Chapter 8: Scum and Villainy

“Are they sure the Lifen sensors are unable to reach this floor?” Stone asked.

“Quite,” Shira calmly explained as she closed out the side-mounted wall display. “The space station’s UWAN network is inadequate. I’m unable to establish connections with the upper floors.” She turned to look at English. “No matter ... Doctor, you take the lead.”

The four continued their walk down the long street into the deeper reaches of Valradena. The brothel was left behind. Ahead were a few more shops. Various individuals would gaze upon the four like they were mercenaries. The only path was forward or back.

“Excellent work, Doctor,” Shira commended him.

“Yes,” English replied in a similar manner.

“Sometime in the future, I would like to learn more about your history. I find it ... intriguing.”

“Hmph...,” Stone scuffed.

Ioren looked at Stone. The scene was never changing. Ahead were apartments in various shapes and conditions. As they passed by one set of doors, she could see what looked like a gang. They were a mix of different people, skinny and vulgar in looks. Some had greased their hair to stick out in a particular direction, swinging knives and makeshift clubs in their hands. The toughest of the group gave a mean look to Ioren before she quickly looked forward. Seeing the fact that they were armed with guns most likely discouraged them from coming closer.

Ioren began using her sign language. Stone caught on and relayed the information.

“She’s asking why Galanthis was naked,” the master sergeant said.

“You’re asking me?” English asked. “She’s always done it.”

“It’s her method of demonstrating strength,” Shira explained. “To her, the very concept of clothing is an annoyance, a lie of what one truly aspires to be, and a demonstration that she is genuine with her words. It reminds me of a Shal’rein cult known as the Xor’doreka that live on Shal’tar. They are ancient traditionalists that practice nudism and naked combat, believing that clothing is a restriction of their true battle potential.”

“Sounds idiotic,” Stone countered. “No body armor?”

“I admit, it isn’t a practical form of combat. Many of the common Shal’rein see it as a foolish endeavor. However, the Xor’doreka are known to be quite fearless and competent in hand-to-hand combat. Some Shal’rein commanders even give them the honor to ride into battle based on their beliefs. I myself had a companion who was one of these members. Otherwise, they will serve in traditional rear-guard duties, using their laser tridents when needed.”

“You are correct, Captain,” English said. “Galanthis is as she always is, indefatigable and without mercy with her profession. To her, she simply doesn’t need clothes.”

Was it so wise to lose focus during the walk? It was unknown what the actual answer was anymore. However, it proved that the scene was less likely to end in the four getting sniped. The recent event with Galanthis still left a wake in its interaction. Was the information she provided really going to make a difference? Ioren was left to ponder this as they made a left turn at the nearby crosswalk.

“Looks like we have found our address,” English said as he looked at the nearby set of apartments. This portion of the space station looked a little bit better when compared to the others. There was less graffiti and damage. Even the local populace almost seemed healthier. Perhaps this portion of the lower level was richer or at least had people who cared more about their overall physical appearance.

“Anything, Stone?” Shira asked.

“I don’t see anybody,” he replied.

Two buildings left from the crosswalk were where the four reached. They approached the door with the correct marked letters ‘GH-4.’ There was a purple and yellow flower etched onto the sealed entrance.

“Stone,” Shira stated. “You have my permission to apprehend this individual. I want him alive.”

“Hmph...,” the master sergeant reacted. English walked up to the panel and began to inspect it. Ioren kept an eye out as Stone stood next to his door. His augmented eye began to pierce into the thin metalwork. Anything living would show up within a certain range depending on the thickness and construction of the alloy.

“I can override the locks,” English said. “Standby...”

The doctor reached into his coat and pulled out a tablet and needle-like tool. He began work on the door panel, pressing the device onto it while activating his tablet. Shira’s brow lifted a little bit as she looked at the man’s work.

“It is quite obvious that you are a man of many talents, Doctor,” Shira said.

“This is a simple lock,” English remarked. “I will be able to unlock this in ten more seconds.”

“I see nothing inside that can ambush us,” Stone said.

