Resolute Alliance (The War for Terra Book 6) Read online

  “Yeah, it’s called Alliance Supermax ‘cause they took it over after the explosion,” Connor replied, sliding a data card over to Farthing. “It was a Vadne prison before the Alliance renamed it, and the good news is the kitty cats can’t build a decent prison to save their furry hides. No offense.”

  “I’m not sure which comment to not take offense at,” Farthing replied, slipping the disk into the data slot. “However, I will try.”

  “Vadne are smart, and stronger than humans, but at home they are essentially a peaceful people,” Connor added, turning away from Farthing to look back at Lee. “Their idea of a super-maximum security prison leaves a lot to be desired amongst my crowd. The places are clean and well lit, with lots of gadgets watching every square millimeter of each cell. Of course, that leads us to the bad news. It is a Vadne prison, but it has Alliance Security crawlin’ all over it.”

  “Alright, let’s start there,” Lee said. “What else do we have to worry about?”

  “Alright, here goes. First things first, we need to get past the outer doors. There are four sets on this place. Each has two guards with very nasty weapons waitin’ to blow the hell outta anyone comin’ too close.”

  “My people may not have crime, but those of us who do commit violations are usually intent on harming large numbers of people,” Farthing added. “We like to be prepared for anything.”

  “Right. These doors are equipped with scanners, so no weapons are gonna get past. Once inside, we need to get through the checkpoints where they’re gonna check our idents. If there is even the slightest hint of a problem, you’ll be turned back out.”

  “We can forge the ident badges if we can get one from one of the guards,” Melaina added. “The thing is, they believe if you have gotten past the outer guards, then you probably belong there so they don’t do any deep scans.”

  “Next, you gotta get through a set of automated security doors to get into the super-max wing. These doors have cameras and genetic scanners on both the inside and out, so getting in is as hard as getting out.”

  “So we can’t just grab them and run,” Lee said. “That’s not very promising. I miss the old days when we could have just shot our way in.”

  “You might still get your chance, Captain. If any part of this scheme don’t work out, we may be forced to fire on the guards and blast some holes,” Jakes replied, his expression growing serious. “You may want to get your people ready to fly in just in case.”

  “No,” Lee replied. “I will not fire on Alliance forces. We may be fugitives, but we are all on the same side.”

  “You might wanna rethink that when they start shootin’ at you, but I ain’t gona press the issue,” Connor said, tapping the table to call up a holographic display of the prison. “Anyway, once we’re in, we need to get past a few more doors to get to the cells where the admiral is bein’ held. Each of the doors has retinal and voiceprint security both in and out. After all of that, we need to go here.”

  Connor was pointing to a revolving door near the center of the display. He spread his fingers, enlarging that section of the image. The door appeared to be the only way into the most heavily secured area. It was thick, with bands of wiring running around the whole shell. Lee estimated it was magnetically activated and could not be turned by hand. If they tried to shut off power, the door would lock and would be unable to be moved. There was only a single portal into the chamber and it revolved on a cushion of magnetic force.

  “If we get past that, we only have to get into the vault area and deal with six more guards with more nasty pistols and such. Openin’ the doors to the cell should be easy after that, if we can get to the control panel.”

  “Where did you get this?” Henry asked, leaning in close to peer at the display.

  “I got a friend in the company that makes the door security systems,” Connor said with a smile. Don’t worry, it’s accurate.”

  “So how do we do it?” Lee asked, his mood darkening as he looked at the hologram. “I don’t really see a way in.”

  “That’s because you think like a captain, Captain,” Connor said. “You need to get back to bein’ dirty, Lee. You were more fun back then.”

  “I don’t need to have a dirty mind…” Lee began before stopping himself. “That’s why we have you. What’s the plan?”

  “It ain’t gonna be easy, and it’s gonna take time, but if I was gonna do this I would need to call in some of the Corsairs and get some things in place first. We need to do this slow to avoid suspicion, and it may take a few things you might not like…”

  “I won’t kill Alliance personnel, Connor. I’ve already made that clear,” Lee said.

  “I ain’t talkin’ killin’ anyone, Lee,” Connor replied. “Now, if you’re really serious, this is what we’re gonna do…”

  Super-Maximum Security Facility – Vadne

  Twenty Four Hours Later

  “Identify yourself.”

  “Alliance Security transfer. Officer number one-one-eight-six-five.”

  “We have no record of a prisoner transfer, eleven-eight-sixty-five. Please identify prisoner.”

  “Unable to comply, control. Prisoner of high priority and classified.”

  “Submit security clearance for prisoner.”

  Farthing reached into his gray uniform and produced a single micro-disk. He slid the disk into the slot on the side of the guard’s data pad. A bright series of lights shone along the side and the guard, a fellow Vadne with dark stripes along his flanks, read the data. Farthing had disguised his own pure white fur with orange hair dye. The dye smelled foul when applied, but he had bathed and hid the scent from his own senses and hoped others could not smell the scent on him.

  “Your clearances are good, eleven-eight-sixty-five,” the guard said, handing the chip back.

  “I am called Dobra,” Farthing added. “May I enter?”

