Page 31 of True As Steel

Shalla shook her head, as if stunned, and tried to sit up. “Yeah, just shaken a bit,” she mumbled. “That fucking piece of shit speeder had it in for me…”

They both looked in my direction. I picked up the speeder by its handles and led it after me. Although it still hovered, it clearly didn’t want to fly straight.

“Help me up, will you?” Shalla asked, passing an arm over the driver’s shoulder without waiting for his response.

The driver immediately complied, supporting Shalla with his own arm around her back, while Miko held our secret ally’s other arm. With an award-winning performance, Shalla appeared to waver for a second on her feet before stabilizing herself.

“Thanks, guys,” she said, before giving a sheepish look to the driver. “Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t mess up your vehicle.”

At that instant, the driver finally realized that he was somewhat surrounded with Miko towering over him and Shalla, Tamryn standing a few meters behind me, and me closing in on them with the speeder. He swallowed hard, casting a nervous glance at his vehicle before eyeing the gawkers that were observing from a distance.

“His truck looks fine from here,” Tamryn said nonchalantly. “It’s your speeder you should worry about. I doubt you’re going anywhere else with it.”

“Right,” Shalla said, looking dejected.

“Let me go check the truck,” the driver said, obviously eager to get away from us.

I exchanged a look with Shalla while handing over her speeder. She discreetly blinked to confirm she had successfully placed the spy cam in the fold of his shoulder. While the driver quickly inspected the front of his truck, also checking that no one had tampered with the cargo in the back, I interfaced with the camera. My subtle smile confirmed to my team that I could indeed see the camera feed through the heads-up display of my retinal implants.

“I’m all good here,” the driver called out, standing close to his vehicle door. “You’re going to be okay? I kind of need to get going. I’m on a tight schedule, and the big boss doesn’t kid around.”

“I’ll be fine,” Shalla said with a grateful smile. “Sorry again for the inconvenience. I was on my way to buy a new one anyway. May the rest of your trip be less eventful.”

The driver gave Shalla a relieved smile, jumped back in his vehicle, and took off.

“Take it easy,” I told Shalla, before going back to Tamryn’s side.

Hand in hand, we returned to our table on the terrace where Miko joined us shortly after making sure Shalla ‘was all right’ after such a tumble. The gawkers also scattered, many looking disappointed at the absence of blood and gore. But I had no time for them, too busy scanning the inside of the driver’s vehicle for any information that could be of value to us, like access codes or maps of the building.

There was only a delivery manifest with the times, gates, and ID of the packages that were to be delivered in each location. The driver delivered the third package in the building we wanted. It was perfect to give us a bit more time at the pub as us leaving right after the incident would have raised suspicions. Still, when the driver reached the security gate of the delivery entrance, the guards gave him some extra scrutiny as his abrupt and unexpected stop along the way had been logged in their system. Thankfully, the driver’s sincerity, the brevity of his stop, and the still sealed doors of his shipment convinced the guards to let him proceed. The whole time, I tracked everything the driver saw, including the access codes to the various buildings of the facility he entered.

“Let’s go,” I said after paying the waiter.

We hurried to the weapons plant, entering through the front door like any patron or main floor employee. The guards manning the front desk didn’t bother people coming and going as they mainly provided information to those asking for directions. Restricted areas either required codes or keycards. Miko separated from us. As a genius hacker, his job was to facilitate our access to the bowels of the base and to create a diversion if things got hairy too soon.

We headed to the shipping and delivery department, timing ourselves to arrive at the same time someone was coming out. I could have hacked the lock but didn’t want to risk exposing us this early on. Boxes, packages, and a slew of weapons filled the place. Dozens of people buzzed around, handling the goods, enough to equip an entire army. We made our way to the large elevators at the back which led to the underground, walking with confidence, as if we owned the place. Despite the few distracted glances occasionally cast in our direction, no one really paid us any mind. They worked for a ruthless employer, and no one would think anyone foolish enough to try anything against Grellik.

A series of neatly packed crates next to the elevators awaited their turn to be brought down. I made a beeline for the hovercart they sat on top of and pushed it inside the lift. Tamryn picked up a different, smaller package and followed me in. I punched in the code the driver had previously used to bring his delivery down into the secured base. The doors closed, and Tamryn popped into her mouth the antidote pill Haelin had provided her for the gas Miko would soon release through the ventilation system. Although the nanobots flooding my system would quickly dissipate the effect of the gas on me, I decided to play it safe by taking one as well. No point in straining them needlessly, especially with me about to potentially enter battle.

“I can’t wait to get out of here and get some fresh air. It feels a little stale right now,”Miko’s voice said through my earpiece.

This was his coded way of informing us the safety mechanisms on the ventilation systems were deactivated, and that he’d begun releasing the gas inside the base. Tamryn and I exchanged a triumphant smile but didn’t reply as we couldn’t risk being overheard.

“There should also be some eye-popping surprises any minute now,”the hacker continued.“Our guys have been receiving a few notifications.”

Translation: the gazers would soon begin to attack the power generators and computer systems of the spaceport. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Once down in the base, Tamryn and I could only roam around for so long before raising suspicions. Our only chance was for everyone to be out of commission or focused on something else.

When the elevator doors parted, the security guard at the desk right next to it lifted his head to see who was coming out. His gaze slipped over my face, barely seeing it, although it lingered half a beat on my imposing frame before settling on the hovercart laden with crates. He absentmindedly looked at Tamryn before doing a double-take. The lecherous once over he gave her made me want to punch him in the throat. She politely nodded at him before going on her way in a different direction than me. The guard reciprocated the gesture, but she’d already moved on. That didn’t stop him from ogling the firm globes of her perfect behind as she turned into the hallway left of the guard post.

We had no idea where the Cyborg was being held. Splitting up would allow us to cover a greater area faster without pushing our scanners too much to detect the distinctive hyperalloy that coated a Cyborg’s skeleton. I could only hope that the gas would knock out most of the people here before anyone realized what was happening.

I walked past a series of research labs with large glass windows that gave a clear view of most of what was happening inside. I kept advancing, my scanner still not picking up anything. I hated not being able to communicate with Tamryn, or with anyone else from my crew for that matter. As a Cyborg, I’d been spoiled being able to communicate mentally through my closed neural network. Now, I felt crippled.

But all somber thoughts fled from my mind as I reached the final junction of the corridor. Far to my left, the corridor dipped into a small decline leading to a massive set of reinforced doors. There was no question in my mind they were holding the Cyborg in there. The presence of another guard post by the entrance of that secured room further validated my suspicions.

I made to enter that corridor when movement at the edge of my vision caught my eye. One of the men working inside one of the development labs waved at me through the glass window. I cursed under my breath and stood still. The man quickly exited the room and walked up to me.

“Those appear to be the crystals and other parts I’d been waiting for,” the man exclaimed, his tone slightly accusatory. “Where are you going with those?”

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