I am pleased to present part 2 of my new short story:
Copyright © 2017 by Gerold F. Eberl III
For those who prefer a PDF version, it can be downloaded here:
Click here to read Part 1
Clark met Lane in the infirmary and dismissed the two security guards with her, “Ms. Lane, I’m Dr. Clark, we’ve met before, briefly.”
“I remember.” Lane acknowledged.
“Good.” Familiarity would make her more relaxed. Clark handed her the documentation from the meeting, “Right now, I am not acting as an employee of the company; I am your doctor, no more no less, anything you say, anything I learn; I will keep in the strictest confidence unless you give me permission to share it. Do you understand?” Lane nodded, “Alright, I’ve been apprised of the situation, and I have reason to believe your mind may have been tampered with. You don’t seem surprised?”
Lane shrugged, “It would certainly explain a lot.”
“Well, we may be able to confirm that as well as prove your innocence.” Clark told her.
“A neural scan.” Lane knew what she was talking about, “I requested one days ago, they told me they couldn’t give me one while I was in their custody, too many legal problems.”
“Apparently they changed their minds.” Clark informed her, “To be honest, they want the data back; they figure if you did it the scan will tell them how to recover it and if you didn’t, they still have a spy to find.”
Lane was concerned, she had already been set up once, “And if it does say I did it, what then, you’d give it to them?”
“No.” Clark answered, “Say the word, and it’s deleted.”
As apprehensive as she was, Lane didn’t have much of a choice, she was already being set up, this might prove she didn’t do it, and maybe even tell her who had done this, “Fine, let’s just get this done.”
Clark led her to the room they used for the procedure, the room was dominated by the scanning device and the bed that extended from it, “I’ll assume you’ve never had a scan like this before.” Lane shook her head, she was clearly frightened, “It’s painless, and for you fairly simple. You just need to lie down and try not to move too much; you don’t have to be still, just keep your head in this area. The whole scan shouldn’t take more than an hour, at most.”
To describe the device as intimidating was an understatement; Lane tried to be calm as Clark worked the device controls. Two panels extended from the device on either side of her head as the scanner came to life and a display appeared over her face. Clark walked over, “This will provide some entertainment, music, holos, whatever, just tell it what you want; it won’t affect the scan. But I’d recommend something relaxing, it makes things go a little faster. I’ll be in the next room, call if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
* * *
Ramsay spent an hour considering how to carry out his plan before heading to the infirmary. The two guards flanking the doors acknowledged him as he entered and made his way to Clark who he saw seated in her office, “Well, anything yet.”
“Scan’s not done.” She replied as she stood up and walked toward the scanner room, “Few more minutes, and then I’ll have to take a look at the results. Even if it was done I couldn’t tell you anything, not without her permission.”
Apparently he was a little too early, but he was beyond curious to know what she found; undeterred he found a chair and sat down, “I’ll wait.”
A full twenty minutes passed before Clark and Lane emerged from the room, prompting Ramsay to eagerly stand up, “Well?”
Clark glanced to Lane who nodded, “She doesn’t know anything about any stolen data, let alone where to find it, and there are no signs of altered or erased memories. As far as the VR device, she does remember using it during that time; however, there were some anomalies. Nothing to indicate the memories were fake, just a few things that I would call odd, especially since I can’t find a reason for them.”
“So that could have been caused by someone tampering with the device?” He speculated.
“Probably.” She half agreed, “But to know with absolute certainty I’d need to examine the device and whatever program was running.”
“I’ll see what I can do about that.” It was possible the chip with the program no longer existed, but Ramsay suspected that such a valuable tool would be kept intact.
“Now you know I didn’t do anything; can I go now?” Lane moved to leave as she spoke; it was more of a statement than a question.
Ramsay gestured for her to stop, “Ms. Lane, I apologize for the situation, however, I could still use your help.” She frowned but didn’t say anything so he continued, “Whoever did this, went through a lot of trouble to make us believe it was you, and if you’re willing, I’d like them to continue thinking that you’re our suspect. At least for a little while.”
“You want to put me back in that cell, why don’t you lock up the son of a bitch who did this to me!” The indignation in her voice was more than justified.
There was little choice for Ramsay, he would need her help, the problem would be convincing her, “The unfortunate truth is, we don’t have any hard evidence, we can’t even say for certain Langston was responsible, which means if we go after him now, he walks. You want him locked up for what he did, I want the data he stole, and the only way that happens is if we catch him in the act.”
A part of her wanted to just run away, but she couldn’t let him get away with what he did, he played her like a fool for months, “What do you want me to do?”
“Play the part of our suspect for another thirty six hours.” It was a request Ramsay hated to make, but he was out of options.
“This better work.” She begrudgingly agreed.
Ramsay turned to Clark, though silent her reservations were apparent, “Meet me in Meisner’s office in thirty minutes. And don’t tell anyone about this.”
She sighed, “Fine.”
“Remember, this needs to be convincing.” Ramsay told Lane as he led her out of the infirmary, “Although if you just stay silent and angry it should work.”
“That I can do.” It wouldn’t be much of an act as far as she was concerned.
The two guards met Ramsay as the doors to the infirmary closed behind him, “Take her back to holding.”
As they led her away Ramsay heard footsteps, he turned to see Reed approaching, “So she did it.” Reed assumed.
Though her presence was unexpected, it could work out, “I don’t remember mentioning anything about this to you.”
“Please.” Reed scoffed as she walked toward the lift with him, “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that she was in there for a neural scan, so what did it say?”
“Don’t know. She wouldn’t let us see it.” Ramsay made sure to sound frustrated.
That feeling was something Reed could relate to, “That’s disappointing. Sure we couldn’t find out somehow?”
“As much as I hate to agree with Hendricks about anything, he’s right in pointing out that if we look at it she’ll get away with everything.” It was Ramsay’s best attempt at a convincing narrative, “The whole case against her could get tossed, and then we could be the ones facing charges.”
“So what about the data?” It was hard for Reed to believe that everything, their careers even, hinged on some legal impediments.
“I’m going to meet with the Director, we’ll have to figure something out.” He replied with a shake of his head.
