(Callie)
The city of Berdant hung there, growing larger by the second. Her eyes widened, the cities blocking out the entire view of the camera as they approached.
Callie tapped on the display flipping through channels until she found the right channel. "This is Tallis one zero three. Requesting permission to dock."Callie said, anxiously.
"Copy Tallis one zero three. Standby while we scan your ship."A woman said, her tone strict, no nonsense.
She sat with baited breath her eyes on the display as powerful sensors scanned their ship thoroughly. The damned scanner was so invasive that it could probably tell how many scratches were on the hull. The thought stressed her out, as they were in a stolen ship, with stolen identification codes, and fake IDs.
She was heavily mistrustful of the IDs, as they were created by Villus. That man was incredibly selfish, and usually only had his own best interest in mind.
She jumped in her couch as the radio in her helmet came back on.
"Tallis one zero three this is flight control tower four. You are cleared for approach. We have sent you coordinates toward docking bay. Match the proper speed and heading.
We have matched orbital speed Broadcasting identification codes requesting permission to dock.
This was only a rough estimate, as the vast amount of traffic between the three cities orbiting Proxima made that a wild guess. The relatively tiny hole opening in the green barrier stood out like a splotch on a white tablecloth.
Ahead of her, the underside of the shimmering green barrier surrounding the colossal city parted.
Callie's helmet screen highlighted a three d image of the city. The hologram directed her with a red dot that guided the ship to the small opening in the green barrier.
Around their small falcon, hundreds of white dots swarmed. They darted like hornets after a well-placed shot hit their nest.
"You are in bay thirteen thousand and five," said a bored flight control worker in Zrixian.
" Affirmative, maneuvering in to dock." Reply Callie, her throat tingling as she spoke in Zrixian.
Through the three d holographic model, Callie watched as Villus expertly guided the falcon into the small docking birth.
"Engaging docking clamp." Said Villus. The ship jostled in the small berth. Callie toggled the comms,
" Bay thirteen thousand and five. We are docked and waiting for pressure." said Callie.
" Affirmative, sealing you in. Stand by for the pressurization of your bay." said the bored voice.
Through the window, nothing seemed to happen. All Callie could see was the plain composite wall in front of the ship.
" Your bay is pressurized. You may exit the ship. Proceed to the dockmaster. Please provide identification or they will not allow you to enter the city above." Said flight control.
Callie pulled her helmet off her head. She sighed in relief. The helmet was comfortable for a short period, but after prolonged use, the padding pushed her ears against her head. Her short black hair fell over her eyes and around her face. Callie reached up, gathering her hair and taking an elastic band from her pocket as she tied her hair in a ponytail.
Callie caught Warren's eye and winked at him. She had so much she wanted to talk to him about, but she couldn't do that with Villus in the ship. Callie gathered her pack and put several boxes of spare bullets for her 223 into her bag. After the Zrixians found out they had travelled through the jump gate, it would only be a matter of time before the ship was found and impounded.
Callie reached under her chair and unclamped the storage box. She checked the contents and grinned. Inside was high tech holographic mobile stealth device. The mouthful of a name wasn't feasible. Callie creased her brow. She would call it a Can, she decided.
During her training, her instructors had been thorough in teaching her to use them, but these were the field grade equipment. They were only assigned on graduation. She smiled, peeling away the plastic of the personal device. It was blue with a hard shelled black and white protective alloy. She glanced up, noticing Warren eying his own like a boy on holiday.
Warren's eyes were wide as he slowly peeled the plastic from his own orange and grey device. He grinned like an idiot, practically bouncing in excitement.
" What are you naming yours?" Asked Callie, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.
" A name? It's personal comm device." Said Warren, staring at Callie like she was crazy.
"I'm calling mine Can." said Callie, stone faced. Warren burst out laughing.
" I can just imagine it. Hey Callie, can I use your Can? How are you going to know when people mean the restroom." Said Warren boisterously.
Callie rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
" On second thought ill think of a better name."said Callie forcing a flush from her cheeks.
Villus glanced disapproving at Warren's show of emotion. But, as always, Warren didn't seem to care about the instructor's disapproval.
The Zrixians created the comm devices, but the Etrians improved on them. Now the devices were compatible with the negative art. This device was a Secari's most prized possession. Any attempt by a Zrixian to use one would end in a horrible death. The devices would react poorly if they were activated with the positive art.
