{"data":{"id":16724,"title":"On The Run","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/16724-On-The-Run","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/16724","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/16724","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"News Update","images":[{"id":7228,"name":"OnTheRun.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/djbr8vdya2st5r\/source\/OnTheRun.jpg","alt":"","size":5478510,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2018-08-21T20:00:29+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/7228","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/7228\/similar"},{"id":26463,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/weozjmuuh3hwh\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":843046,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-09-19T15:49:32+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463\/similar"},{"id":27892,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/w3o9r4zgppm77\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":900916,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2021-09-06T14:48:40+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/27892","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/27892\/similar"}],"images_count":8,"translations":{"en_EN":"Duane stepped out from the washroom wiping his hands on his trousers. The sanitizer was supposed to dry them completely, but either he was doing something wrong or maybe the stupid thing just \u2014 his musing was abruptly halted when he spotted the Banu standing in the middle of the hallway. What the hell is a Banu doing here?\n\nHe reached a hand slowly to the stun baton on his belt and firmly asked, \u201cCan I help you?\u201d\n\nA wide smile broke across the Banu\u2019s elongated face, deepening the network of crags there. \u201cHello!\u201d\n\nDuane quickly checked to see if the Banu\u2019s chest had a \u2018visitor\u2019 tag. Sometimes one of the techs would bring in a guest if they had to work on the weekend, and it wouldn\u2019t be too surprising if Eiko had forgotten to comm him from the security desk.\n\nNo. No tag. And the Banu was carrying a datapod. Duane felt his pulse quicken. After working as a security guard for eight years at the Behring Applied Technology labs he might actually be in the middle of his first real break-in. Don\u2019t screw this up, Duane.\n\nCalmly, Duane informed the Banu, \u201cIf you don\u2019t have security tag, I have to ask you to accompany me to the lobby.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour tag,\u201d said the Banu nodding to the small purple badge on Duane\u2019s chest. \u201cDoes it open the doors for all the laboratories?\u201d\n\nDuane slipped the baton from its loop and pressed the primer. \u201cLast warning. This area is for authorized personnel only and I will remove you by force if necessary.\u201d\n\nThe Banu simply tilted his head to the side and smiled wider. \u201cPlease look at me for the next five seconds. Thank you.\u201d\n\nDuane realized too late that he had forgotten to see if the Banu was alone.\n\n\u201cDamn it, Mas. I told you to wait,\u201d Alex said as she peeled the still smoldering stun-glove off her hand and tucked it into her belt. She had to admit, Klanger had done a hell of a job designing the thing. Too bad the glove was destroyed after one use. Worth the money though, to be able drop someone near instantly. Next time she was on Spider she\u2019d definitely need to see if there were any more for sale.\n\n\u201cYou said wait till you found the key. We found the key,\u201d Mas replied, setting the datapod gently on the ground.\n\n\u201cWhat if this idiot had comm\u2019d for backup or triggered an alarm?\u201d\n\nThe Banu shrugged. Alex knew it was useless arguing with Mas about things like this. He was one of the best hackers she had ever known, but trying to get him to stick to a plan was about as useless as trying to get a Vanduul to talk out an issue. Anyway, improvisation was the key to being a good data runner. Knowing that Mas was going to do whatever the hell he wanted had just become a standard part of all her plans.\n\n\u201cI believe he has done both,\u201d Mas said as he rolled the guard onto his back.\n\nIt was then that Alex noticed the faint light blinking under the skin of the guard\u2019s neck. Crap, she thought. A deadswitch. Behring must have wired up their security personnel with them. Something happens to one, the rest would soon be on their way. Time for more improvising.\n\n\u201cCan you hack it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can try,\u201d replied Mas.