The lift stopped at the security offices and they both stepped out, Reed had to get back to her duties, which seemed more pointless with every passing minute, “Well you better come up with something, because we are accomplishing nothing.”
He sympathized with her, but he couldn’t tell her what he had planned, the fewer people involved the better. In addition to himself he needed the cooperation of Meisner, Clark, Lane, and with some reservations, probably Lobek. According to the computer, she was finishing a meal in a lounge near the security offices.
The doors to the lounge parted, prompting a smile from Lobek when she saw who walked in, “I knew you couldn’t stay away.”
Once again her inappropriate leer caught Ramsay off guard, “You really don’t quit, do you?”
“No.” She casually replied, as her look shifted to disappointment, “You know what your problem is, don’t you? You let everything get to you, it makes you stressed.”
“Forgive me for caring that my job, no, my entire career is on the line. I’m sorry, I take that seriously.” He retorted sarcastically.
“Not what I meant.” She replied, almost sounding apologetic, “I take my job seriously as well, and if I might say so, I do it very well; but I don’t get stressed about it, for two reasons. First, I believe I should have fun doing my job.” She drew a little closer to him with a lascivious smile, “And second, I am a very firm believer that work should end where leisure begins.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He replied, unsure if this was just her normal teasing or if there was something more to it, “But right now I need your help with something.”
“And back to business.” She sighed, “So what is it this time.”
“You’re our top expert on A.I. systems, and that includes security. Finch is good, but let’s face it you’re better.” He was reluctant to give too many details right now, “I have a meeting with Meisner in a few minutes, and I think your expertise may be useful.”
“Cryptic.” She mused, “But interesting; let’s go.” She quickly led the way out of the room; Ramsay continued to be astonished by how she could go from excessively flirtatious to completely serious in a matter of seconds.
To Ramsay’s surprise he found Dr. Clark waiting outside of Meisner’s office with a frown on her face; forcing him to wonder why she wasn’t inside, “Problem?”
“You’ll see.” Clark sighed.
The door to the office was locked, but the administrative A.I. appeared next to it, “Please wait while I inform the Director that you are here.” After a brief wait the doors opened, “You may enter.”
The reason for the frown on Clark’s face became immediately apparent, “What the hell is he doing here?” Ramsay almost shouted as he saw Hendricks seated across from Meisner.
It was abundantly clear that Meisner was unhappy with the situation as well, “I had to read him in to the situation.”
An arrogant smirk on Hendricks face conveyed how he felt, “Yes, in a situation like this, the company’s legal interests have to be represented by…”
“Shut up. I really don’t care.” Ramsay snapped, silencing Hendricks. Turning to Meisner, Ramsay continued, “Fine he’s been read in, now he can go.”
“I’ll be involved in any further decision making from now on.” Hendricks interjected.
“I told you to shut it.” Ramsay angrily retorted.
Hendricks wasn’t going to put up with Ramsay’s insolence, “I suggest you remember who you’re speaking to, or perhaps I should…”
“Enough, both of you!” If Meisner didn’t put an end to this now one of them was going to do something unfortunate. Calming himself he looked at Ramsay, “As much as I don’t like it, company policy mandates someone from legal be consulted in this situation.” He slid a tablet across his desk to Ramsay, “Read it for yourself.”
“That is assuming you can read.” Hendricks taunted, but Ramsay completely ignored him, prompting Hendricks to further his insult as he shifted his gaze to Meisner, “To be honest, after hearing what has been going on, I’m beginning to wonder if anyone around here is remotely competent.”
Everyone was visibly angered, but Lobek stepped forward, “You bastard. I don’t care how high up in the company your family is; it doesn’t give you the right to treat people like shit.”
Even that did not deter Hendricks, “That’s true, that particular right comes from people doing shitty jobs.”
“Hey!” Meisner tried to stop Hendricks but it was to no avail.
Hendricks stood up and raised his voice, “Furthermore, I don’t need to be lectured by someone with your record; what was on that last complaint, oh yes, unsolicited sexual advances. Be careful, someone might decide you’re not worth keeping around.”
“And I’m getting close to deciding you’re not worth keeping around!” Meisner snapped, silencing Hendricks.
“You can fire me.” Hendricks acknowledged, “But have you considered the consequences?”
“Damn the consequences.” The glare from Meisner told Hendricks he was serious, prompting Hendricks to sit back down and raise his hands mockingly in defeat, “Now, I suggest we get to the matter at hand.”
Once again Hendricks had to comment, “I hope that scan you ran on Lane showed what you think it did, otherwise you probably destroyed any chance of a successful prosecution.”
“She didn’t do it.” Clark answered, breaking her silence.
“But I have a good idea of who did.” Ramsay added, “Looks like the boyfriend, Paul Langston. The problem is, I don’t have anything more than circumstantial evidence, and if we pick him up now I doubt we’ll ever recover the stolen data. We need to catch him in the act, with the data, and to do that we need to avoid doing anything that might make him suspicious.”
“Too late for that.” Hendricks interjected, “The moment he finds out you had to release Lane he’s going to get suspicious.”
“That’s why I didn’t release her.” Ramsay replied trying to suppress the rage he felt at Hendricks, “She agreed to help us catch him and play the part of our suspect for a while.”
Hendricks jaw hung open, “Wait, you know she didn’t do it, but you put her back in a cell anyway? Are you trying to get this company sued? Or worse, get us charged with false imprisonment? She needs to be released immediately.”
“Wait.” Meisner told Hendricks before turning to Ramsay, “Alright, what’s your plan?”
Ramsay knew what had to be done, he just needed to convince Meisner over Hendricks certain objections, “First, I want to confirm that Langston is the one responsible.”
“How?” A skeptical Hendricks inquired.
“I’m going to have Dr. Clark conceal a bio-monitor in my conference room, then, I’m going to call him in to interview him; it’ll be enough to figure out if he’s responsible.”
“And totally inadmissible if he’s not aware of the fact that he’s being monitored.” Hendricks added.
