“Um, right…” Senjen said with a bit of hesitation, having not the slightest clue what Dairmuid and Bodach were talking about. He decided instead to focus on what Major was saying, since he was a fair bit more comprehensible. He joined the group, not exactly able to sit, but nevertheless gripping onto the floor with his foot.

“Sure, I’ll let you know if there’s anything to talk about. Everyone’s still settling in for now, though, so I doubt there’s been time for anyone to get into trouble.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. Anyways...I guess I’d say I’m nervous. FGC has been light on the details so far, but I know a good part of this depends on me doing this infiltration and getting what we need. Have you gotten any details on what I’m going to need to do?” Senjen asked.

Major did not look impressed by this revelation. “That does not bode particularly well for your half of the operation. Luckily for you, I have done my research. Myrmidon were part of a consortium that invested in Veppecantel. The rest of them pulled out of the planet when the Holophage first appeared, or abandoned their people completely. But Myrmidon continued with a staff mostly made up of its synthetic range. It seems the only reason the blockade fleet allowed them to continue is because of the mineral they’re extracting. Its crucial for the manufacture of starship reactors or something similar. Anyway…they operate one line onto and off of the surface of Veppecantel, and that is directly below a geosync terminal in orbit above one of their cities. However, only ships with a registered Myrmidon ID transponder can make it through; the rest are destroyed en route. All the ships with an ID are automated and completely decontaminated, which stops the spread of infection. They’re all housed in this geosync terminal, so we need you to sneak aboard one, remove the transponder and bring it back so our illustrious pilot can set us down safely.”

“Or we do it the hard way, and try to bust our way through the blockade!” Bodach boomed.

“That’s suicide – they’ve got c-beams and have made orbiting rocks into homing missiles don’cha know it?” Diarmuid said jovially.

“To clarify, I do know that part.” Senjen replied. He was not sure if Bodach was serious about trying to blocade run by force, but for his own sanity, he was going to assume he wasn’t. In any case, he supposed it was encouraging that Major knew this much. It meant they were trusted enough that FGC kept them appraised before they set out.

“What I don’t have a lot of information on right now is the actual plan for acquiring that transponder.” Senjen clarified. “I know I need to steal it and why, but I’m not sure if FGC has any intel on this terminal so we can make a workable plan for me to sneak in. You know, the layout, where I need to go, that sort of thing. I have experience winging it, but all the same, I’d rather have a plan going in. If FGC doesn’t have anything, then I suppose we’re going to need to do the scouting ourselves.”

Major smirked, then looked at Diarmuid. “Show him.”

Beams of light burst from the forest green synth’s eyes, constructing a 2D holo map in the area in front of them. It showed an intricate plan of one floor of the terminal.



“I had an organic buddy who worked there about twenty years back. His memory implant made this for us. It could be inaccurate or out of date now, but it gives you an idea. The automated freighters dock on the ‘north’ side.”

Major pointed to the segregated section on the ‘west’ side of the diagram. “That part is open to hauliers, but there’s tight security between there and the operations side. Cameras and security droids checking passes and serial numbers. Only Myrmidon staff and contractors allowed, and no organics at the moment.”

Senjen did not say anything for a while, as he was clearly pouring over this map for any important details he could glean. It was a lot to take in at once, but he felt some immediate relief upon seeing it. They had some intel, at least, on his part of the job. It was coming from Major, so he still was not sure if FGC had just sent him off with nothing and hoped for the best, but now there was something he could sink his teeth into to prepare.

“Okay...okay.” Senjen mumbled to himself for a moment while he scanned the map. “Going through security checkpoints doesn’t seem like a great idea, unless we can find some way for me to steal or spoof a legitimate ID and serial number. This frame might be Myrmidon, but I imagine they have a database of machines that are meant to be on board. Do you think we’d have a better chance of finding a way to get through the security checkpoints from the public areas, or sneaking on through a different route? Maybe...I imagine the automated freighters use robot crews. If I could sneak on board one of those before it docks, then I wouldn’t have to deal with those security checkpoints.”