“Regardless,” Shira explained. “Keep your guard. A person, such as this Bautista, is the type who would likely flee when he knows he’s being tracked.”

“Not when I’m done with him, he won’t.”

“There...,” English remarked as the main door slid open. He put away his tools and reached into his coat, pulling out his pistol. Stone was the first to walk in, holding his shotgun at the ready. Shira was next, followed by Ioren and English.

The interior of the main apartment was actually quite pleasant. It had a nice aroma and was equipped with basic tables and furniture. It was well-maintained and looked somewhat lavish. However, the eeriness of the scene only seemed to gather as the four inspected the interior.

“I see no signs of this Bautista,” Stone said. “He isn’t hiding in any closets or other rooms so far.”

“Because he has more important things to do,” Shira remarked. “However...” She walked up to a nearby table and looked at a picture display. She pressed her finger to activate it.

The small disk-shaped device turned on. A 3D imager depicted various scenes of a man. The descriptions of the person’s face were a match, according to what Galanthis described. The man appeared to be charming enough. In each picture, Bautista was shown working in a hospital. His clothing appeared to be blue in color, almost in the form of scrub uniforms, where he was treating and helping children of different ages. While the pictures were seemingly innocent, the kids and the man were smiling. The fact remained of what Galanthis had said prior.

“It seems that our Bautista likes to work at a hospital,” Shira remarked. English approached the imager and gazed at the images.

“It’s the station’s hospital two levels above us,” the doctor explained. “I never saw him when I visited the place, but it appears he’s a nurse at the pediatric department.”

“Of course...,” Stone said with grumbled aggravation. “The sick piece of shit ... There’s always going to be one of these types in every society.”

“We need more evidence if we are to bring him in for questioning,” Shira said as she turned and looked at the main room. “Find it...”

“Ioren, follow close!” Stone yelled out to her. “Just in case this fucker is laying a trap.”

“I have his only means of escape blocked. However, I believe he isn’t here. This place is just a façade, a well-placed mask of his true intentions...”

English continued to look at the pictures that would be displayed from the imager. Every five seconds, a new one would come forth. Both Stone and Ioren reached the main bedroom, where a high elevated bed with straps was mounted. This must have been how most of the people of the base had slept, where the gravity was so low that it was almost possible to sleep standing up. Various clothes were hanging from the open closet. The master sergeant used his eyes to scan the room thoroughly, looking for any type of clues.

Ioren shouldered her gun. She pulled out her tilon and opened it up. On one side of the room was a single quantum core desktop computer.

“Stone...,” Ioren typed on her tilon. “I found a computer.”

The master sergeant turned and walked over to the unit. “A sophisticated computer for a simple nurse ... Captain, we found something.”

“Doctor English,” Shira said. “I will stand by the door. Go and help them.”

“There is nothing else that I can gather from these pictures,” English remarked. The man walked into the adjacent room. He looked at what Ioren and Stone were investigating. There, the doctor saw a computer. He put his gun back into his coat and pulled out the familiar tablet and needle-like tool.

“You’re right,” English said. “These types of computers are high-grade equipment, not normally in the hands of lesser-wage nurses. The same can be said about this apartment. Ioren, is your tilon capable of interfacing with this system?”

Ioren tapped her scaly fingers on her screen. The display turned on as the system quickly powered up. English interfaced with his own tablet, tapping buttons and looking back at the display. A system lockdown was activated, showing a red ‘x’ on the screen. A password, retinal, and palm interface appeared. Finally, the Itrean shook her head.

“Level 5 security access...,” English said. “This person has done everything he could to keep his computer locked.” The doctor was thinking.

“We can take it onboard our ship,” Stone commented. “Break the passcode locks and If need be, we can strip the hardrives and remove the data.”

“Won’t work like that,” the doctor countered. “It’s using a failsafe lockdown. It’s equipped with motion detectors. If we move it, it will purge the drives. This person is using a rather ingenious design.”

“What do you suggest we do?”

The doctor fiddled with his pointer tool. He reached into his coat and pulled out a multi-USB flash drive. There was a single port available from the computer core tower unit.