“That won’t matter if we catch him with the data.” Ramsay replied, “Once we know, then we need to draw him out. I want to partially lift the lock down. We don’t allow any communications; we just make preparations for the people who are supposed to be rotated off the station to travel back to Rawson 8, via secured transport. Langston will be on that list of people, and he’ll have to have the data on him somehow, that’s our opportunity.”
“If he slips through, the data is gone.” Meisner realized.
“True.” Ramsay admitted, “But given the security protocols, I doubt he’s going to be getting on that transport. More likely, he’ll take the opportunity to find another way off the station. Which is why I asked Dr. Lobek for her help, our thief is a very good hacker, and we need to be able to respond to whatever he tries.”
“Without knowing what he’s going to try, it’s too risky.” Meisner opined.
“Why not just check every data device on the station?” Hendricks suggested.
Lobek was not going to miss this chance to make Hendricks feel foolish, “It would take weeks. We’d have to scan every one of them for anomalies or alterations, and there are billions of data storage devices on this station. The systems in this room alone have thousands.”
“Fine. Not practical.” Hendricks begrudgingly agreed.
“If I may.” Ramsay continued, “We know one thing for certain, he will go after a small ship, with interstellar capabilities. His options are either to hijack the transport, or, more likely, to take another ship; and it would need to be one he could operate alone. That leaves the shuttles in the adjacent docking bays, that’s where we focus our efforts.”
“It’s still risky.” The value of the data was such that Meisner couldn’t afford a gamble, “If he gets out of the docking bay…”
“Then we shoot him down.” Ramsay answered, “I admit, this plan is not without risks, but I haven’t heard any other ideas.”
Meisner considered his options for a while, at some point the lockdown would be lifted, if by that time they had not recovered the data and made sure it had not been transferred to any other devices then the data would get out and their careers would be finished. Finally he stood up, “Alright, Dr. Clark, get that conference room set up. Ramsay, whatever you need, you’ve got it.”
Hendricks rose to his feet as Clark left, “I can’t believe you’re going along with this.”
“I didn’t hear a better idea from you.” Meisner said with frustration.
“That’s because I was in shock, this whole plan is idiotic. Forget, ruining our careers, if this goes to shit, you’ll land us in prison.”
“Stop exaggerating.” Ramsay retorted.
“You fucking idiot, you just don’t get it!” Hendricks shouted, wildly enraged, “There are laws, there are regulations; and because of that, the company has procedures for these situations, we’re supposed to follow them. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Where are you going?” Meisner demanded as Hendricks began to walk away.
Hendricks turned around, “To put an end to this. Figure it out, your career is over and you’re gambling everything on some desperate attempt to save it. It’s time to mitigate damages, before you drag even more people down with you; I’m going to have security pick up Langston, and we’re going to do this the proper way.”
Ramsay almost laughed, “They won’t listen to you.”
“Well, as was so keenly pointed out, I have family and friends in high places, so if they want to keep their jobs, they will. Speaking of which, you should probably start looking for a new one.”
Ramsay glared as Hendricks turned and walked away, he didn’t hear Lobek quietly move up beside him. Deftly she drew his pistol and shot Hendricks in the middle of the back, leaving him splayed out on the floor, “You’re welcome.” She said as she passed the pistol back to him, making sure he could see that it was on a non-lethal setting.
Even though he knew Hendricks would wake up in a few hours, Ramsay was still shocked, but a part of him wanted to laugh. He finally glanced at Lobek, “You realize how long this incident report is going to be?”
At the same time Meisner looked at Hendricks on the floor and tilted his head, “Well, now I have to fire him.” He said calmly.
“Wait, him?” Lobek was sure she misheard.
Remaining completely calm, Meisner turned to her, “I have to fire someone over this, I’d much rather it be him. Oh, and Alex, leave the part where she took your gun out of the incident report, we’re going to have enough trouble without that. And as far as that report goes, you shot him because he was trying to jeopardize our data recovery efforts, which happens to be true. Make it sound like you had no choice, I’ll support it.” Meisner stopped to think for a moment, “Ms. Lobek, officially I have to inform you that taking a security officer’s weapon is grounds for termination, but under the circumstances, let’s leave it at a verbal warning. Unofficially, I wish someone had done that years ago. Now, you have work to do, and I need to have a word with our security chief, in private.”
The serene, almost emotionless response from Meisner left Ramsay perturbed, if he was about to be reprimanded he wanted to get ahead of it. He barely waited for the door to close behind Lobek, “I shouldn’t have let her take my weapon, I…”
Still remaining calm, Meisner raised his hand to stop Ramsay, “No, you shouldn’t have, but she did, and it’s done. She made the decision for us. So, you better catch him, and get the data back.” With a heavy sigh he looked at Hendricks on the floor, “Because that’s the only thing that will protect us from the fallout of that. You think you can get him into a holding cell without attracting too much attention?”
Ramsay nodded, “I think so.”
“Good. He’s not going to be happy when he wakes up.” It was a massive understatement on Meisner’s part, “By the way, I think she likes you.”
“Hmmm?” Ramsay was unsure of what he meant.
“Lobek. Who else?” Meisner specified.
The very suggestion bewildered Ramsay, “She flirts with everyone, sir.”
“Does she shoot people for everyone?” Ramsay’s only response was a confused look, so Meisner continued, “She didn’t make her move until he threatened your job, and she fully expected to be fired for it. You don’t do that if you’re merely flirting. At the very least you owe her dinner.”
With how obvious Meisner had made it sound, Ramsay wondered how he could possibly miss it; apparently Lobek’s teasing had skewed his perspective. She was both attractive and intelligent, but her personality gave him serious reservations, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Ramsay turned his attention to Hendricks, he was a large man and carrying him would be more trouble than it was worth; but there was a grav-sled in a closet near Mesner’s office, it would suffice for moving him. Getting him to a holding cell without anyone noticing wouldn’t be too difficult, maintenance corridors ran underneath every level on the station, they were cramped but it could get him to the holding cells unnoticed.
By the time Ramsay finished with Hendricks and returned to the security office, Clark had finished installing the bio-monitor in his conference room, a fact she communicated with a discrete nod. At the same time Reed approached him, this was it; he had to follow through with the plan.
