After slipping away from the laundry room with their stolen goods, the pair headed back to the Shizukana Kage, where Parri spent the rest of the day carefully preparing for the heist. Using her illegal administrator access, along with the powerful hacking programs she installed on the ship’s computer, she dug deep into the station’s network of surveillance systems. The flickering screen that caught her attention had become her playground, allowing her to view, record, and manipulate most camera feeds across the station. Beyond just visuals, her access enabled her to control doors and bypass locks with a few keystrokes.
She knew her job was to give Kai proper physical access and create a digital smoke screen to hide his tracks. As she worked, Kai floated behind her, watching the video feed of the main passageway. When he reached over her shoulder to change the camera angle, Parri quickly slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch. You’ll mess it up,” she warned, her voice stinging like the back of his hand.
Startled, he jerked his hand back. “Hey, don’t slap me. This is my ship.”
“True,” she quipped playfully, “but this is my station, my programs, and my access. In this little bubble, I’m the queen.”
Kai chuckled, clearly unfazed as he reached for the controls again. “You’re hardly a princess.” The moment his hand made contact with the miniature PTZ joystick, Parri snapped her teeth, mimicking a playful bite as she shoved his hand aside once more. “Okay, okay,” he surrendered. “Don’t sic the hounds on me. I just want to see where the guards went.”
“I can do better than that,” she declared with a flurry of keystrokes, pulling up an intricate overhead patrol map detailing the guards’ rotations, with each path brightly marked.
Impressed, Kai leaned in closer, his eyes widening. “Well, color me impressed.”
“Color you what?”
“Consider me, color me. They just sound similar,” he clarified.
“Oh…”
He nudged her arm. “Do you get it?”
“Yeah, that’s stupid.”
Kai’s grin widened. “Well, what you managed to pull up isn’t stupid. This will definitely come in handy tomorrow. Good job, short stack.”
“Short stack?” Parri repeated, her brow scrunching.
“You don’t like that nickname?”
“No,” she scoffed, “why would I want to be called that?”
“Okay, how about baby tits?” he crudely suggested.
Parri gasped in disbelief as she clutched her chest, shouting, “How about hell no!”
“Okay, ‘Hell no’ it is,” he said with a smile.
Her hand slapped her forehead at the sheer stupidity, the pop sound echoing in the small bridge. “No, you idiot! I don’t want a nickname at all.”
“Well, you’ll need a code name for our radio communication tomorrow,” he insisted, his tone suddenly serious. “Mine has always been Blazer.”
“Blazer? That’s a ridiculous nickname,” she spat, annoyed she couldn’t quickly think of an equally degrading name for him. “What does that even mean?”
“Like trailblazer. It’s the name they gave me in the Colonial Navy because I was a long-range scout, and it’s stuck ever since.”
“Well, I can tell you this much, my radio handle sure as shit isn’t going to be ‘baby tits.’” Her smoldering gaze drifted down to her chest, as self-doubt crept in. “Where the hell did you come up with that name anyway?”
“It was just a joke, a misnomer,” he explained. “I figured giving you the codename, fun bags, or ripe melons was a bit too on-the-nose.”
“Stop talking about my boobs!” she growled through clenched teeth, wildly jabbing at his stomach like a boxer’s speed bag.
Kai chuckled, stepping away from the assault and backing toward the bridge door. “Okay, okay, easy. I’m sorry. I’ll think of a fitting code name later.” Kai reached out and toggled the cockpit lights, plunging the space into shadow except for the soft, cool glow of the monitor. “Until then, you should get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow.”
“Sonar,” she suddenly blurted out. “I want my nickname to be Sonar.”
“That’s not how it works,” Kai said as he opened the door. “Nicknames are given. You can’t just pick one.”
“That’s not fair,” she protested, her eyes squinting at the harsh light from the hallway, blurring his silhouette.
“I don’t make the rules,” he said calmly, stepping off the bridge and vanishing down the passageway.
She warned, “You better not give me some stupid nickname.”
“Good night, Parri,” he called out, his voice bouncing off the walls.