\n\nReaching down, he turned the guard\u2019s head to better expose the neck. Drawing a curved spoon-like blade from the small sheath hidden under his arm, Mas carved the deadswitch out. Alex barely avoided being sprayed by a pulse of blood.\n\nAs Mas connected a small silver connector cable from his pad to the flashing deadswitch beacon that now lay in a puddle on the floor, Alex used her Pyro to cauterize the wound closed. She had never been one to leave a body count behind. Not only was it sloppy and unnecessary, it tended to make the Advos try that much harder to track you down.\n\n\u201cMas, instead of deactivating it, can you make it broadcast like the guard is still okay?\u201d\n\nThe Banu nodded and continued to manipulate his pad with his long dexterous fingers.\n\nLeaving him to work, Alex yanked the tag off the guard\u2019s uniform and used it to access a janitor\u2019s closet she had passed a few paces back. Sure enough, inside was a scrubber. She carried it back just as Mas was finishing.\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d said Mas, retracting the connector. \u201cHealthier than ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen let\u2019s put him back on patrol.\u201d She opened up the scrubber\u2019s rear hatch and Mas dropped the bloodied beacon inside the refuse storage bin. A few presses later and the scrubber was happily cleaning its way down the hall. There was still a good chance that the few seconds the deadswitch had been active would be enough to send a security squad to investigate, but if they were lucky, the scrubber\u2019s movements would be enough to convince anyone monitoring that it had been some kind of glitch. Either way, they needed to hurry.\n\nThe research lab gleamed with an immaculate shine that screamed money and danger. In Alex\u2019s experience, the only reason that anyone ever kept a room this spotless was when a little bit of dirt would be enough to lose a fortune in research or get someone killed by accident. Of course, with the amount she had been promised for pulling this job, she expected nothing less.\n\nMas set the datapod down next to a bank of sleek white processors on the far end of the room. If their imposing size wasn\u2019t enough to tell that they were important, the thick coil of cables running into the data hub would have been a dead giveaway. Just about every piece of tech in the place was wired to the computers. He lifted up an access junction and plugged in his silver cable.\n\n\u201cAny issues?\u201d Alex asked.\n\nThe Banu swiped at his pad. \u201cOnly minimal protection. I believe they are counting on the building\u2019s security to prevent access.\u201d\n\nNever underestimate the overconfidence that comes with owning a big fortress-like building.\n\nAfter bypassing the preliminary security, Mas opened up a port and hooked the datapod into place. He settled in to extract the data and began humming Could Have Been You, a sure sign that he was lost in the code.\n\nAlex strolled around the room rummaging through the work tables that were home to what she guessed were next generation Behring weapons. For the millionth time, she wished she knew exactly what was in the data they were accessing. The name alone wasn\u2019t much to go by \u2014 \u2018Project Stargazer\u2019 \u2014 but the guy who hired them refused to tell them anything more. Alex still had doubts about whether it had been smart to accept his offer. Though, her suspicion was that the job had been less of an offer and more of an order.\n\nThe man, \u2018Mr. Grouse,\u2019 contacted them through the usual channels on the amateur ornithologist boards. After all his bonafides checked out, they met at a small cafe on the outskirts of Prime. He\u2019d been easy to pick out thanks to the yellow hat he had promised to wear. Alex had done her normal procedure of arriving early and placing a small pinhole camera on the wall. It was a great way to scout a potential client before meeting and make sure they weren\u2019t sweating too much or hiding an abnormal amount of guns. Neither applied to Grouse, though. He had been as calm as could be. Even more so, his skin had that artificially smooth look, a common side effect from some of the new facial reconfiguration surgical units. Which was surprising because who would choose to make their face that uninteresting? He was like the Human equivalent of elevator music. Even standing across the table from him, Alex had felt her eyes wander away from lack of interest. On second thought, she could see why being aggressively boring might be a good choice considering the work she assumed he did.