“So, how did the meeting go?” Reed got her answer in the form of a frown on Ramsay’s face, “That well?”
A heavy sigh and a long pause prefaced his reply, “We’re partially lifting the lockdown.”
“What?” She almost couldn’t believe it.
“The Director insists that we can’t keep everyone locked up for much longer.” Ramsay really didn’t need to act, he just let all of the frustration he was feeling vent, “So, were to make preparations to cycle people back to headquarters in a controlled manner. Station communications will remain offline, and everyone will be subject to security scans before being allowed to leave; then they’ll be scanned again at headquarters.”
“Why even bother, why not just send out the data ourselves.” This was one of the worst ideas Reed had ever heard, “The moment we start letting transports off this station, that data is gone. The Director can’t be that stupid!”
“Keep your voice down.” Ramsay chided her, “Believe me, I tried to convince him, unfortunately the legal ramifications of an indefinite lockdown are starting to weigh on him. Especially with a suspect in custody.”
“Hendricks.” Reed concluded with an angry glare, “Where is that son of a bitch.”
“Stay away from him, unless you want to risk your job as well.” Warned Ramsay.
That meant he had threatened Ramsay’s job, which made Reed even angrier, “That bastard. Someone should just shoot him.”
It took a great deal of restraint for Ramsay not to laugh at the irony of the statement, “At the rate he’s going, you might just get your wish. For right now get a team down to Bay 4 and have them set up security checkpoints. Oh, and I want to talk to Langston, have him brought in and put him in my conference room.”
Reed nodded, “We already interviewed him you know.”
“I know.” Ramsay needed his reasoning to be convincing, “But he was Lane’s boyfriend, and we have nothing else to go on. Maybe he can provide an insight, something we overlooked. If we can recover the data, and make sure it wasn’t transferred anywhere then we can lift the lockdown without concern.”
“So not just legal concerns, but lighting a fire under us as well.” Reed realized, “I’ll have him brought in.”
A few minutes later Ramsay met Langston in the conference room while Clark monitored from his office, “Mr. Langston, thank you for coming in.”
“Did I have a choice?”
The response sounded almost mocking to Ramsay, but technically Langston was correct, by contract he had to answer any questions from corporate security, “I suppose not, but nevertheless, your cooperation is appreciated.”
“Is this about Amanda?” Langston demanded, “I already told your people everything I know. It’s still hard to believe.”
Ramsay didn’t buy Langston’s performance for a second, but he had to go along with it, “I understand this is difficult. I can’t go into details, but I’m afraid the evidence is quite damning. At this point we’re just trying to piece everything together; and you probably knew her better than anyone else on the station, is there anything you might have overlooked?”
To a casual observer Langston’s performance would be very convincing; a man in near shock, distraught by what had become of his girlfriend, struggling to grasp what she had done; he played the part perfectly, “No. I told the other officers everything I could think of; I… I don’t know what else…”
“I know it’s hard, but try to focus.” The more he saw, the more Ramsay wanted to strangle Langston; only an unapologetic sociopath could act like this, “It could be something seemingly innocuous. I wish I didn’t have to pry into your personal life, but, were there any changes in her behavior, her schedule? Were there any days where she acted differently, or did anything out of the ordinary? Remember, it could be something small.”
“I don’t think so. Nothing I can think of.” Langston really did seem genuine, “What’s this about?”
“As I said, I’m afraid I can’t tell you the details.” Ramsay replied, trying to sound apologetic, “But we need to establish a timeline of her activities, and we need to know if there was any abnormal behavior on her part. I know you were already asked this, but I have to ask again, you truly knew nothing of what was going on, of what she was doing?”
“No, I still don’t.” Langston replied.
If the last response was a lie, then Ramsay had him, the last thing to do was prod him for a reaction, “I really hate to ask this, but, was there any change in your sex life?”
“That’s a very personal question.” Langston sounded surprised and almost angry, “What the hell does that have to anything.”
“Just trying to establish any behavioral changes.” Ramsay said downplaying the question, “It’s one thing people rarely discuss unless they’re directly asked, and the other officers didn’t ask.”
“No. Not that I can think of.” It was clear Langston was angry, or at least acting angry.
Ramsay let out a heavy sigh, “I guess that’s everything then. I’ll have someone escort you back to your quarters. If you think of anything, please contact us.”
Langston stood up, still appearing angry, “So you can lock her away longer?”
Though he wanted the man out of his offices, Ramsay had to maintain the act, “You’re upset, and you have every right to be. But you’re not going to help anyone by keeping secrets.” Langston frowned and walked out of the conference room, Ramsay was glad to be rid of him.
Clark walked into the conference room from Ramsay’s office, “Would you like the long or the short version.”
“Just tell me if he did it.” Ramsay was not in the mood for games.
“Oh, he did it.” Clark answered, “He’s also a sociopath; and a particularly good liar; he actually believes most of what he said, but all that emotion, all that concern, completely fake. The good news is, he actually bought your act, he has no idea we’re on to him.”
“I figured as much.” Somehow Ramsay felt vindicated, any flaws in his performance were dismissed as extreme fatigue, “Did you notice? He didn’t ask about the lockdown. I told Reed we were planning on lifting the lockdown, there is no way he didn’t hear at least something about it while he went through security. Any normal person would have asked about it, but he didn’t.”
“So what do we do now?”
“Close the noose.” For the first time in nearly a week, Ramsay smiled as he called Reed, Lobek, and Finch into his office; he would need all of their help for what came next.
While Lobek and Clark already knew what was happening, Reed and Finch had no idea, and Reed seemed particularly irritated by having been left out for so long, “You didn’t think it might be a good idea to tell the second in command of station security what you were doing? I knew you were hiding something, but this!”
“We’ve kept the people that know about this to a minimum.” In truth, Ramsay understood her anger, he wouldn’t have liked it either, “We needed Langston to believe he’d gotten away with it, and we need him to continue believing that.”
Having spent most of the meeting in silence, Finch finally commented, “This whole plan does seem a bit risky.”