“I will attempt to override,” English explained. “Ioren, the computer system is unfamiliar with the Itrean processors. I’m going to have your tilon and my tablet interface with it at the same time. The core will attempt to counter both. This will have to be done at the same time. I will plug in the flash drive and activate my tablet. I’m sending the command signal to yours. When I count to three, you will activate it. My flash drive will attempt to download from the core, but...” He paused.

“What?” Stone asked.

“I only have one shot at this. Captain, I will only get so much information downloaded into the drive before the computer purges all information. I leave it up to you on what you want.”

“Gather your evidence, Doctor,” Shira said. “Proceed.”

“Ioren...,” English said as he inserted the flash drive into the slot. “Three ... two ... one.”

Ioren and the doctor simultaneously pressed the buttons on their devices. In seconds, the flash drive glowed white, and the computer lockout activated. In less than a second, the flash drive powered down, and the doctor pulled the drive out. There was a hint of smoke that erupted from the quantum computer. Bautista’s computer was destroyed.

“Data extraction complete,” English said.

“That fast?” Stone asked.

“No ... unfortunately. It would only be able to gather a fragment of downloaded archive data.” English rotated the tablet and inserted the flash drive into the small port. “I have three files ... checking...” The tablet showed a 3d display screen. “One file is a scanned document with the hospital.”

“Irrelevant...,” Stone said. The man turned to look at one of the closets. He grew distracted by something that he saw.

“Resume for another file. This has his signed signature on it. Maybe useful...”

“Indeed,” Shira remarked.

“The last is a picture. It is ... hmmm...”

Shira stepped towards the door. “What is it?”

“Him wearing a tuxedo. He’s standing by an ... O2 cycler station.” English seemed to think.

“Ioren,” Shira questioned. “Pull up the specifications on this station. Show us the location of the O2 cycler units.”

Ioren did as she was told. She loaded up the current level’s O2 generator. The 3D image provided complete schematics and layout of the facility. A red dot appeared.

“This level,” the doctor concluded. “We should head there immediately. There would be no reason to be well dressed and posing by an unremarkable area unless there was specifically a reason to do so.”

“I concur,” Shira said.

“Captain...,” Stone interrupted her.

Stone’s hand went to one of the closets. His hand scrapped across a thin, concave valley. It was carefully hidden in the very wall itself.

“There’s a hidden room,” Stone said.

It took a few more seconds before Stone’s finger slipped across a tiny metal button. A set of hanging clothes hid it. When he pressed the button, a tiny compartment slowly fell open. It consisted of dozens of small items. Including...

“Feathers?” English questioned with a questioning look. “Including ... claw nail trimmings.”

Ioren’s finger shook a little bit as she began typing on her tilon. She immediately knew what they were.

“Yutilian feathers...,” her tilon translated. “Juvenile. Each different...”

Ioren was shocked but slowly became horrified. Stone gave a disgusted look. He straightened himself out and walked up to the Captain.

“Bag it for evidence,” Stone ordered. “I want this son of a bitch.”

Shira was more than inclined to agree.

Twenty minutes would pass...

In the farthest reaches of the lowest levels of Valradena, the four individuals reached a seemingly dead end. The street had the last portions of the apartment buildings before a final closed-door stood in front of them. A series of pipes and vents almost surrounded the sealed entrance like the center of a spider’s web.

“Here it is,” English said, holding his gun up. “The main O2 cycler station.”

Stone walked up to the door. He peered in as far as his augmented eye could see.

“I can’t see all the way,” the master sergeant said. “Ten meters at most. I don’t see any threats from that range.”

“Doctor,” Shira calmly asked him. “Do you know the internal defenses of this station?”

“Not enough,” English replied. “Each cycler works on each level. They might have internal defenses to help protect it, but these areas are typically off-limits.”

“Won’t stop criminals,” Stone added. “Knowing how this station operates, these areas are forgotten until something finally breaks down. They flip the switch on and walk away. A good place to operate alone.”

“Doctor,” Shira said. “As the humans would say, ‘work your magic.’ Open the door.”