The bridge door slid shut with a soft hiss, leaving her alone in the steady hum of the ship. Raising her voice, she shouted at the ceiling, “I’m serious, Kai.” After a moment of silence, she sighed and powered down the monitor. Locking her boots to the floor, she left the bridge and trudged through the halls to her closet-sized stateroom for the night.
Kai pulled back the sleeve of his coveralls, revealing the integrated display on the forearm of his nanosuit. The numbers 21:57 glowed in bright, deep orange on the slim, rectangular screen. Returning his focus to the magazine he had left floating nearby, he plucked it from the air and placed the red toolbox he carried in his other hand against the steel wall. A satisfying metallic clink echoed in the silence as he pressed a small button on the side of the toolbox, magnetically securing it to the surface.
The walls of the break room, once a pristine white, had succumbed to the inevitability of time, now stained a muted tan with a patchwork of grease stains and scuff marks. Kai slipped his foot through the strap in front of the bulky coffee machine. When he shifted ever so slightly to straighten himself, the strap suddenly snapped with a pop, causing him to spin gently in place. He let out an exasperated sigh as he watched the glowing blue words ‘Hot and Happy Coffee’ on the machine slowly turn upside down.
Shrugging off the inconvenience, he reached out and selected ‘regular coffee’ on the display, adding multiple taps of the sugar option. The machine groaned in response, emitting a series of hisses and squeals. A moment later, the front compartment slid open, revealing a small cradle containing an insulated coffee pouch that looked like a tiny brown pillow. He carefully took the pouch and brought it to his lips, sipping the rich, dark liquid through the built-in straw. As he gingerly rotated in the room like a pinwheel, waiting for Parri’s signal to initiate the mission, he maintained his ruse by feigning interest in the magazine.
By the time Kai was upside down again, he saw the interior door of the break room slide open, and a man dressed in dusty coveralls floated in. His brown hair was a mess, and a burly beard framed his olive-skinned face, both smudged with grease and sweat from a long day’s work. The man’s expression shifted from confusion to amused understanding as he pieced together Kai’s slow spin with the broken strap trailing from his foot. With a faint chuckle, the man pushed off the door frame, propelling himself toward the kitchenette. Catching himself against the edge of the counter, he pulled open the door to a small refrigerator set into the wall.
“About quittin’ time,” the man grunted, rummaging through the chilled, unlabeled containers to retrieve his dented lunch box, “and I tell you, it didn’t come soon enough.”
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“Working hard or hardly working?” Kai teased, his attempt at small talk falling flat.
The man scoffed at the bad joke. “Well, it’s been rough in the pit today. Bilge number six took a crap, and now the cooler’s completely shot because of it.” He cast a sideways glance at Kai, who had resumed his fake interest in the well-worn magazine. “Hey, Max mentioned a new guy was transferring from Griffinon. Are you him?”
Without bothering to lift his gaze, Kai replied smoothly, “Yeah, that’s me,” crafting his response like a seasoned actor.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” the man replied, closing the refrigerator with a decisive thud.
As the employee pushed away from the kitchenette, Kai quickly rehearsed a cover story in his mind, preparing to engage in shoptalk. Luckily, the man’s path veered toward the exit that led deeper into the station’s interior.
“Sorry, I can’t chat right now,” the man explained, glancing over his shoulder as the door hissed open. “I’ve got a hot date in about an hour. Can we talk more properly tomorrow?” His eyebrows raised slightly, a blend of apology and urgency coloring his tone.
“Oh, by all means,” Kai said, shifting his attention back to the man with a polite smile. “Get to your date. Don’t let me hold you up.”
The man offered Kai a thankful nod before slipping through the threshold. The door closed softly with a swoosh, leaving Kai alone in the break room, the smell of machine oil and metal lingering from the man’s presence. Seconds later, a burst of static crackled in Kai’s hidden earpiece, followed by Parri’s tentative voice, saying, “…king audio, one, two. Three, two, one. The toad named Terry tied Tammy the troll up for having too many toes. Checking audio, one, two. Three, two, one.” She continued her technical test, accompanied by the occasional sound of blowing and possibly spitting into the microphone.
Kai rolled his eyes at the magazine and let his coffee pouch float freely as he reached for the hidden paper-thin microphone nestled against his throat. “I copy. Read you five by five,” he answered, catching the coffee pouch before it escaped.