An accurate assessment as far as Ramsay was concerned, but it changed nothing, “It’s the best chance we have of recovering the stolen data; and catching him with it is the only way we can take down Langston, everything else we have on him is either circumstantial or inadmissible; it’s actually quite impressive how well he covered his tracks.”
“So we either do this, or the company fires him and he walks, probably with the data.” Reed summarized.
“And most of us lose our jobs.” Lobek added.
“Great, let’s get to work, where do we start?” There was no hiding the sarcasm in Reed’s voice.
Ramsay scowled at her attitude, but otherwise chose not to comment on it; turning to Lobek and Finch he began, “I need the two of you to make sure our systems are secure. Langston’s proven himself an adept hacker; I don’t want him humiliating us again. And check fire control, if we need to shoot him down I want to be ready.”
“The system is clean right now.” Finch told him, “And it’s as secure as we can make it, however, that might not be enough.”
“Do whatever it takes to keep him out.” Ramsay commanded, before turning to Reed, “I want you to set up the security checkpoints, keep it just like you were planning but put on additional personnel, and make sure everyone is armed. Also, put together a TAC team, quietly, and put them on standby near Bay 4; but keep them out of sight unless I give the order.”
She nodded in agreement, but the whole situation bothered her, “We still don’t know what he has planned, but I think it’s a safe bet he’s not going to submit to a security scan with the data on him. What if he’s got another way off the station?”
It was something Ramsay had already considered, “He won’t risk drawing attention to himself any sooner than he has to. That means if he’s going to try anything, it’s going to be on that docking level, when he does, we’ll be ready for it.”
“I should be down there too.” Lobek interjected, “Assuming he tries to steal a shuttle he’s going to need to override a number of local security protocols, I might be able to slow him down.”
“Can’t you do that from here?” The tone in Reed’s voice conveyed her suspicious attitude.
“Yes.” As Lobek trailed off she made it clear that there was a caveat, “But from down there, I can connect directly to the shuttle and the docking computer. I won’t have to worry about him disrupting intrastation communications.”
It was a valid point, and anything that improved the chances of success was worth considering from Ramsay’s view, “Fine, but if shooting starts, you stay away from it.”
“See, I knew you cared.” She teased, “Agreed.”
Ramsay led the way out of his office, “We have a lot of work to do.”
While Reed handled most of the preparations, Ramsay went to meet with Meisner. Part of him hated keeping his people in the dark, but he couldn’t see any other way for it to work; still they didn’t know what to expect. But as it was, they were already asking questions about the sheer number of personnel to be stationed at the check points, hopefully that would concern them enough to stay alert. Yet Ramsay had no illusions, things never went perfectly according to plan, and he continued to consider contingency plans as he walked into Meisner’s office, “We’ve got him.”
“Langston?” Meisner almost cracked a smile; they finally knew who was responsible.
Ramsay nodded, “Everything will be ready, he won’t get off this station, and we’ll catch him with the data. We should make the announcement.”
“All of that assumes he takes the bait.” Meisner replied as he touched a control on his desk display.
Suddenly the station A.I.’s voice came to life, “Attention. This is a security update. The station lockdown will be partially lifted at 1800 local time, special security measures will remain in effect. Personnel scheduled for rotation off of the station since the lockdown went into effect should make preparations to disembark; a transport will be returning you to Rawson 8 at 1900. Please note, due to special security concerns, no computerized devices of any kind will be allowed through security, and all personnel may be subject to security scans and questioning before leaving the station, and upon arrival on Rawson 8. Your cooperation is appreciated.”
That gave Ramsay three hours to make sure everything was ready, “This may be his only chance to get off the station, he has to take the bait.”
The security teams on the docking levels worked at a hurried pace, but with an unwavering discipline. Ramsay was pleased with the results as he surveyed the area, he would have liked to have armed drones patrolling the area, but he agreed with Finch and Lobek; Langston’s hacking skills made it too dangerous to use them. He was not concerned though, he had absolute confidence in his team’s abilities without drones to supplement them. As he walked through the docking bay, he tried to consider every way Langston could attempt an escape.
Every person being transported off of the station would be moved in groups, under armed guard, from their quarters to the docking bay. Langston would have nothing to worry about until they reached the security checkpoint on the docking level, once there, everyone would be subjected to a security scan, even the security personnel. He would have to have the data on his person, and with no way to get it past the checkpoint, he would have to make his move. Assuming he somehow got past that point, the transport was under heavy guard; his only options would be the shuttles in the adjacent bays. That’s where Reed’s TAC team would come in, and do whatever was necessary.
Pleased with the security arrangements, Ramsay made his way to the observation deck overlooking the docking area, with just a few minutes left until the lockdown ended. Lobek was already there, alone, almost like she was waiting for him. A seductive smile crossed her face as she looked up from what she was working on, “We just keep running into each other.”
“Somehow, I’d say you arranged that.” Whatever her intentions were, he wanted to find out.
“Would that matter?” She continued to tease.
At this point he wanted to be direct, “I’m certain you’re not oblivious to your reputation for… excessive flirting, so is this just that? If it’s not, I have to ask why.”
“You’re not boring.” She said quickly and with complete seriousness, “Most people are; it’s fun to make them a little uncomfortable and watch how they respond.”
It was almost absurd, that was her whole reason. Ramsay was a bit perplexed, but he understood the implication of what she said, “So you taunt most people for your own amusement; but in my case, you’re interested in me because I’m not boring? I’m almost hesitant to ask how you came to that conclusion.”
Lobek shrugged, “You figured out it wasn’t Lane, from just a chip in a VR device. With the evidence you had against her, most people wouldn’t have bothered to even look at that, and if they had, they would have ignored it. The fact that you didn’t sets you apart from the rest of them.”
Coming from her, he wasn’t sure if he should consider that a compliment, though he was certain that’s how she meant it, “You should have been a psychiatrist.”
“I almost was.” Suddenly her tone went from serious to satirical, “Then I figured out I enjoyed messing with people more than helping them. Now it’s my job to mess with A.I. personalities, make them feel more alive.”
“And mess with your coworker’s mental stability in the process.” Ramsay added, somewhat surprised by how direct she was being.
