Detrol pursued his sequenced pathway through the system of Tuala-Ruen transport stations, deftly moving from portal to portal and feeling grateful that he had the forethought to ask Kihki, his Felis crewmate, to grease his joints and install the soft soles to his feet before the heist. There were ninety-seven stations total that kept up with the planet-wide travel and his algorithm touched about sixty percent of them. Statistically, within their short time frame they were bound to get caught - compounded by the fact that the two of them traveled separately - but being able to move silently would at least keep him undetected for as long as possible. But then again, their inevitable discovery had been factored into the plan, albeit everything would have to speed up tenfold once the Hub where the Warp Bridge Authority was headquartered was alerted.
Station 83, 52, 7, 74... Onward Detrol jumped from ring to ring, station to station. If he was honest with himself, at lower stakes, he’d enjoy this gig. He didn’t have to be an organic to feel the exhilaration of jumping down into a ring portal, through the faceted multicolored channel through the Warp, and fall up through another - followed by several seconds of thrilling terror of being exposed as he sprinted down the platform to the next ring. Then again and again - knowing that with each jump he grew closer and closer to his target, and by trusting nothing else but the math map in his head.
At Station 23 Detrol’s sequence finally intersected Captain’s - him running to the very ring she had hopped out of - at which time she muttered as she passed him, glancing up warily at the observation deck, “Station 14 compromised. Keep out of sight until you can’t, I’ll try to shake them off.”
Seconds later, he made it to ring four and was on his way to ring seven of Station 50. As he fell through, his uneasiness lifted slightly. The Warp Bridge Authority had reacted slower than anticipated - he had estimated a whole four minutes sooner someone would notice and blow the whistle. Plus it appeared that he and Captain traveling separately provided a decoy, which they had not originally strategized. Well, something that he at least hadn’t strategized. I half-expect Captain planned to rile me up so that I would take her bet. I certainly would not have agreed to it otherwise. With the authorities fixated on Captain, he would need to adjust his jump sequence to avoid stations directly accessible to Station 14. He continued on, honing in on his destination. 16, 72, 31, 63…
And then something most untimely, most unfair happened. While en route across the bridge platform to the next ring, one of his body panels jostled loose from his person and clattered to the ground. He immediately glanced up to the deck above him: several officers jumped up from their stations and were peering through the glass. The hitherto clueless deck officers now got a long enough look to know he was a new threat. And the cruelest part that was equally validating? The fallen plate was from his pelvic frame, specifically the back. Swiping it up, he opened the storage compartment in his torso, threw the plate in, and dove for the nearest ring.
Chen paced the length of the bridge platform, her pistol snapping to each ring she passed. “Come on,” she muttered with a smirk, “come back to mama.”
Geet and Salar had gone back up to the deck to debrief the shift lead on the other side of the alarm doors, assuring her that they would bring back-up once they had approval to override the lock. Brae was escorting some unsuspecting passengers that had arrived via ring three to a safe distance from the bridge, apologizing profusely for their hostile treatment after being mistaken for the sequencer.
She had to admit, the criminal's choice in timing was daring but clever. Yes, the time-constraint brought on by targeting the last several minutes before the changing of the guard was enough for most to not bother, but it would have increased their ability to flit through unnoticed. All guards would be in a hurry to get arriving passengers through to their next station as quickly as possible - causing there to be a high volume of jumps to distract. On top of which, officers would be packing up and preparing to leave for the day, their attention less keen than usual. They had been lucky at Station 14 with Geet's and Brae's sharpness.
She squeezed the grip until her fingers hurt. Well they're not going to pass through a second time unscathed. My name is getting on that incident report to the Hub, if not the one who stopped them then at least the one who slowed them down.
As if in answer to her unspoken desire, a dark figure materialized and in two steps cross the bridge platform to disappear in a ring on the other side. The tiny scales on her arms lifted in alarm and she fired seconds too late. The molten bullet hit the ring frame and sank through, melting hardware on its way to the chamber floor. Shit. Time to get the big guns.
“Station 14 to Hub,” she barked into the com on her lapel, “verified unsanctioned travel, trespasser from rings three to seven.”
“Got a visual?” was the sharp, immediate response. She knelt at the ring they arrived through and connected her tablet to assess the jump data up and filter for any interruptions.
“Unidentifiable humanoid, very fast. All features are covered. According to the jump log, the time between was three seconds.”
The sharp voice responded, “Hub to all stations, standby on alert. We’re running diagnostics on illegal sequencing pathways to determine the destination. All bridges live feed jump data to Hub immediately -”
“-Station 63 to Hub,” another voice cut through her earpiece, strained with panic, “A second sequencer sighted here: an augmented android. Unknown arrival portal, departed via ring seven.”
A few seconds of chilling radio silence passed, then an abrupt transmission, “Hub to all stations, the incident has escalated to Tier One. All travel is prohibited, all bridge chambers will remain sealed. Apprehend illegal travelers at all costs, use firepower if necessary.”
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