“Check, check, check,” the radio responded, accompanied by more spitting and blowing.
With an exaggerated long sigh, Kai repeated, “I read you.”
“Wait. Kai? Is that you?”
Wincing at the sound of his name over comms, he reached out to the coffee machine, halting his rotation. “This is Blazer,” he firmly whispered. “Do you copy? I repeat, this is Blazer. I read you five by five. How me?”
“Crap,” the radio squelched, “I’m so sorry, K—” she nearly repeated his name, “I mean Blazer. I thought I was just on the ship intercom. I didn’t realize the radio was broadcasting.” Her tone shifted to a speedy cadence, a nervous stream of words as she explained, “I was trying to test the headphones. I’ve noticed it goes in and out sometimes, like a wobbly fading noise that sounds like, wah, wah, wah, wah. Other times, my voice echoes, and I can hear myself. It’s impossible to talk when my own voice keeps interrupting me. I’ve tried adjusting the squelch and delta tune, but that just makes it buzz all the time.”
“Sonar,” Kai interjected, regaining control of the conversation.
“Huh?”
“Keep the chatter down. Keep the line clear. Use short and precise communications. Do you copy?” He enunciated clearly, using quick statements to emphasize what he meant.
“Sorry, Commander, uh…. Blazer. I got it, short and snippy.”
With a hint of exhaustion creeping in, he asked, “How is it looking? Are you in?”
“Oh, um.” There was a lull in the transmission as she collected her thoughts, the silence heavy with static while she kept the mic open. “The privileges were a bit wonky at first, but after I granted myself network administrator access instead of local system admin, I was able to—”
Kai stepped over her transmission. “Sonar. Short and precise,” he insisted.
“Right. Um, I… Yes, I’m in.”
“Good. At the next shift change, I’ll blend in with the crowd.” Kai quickly rechecked the time under his sleeve, the display reading 22:02. “Are you ready? It’s go time.”
The door leading to the station hallway slid open, and three workers in matching brown coveralls glided effortlessly into the room, closely followed by another walking upright, his mag-boots clinking rhythmically against the metal floor. They paid little attention to Kai as their conversation spilled into the break room, filling the atmosphere with muttering white noise. Kai watched them store their lunches in the overstuffed refrigerator while he reached for the red toolbox attached to the wall and deactivated its magnetic seal to pull it free.
Moments later, the outgoing shift entered from the opposite door, their bodies soaked in a sharp smell of static electricity combined with burnt metal. Kai took a deep gulp of his coffee to finish it before pushing it through the slot in the wall labeled ‘incinerator trash.’ Tossing the magazine aside, with a flick of his wrist, he navigated through the weightless crowd of bodies. Kai deliberately oriented himself upside down, a clever tactic to reduce the chances of anyone starting a conversation with him, as he waved through the sea of legs. When he reached the door leading to the hangars, Parri’s voice crackled quietly in his ear, announcing, “Okay, I’m ready.”
Timing his move, he joined the upcoming shift, blending in with the crowd as they departed the break room and entered the maze of passages leading to various landing bays. As the small group rounded the corner, nine other workers joined the pack, their voices adding to the ongoing eclectic conversations. With the crowd nearing the junction that led to the restricted bays, Kai nonchalantly made his way to the back of the mob.
Kai lowered his voice, careful to maintain a casual demeanor, “Do you have eyes on the junction?”
“Yes, I have visual,” Parri replied. “The hallway is empty. I don’t see any security personnel wandering around. You’re good to go.”
“Copy that.” With a subtle gesture, Kai brushed his fingers against the metal wall, initiating a gentle spin until he rotated upright. Upon reaching the junction, he grabbed the handrail and pivoted smoothly around the corner as the crowd continued onward, oblivious to his separation.
At the end of the hall, a massive bulkhead door blocked his way forward. “Sonar, door, please,” he uttered. A heartbeat later, the large door rumbled open, sliding upward as Kai floated through the threshold unopposed. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched the barrier roll back into place, asking, “How did it look?”