“Making people uncomfortable, makes them more creative, makes them consider possibilities. Personally, I think my way is more fun than poking them with a stick. Take you for instance, is there some reason you didn’t want to be administrator when Meisner leaves, aside from the fact that it represents a change from the norm? With your background you’re qualified.” The look on his face gave her an answer, “I didn’t think so. So like I said, you’re not boring; you should do something interesting.”
At times, he was amazed that she passed her psych evaluations, but having had a somewhat serious conversation with her, he realized that whoever was giving them was at a serious disadvantage, “You are far more complicated than you lead people to believe.”
“Thank you.” An alert sounded indicating 1800 station time, making her frown. She walked over to Ramsay, her mannerisms becoming more seductive as she closed in, “I guess we’ll have to continue this later.”
Ramsay gave serious thought to what Meisner had said, “Over dinner?”
She nodded, then leaned in and kissed him, “If you get yourself shot, I will be very disappointed.”
If things went well, there wouldn’t be any shooting; Ramsay appreciated her sentiment, but the immediate situation required his attention. After checking in with Reed he pulled up a sensor display, he wanted to see every move that Langston made after he left his quarters. There was nothing out of the ordinary as far as he could tell; the group was escorted from the living quarters to the security checkpoint without incident. As they went through the scans one by one Ramsay grew impatient, he was beginning to wonder if he had been wrong, Suddenly, he lost his sensor feed; feeling his heart starting to race he opened a channel to security, “Finch, what the hell happened to my sensors? You said the system was clean!”
“It is.” Finch frantically replied over the comm., “This looks like some sort of localized interference, I’ll try to figure out the cause.”
There were more important things to worry about at the moment. Ramsay’s thoughts raged; he had hoped for a quick clean capture, but he wasn’t surprised things had gone this way. He needed to know what was going on down there, “Team three report. Report!”
After a few seconds he finally heard something, “…Anyone read this. This is team three can…”
“This is Chief Ramsay, I need a sitrep now!”
“We had some sort of power failure sir.” The comm. identified the person responding as Frank Galloway, the team commander, “Everything just went black, and we’re missing one person.”
“Langston?” Ransay demanded.
A bewildered pause lingered on the comm., before Galloway responded, “Yes sir. How did you…”
“I’m implementing full lockdown.” As Ramsay gave the order alarms blared, and the security doors in the area sealed, at least they might slow Langston down, “Galloway, keep everyone there under guard and hold your position. If you see Langston you may engage but do not pursue.” Thinking frantically he switched comm. channels, “Reed, take your team and move out. Langston was last seen at the checkpoint, I’m working on getting you an exact location.” Once again, Ramsay contacted Finch, “I need a fix on Langston’s position, now!”
While Ramsay had been coordinating security, Lobek had been working manically; she was way ahead of Finch, “I’ve got him.” She exclaimed jumping up, “He’s in the maintenance corridor, under the docking bays; it looks like he’s moving to Bay 3. I’ll try to keep the outer doors sealed.”
He certainly was fast, Ramsay thought to himself, “Reed, he’s heading for Bay 3, I’ll meet you there. No matter what, he cannot be allowed off this station!”
“Copy that.” Reed and her team quickly made their way to Bay 3, but it sounded like Langston was ahead of them, she just hoped he wasn’t prepared for them. A lone, unarmed man shouldn’t be a match for her team, but she didn’t know what to expect when the doors of the inner airlock opened into the bay. Unfortunately, her fears were well founded; as the door parted, they were greeted by a barrage of heavy fire from the shuttles defensive weapons scorching the deck and walls. Diminutive as far as ship mounted weapons went, they were still enough to slaughter her team, even with their armor, “Fall back!” She screamed as she sealed the doors, “This is Reed to all security personnel; we need heavy weapons at Docking Bay 3 immediately. The target has seized control of a shuttle.”
Ramsay heard all of it over the security channel and diverted his path to one of the armories; as he suited up he contacted Lobek, “I assume you heard that, I thought you said you could stop him from taking over the shuttle.”
“He isolated the control systems before he powered up the shuttle, I was locked out. The bastard knows what he’s doing, and he was prepared for this.” She really didn’t have time for pleasantries, Langston was proving quite adept, “I don’t know how much longer I can keep him out of the Bay control system. Oh shit.” She could see what was about to happen, “TAC team, brace for decompression.”
That warning came just as Reed felt the loss of artificial gravity, her pulse raced, at least her team wore sealed combat armor, but they could still be blown into space, “Activate personal gravity units and take cover!” The door she had closed earlier opened, but there was no weapons fire this time; and no decompression. Reed carefully glanced into the docking bay; the outer door was still closed but then she saw a faint crack, and the void of space beyond. The air rushed from the bay, dragging anything not secured with it; the howling wind slowly subsided, until only silence was left.
Despite his efforts, Ramsay realized he was too late; the vacuum warning on the door meant Bay 3 and the area around it had decompressed; at least the sensors indicated that Reed and her team were safe. Ramsay retracted his armor’s pressure helmet and heard footsteps behind him; he turned to see Lobek, “What are you doing here?”
“Trying to restore the atmosphere.” She gestured at the door.
“I said… Never mind.” He didn’t have time right now, he needed to contact security, “Finch, it looks like you’ll have to shoot him down.”
“Understood.” Finch replied, “Weapons are online, targeting… No, no no no!”
That was not what Ramsay wanted to hear, “What’s happening.”
“The turrets won’t track!” This was the most panicked, Ramsay had ever heard Finch, “He triggered maintenance locks; the safeties think there are people in there.”
“You said the system was clean.” Immediately Ramsay realized his statement was not helpful.
“It was!” Finch snapped back, “This was just triggered. I can fix this; I just need a minute or two.”
Ramsay checked the sensors, the bay doors would be open long before that, “We don’t have that long.”
Suddenly, Lobek pulled out a tablet and started working at frenzied pace, “I have an idea. They were power testing weapons on the Atlas when the lockdown went into effect, they were never disconnected, and they’re not tied into A.I. control yet. If I can access the controls I can fire them manually.”