“Understood,” English replied as he pulled out his tablet and needle-like tool. He scanned the adjacent panel. “I’m afraid that we are currently being monitored. Straight above us is a camera unit linked to the inside. I will disable it...”

“Wait,” Stone said as he grimaced and looked up before pointing at it. “I see it. HEY!” He yelled at the unit. “YEAH YOU!...”

“I would wait till we reach inside,” Shira calmly interrupted him. “There is a possibility that our perpetrator is somewhere else. Unless attacked first, let us confirm the person we are looking for is here.”

Ioren wondered if anybody was watching from the camera. In seconds, the unit shut down and deactivated. Stone stood directly in the center door, his eyes continually trying to peer inside of it. English’s small probe tapped the panel.

“Level 3 lock,” English explained. “I’m attempting to use the codes given to us by station security before we departed, but they’re old ones. Someone has changed them. I will attempt to override it.”

Shira looked over to Ioren. She seemed a little preoccupied with her thoughts.

Ioren almost seemed to sneer. Seeing those feathers earlier was outright disturbing. Her mind was aflutter. Was this man committing crimes against Itreans? Were those feathers given to him voluntarily or by force?

The artificially induced scent of those feathers loomed in her mind. Something wasn’t right. It was the sense of pure evil, a predator devoted to consuming all the good in life.

“Rest assured,” Shira told her. “This person will be apprehended.”

Ioren didn’t even notice that the captain was looking at her. She knew she was reading her like a book. For a fleeting moment, Ioren felt the hint of pure anger.

She had to remind herself that she couldn’t jump to conclusions. Yes, there was hearsay information and a piece of disturbing evidence, but there was nothing else. Stone was already convinced. No doubt, he was used to having to work in police duties that involved apprehending the most disgusting and appalling of individuals. Ioren knew she had to keep herself composed. Shira was the source of this strength that Ioren had to lean upon. There was something remarkable about her character that was only reflected in Doctor English as well. Their calm demeanor against the darkness was one that could give hope to armies. It was something that she had to keep in mind. By being calm and collected, maybe this would spill over to Stone as well. How much she would hope that this would become a smooth operation, that things wouldn’t be as bad as they thought to be...

“There...,” English said.

A satisfying beep sound echoed. The door slid open as English put away his tools and pulled out his gun. Stone was the first person to walk in as the others walked in, not far behind him.

The interior room was enormous, almost half a football field long. There were four large generators fully active. Various pipes lead in and out of these vehicle-sized heavy titanium devices. Their majestic hum was low but continuous. With these cyclers, the CO2 would be continually recycled and transformed into breathable oxygen. The rest of the bottom floor was quite open, having plenty of space for potential workers to traverse to each generator if maintenance was needed. There were two floors. The ground floor, where the four resided, and the upper floor consisted of a large rectangular balcony surrounding the entire room. Mass pillars partially supported the balcony, although these appeared to be more ceiling supports than for the upper balcony. Along the side walls on the ground floor and upper level were the occasional door, entrances that could lead to just about anywhere.

“I don’t see anything yet,” Stone quietly said.

“Use your pillars, and do not head into the open center,” Shira responded quietly in return. “Strafe the walls. I see a ladder on the other side. Stone and English will go right, and Ioren and I will go left. Meet at the ladder.”

“Understood,” English replied.

Stone began to walk right with English not far behind him. Ioren stayed ahead of Shira, not far from her. It seemed to be the ideal method. It allowed the maximum coverage for both teams as they began their long walk to the other side.

Not a soul in sight. Ioren did her best to be on the lookout, focusing on the upper balcony. The doors consisted of metal with glass slits for windows. These portholes could serve as possible sniper nests. No doubt it was possible that someone was lying in ambush.

The master sergeant was doing his best to keep an eye out, but there were too many angles. The possibility of someone lying in ambush required his augmented vision to track behind every door, with at least six in total so far. It was simply too much to keep track of.

The scene was quiet. Everyone was trying to be silent, but it wasn’t easy to do so. The magnetic boots and wrappings would make subtle clicks on the deck. The pillars did at least serve as possible concealment. However, there were still gaps where the two pairs could be quickly spotted. At the same time, it was more than likely that somebody already knew the four were coming.