\n\nAfter a few minutes of observing him to make sure everything seemed on the up on up, she noticed him reach into his briefcase and pull out a small hand scanner. With a quick sweep of the cafe, he smiled when he spotted the mounted camera.\n\n\u201cAlexandria Dougan,\u201d he had said in a calm, even voice. \u201cI am ready to meet whenever you are.\u201d\n\nWell, that\u2019s a first.\n\n\u201cAnd if I am not mistaken, that Banu over there wearing the sunhat is your partner Mas Houlan. Why don\u2019t you have him join us so we can discuss our business together?\u201d\n\nA few moments later, her and Mas were listening patiently to Grouse explain that he wanted all the records of a research project completely deleted from the Behring Applied Technologies lab. Before she could even begin to protest, he had told them the payment. It was significantly higher than she would have even dared asked for, even on her most brazen of days. It was enough to put her and Mas on easy street and settle a lot of old debts.\n\nIt had made her really nervous.\n\nThat\u2019s why she had decided that they would make copies of the project files before they erased all trace of them from the lab\u2019s record. As the old saying goes, never trust a criminal.\n\nAbout halfway through Mas humming The Day Ahead, the alarm went off. That was disconcerting, but not nearly half as much as the giant turrets that lowered from the ceiling. Alex held her breath, but rather than turn and fire on them, the two turrets took aim at the lab\u2019s door.\n\nIt quickly dawned on her why they were still breathing. It wasn\u2019t worth it to risk shooting up all the valuable equipment. The turrets were designed to stop anyone entering or exiting the lab. And stop with extreme prejudice if the large Behring logos on the ballistic guns were anything to go by.\n\n\u201cHow much longer, Mas?\u201d she shouted over the blaring alarm.\n\n\u201cThe files have copied, but I will need some time to finish expunging the records.\u201d\n\nOkay, thought Alex, let\u2019s see how much ammo these things have.\n\nReaching into her satchel, Alex brought out her Insta-Friends decoy. She primed it and slid the puck out into the killbox and covered her ears expectantly. A moment later, the decoy went off and the turrets sprang to life, raining bullets at the artificial targets. Got to love Joker Engineering. Half the time the stupid things didn\u2019t work, but when they did, boy, did they work.\n\nEventually, the decoy died and the turrets spun down. The floor was completely chewed through. It looked like they had been designed to allow the rounds to penetrate rather than ricochet into the expensive tech. Right\u2026 ricochets. I probably should have thought of that first\u2026 Alex would have to remind Mas to make an extra offering to the God of Luck for her.\n\nShe had only brought one additional decoy and she had a feeling that the turrets had more than enough ammo to outlast it. What she needed was a way to force the Insta-Friends to last longer. Scanning the lab, she quickly found what she was looking for: a large half-built laser sat on one of the workbenches connected to an array of batteries. She momentarily considered using one of the lab\u2019s experimental weapons to destroy the turrets but decided that she liked having all her limbs attached too much to mess with an unfinished laser. Instead, she used her Pyro to solder one of the batteries to the decoy and slid the heavy makeshift device into range of the turrets. Once again, the guns sprang to life. It wasn\u2019t until the decoys had begun flickering away, the larger battery finally drained, that she heard the happy clicking whir of empty chambers attempting to fire.\n\n\u201cI am ready to go,\u201d said Mas, strolling confidently through the still smoldering killbox with the datapod. Alex hurried to catch up.\n\nThey left the lab not a moment too soon. Drawn by the gunfire, a full squad of guards descended upon it just as Mas and Alex managed to round the corner out of view. One of the benefits of robbing a campus as big as Behring\u2019s is that it took a while to move security into position. If she ever went straight, maybe she would get a job as a consultant and earn big credits pointing out all the dumb things companies did with their security systems.\n\nLeaving the main research wing, the pair weaved their way back through the labyrinthine building to the executive\u2019s office that they had entered through. Alex stopped them at every intersection to ping the path ahead. It would make them stand out on scanners, but it was safer than blindly stumbling into the roaming groups of armed guards.