It was around midnight when Iren contacted them. A simple text message flashed over Viktor’s neural link. “Arrangements are complete. Shipment leaves New Star’s warehouse at 0400 with or without you. Coordinates attached. Good Luck.”
As soon as he got the message, Viktor roused Lydia and Lance and started making final preparations for departure. Once they were ready, they all piled into Lance’s personal hovercar. It took about an hour to get to the warehouse, the trip spent in silence, each thinking about the mission ahead.
The warehouse was a massive building lined with large doors for loading and unloading. Many of these were in use, despite the early hour, hovervehicles being loaded up and preparing for long distance travel. One vehicle stood out among the rest, being the only vehicle capable of true air travel. It was docked about four doors down, and was easily identifiable by its sleek, aerodynamic design, and by its wings, which were folded inwards to conserve space.
Viktor took in everything quickly, then grabbed his pack and got out of the hovercar, motioning for Lydia to follow. “Thanks for the ride, Lance. We’ll be in touch once we land. You know what to do in the meantime.” Lance nodded as Lydia joined Viktor. “Good luck you two. There won’t be much I can do from this side, but you’ll have my support, such that it is. Go get ‘em.” With those words Lance drove off, leaving Viktor and Lydia alone.
Lydia looked over at her partner. “You ready for this?”
Viktor started walking as he responded. “Ready or not, it’s time. Let’s see what Iren has for us.”
They entered through a business entrance, finding a tiny reception area with a bored-looking young man at the desk. He looked up as they entered, then his vision unfocused, eyes moving back and forth as he consulted his neural link. After he found what he was looking for, his eyes refocused on Viktor.
“You’re early. If you would follow me.” With that, he turned and walked through a door in the back of the room, looking back to make sure the duo followed. They did, and entered the warehouse proper.
About half of the cavernous space was filled with shelves and pallets containing boxes and bins, each clearly labeled. The other half was mostly open, with the large loading doors along the left wall. Some were open, conveyors carting supplies into waiting vehicles. A few workers kept an eye on everything, making sure all the boxes were correctly loaded.
Viktor and Lydia followed their impromptu guide to the fourth door, where he gestured they enter the docked vehicle. “There are seats for you two, as well as a small gift from Mr. Morris. Departure is at 0400 exactly, so if you choose to leave for any reason, such as to use the washroom, ensure you are back aboard before then, or you will be left behind. Thank you for choosing New Star, and enjoy your trip.”
After giving his spiel, the man turned on his heel and went back to the reception area, leaving Viktor and Lydia more or less alone. They hopped up into the cargo area of the vehicle, finding a space about the size of an average living room, with a seat on either side connected to the far wall, which separated the cargo area from the cockpit. As they sat, they both received a ping on their neural links, requesting to download a file.
They accepted, and their neural links suddenly displayed a small packet of information. Foremost was a note from Morris, giving them a little more information. Lydia read it out loud after opening it.
“My friends, please forgive the way I had this message delivered, I wanted to ensure it could not be intercepted. I hope you have prepared everything you need. This is not going to be an easy endeavor. After we talked, I did some digging. Kyle Logren has spared no expense in safeguarding the facility from intrusion. He has employed a hundred guards, of which twenty five are always on duty, the rest housed in an on-site barracks. Every conceivable security measure has been taken, from airlock doors that require dual authorization from both sides, to infrared tripwires, and if that wasn’t enough, everything there is biometric, keyed to only a few specific people. I hope you have a plan, because from here, it looks impenetrable. But in order to help you as much as possible, I have attached some files that I was able to rustle up.”
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Viktor sifted through the rest of the packet, finding schematics and parameters for the facility and its security. Lydia’s voice broke him out of his study.
“How was he able to find all this? It’s incredible.”
Viktor grunted. “He has lots of contacts and is technically neutral. That gets him a lot of places many others can’t get to. These plans change things. We need to revise our strategy now that we have specifics,”
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They spent the next few hours planning and revising the operation, taking the new details into account. They simplified as much as they could, knowing that the more complicated it was, the higher chance that something would go wrong.
As they planned, the vehicle was loaded with boxes and bins, getting ready for departure. As they finalized their plans, they felt a slight shudder go through the transport, as it disconnected from the dock and then a brief moment of weightlessness as the inertial stabilizers kicked in and the vehicle took off.
Viktor spent the flight modifying his arm, with occasional help from Lydia. It would have to be able to do things that he hadn’t originally designed it for, so modification was necessary.
Usually work like this did a great job of keeping his mind off the mission at hand, but this time his mind spun as he worked, constantly revolving around the same few thoughts; of Kyle Logren’s treachery, Katelyn’s secrecy, including the sudden appearance of Lydia, and now their plans to infiltrate a nigh impenetrable facility to hopefully prevent the damage Logren’s treachery could inflict.
The hours passed slowly, Lydia watching him pensively as he worked. She didn’t want to bother him, but hated the nervous tension that was thick and palpable in the air, like the very space between them was filled with molasses.
Finally, the silence was too much and she spoke. “Do you really think we’ll be able to pull it off?”
Viktor looked up, surprised at the words, almost the first spoken since they had taken off, then grunted, going back to his tinkering. When he didn’t answer, Lydia kept speaking.
“The odds are stacked against us. We’re going into this with barely a plan and some equipment you rigged up in your workshop, and we’re up against the best security systems money can buy. Do you really think there’s even a chance we’ll succeed?”
Viktor was taken aback by her expression of doubt and looked at her in surprise, taking in her worried eyes, the absent-minded chewing of her lip. She had up until now been his staunchest supporter, having seemingly boundless determination despite their troubled circumstances. Seeing her like this, worried and vulnerable caused his brain to come to a screeching halt, the previously tenacious thoughts fleeing like clouds before the desert sun.
It took him a couple moments to compose himself enough to give her an answer, going back to his tinkering to avoid her pleading gaze. “I’ll admit, I am not completely confident in our success, or even our survival. But we do have a few things going for us. The first is Iren’s help. With the plans he gave us, we will be much better prepared than we would have otherwise been. Second is that Logren will not be expecting us. Sure, he may have purchased all that security just in case, but I highly doubt he would expect us to come after it. Third is you.”
Lydia blinked at him in surprise. “Me?”
Viktor smiled faintly and looked her back in the eye, finally putting down the tool he had been using. “Yes, Lydia. You. You are our ace in the hole. Logren, I’m sure, knows nothing about your existence. He certainly doesn’t know you were personally trained by one of the greatest safecrackers in the world. So in all the measures he has taken, he would not have accounted for you. So despite my lack of complete confidence, I do believe that we can pull it off.” Lydia nodded, resolve condensing in her eyes once more.
Silence again descended, but the air was now much lighter, as if a window had been opened, letting in a cool summer breeze. Instead of tense and worry-inducing, the silence to both of them now felt companionable, the mountain that faced them seeming not quite so insurmountable.