“It seems likely the freighters go straight from the planet’s surface to the terminal. If I were Myrmidon, I’d be closely watching them. They’re easy targets for pirates, and the fact they haven’t all been robbed suggests to me they’re well defended. Maybe your friend has thoughts in this regard?” Major mused.

Bodach pointed back towards the public area of the terminal. “There’s a market here, a boozer, repair shop…I’d be surprised if there wasn’t someone who could spoof a pass for you. Then maybe we make a bit of noise, cause a distraction; you'd slip right through without so much as a second look!”

“Or why don’t you just…you know…take a job there? These corporate frames all get first pick of the work, right?” Diarmuid interjected.

Senjen leaned back a bit, crossing his arms as he kept his eyes on the map. “You know, I actually considered the job angle when I first heard about all this. Problem is, that would put my information in their systems, and it would be harder to get away when I need to. I think that would make it a lot harder to get away clean. I do think that could work if we could spend a few months on this. Be real patient about it, and all that...but I don’t think that will work here.”

“I think…” Senjen interrupted himself briefly, considering the risks of the remaining options. “I think Bodach does have a point here. That plan could work, but we’d have to be real careful how we go about trying find someone to do it for us. That could risk exposing us. I still wish there was a way to get me onto one of the freighters, but if they go straight from the surface to the station, then I’d probably have to be on the surface to sneak onto one. I don’t suppose you can think of a way to get me, individually, down to the surface without a transponder?”

Major shook his head. “If there was a way to get people down to the surface individually. What use would we have for you?” He thought for a moment. “ITAISOL may disagree, but we might be get you close enough to EVA onto one of the freighters without triggering any anti-ship defenses. Then you could steal the transponder, jettisoning it along with yourself for us to pick up again.”

“That’s a tall order, boss. Our Senjen looks fast, but I bet he handles like a brick in a vacuum! No offense, lad. Its harder than it looks.” Bodach added.

“There’s a big difference between getting a single person, versus a whole ship and crew, down to a planet, but I get your meaning.” Senjen said.

The idea of EVA had occurred to Senjen, he had to look back at Bodach with a smirk. “Okay, on that one, I’m going to have to disagree. Utaysi are natural climbers, so we tend to think...three-dimensionally. It’s not all that much of an adjustment to get in the right mindset for moving around freely in 3D space. You should’ve seen what happened the first time I ended up on Korit. Zero-G gunfight, into a high-speed chase with armored cars...terrifying, but exciting.”

Bodach boomed with laughed and reached over to clap Senjen on the soldier. “Stick with us, lad. You’ll fit right in! One time, I had to throw Diarmuid here into the refuse compactor of a Tindrel breeding ship to find this giant tapeworm-like thing that’d eaten a three thousand carat diamond!”

“Its true. To this day I’m not sure how I came out with four Jub Jub eggs instead!” Diarmuid chuckled.

Major pursed his fake Human mouth in an expression of deep thought. “My concern is that we don’t know the interior of the ships, or what is on them. Myrmidon insist they are automated, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t automated defences inside as well. The advantage of stealing the transponder in the drydock is those defences will very likely be deactivated. Can’t have innocent decontamination droids getting junked every five minutes.”

“Look fellas, I’m not a fan of overcomplicating tings." Diarmuid said. "Why don’t we just take the terminal by force? We’ve got the full team here, plus our boy Senjen, whoever this lovely Chekeri is- “ He motioned to Ruk, who’d been hanging back in the doorway and observing. She blushed slightly. “-and a shotgun toting pilot. That ought to be more than enough to make somethin’ happen.”

“Uhh…” Senjen started, sounding obviously hesitant at that last suggestion. “You might be right that we can do it, but I don’t think we should. Myrmidon is no small enemy to make. The best plan is one that lets us get in and out without them being any the wiser, I’d say. And if we cause trouble in orbit, that might end up with us being hunted down on the planet while we’re trying to work. It would really probably be best to avoid having that kind of pressure on us.”