" I am calling mine brain tumor." Said Villus, much to Callie's surprise.
" Why are you calling it that?" Asked Callie, eying Villus cautiously. The man calm his lean-shaven face, powerful jaw and dark brown hair striking a kind-looking man. Underneath that baggy clothing, she knew him to be lean and athletic. A far cry from the cold-hearted, ruthless man she knew him to be. Villus didn't reach down and grab a new device. He reached up, holding out his palm. The air over his palm churned. Dark lines intersected by pin prices of light in a web formed in the air as Villus used his art. Metal crawled along his fingers into his palm, forming into a device similar to Callie's own. It was a plain hued device in silver and black, matching Villuses dower personality.
" The earlier models of this device were not properly insulated. We didn't understand what we were putting on our bodies until some of our people started getting radiation burns. Two Secari died horribly. One had a brain tumor, and the other died of radiation poisoning." Said Villus casually.
Callie glanced from Villus to her sleek palm sized device. Her excitement waned, and she swallowed, clutching the cool metallic device nervously.
" They fixed that, right? We won't get sick from integrating with this?" asked warren holding the item away from himself, like one would hold a porcupine.
" Yes, it's fixed. The problem was we were using the wrong materials to line the core. We thought we could substitute our own materials from Etria, but we were mistaken. The Zrixians have a monopoly on the shielding element. They harvest the gasses from Proxima's atmosphere, and refine it." Said Villus.
Callie glanced at her device. It appeared like a pocket device now, but that was just for show. Once she fed her art throughout its system, the device would bond with her and she could adjust its shape. The device could look like nearly anything from a watch to a necklace, but after that story, Callie was weary of putting it around her neck. It would become an extension of her power. It had limitations, however. She could split its mass, but she still needed to keep all of its mass on her. The tech was a combination of both the Art and human ingenuity. Callie steeled herself. She didn't know why she was hesitating? For years now, she had wanted one. They were the hallmark of the Secari, and only a rare few people had one.
The Zrixians had devices very similar. The key differences were the malware coded into her device and the negative art used to activate it. She could scan in at a terminal and the security would read her identification. Once she left, the malicious malware would erase that data. She would still need to use a fake name, but that was only for passing through borders. After all, she couldn't erase the memories of the person who had seen it.
She placed her finger on the cold blue metal screen and focused her art through the machine's pathways. Her reservoir of energy emptied by nearly a quarter over the next ten seconds as the device scanned her energy pattern.
Her body tingled, and the device turned on responding to her Art. Callie grinned as a hologram flowed up from the comm device. The device flashed and a beam of light scanned her from head to toe. A second later, the hologram formed an image of a person.
Floating in front of her in a light blue hue was a lifelike image of Callie. The woman was tall; the device labeled her at six feet three inches. She was dressed in baggy cargo pants and a snug shirt clinging to her athletic body. She wore a leather shoulder holster under her left arm with her suppressed 223. Her hair was tied behind her head in a tight ponytail, keeping her dark black hair out of her eyes.
Callie stared at the small, lifelike hologram. Her eyes were hazel, but if she looked closely, she could see a light green splotch in the right retina. The hologram moved as Callie did. Callie smiled. She struck a daring pose, one hand on her hip, and tossed her hair over her shoulder sassily with the other.
Warren laughed, breaking Callie from her antics. She closed the hologram and glanced at Warren, who was trying to hide his amusement at her behaviour. Villus glared up at her from his work. The instructor dug around in his box, slipping the spare com into his own cargo pants.
Callie glanced at the only empty chair in the falcon and reached over, removing the box within. She took the spare device from within and tucked it into her pocket. Villus caught her eye but said nothing. Villus went back to typing furiously on the keyboard projection of his own comms device.
It was several minutes of waiting before Villus finished.
" I have adjusted our identification files. Once you scan at the terminal, it will give them a false name, but it will give them your image. Study your profile before leaving. If they ask you questions, you will need to be prepared." Said Villus. Villus held his device to the center consol in the cockpit. His comm device turned on and a message scrolled across the screen in Zrixian.
Download complete.
Warren copied the gesture and his own orange and grey device repeated the message.
