say," Anlon started grabbing
his equipment. "How do I get the glider bike out of here?"

"I'll take care of that. I'll also put the
pulse jammer on the glider for you and the bug in one of the
pouches. Keep your weapons and the frequency corruptor on your
belt."

Anlon nodded and entered the elevator. He
didn't wait to start changing, immediately changing into the suit
on his way down the elevator. The knife, concussion pistol, and
frequency corruptor easily attached to the belt. The suit was
tighter than he thought it was going to be, but after a few seconds
he couldn't even feel it anymore.

When he exited the elevator, he dropped his
clothes by the door and went outside to see the glider already
waiting for him. He hopped on the bike and looked over all of the
controls before getting ready to leave. After pressing the button,
the bike roared to life and he sped off into the darkness.

As he neared the prison he readied his finger
on the pulse jammer and hit it once he was within fifty yards,
immediately cutting out the lights. He sped across the lawn, masked
in darkness, and landed the glider in a spot hidden from view
before deactivating the pulse jammer.

He got off of the glider and peered over the
edge of the roof to see every guard post abandoned. Immediately he
started searching the roof for the electricity box and found it
within several seconds placed in a corner. He walked over to it and
opened it to find all of the wires neatly arranged and labeled for
him. He opened the container with the small bug and put it on the
purple wire, amazed at how quickly it burned through the wires.

Anlon walked back over to the glider to put
the bug back and took out the eye lenses and fingerprints before
walking over to the security door. A laser came out and scanned his
eyes and he put his fingers on a pad next to the door. Several
seconds later a faint beep went off and the sound of locks moving
emerged from the door.

Anlon pulled it open and snuck down the
hallways, staying alert for any guards that might pop out from
around a corner, but didn't see any roaming the halls. The halls
were strangely deserted, allowing him to quickly make it to the
elevator that led to the database. He pulled the frequency
corruptor off of his belt and pointed it at the pad, holding the
button down, but nothing happened. He clenched his fists and
started to swear at himself, knowing this was one of the code-locks
Moran had said the prison wouldn't have. Anlon got off of the
elevator and tried to think of other possible ways that he could
get in, remembering the key that Giustino had used in front of him
to operate it. He rushed down the hallway and pulled out the
frequency corruptor when he reached Moran's office, pleased to see
that it worked. The door popped open and Anlon entered the office,
going straight for his desk. He snatched the key out of the top
drawer and went back to the elevator. After inserting the key, he
entered the code he had seen Giustino put in the last time they
went down: 030194.

The elevator lurched down and Anlon smiled to
himself and his cleverness. When he reached the bottom, the doors
slid open and he passed through the into the dimly lit database.
Slowly, he walked to the monitor in the middle of the room, making
sure not to trip on any of the giant wires trailing on the
floor.

"What are you doing down here Anlon?" A voice
emerged from behind him.

He swung his body around to see Camillus
standing behind him. "I. Uhhh."

"You shouldn't be here," Camillus moved
towards him. "How did you get down here?"

"Giustino said I could come down," Anlon
lied. "He sent me down here to get some more information on my case
because he was busy with some other stuff."

Camillus cocked his head. "This part of the
building is empty at this time of night. In fact, I believe the
entire building is empty right now. I'm not reading a significant
amount of life within the entire complex at this given time."

"Camillus," Anlon pleaded. "I just need to
use the computer to find someone."
"I'm sure you can do that with Giustino, unless you were keeping
things from him last time that you don't want him to know."
"I know Kanti has been down here to look for people!" Anlon tried
to make him feel guilty.

Camillus looked taken aback for a moment, but
quickly regained his composure. "That was different, she works
here. You don't. You broke into the prison in order to get down
here."

"You let her search for people down here
without Giustino's knowledge and you intentionally hid it from him.
This is no different, whether I work here or not."

Camillus was silent a moment. "If you tell me
why you are down here, I will let you carry out your business. I'll
never mention a word of this, or what you tell me, to anyone."

"I'm trying to find out exactly where the
races that killed my family went. I thought they went to Plouton at
first, but I know for a fact now that they haven't. I believe they
are still close by, but I need access to this database in order to
locate them," Anlon revealed. "Are you happy now? Can I look for
the races?"

"I presumed you were hiding information,"
Camillus seemed to grin. "Humans are so naive when it comes to some
things."

"What made you think that?"

"Giustino's reports show the lie detector
went off for one of the questions. That's all I needed to see to
know you knew a lot more than you revealed to the officers,"
Camillus told him. "Why keep information from them?"
"I was going to kill them in vengeance at first, but I'm not doing
that anymore."

"Did the Queen change that? She changed your
mind?"

"How do you know I went to see the
Queen?"

"I know a lot of things," Camillus smiled.
"And Giustino also puts a lot of things in his reports for me to
read. Without his knowledge of course."

"So you didn't tell anyone that you thought I
was lying?"

"That's not my job. They keep me down here
secluded from everything, so why should I help them?" He walked
over to the computer. "I'll help you find what you're looking for
though," He said over his shoulder while typing things into the
computer.

"You need the names," Anlon walked over.

Before he made it to the computer, all three
of the races had popped up on the giant screen. Their pictures were
displayed along with a little bit of personal information that was
available.

"How did you know who I was looking for?"

"I'm following your case very closely. I find
it most intriguing," He put a hand on Anlon's shoulder. "I
am
deeply sorry for your losses."

Anlon looked up at the screen. "Erebos?
They're on Erebos?"

Camillus nodded. "It seems their ship
Cerberus
has been seen there quite a bit over the past
couple of years. I have already done all the investigative work for
you and this is what I have come up with. They have been to Erebos
more than any other planet, which leads me to believe that
Donnchadh is doing more than just visiting."

"Where's Erebos exactly? I didn't pay
attention to moons much in school."

"It's one of Plouton's moons," He informed
him. "So you were close when you thought they were on Plouton. That
planet, and all of its moons are filled with criminals, so it's not
surprising that they're somewhere near Plouton."
"Can you find out where exactly on Erebos they are?"

"I'm afraid not," Camillus shook his head.
"Finding where they are will be a little bit harder. They haven't
been seen at the spaceport in some time, so I assume there is
someplace that they're hiding out. I've been trying my hardest to
pinpoint an exact location, but I can't find one."