Not wanting to purely poke holes in their plans, Senjen made sure to make it clear which ideas he did like. Or at least which ones weren’t terrible. "Finding a way to sneak me through the security checkpoints from the public area seems like the best approach we have right now, if there’s no way to get me on one of those automated transports. If there is an opportunity to make it to one through EVA, I do think I can do it, but like you say, there could be internal defenses. Not unless I can just grab onto the outside somewhere and sneak on that way.”

Diarmuid and Bodach shared a smirk. The blue droid spoke up: “Fair enough. Suit yourself lad.”

Major stared into Senjen’s eyes, as if assessing his answers against some esoteric exam in his head. His expression gave little away, until eventually he nodded. “Very well, lets board the public side of the terminal and figure out a plan from there. We can watch some transports on their approach to see if an EVA is possible, but we can’t afford to lose you to some unnecessary gamble. It is imperative we get to the surface.”

“I’ll put some feelers out for people aboard who can spoof work clearance or something.” Diarmuid agreed.

“Agreed.” Senjen nodded. “I guess there’s no getting around the fact that we’re going to need to do some scouting on our own. Probably best to keep our options open and not fixate too much on one approach. I’ll trust that you know how to put out those feelers without too much risk of someone turning us in. At the very least, it’s good that this place has a public terminal, because that means we’ll be able to linger around for a while without it being suspicious.” He reasoned.

Senjen gave a glance back towards Ruknar. She had been pretty quiet through all of this, but he supposed she did not have much experience planning a heist. If he was being honest, neither did he, but he had some transferable skills from previous jobs. He had to believe he was not going to be out of his depth here. They were putting together a plan, at least, even if they couldn’t get everything situated before their arrival. There was going to have to be scouting, and probably some improvisation.

Senjen released his grip on the ground and let himself float back a bit closer to the door. “Glad to be able to brainstorm something of a plan, at least. I’ll make sure to share it with Light.”

Ruknar nodded cordially to the Humans as they exited their makeshift quarters. As he was far massier, she grabbed hold of Senjen as he floated out of the room to quickly keep up with him.

“The leader, Major, he’s not telling you something. I can tell in his body language. Even though the body is mechanical, the nervous system is probably imprinted from an organic specimen. It can't hide everything.”

---

Light found it difficult to remain level-headed during the first week in deep space. He was very used to having just himself, Senjen and maybe one other passenger on the ship during long journeys. But this time, there were no fewer than eleven passengers clogging up the halls and rooms of his home.

He coped by spending a lot of his time in the ship’s cockpit and his adjoining cubby hole. No one besides Senjen ever really bothered him there. There he could keep up with events back in Korit, water the half dozen small plants Senjen had discreetly hung up in pots, and plan what he was going to do with the spoils of this trip. If the Quadrarch was telling the truth, he could finally realise his dream of buying an actual QV shoalship. The trouble was that he had no shoal currently, nor had ever really bonded with other QV in that way. The other issue was that Senjen stood a real chance of falling out of the bottom of a shoalship without some strict programming and a few hardware updates.

On the occasions he did venture out to do his rounds of the ship, Light was always tempted to speak to Halo Of Pearlescent Eddies. He’d heard the others call her Hope, or Pearl, but to him the full name was magnificent. His colour-coded mind could paint a very clear picture of this female in his head, and from their he could imagine a connection and conversation well ahead of actually bumping into her.

Which is what actually happened about a week into the journey. Light turned left out of his cockpit to head to the engine room and slopped straight into Hope’s own gelsuit.

“Oh my, sorry!” He wailed. Hope flashed with bright amusement.
“It’s alright. I was beginning to think you were a ghost, so I’m glad you do in fact have a corporeal body!”
Light laughed in their own way, unconvincingly. He spied Omega laying against the wall on the far side of the rec room, purring contentedly.

“How is your stay aboard our humble ship? Are you comfortable?”

“Not very, but we have borne worse.” Hope replied frankly, making Light blush.

“Well, with luck we will be out of here in twelve or thirteen more cycles.”
“We don’t imagine the destination to be any more comfortable, but we’ll manage.”

There was an awkward silence, and then Light gasped gratefully as Senjen floated into view.

“Senjen! Can you think of anything we might do to make this area more comfortable?”