“You’ll have to fire before he starts moving.” If she didn’t, she would never be able to track him manually. A quick look at her tablet almost gave Ramsay pause; the weapons she was talking about were complete overkill for use against a shuttle, collateral damage to the docking bay would be massive, he needed to warn the TAC team, “Reed, take your team and fall back as far as possible, heavy weapons fire incoming.”
Reed was unaccustomed to the nervous tone in Ramsay’s voice, she didn’t know what was about to happen, but she didn’t want to be caught in it, “Understood.”
Once again Ramsay looked at the sensors and swallowed; the bay door was open, and the shuttle was lifting off; impatiently he turned to Lobek, “Rachel?”
“Targeting.” She replied without breaking focus, “Promise they won’t charge me for the damages?”
“Just shoot him!” How could she make a joke even now?
As the shuttle turned to exit the docking bay, several bright flashes streaked from the Atlas, hitting the shuttle in the aft port quarter. The blast tore through the shuttle and the docking bay bulkheads behind it. Ramsay felt the whole area shake, but he couldn’t take his attention off of the sensor feed, and the tremendous satisfaction he felt as he watched the shuttle spin and crash back into the docking bay, burning as it vented atmosphere.
“The shuttle is out of commission, permanently.” Lobek said with a smile.
As satisfied as he was, Ramsay’s job wasn’t done yet, “Reed, move in and secure the shuttle, find out if Langston is still alive.”
Lobek moved to a control console on the wall, “I’ll see what I can do about restoring the atmosphere.”
Ramsay paced, he wanted to get in there, “How long?”
“I hope you don’t rush everything this way.” She taunted, “The bay doors are a lost cause, the shuttle damaged them when it crashed. I think I can restore artificial gravity, but with all of the damage it’s going to be unstable. Got it.” She turned to see the vacuum warning on the door fade, “That’ll hold in a breathable atmosphere, but no promises on how reliable it’s going to be near the damaged areas, so you might want to keep your helmet on.”
The crash site was in complete shambles; it was difficult to tell that some of the debris had ever been part of a shuttle; but the forward section was mostly intact, so it was possible Langston was still alive. Ramsay watched as the maintenance drones cut into one of the shuttles airlocks; they were working quickly, but it wasn’t fast enough for him. As they finished he drew his weapon, aiming it as they lifted away the damaged hatch. Langston was within, crawling his way out despite substantial injuries. Ramsay relished the moment, “Paul Langston, I’m taking you into custody, for corporate espionage, grand theft, sabotage, attempted murder, and whatever else we can think of. Medical team to Docking Bay 3.” Langston glared at him with his bloodied face, but said nothing.
After the medical team arrived, Ramsay and Reed entered the shuttle; the data Langston tried to steal wasn’t on his person so it had to be there. It didn’t take long, in a case full of devices, Ramsay found a data chip, almost identical to the one in Lane’s VR device; following a few quick tests he contacted Meisner, “We got it.”
“You recovered the data?” Meisner said with excited disbelief.
“Yes.” It was the best news Ramsay had been able to give him all week, “Lobek confirmed it, and it hasn’t been copied. And that’s not all, we’ve got proof he hacked Lane’s VR device; we have the stolen source code to prove it. I think we found the device he used to disrupt the power as well.”
Despite the unforeseen difficulties, it was the best news Meisner could have hoped for. Even the damage to the docking bay didn’t matter; the cost of repairs was insignificant compared to losing the data, “When can I talk to him.”
“I’ll have him in a holding cell as soon as he’s out of the infirmary. Which reminds me…” Ramsay switched to the security channel, “Finch, you can let Lane out of holding now. Tell her we got the bastard.”
“I’ll see to it.” Finch replied, “Uh, Chief, did you lock up Hendricks?”
“Yes. Why?”
While Finch was somewhat astonished by the audacity, he found the prospect of Hendricks in a holding cell hilarious, “Oh, he’s just been screaming for the past twenty minutes, and making it abundantly clear he has no knowledge of anatomy.”
“How unpleasant.” Meisner sarcastically interjected.
“Sir, I didn’t know you were…” Finch gasped.
Meisner didn’t care about Finch’s casual attitude, “Don’t worry about it. You can tell Hendricks he’s staying in that cell until he gets shipped off this station. In fact, I’ll tell him myself, I’ll be down there in a half hour.”
By the time Meisner arrived in the Security offices, Langston had been transferred to holding. According to Ramsay, he had said nothing the entire time; even if he stayed silent Meisner wanted to look him in the eye, wanted to savor the victory.
On his way to Langston’s cell Meisner took a moment to stop by Hendricks, who was clearly infuriated, “I hear you’re unhappy with your accommodations.”
Hendricks didn’t try to hide his rage, “Listen you son of a bitch, when I get out of here your career is finished. You and everyone else responsible for this are through. My father knows the Chief Prosecutor; I’ll have so many charges brought against you…”
While it was sure to be an entertaining tirade, Meisner didn’t have time for it, “Phillip Hendricks, in my capacity as Project Director and Station Administrator, it is my pleasure to inform you that your employment has been officially terminated. As you no longer have security clearance, you will be detained until you can be transported off of the station. Please note that the events of the last few days are classified, discussing them with anyone lacking sufficient clearance will constitute a breach of your nondisclosure agreement. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Hendricks broke into a nonsensical diatribe of profanity, but Meisner just walked away and smiled; he could only hope Langston proved so amusing. Ramsay was waiting for him outside of the cell; Langston was within, lying on the bed, seemingly oblivious to everything around him, “He still hasn’t said anything.” Ramsay said as Meisner approached.
Looking at Langston in the cell, Meisner was surprised by how calm he seemed, “Has he been sedated?” Ramsay shook his head in response.
“Director Meisner.” Langston said tranquilly as he stood up, “A pleasure to meet you. I really must congratulate you and your team, Chief Ramsay in particular. You’re only the second person to catch me.”
Everything Langston said seemed almost serene; it troubled Meisner greatly, “You do realize your situation? You’re in a holding cell; you’re going to have a litany of charges laid upon you, not the least of which is attempted murder. Eventually they’ll figure out who you really are, I wonder what else they’ll find.”