\n\nThankfully, when they arrived at the executive\u2019s private hangar, it was unguarded and the Belligerent Duck remained just as they had left it. It was one of those interesting facts of life that powerful peoples\u2019 private hangars are considered so off-limits, security guards assume criminals know not to land there too. That was why private hangars were usually one of the first things Alex looked for when she was casing a building. Plus, they usually had little free water bottles you could stock up with in case you got thirsty during a heist.\n\nAlex brought up her mobi and unlocked the Mercury. Mas headed up the ramp straight for datastorage to make sure the pod was safely secured, while she made her way to the star runner\u2019s cockpit.\n\nThe hangar doors opened above them and the Duck lifted into the air. The name still made her smile. She had chosen it to infuriate the cocky infoagent she had won the ship from. The pompous prick had the gall to name the ship Razor\u2019s Edge. Now whenever he wanted to buy data off her, he had to comm the Belligerent Duck as a reminder that it didn\u2019t pay to bet against Alex Dougan.\n\nShe eased the throttle forward and the ship\u2019s wide swept-back wings cut easily through Terra\u2019s calm atmosphere. A moment after leaving the hangar, the pleasant Crusader computer voice alerted her that they were being targeted. Sure enough, a Sabre with Behring livery was closing in on her tail. It must have launched when the alarm went off.\n\nThe comms chirped to life as they were hailed. \u201cThis is Behring Security. Land immediately or you will be shot down.\u201d\n\nGreat. And it wouldn\u2019t be long before the Terra police joined in. They needed a fast getaway.\n\n\u201cMas, weapons, now.\u201d\n\nWhen they had first met, Mas had refused to do anything on the ship that didn\u2019t involve hacking and computers claiming that it \u201cwas not his purpose.\u201d It had been close to six months before Alex had stumbled upon a solution that had worked \u2014 she had hooked up a terminal from a busted simpod into the manned turret\u2019s seat so that Mas could stare at a screen instead of out the window. That was all it took. Now he was a crack shot.\n\nMas slid into the weapons terminal, his long legs at the awkward angle all Banu were forced to adopt using Human seats. \u201cHow much should I explode them?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone! Knock out their radars and I\u2019ll take care of the rest.\u201d\n\nAlex pulled hard and swung the Mercury wide giving Mas time to line up the distortion cannons. The Sabre reacted quickly enough to avoid the first and second salvos. Alex rolled at the last second to avoid their return fire. They were running out of time.\n\n\u201cGet missile lock,\u201d said Mas.\n\n\u201cMas, we\u2019re not killing them!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo killing,\u201d the Banu agreed. \u201cJust a distraction.\u201d\n\nDecelerating till she saw red, Alex brought the ship to bear. After a heartbeat or two had thudded in her chest, she achieved lock and fired two missiles. The Sabre pilot, acting as expected, lit the sky with flares, pulling the missiles off course. Anticipating the brief distraction, Mas fired the turret again. The distortion cannons bit into the Sabre, disrupting its power. There was no way for it to maintain radar and stay flying after a hit like that.\n\nMaxing out the thrusters for all they were worth, Alex sped the Duck away from Behring\u2019s headquarters. However, rather than angling up to leave the planet, she angled the ship towards the nearby mountainous island range. There, she lowered the ship down into a small alcove cut into the beach beneath a rocky outcropping. Diverting power from the Mercury\u2019s shields and thrusters, Mas booted up their reg-spoof. Now, they would be able to fly around incognito for a little while. Should be fine as long as no one looked too hard or took a shot at them. She hoped they weren\u2019t the only ones in the area flying a Mercury today.\n\nIt was definitely not their cleanest escape. No way they were going to make the rendezvous now, but Grouse was just going to have to deal with the change in plans. Bringing up her mobi, Alex began a message to their network of contacts. Behring had a lot of credits to toss around. You rob someone like that and they usually made it worthwhile to hunt you down. Leaving the system wasn\u2019t going to be enough. It wouldn\u2019t be long before the Advocacy and a whole fleet of bounty hunters were breathing down their neck. If they wanted to get out of this in one piece they were going to need some extra help keeping an eye out. Hopefully a few of the friends her and Mas made over the years would be willing to lend a hand and alert them if they caught wind of the authorities closing in on the Duck.