  The guard looked at Farthing with keen eyes. He could see the other Vadne sniffing the air and felt his crest rise slightly in embarrassment. After checking him out, the guard stepped to the prisoner. The man’s hands were bound with magnetic cuffs and his head was covered with a thick opaque helmet to obscure his identity. A hand scan revealed no weapons on his person or in the pockets of his navy blue duty uniform. The rank pins and identifying tags had all been removed.

  “Human?” the guard asked.

  “I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of this prisoner,” Farthing said in an even tone. “So I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  The guard chuffed a sound through his snout and moved on to Farthing’s escort. The woman was petite, with long blond hair that cascaded over her gray uniform. She had a pleasant face that reminded the guard of one of the retail vendors in the city park. She smiled a pleasant smile and presented her identity card. He scanned the card and woman with no real interest. Finally, he stepped aside and motioned to the other guard to open the outer door.

  Farthing walked the prisoner through the massive doors and into the inner area of the prison. Each side of the open space was fenced off and lesser prisoners were milling about in the yard. He saw Tonal and human prisoners, but very few of his own kind. These were dangerous people, but not serious enough to warrant solitary confinement. Guard stations on each corner and a force field above prevented any hope of escape by the criminals inside. The trio finally reached the inner doors to the security wing and stopped. Their identities were checked again and they were let into a small, secure office with blacked out windows. Farthing waited for the arrival of the warden, a thickly muscled Vadne with shaggy black fur covering his entire body.

  “Please identify your prisoner,” the warden said as he entered the room. “I don’t have time for Alliance games.”

  “The prisoner surrendered himself to the authorities on the colony world of Restallo. He has been peaceful and cooperative, but the Alliance has not yet interrogated him,” Farthing recited.

  “I don’t care about all that. Just tell me why
he is travelling under classified transport and omega level clearance.”

  In response, Farthing reached under the helmet and unlocked the seal. Carefully, he pulled the bowl-shaped enclosure from the prisoner’s head. Inside the helmet, the man’s face was further obscured by a breather mask with attached oxygen filters. The pleasant woman reached over and tugged the straps, pulling the mask from the man’s face. The warden was stunned as the human blinked his eyes and shook his dark head. As the man’s eyes cleared and he was able to make out his surroundings, the warden came around the desk to get a better look. The man stared up into the Vadne’s face and smiled.

  “Pleased to meet you,” he said. “I’m Captain Lee Pearce.”

  Twenty Four Hours Later

  A computer malfunction in the air recycling system forced the warden to call for service from the manufacturer. The prison was large enough to need a system originally designed for a starship and could not be easily fixed by the on-site maintenance workers. When the technicians arrived, they were passed through the employee entrance and subjected to the same scans and background checks as any of the prison’s visitors. The human, a small dark man with glasses and a thin line of fur on his upper lip, seemed to be the smarter of the two despite his difficult to understand accent. He took the other, a massive four-armed Karisien, directly to the recycling unit to begin work.

  The two worked for an hour before splitting up and tracking down the fault in relay junctions on opposite ends of the facility. Access to the secure area was limited, as that system branched away from the main line and moved through a different recirculation matrix, but they were escorted past the inner corridor leading to the thick revolving door. Another two hours of work and the pair announced the repair successful and packed up their equipment. They met in the main courtyard and were escorted back through the entrance. The workers, dressed in the clean jumpsuits of the Veles Corporation, walked away and disappeared into the Vadne crowd. Once far enough away and ensconced in a restaurant booth, Rene Malik took a comm from his tool bag and called the small room where Melaina and Connor were waiting.

  “It’s done,” he said. “The packages are delivered and crawling around the air ducts. We should be able to see everything from there.”

  “Got it, Rene,” Melaina replied. “Thanks, and get changed.”

  Rene looked back to Tuxor seated opposite him. As he reached back into the bag to return his comm, his hand brushed a small metal ball. The ball uncoiled reflexively, revealing a tiny mechanical insect with a single red eye. As it coiled back, a tiny puff of white smoke was ejected from the device. Rene felt his fingers tingle as they passed through the smoke.

  “What?” Rene said to the mechanical bug. “You got lost from your brothers? Insectes mécaniques stupides!”

  Twenty-Four Hours Later

  The guards inside the super-max cells were on a rotating schedule. Teams of three entered the vault before the former shift left. At no time was there less than six guards stationed within, guarding the three prisoners. The pleasant-looking security officer was kept in the visitor wing until their orders released them back to Vadne. She rarely spoke, but seemed to enjoy the company of the many human officers stationed there.

  When Joaquim Garcia exited after his long shift, he wanted only to have a cup of the local excuse for coffee and go back to bed. Standing in line, watching his fellows take fruit or other sustenance, made him realize how unaccustomed to the local diurnal cycle he had been. Others had no problem sleeping, but the oddly rotating cycle of duty in the windowless vault played havoc with his sleep. He spent most of his time walking patrol around the cells and wondering who the new arrival was. Omega security meant no one had been told the identity of the new prisoner or why he was there, so the other guards would try to guess to pass the time. Joaquim had money on the prisoner being Connor Jakes, but he doubted even that rogue deserved the security the new man was receiving.