“Perfect,” Parri replied, a hint of pride in her tone. “My software will blend that seamlessly with the footage from yesterday. As far as the camera is concerned, you vanished into the crowd. I also erased the data log for the bulkhead door. There’s no record of it ever opening. It would take high-tech equipment and someone with serious skills to detect the edits I made. You’re golden.”
“Short and precise,” Kai reiterated, his voice softening to add, “but good work, Sonar.”
He glided effortlessly down the corridor, the soft vibration of the station’s systems a constant hum in his ears. Two airlock doors populated the hallway, each leading to a landing bay. Kai drifted toward the first door on the left, his gaze drawn to the illuminated screen on the control panel, which bore the warning: ‘No Access: Pressurized’ in glowing yellow letters. Peering through the round window built into the hatch, his eyes strained to pierce the dark interior. Secured to the deck, he spotted the faint outline of barrel-shaped cargo canisters, consoles, and crates. The vast space resembled a storage area, cluttered with forgotten equipment, eagerly waiting to be used.
Pushing off the wall, he glided further down the hall to the airlock of the second bay. Instead of grabbing the railing lining the corridor to stop his momentum, he double-tapped the heels of his mag-boots together. Slowly, he was pulled toward the deck, his feet making a muffled clank when they connected to the floor. With little effort, he shifted smoothly into a confident stride, walking across the grated surface to the airlock door.
“Looking good,” Parri’s voice crackled through the comms. “This bay appears to be empty, no personnel in sight, and I’ve got all the cameras running on a loop.”
Kai stood at the threshold of the airlock, his eyes drawn further down the hallway to a solid black dome protruding from the ceiling — the unmistakable sight of a security camera. He nodded knowingly at the camera, aware that his young partner was closely watching him like a guardian angel with digital eyes. Though he was alone and risking his life to infiltrate the station, having her voice in his ear and her presence throughout the station’s network felt reassuring. He also appreciated finally receiving concise reports from her.
Turning his attention back to the access panel on the door, he noticed the bold red lettering that read ‘Authorized Access Only: Pressurized.’ He glanced at the watchful camera again, giving it a thumbs-up, and nodded toward the door.
“Oh, sorry,” Parri’s voice chirped in his ear as she playfully sang, “Open sesame.”
Kai looked back at the panel to see it flicker a few times before the screen went blank, followed by the unmistakable sound of a mechanical click. Kai pulled the physical release lever, and the airlock door hissed open, releasing a puff of cool, recycled air. He stepped inside the chamber, moving cautiously toward the inner door. To his left, neatly arranged along the wall, were several stark white nanosuits and accompanying mag-boots, each stored behind glass. The sight of the flight suits made him hesitate, his mind forming a disturbing thought that the pressurized atmosphere in the hangar bay might have been compromised when Parri cut the power to the airlock. His eyes darted to the viewport of the inner door as he reached under the sleeve of his bulky coveralls, massaging the dark gray nanosuit he wore underneath. Should the hangar bay experience a sudden decompression, the nanosuit helmet would deploy instantly from the collar, giving him seven precious minutes of oxygen to locate a safe environment.
His attention shifted to the inner airlock’s status display, the reassuring green light indicating that the bay was fully pressurized. As he tapped the controls to seal the chamber, the door behind him sealed with a firm thud, and the inner airlock door snapped open with a smooth hiss.
Stepping into the landing bay, the click of his boots echoed like distant taps, a stark reminder of the vastness ahead. His eyes immediately fixed on the Athena-class vessel on the landing pad, a gleaming white eyesore that made his lip curl in a snarl. He had spent a lifetime dogfighting the Ursaen Legion and their sleek, white ships, longing for the day he could leave those times behind. Yet, here he was, staring at another one, feeling the same mix of nostalgia and dread.
Question for the Comments: Kai (aka Blazer) wants "short and precise" comms, but Parri (aka Sonar) clearly prefers the "toad named Terry" method of audio testing. Who would you rather have in your ear during a heist: the veteran who stays silent, or the hacker who keeps things interesting?
I am updating every single day until we reach the finale of this 13-chapter story. Hit Follow to see if Kai's "Blazer" persona holds up when he comes face-to-face with the prototype
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Who had the more impressive performance in this chapter?