And it proved to be precisely that...

At about halfway across the entire room, Stone’s gaze went to the nearby door on his right. His focus was placed squarely on that entrance, looking for someone who might be on the other side of the doorway. At the same time, Shira grabbed Ioren’s shoulder as she quickly pulled out her revolver. The sound was coming from somewhere above them. The balcony above was not see-through.

At the same time, English turned his gaze to the left and saw a gun barrel from the upper floor balcony that was in the process of pressing out from a door’s open porthole.

Split seconds were passing. Shira couldn’t get a clear shot. However, the doctor could see the rising scope. In half a second, the gun would be fully deployed. The rifleman had their sights set on Stone. In another second, the black-gloved finger would fall to the trigger. English had only one action.

Thump ... The doctor quickly closed in on Stone and, with a hard shove with his boot, pushed the large man forward. In half a second, the gun fired. The heavy 50 caliber round flew and smashed into the door frame, missing the master sergeant by mere centimeters.

“Ergh!” Stone grunted as he felt himself lose some of his footing. At the same time, the sound of the shot and grazing bullet could be heard and felt. English was quick. He regained his footing, turned his gun at the door, aimed, and fired.

Three hard bangs could be heard as English quickly took cover. Stone did the same, trying to get himself into proper cover and engage the enemy.

The doctor’s shots were a difficult one. The small porthole was barely large enough for a rifle, let alone for the scope to squeeze in. When two of the shots struck the door, the sniper’s barrel was pulled out. The third shot made a hard metal tink sound before deflecting into the porthole.

Stone had a firm cover behind the pillar. He raised his shotgun at the door. For a brief moment, he could see the faint red silhouette of a figure standing behind the entrance. He appeared to have been struck, but he quickly retreated and disappeared from his vision.

“Stone, what did you see?” Shira asked him as she got behind cover. Ioren followed suit, getting behind her own pillar.

“Sniper,” Stone answered. “Doctor English...”

The master sergeant looked at him and gave him a disgruntled look. He didn’t seem to like the idea of being booted by him, but he couldn’t deny that the doctor saved his life. He gave a hard nod to him.

“Hmph...,” he gestured to the Doctor before looking back at Shira’s direction. “I believe that one of the shots hit the shooter, and the coward fled.” He turned to look at the bullet hole in the wall. “Anti-material round. I recognize the sound.”

“Standby,” Shira said.

“Standby,” Stone repeated.

Ioren remained at the ready. She swore she heard movement just as Shira was tracking with her pointed fin-like ears. Stone’s vision spotted it as well.

“Three coming due north!” Stone said, pointing at the top balcony door.

“Captain,” English also called out. “Two coming at the...”

Two armed men opened the door; Ioren was already on them. Both of the individuals didn’t even hesitate to point their guns directly at her before Ioren aimed and fired. A burst fire raked the lead person. He dropped his gun and fell limp as he stood, blood dripping into the air. A heavy gunshot hit the other man directly in the head. Shira’s gunshot was powerful enough that it exploded in the man’s skull before the bullet hit the other side. The man was dead instantly.

“I hear more coming,” Shira said in a louder voice.

“Track four more coming from the bottom door north!” Stone yelled, his shotgun aimed at the lower door. “Pick your targets! English, Ioren, watch the side doors!”

Stone was correct. He and Shira were past the side door on both sides of the room. It was possible to get flanked easily as the main attack force had arrived. The master sergeant could see a gathering of men and one woman. Their red silhouettes were just past the door frame that they gathered for cover. The same was almost said from the top balcony.

Suddenly, one of the men tossed a grenade into the large room. It was a canister-like device. It only flew ten feet before a gunshot rang out from Shira’s handgun. She had perfect direct aim, as her single eye tracked it. The grenade never had a chance to fly far before it was shot clean-through and disabled. Its destroyed remains fell back and deployed very little of its gaseous agent.

“Fuck!” One of the gunmen yelled in amazement. “Don’t just stand there, kill them!”