  When the pleasant-looking woman approached, he smiled. She had always seemed to enjoy his company when they sat together, and he felt a certain kinship with her. She had called herself Janice and said she had not gotten used to her body’s rhythm either. She reached past him and grabbed a cup of coffee from the counter and set it on his tray.

  “Hi,” he said, a pleasing smile on his face. “I was waiting for you.”

  “Yeah,” she replied, pointing at a table in the corner. “I got us a place.”

  Joaquim felt his face go flush as he paid for the coffee and walked to the secluded table. Janice smiled as he approached. He didn’t notice when her hand brushed his identity badge, or when her hand flared amber for a moment. He only noticed her smile and how she smelled faintly of water displacement lubricant. When she left, he thought briefly of their conversation and how sweet she seemed to be, if very naïve. In the end, he filed it under a strange meeting and left, dreaming of his next meeting with the pleasant girl.

  Twenty Four Hours Later

  “Alright then,” Connor Jakes said, as the teams regrouped in the small hotel room. “Time to go…”

  7

  It began with a cough. Seventy-two hours after Prisoner Omega, as he was being called by the guards, was placed in the solitary super-max cell and the windows were made opaque, the man coughed. It wasn’t loud and it wasn’t heard by the guards, but it was important to the overall plan, because the cough ejected small microbes into the air which were detected by the air handlers and recognized as containing the Restallan Plague virus. The air handlers immediately sealed the air system inside the cell and began pumping anti-viral agents into the surrounding areas. It was all automatic and all because of the cough.

  “Please identify yourself.”

  The guard stood, as always, by the outer door of the prison next to his counterpart. Both Vadne men had seen just about every permutation of alien trying to gain access to a loved one. Those at the door now presented an interesting but not unexpected appearance. The one in charge was a human, less than two meters tall, wearing a slate-gray suit with no distinguishing marks. He had long black hair tied at the base of his skull and carried an identity badge giving him omega clearance.

  Travelling with the man was a small creature with eight arms, wearing a navy blue uniform custom tailored for his form and a military ID which gave his name as … totally incomprehensible. With them were three uniformed military security guards in full battle dress, helmets and visors down. As the first man lowered his badge, the guard asked the question again.

  “Please identify yourself.”

  “I have already shown you my clearance,” the human said. “I hold omega clearance and that should be enough. Please don’t ask again.”

  “Your clearance checks out, sir. Your identity does not,” the guard replied, pulling his sidearm and holding it to his side. “According to my data, you are dead.”

  “Soldier, I have given you omega clearance papers. What does that mean to you?”

  “No outside communications. Highest security protocols, sir.”

  “So my identity being false might be indicated?”

  “I … I’m not really—”

  “Get me the warden.”

  “I’ve already put in the call.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” replied the agent. “Over here.”

  The agent stepped back to his companions and stared back at the guard. The guard resumed his position by the outer gate, hand on pistol, watching. It took several long minutes until the warden arrived, his fur matted with sweat and his uniform slightly askew. He took a quick glance at the documentation provided by the agent before stepping over to the group. The guard did not replace his pistol.

  “Agent Sandoval?” the warden asked. “I am Warden Rai. We weren’t expecting you.”

  “You have a prisoner here under omega protocols, correct?” Sandoval replied, holding up his ident badge again. “We are here to take him back to Earth for interrogation. If you weren’t expecting us, you don’t understand omega.”

&
nbsp; “It’s just that, well, we thought since we had the other two here for interrogation, we would be conducting the investigation into Captain—”

  “Warden Rai!” Sandoval said, holding up a hand to silence the man. “It is apparent you cannot be trusted with this level of security. It is imperative we move this prisoner now before you reveal his identity to the whole galaxy. My men can take it from here.”

  Sandoval pushed past the warden and stepped to the gate. The guard withered under his stare but did not open the door. Sandoval turned and stared at the warden.

  “Open the gates,” Rai ordered, hurrying to the agent’s side. “We must talk, though. There’s been a problem.”

  “Inside,” Sandoval replied, stepping past the gate as the door slid open. “I am not sure I trust you out here.”

  The group moved through the portal into the outer yard. Sandoval kept a quick pace as they moved to the inner door and past the security checkpoint, flashing his ident as they passed. The warden waved away the guards as they tried to stop the agent from entering. The octopod agent brushed the dust from his tentacles as they raced through the corridor and through the inner doors. There was no word from the helmeted military soldiers behind. Two of the guards were average size for a human, but one was a hulking brute with a custom rifle that Rai had never seen before. He couldn’t even guess at the man’s species under the padded armor and helmet.

  “You have an office?” Sandoval asked.

  “Yes, we can use my private offices in the maximum security wing,” Rai said, huffing to keep up, his shaggy fur beginning to show even more signs of his agitation. His crest was beginning to rise as they moved further into the facility. “I can enact secure protocols there.”

  “The guards will wait in the super-max facility,” Sandoval said, waving the guards down the corridor towards the secure wing.