Repayment Part 6

Posted on Thu Feb 23rd, 2012 @ 11:45am by Petty Officer First Class Tanner Willeg & Melody Johnson

2,195 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Mission 78 - Colonial Uprising
Location: The Blaze & Draken
Timeline: Current

The address Melody had been given was a seedy motel at the end of a dark street that resembled more of an alley than a street. Melody didn't go directly to the room number she had been given. Instead she stood behind a large trash receptacle (on Earth they called them dumpsters) and took out a small monocular which she used to locate the room she was looking for. She watched both the room and the motel office entrance for several minutes. Twice she saw the curtain over the window of the room move as though someone was looking out but whoever it was never stepped in front of the window so that she could see who it was. Finally she decided that there was no traffic to or from the room or, for that matter, the motel itself....everything seemed fairly quiet....so she left the shadows of the trash receptacle and moved silently and cautiously towards the motel room. She stood with her back against the wall on the left side of the room door and reached out with her left hand and knocked twice on the door.

"Who is it?" A male voice called out from the other side of the door.

"Mirren sent me," Melody said loud enough to be heard through the door but not loud enough to be heard by anyone further away then she removed a business card from her pocket. She heard the sound of locks being unlocked and the door opened a little bit and she could see someone peer out at her. She held out the business card so the person on the other side of the door could see it. A hand reached out and took the card from her then the door opened wider and Melody pushed it open farther and stepped into the room. As soon as she was inside she turned to face the person who had answered the door and glanced quickly around the room to make sure they were alone.

"You're a woman," the humanoid male said as he quickly closed the door and locked it.

"Last time I checked," Melody said evenly.

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting....I mean...," the man started to say.

"Forget it," Melody interrupted him. "I assume that you are Zefran Garth?"

The man nodded. "I am."

"I'm your ride out of here," Melody said. "I hope that you're ready to go because we're kinda on a tight schedule."

Garth finally moved away from the door and hurried over to the bed where a coat and small duffel bag lay.

Melody moved over to the window and gently moved the curtain just enough to be able to peek out. "Does anyone know you're here?" She asked as she surveyed the area outside of the room.

"Nobody," Garth answered as he put the coat on and picked up the bag.

"What about the desk clerk?" Melody asked.

"The room was already registered and the key sent to me," Garth answered. "I never went into the office."

"Good," Melody said, more to herself than to Garth. "Ready?" She asked turning away from the window.

"One thing," Garth said looking directly at Melody. He looked tired and frazzled....the typical look of someone on the run. "If something happens to me and I am unable to make it to our destination," he said and patted the duffel bag, "it is imperative that this does. It absolutely cannot end up in anyone else hands."

Melody looked at the bag and briefly wondered what was inside of it that was so important She didn't have time to wonder about it for long because the window behind her suddenly shattered and the lamp on the table in front of the window exploded into several pieces. Melody took two quick strides toward Garth and grabbed him, pulling him down to the floor with her.

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Sensor readings still scrolling, Tanner tapped the screen to hold the display and scrolled back.

=/=I am an advanced piece of artificial intelligence and highly intuitive technology, not a video game.=/=

"Well, go back to that thing then."

=/=What thing are you referencing?=/=

"Seriously?" The comment was one that had Tanner looking around her for easier way to get the information. "The sensors showed something other than empty space. That thing. Sort of an important thing. While I realize you'd be thrilled if I did have to escape from some alien prison, and even more so if I didn't manage it, I'm pretty sure you don't want to be in an alien impound lot, so bring back the thing... For the love of pig tails and converter belts, my PADD knows how to scroll."

=/=A PADD has the emotional capacity of a rock and little more intelligence.=/=

The results popped on-screen and Tanner leaned forward. "But it doesn't argue with me. Enlarge image. Give me a... map, geographical between us and them, general distance, and... what kind of sensors are they using. Where'd I put..."

A geographical map of Semtro popped up beside an image that appeared to be half a percent larger than before.
=/=Sensors of other vessel are unknown.=/=

"Seriously?" Patting at pockets, Tanner grumbled to herself, "I know I've got a PADD somewhere."

=/=This moon contains large deposits of...=/=

"Gratonium--I was listening. Will keep most sensors from detecting us, and so on..."

=/=Then you should not be surprised that it effects all sensors, not just others, and your PADD, which you left in the lounge area, will not help.=/=

((OOC: The Blaze giving you some problems? lol))
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As Melody dropped to the floor, dragging Garth down with her, her right hand went instinctively to her holster and removed her phaser pistol.

"What was that?" Garth cried out in surprise.