Callie walked down the metal lined aisle, keeping one hand on her knife while she placed her comm device on the scanner.
In a blue hue, her device lit up.
Download complete.
Eying Villus wearily, Callie backed away, not trusting the man in the slightest. It relieved her Warren was here, as turning her back to others made her extremely nervous.
" We are splitting up here. Callie, you will leave first. Followed by Warren and then I will leave last. I need to stay behind and wipe the ship down. Any information about us needs to be removed." Said Villus. Callie nodded, but despite Villuse's words, she disinfected her chair and her helmet. Warren seemed to share Callie's distrust and did the same. After all, it was Villus who had trained them to trust no one.
Callie gestured towards the back of the ship, and Warren rose to his feet, finished with his task. He saunters across the metal planking silent in his soft soled boots. With a gloved hand, she pressed the button near the back and the ship's rear ramp lowered. Callie followed Warren until they were well out of hearing range of the instructor.
" What's up? Are you exited for our mission?" asked Warren, cracking a white-toothed smile.
" Yeah, I just wanted to see how you're doing?" Asked Callie.
Warren's bright smile faltered for a second. He took in a deep breath, meeting her eyes with his trade mark cocky grin.
" Peyton is still alive, Call. We are going to save him." Said Warren, his voice filled with confidants.
" What about the instructor? I know you have seen it. He isn't planning to help save the others. To him, they are just tools, a weapon. A weapon that has lost its usefulness." Said Callie in a low voice.
Warren leaned back on his heels in a relaxed manner and smirked.
" Well, we have you and me. When we split off and separate, I will keep in touch. We will find out what we can and when we discover where they are holding Peyton, we will go free him." Said Warren, reaching out his hand and proffering his comms device to Callie. Callie touched her device to his and focused her art on her device. A screen appeared in the air above her device.
Warning unknown device, do you want to add them to your contacts? Callie hit yes.
"Device number 1, list name?" asked Callie's device. Callie pondered the request, she then input the name.
Warren's eyebrows rose and he winked at Callie playfully.
"Really, that is the name it listed you under on your device?" asked Warren.
" You were not supposed to see that. And besides, no one else is going to see it." said Callie, sticking her tongue out at Warren defiantly.
" But why, I mean seriously, you're calling yourself the Wiley fox?" asked Warren, scrunching up his face in confusion.
"Well, it's because the hoppers are a reference to bunny rabbits. And foxes can easily catch and kill rabbits." said Callie defensively.
Warren burst out laughing.
" Where is Peyton when I need him? If he were here, he would tell you that is a horrible joke. Who even comes up with that kind of thing?" asked Warren, smirking.
"When we save him, I will just have to run my idea past Peyton. Then he will tell you that you are being crazy. My names are always top notch." said Callie, enjoying the moment of levity.
" You are calling me crazy? You are the one that volunteered to infiltrate-"
Callie raised her hand and covered Warren's mouth. She felt his hot breath against her palm, but Warren quieted. Warren tensed at her touch. Like Callie, he was not used to being touched gently. But she was perhaps one of the few people who Warren wouldn't attack for violating his personal space.. Even so, it was clear Warren was uncomfortable with her proximity.
Callie glanced around the small docking berth. There was a small camera in the corner with a light blinking on the top.
" We will talk later on the comms. I need to get going. I have a job to do. Plus, you too much of a loud mouth to lie successfully to these hoppers." Said Callie, slinging her bag over her shoulders.
Warren burst out laughing as Callie turned towards the catwalk leading to a side door around the front of the ship. The door went right past the shimmering green barrier to an elevator. Callie enters the elevator. There were one hundred buttons, each labeled with a number. Each leading to a different floor under the city. She pressed the button leading to the surface. The elevator beeped and in a monotone Zrixian cadence said.
" Please insert clearance code."
Callie sighed. Of course, it wasn't that easy. She would need to go see the dockmaster. As the elevator rose, Callie glanced down at her side arm. She read her file, the script hanging in the air like a television only she could see. Apparently, she was an investigator with level five clearance just high enough to carry the weapon. She had been planning to take it off, but it appeared she didn't need to do that. Callie took in a deep breath. It was show time. From here on she was a low ranking Zrixian investigator applying to join the secretive Devali.