“Occupational hazards.” Langston shrugged.
His attitude perplexed Ramsay as well, “You’re awfully calm for someone who could spend the rest of his life in prison.”
“That remains to be seen.” Langston replied, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should get some rest. Let me know when my transport arrives. You can go now.” With that he returned to his bed, ignoring any further attempts to converse.
“That was… strange.” Meisner commented as they walked away.
“Very.” There were only a few possibilities in Ramsay’s opinion, “He was taunting us. Anyone that calm, in that situation… either he’s psychotic, or he has a way out; I’m guessing the latter.”
“Perhaps both. Keep him under continuous guard just in case.” Meisner ordered.
As they emerged from the holding area into the main security office, Lobek and Finch came up to them, “You’re both going to want to see this.” Finch told them handing them a tablet.
It looked like some sort of contract bid, but it wasn’t tied to NOVA Galactic, “What about it?” Meisner asked.
Lobek stepped forward, “Now that we have communications, we started looking into his background; he didn’t make it easy, it’s not surprising he got past the background checks, but now we know what to look for. We managed to find a few aliases; one of them led us to that.
After we lifted the communications lockdown, you informed Headquarters we captured him. Ten minutes later, that started appearing up on darknets. We looked into it; it took some digging, but we’re pretty sure that’s the offer for anyone who gets him out and clears him; the offer was set to post upon his capture. Based on what we found, it looks like he did this once before.”
Ramasy’s mouth fell open, “One billion? How the hell can he have that kind of money? And if he does why is he doing this?”
“It’s not impossible.” Meisner replied with some hesitation, “Headquarters was beyond relieved when I told them we recovered that data. Apparently, if he had auctioned it off to the right buyers, the price could have soared into the hundreds of billions, and that would have been a bargain. He’s doing this because he enjoys it, and if he’s been at it for any length of time, he could certainly have amassed that kind of money.”
“Well, at least we can add attempted bribery to the charges.” Ramsay figured.
“I wouldn’t count on that.” Lobek commented.
Finch took the chance to explain, “It’s all circumstantial, we can’t tie it to him, and we can’t definitively prove that he’s done this before.”
Details, Ramsay needed details, “Do you know what happened last time?”
“Real simple.” Lobek smirked, “The judge excluded a bunch of evidence; he walked. Not long after that the judge wins a fortune and retires. I find it unlikely that’s a coincidence, but we have nothing tying Langston to it; we haven’t even found his real name yet, I’d imagine he’s had his DNA altered several times, never legally of course, so there are no records.”
Everything they discovered just seemed to deepen the mystery surrounding Langston, he clearly had resources, but Meisner wasn’t going to allow him to use them, “I’ll let Headquarters know that they need to take special precautions with him. At least once we hand him over he’s not our problem anymore; I want him off my station.”
While they spoke a somewhat timid security officer came up to them, “Um, Director. We’ve been contacted by a Don Hendricks from legal.”
“The idiot’s father.” Ramsay said with a frown.
“And the Regulatory General Counsel.” Meisner added.
The timid officer swallowed, “Yes, he’s on the holocomm, demanding to speak with you; I told him you’d get back to him but…”
“Say no more.” This was something that Meisner had been expecting.
“Want to take it in my office?” Ramsay offered.
Meisner nodded, “Yeah; might as well get this over with.”
As the holocomm came to life, a well-dressed, stern faced man appeared in the office, “Director Meisner.”
Despite the professional overtures, Meisner could tell he was angry, “Counselor.”
They stared at each other for several seconds before Hendricks broke the silence, “I’m curious, who do you think you are? Just who the fuck do you think you are, putting my son in a holding cell?”
While Meisner wasn’t at all surprised by Hendricks abuse, he didn’t have to tolerate it, “I’m the Project Director, and the Administrator of this station. Meaning, I’m the one with the authority to terminate your son’s employment and revoke his security clearance when his insubordination jeopardizes operations and almost results in the theft of data that could cost this company trillions! I had him placed in holding until he could be transported off the station.”
“I’d be far more concerned with your own employment than my son’s.” Hendricks threatened, “I have many friends in this company; not that I’d need them, you nearly oversaw the theft of that data. I can’t imagine that bodes well for you.”
It was clear to Meisner that despite his clearance Hendricks didn’t have full access to all of the reports yet, “Oh I’m certain there will be an investigation, I’m also certain it will find no wrongdoing or breaches of protocol on the part of anyone here. Besides, when I spoke to them, Dayton and the rest of the Board seemed pleased with the outcome of the situation; so I think I’ll be just fine.”
Hendricks realized Meisner was beyond his reach for the moment, “I won’t forget this.”
“You want to try to save your son’s career, that’s your prerogative, but he won’t be working in any department I run.” Meisner closed the channel; father and son, they were both vile, but the family was influential. The so called friends he had in the company consisted mostly of sycophants and those that were terrified of angering him. Meisner refused to fall into either of those groups.
Reed had joined Ramsay, Lobek, and Finch while Meisner had been in the office. For the first time in days, he saw people laughing and smiling, Ramsay turned to him as he walked down the stairs, “Well, how’d that go?”
“It could have been worse.” Mesiner admitted, “But, it would probably be best if all of us avoided anyone with the name Hendricks for the foreseeable future.”
“So, we’re being rewarded?” Everyone laughed at Ramsay’s joke, “By the way, I’m taking a week off.”
Meisner shrugged and nodded, “You more than earned it.”
“We’re taking a week off.” Lobek said over Ramsay’s shoulder before she turned to whisper in is ear, “You owe me dinner.”
“I knew it.” Meisner smirked, “Both of you get out of here on the next transport.”
Reed and Finch looked absolutely stunned; Ramsay never got involved with coworkers, but of all the people they could have envisioned him with, Lobek would never have made the list. They both stood there with their mouths hanging open trying to comprehend what was happening, Reed was finally brought to her senses by Meisner’s hand waiving in front of her, “Sir?”
Now Meisner was sure he had her attention, “Don’t let either of these two back on the station until every last second of their vacation has been used up.”
Thank You For Reading
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, actual events, or locales is purely coincidental.
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