"I'd say someone was shooting at us," Melody said, a bit sarcastically. "Stay down!" She ordered. She crawled over to the wall underneath the shattered window and sat with her back against it. Slowly she eased her way up the wall until she was standing next to the window. She moved what was left of the tattered curtain and the glass that was still in the window erupted in a spray of shattered glass from a round of phaser fire coming from somewhere outside. Melody whipped around and fired several quick blasts in the general direction that the phaser rounds had come from. Anticipating that there would be return fire, Melody moved quickly out of view but not before getting a good look at the exact location of the phaser rounds. She waited until the return fire had stopped then she blindly fired several rounds out the window. Again there was return fire and Melody peeked around the window sill and was able to see that whoever it was that was shooting at them was doing so from behind the same trash receptive that she had stood behind only twenty minutes earlier. She quickly changed the settings of her phaser pistol to continuous and when the return fire stopped, she stepped in front of the window, aimed her phaser pistol at the trash receptive and fired one long blast. The continuous blast began to heat up the metal trash receptive enough to create a glow that illuminated the area around it and Melody was able to see the shadow of someone behind the trash receptacle She stopped firing and, with the flick of her thumb, changed the setting of her phaser pistol, aimed and watched the shadow. When she saw it move and partially disappear she fired three quick blasts. This time there was no return fire. She turned around and moved to Garth, grabbed the collar of his coat and pulled him to his feet.

"Out the back window," Melody ordered and shoved him in the direction of the window in the back wall of the motel room. Garth fumbled at the window and finally got it open. He hesitated climbing out of it until Melody gave him another shove. "Go!" She shouted.

"My bag," Garth protested, one leg dangling out of the window.

"I've got it....GO!" Melody shouted louder and she ran back and grabbed the duffel bag. By the time she returned to the back window Garth was standing on the ground outside. Melody tossed the duffel bag through the window then quickly climbed out of it. "Come on!" She ordered and took off running down the backside of the motel.

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Tanner returned from the lounge, PADD in hand, and triumphantly plopped back into the pilot's seat. "Blaze, dear friend, you are wrong."

=/=I am rarely incorrect, and we are not friends.=/=

Fingers tapping with much more ease across the small, familiar screen of the personal device than they had against the Blaze's console, Tanner didn't lift her gaze to respond, "rarely, but not never. And while you don't think so, I consider us friends. In fact, I'm going to ask for a favor. I need you to open your system up to..."

=/=I will not allow you access to my computer through that thing.=/=

"Limited access?" After a beat without response, Tanner tacked on, "you know you want to know what I'm doing... Please?" There was a flash that indicated limited access was granted and Tanner jumped out of her chair.

=/=How did you do that?=/=

Pacing the cockpit, Tanner waved a hand as she read over the new reading coming through via PADD and now simultaneously scrolling across the Blaze's console. Blaze made a sound that sounded distinctly like he was clearing his throat. "What?"

=/=I asked...=/=

"Okay, so at least we know what we're dealing with. Small cargo, several revamps, outdated. If I had to guess..."

Again, the throat clearing sound. Tanner rolled her eyes. "With the help of your limited sensors, it locked onto the other ship's signature, and gained access to their computer system. It's an algorithm, but I needed to narrow the parameters and get better range."

=/=I could have done that.=/=

Tanner nodded, and patted the console, "I know, but you were arguing with me. It would've taken too long."

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Melody could hear sirens in the distance and knew that the local law enforcers were on their way. "We gotta hurry," she said to Garth and stepped up her pace. When they got to the street they stopped running and walked, trying to look casual, down the sidewalk, heading out of town. About a block from the motel, Melody quickly turned down a side street and picked up their pace for another block then they turned onto another street...this one much less traveled than the main street the motel was on...and headed in the direction that would take them closer to the edge of town.

"I need to catch my breath," Garth wheezed as he struggled to keep up with Melody.

"We can both catch our breath when we are safely aboard my ship," Melody said firmly.

"If Mirren contacted you," Garth said, breathlessly, "you must be some kind of pirate or something."

"I prefer Privateer," Melody said. "Pirate sounds so.....cheap."

As they progressed along their way there were less and less buildings and words the end of the street most of the buildings they passed were abandoned. At the end of the street there was one last building that the street stopped right in front of. Melody led Garth around the side of the, what appeared to be an old warehouse of some sort. At the back of the building she stopped and motioned for Garth to stand against the back of the building then she took a look around....peering through the dirty and broken windows of the building. It was definitely empty. And from the look of things...had been for a very long time. She found a door and tried the knob. The knob turned, although stiff from years of rust, and, with the help of a small kick at the bottom of the door, the hinges creaked as the door opened. Melody leaned backward and looked at Garth and said, "Psst!" She motioned for him to join her and when he started moving towards her, she straightened up, took a small penlight from one of the pockets of her cargo pants and shined it around the interior of the building.

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Tanner studied the readings of the other ship sharing the moon they were hiding out on. *Whatever you do...* Melody's words echoed in her head, and the engineer bit her lip. "Okay, Blaze, I need..."

=/=Now what?=/=

The sensor signatures were one thing, the computer system was a little different. But if they could backtrack through the sensor readings and gain access to a science panel... "I need a general location for any lifesigns."

=/=Using their own sensor readings to check for lifesigns aboard their own vessel may lead them to notice our presence.=/=

"At this distance, they could pop a hatch, look outside and see us, Blaze."

=/=They have no reason to leave their vessel.=/=

"They're going to notice us soon, one way or another. I'd rather when it happens that we know more about them than they do about us."

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