All three of the men from the top balcony walked out of the entrance and into the cycler room. From the bottom, two men came out. They immediately aimed and started firing, quickly heading to the heavy steel generators for cover. Most of the gunmen were armed with pistols of different calibers, but two had rifles.

Heavy shotgun blasts echoed from Stone’s shotgun. Even with the large range, the shotgun’s buckshot had little to worry about in the near-zero gravity environment. It was a swath of death that flew like a net. One man was put down immediately upon getting hit. However, the master sergeant’s shotgun was pump action, slowing down his rate of fire. He managed to aim and fire another shot but only grazed a man in the side arm before he got behind cover. The above balcony, the men weren’t as lucky. Ioren was trying to shoot them, but her submachine gun was designed for closer engagements. She switched to semi-auto and took her shots, narrowly hitting one in the hip.

Shira took aim and shot a man in the heart, killing him instantly. One of the men did manage to use the railing for partial cover and use his pistol to provide cover. His shots were directed at the large Shal’rein shooting from below. Even when using cover, Shira felt an impact. It struck her in the lower right abdomen, but the pain was marginal. She aimed and shot the man near his left lung before she got back behind cover. The chaos of the fight meant that nobody could respond to the Captain getting shot but her. She needed to reload and assess how badly she was hurt.

“Fuck!” Stone exclaimed as he noted that Shira had been hit. “COME ON!” He yelled at them to draw the fire toward him. “Come and get me, you pieces of shit!”

The master sergeant tried to make himself a more tempting target. He got more and more out of cover, returning fire with his shotgun. The steel generators were the perfect cover for one of the men, being able to hide behind the buckshot that was being flung. At the same time, there was the slight issue of ricochets, bullet fragments that bounced off and flew in all directions. Their high velocity would barely be slowed down by the near lack of gravity.

Doctor English was taking aim, but his shots kept registering as near misses. It wasn’t easy. The fight had to be engaged from rather long ranges. The bullets would completely miss the targets if there were any slight of aim. The same could be said with Ioren, who was taking her time and pulling the trigger when she had to. Her focus remained on the top.

Shira quickly put her hand to where she was hit. She felt no blood. The captain promptly ejected the entire cylinder and flicked her gun to toss it away before she pulled out a loaded cylinder and loaded it into her gun.

“Captain!” English yelled out. “Your status?”

“Continue the fight,” Shira replied.

English took his remaining shots at the ensuing gunfire from the top and lower balcony. He got behind cover, ejected and flicked his gun, and inserted a new magazine.

Suddenly, a series of small circular doors opened up from the top four corners of the room. From high in the roof, four small, barreled turrets emerged from these doors. They fully activated and took aim at the team.

Everyone remained behind cover as the gun turrets erupted in machine gun fire. The fight had gotten worse. The precise targeting was allowing them to target and place the shots at exactly where Stone, English, Ioren, and Shira were at. However, each turret was partially obscured by the balcony. It could only shoot at the lower targets on the opposite side of its location.

“We’re getting pinned!” English said.

“No shit!” Stone yelled out. “Ioren, switch to your HE grenade and kill the turrets!” He momentarily threw his hand out of cover as the turret targeting him weaved and fired where his hand was. Shira watched from the opposite end. It gave her a simple idea, but English was already on it.

Ioren was quick. She quickly ejected the decoy grenade from the bottom barrel of her sub-machine pistol and pulled out a red-tipped grenade, loading it in its place.

The doctor reached into his coat and pulled out a small disk-like device. He turned it on and tossed it to his left. A projection appeared that depicted his body moving out of cover. The turret targeting it immediately began to shoot the flying object. At the same time, English got out of cover and began firing at the turret. It was difficult, but the fourth shot finally hit the servo mechanism. A couple of sparks flew before the turret blew and deactivated.

Shira was next. The pillar was wide but not enough to prevent the Shal’rein woman from extending her fin-like tail out of cover. The tip was exposed as the turret began to target it immediately. Stretching to the other side, Shira, with one arm, rolled it out of cover, took quick aim, and fired. The powerful round struck the power core of the turret, and it exploded, destroying it.