\n\nMessage sent. Now all they needed was somewhere they could hide out till things cooled off.\n\n\u201cHey Mas, how would you feel about visiting your old Souli?\u201d\n\nTO BE CONTINUED","de_DE":"Duane trat aus dem Waschraum und wischte sich die H\u00e4nde an der Hose ab. Der Desinfektionsmittel sollte sie vollst\u00e4ndig trocknen, aber entweder tat er etwas Falsches oder vielleicht das Dumme - seine \u00dcberlegungen wurden abrupt gestoppt, als er den Banu entdeckte, der in der Mitte des Flurs stand. Was zum Teufel macht ein Banu hier?\n\nEr griff langsam mit der Hand nach dem Schlagstock an seinem G\u00fcrtel und fragte fest: \"Kann ich dir helfen?\"\n\nEin breites L\u00e4cheln brach \u00fcber das langgestreckte Gesicht der Banu und vertiefte das Netz der Felsen dort. \" Hallo!\"\n\nDuane \u00fcberpr\u00fcfte schnell, ob die Brust des Banu einen \"Besucher\"-Tag hatte. Manchmal brachte einer der Techniker einen Gast mit, wenn sie am Wochenende arbeiten mussten, und es w\u00e4re nicht allzu verwunderlich, wenn Eiko vergessen h\u00e4tte, ihn vom Sicherheitsschalter zu kommen.\n\nNein. Kein Etikett. Und die Banu trug ein Datapod. Duane f\u00fchlte, wie sein Puls schneller wurde. Nach acht Jahren als Wachmann in den Labors der Behringer Anwendungstechnik k\u00f6nnte er sich mitten in seinem ersten echten Einbruch befinden. Vermassel das nicht, Duane.\n\nRuhig informierte Duane die Banu: \"Wenn Sie kein Sicherheitsetikett haben, muss ich Sie bitten, mich in die Lobby zu begleiten.\"\n\n\"Deine Marke\", sagte der Banu und nickte zu dem kleinen lilafarbenen Abzeichen auf Duanes Brust. \"\u00d6ffnet es die T\u00fcren f\u00fcr alle Labore?\"\n\nDuane schob den Schlagstock aus seiner Schlaufe und dr\u00fcckte den Primer. \"Letzte Warnung. Dieser Bereich ist nur f\u00fcr autorisiertes Personal zug\u00e4nglich und ich werde Sie bei Bedarf gewaltsam entfernen.\"\n\nDer Banu neigte seinen Kopf einfach zur Seite und l\u00e4chelte weiter. \"Bitte schau mich die n\u00e4chsten f\u00fcnf Sekunden an. Ich danke dir.\"\n\nDuane erkannte zu sp\u00e4t, dass er vergessen hatte, zu sehen, ob die Banu allein war.\n\n\"Verdammt, Mas. Ich sagte dir, du sollst warten\", sagte Alex, als sie den noch schwelenden Bet\u00e4ubungshandschuh von ihrer Hand sch\u00e4lte und ihn in ihren G\u00fcrtel steckte. Sie musste zugeben, dass Klanger eine Menge Arbeit geleistet hatte, um das Ding zu entwerfen. Zu schade, dass der Handschuh nach einem Gebrauch zerst\u00f6rt wurde. Das Geld aber wert, um jemanden in der N\u00e4he sofort fallen lassen zu k\u00f6nnen. Das n\u00e4chste Mal, wenn sie bei Spider war, w\u00fcrde sie definitiv sehen m\u00fcssen, ob es noch mehr zu kaufen gibt.\n\n\"Du sagtest, warte, bis du den Schl\u00fcssel gefunden hast. Wir haben den Schl\u00fcssel gefunden\", antwortete Mas und stellte den Datenpod sanft auf den Boden.\n\n\"Was w\u00e4re, wenn dieser Idiot Unterst\u00fctzung gesucht h\u00e4tte oder einen Alarm ausgel\u00f6st h\u00e4tte?\"\n\nDie Banu zuckte mit den Achseln. Alex wusste, dass es sinnlos war, mit Mas \u00fcber solche Dinge zu diskutieren. Er war einer der besten Hacker, die sie je gekannt hatte, aber der Versuch, ihn dazu zu bringen, sich an einen Plan zu halten, war ungef\u00e4hr so nutzlos wie der Versuch, einen Vanduul dazu zu bringen, ein Problem auszutauschen. Wie auch immer, Improvisation war der Schl\u00fcssel, um ein guter Datenl\u00e4ufer zu sein. Zu wissen, dass Mas tun w\u00fcrde, was auch immer zur H\u00f6lle er wollte, war gerade zu einem Standardteil all ihrer Pl\u00e4ne geworden.\n\n\"Ich glaube, er hat beides getan\", sagte Mas, als er die Wache auf den R\u00fccken rollte.\n\nDann bemerkte Alex das schwache Licht, das unter der Haut des Halses der Wache blinzelte. Mist, dachte sie. Ein Totmannschalter. Behring muss damit sein Sicherheitspersonal verkabelt haben. Etwas passiert mit einem, der Rest w\u00e4re bald auf dem Weg. Zeit f\u00fcr mehr Improvisation.\n\n\"Kannst du es hacken?\"\n\n\"Ich kann es versuchen\", antwortete Mas.\n\nEr griff nach unten und drehte den Kopf der Wache, um den Hals besser freizulegen. Mas zog eine geschwungene, l\u00f6ffelartige Klinge aus der kleinen, unter seinem Arm versteckten Scheide und schnitzte den Totentaster heraus. Alex vermied es kaum, von einem Blutpuls bespr\u00fcht zu werden.\n\nAls Mas ein kleines silbernes Verbindungskabel von seinem Pad an die blinkende Deadswitch-Leuchte anschloss, die nun in einer Pf\u00fctze auf dem Boden lag, benutzte Alex ihr Pyro, um die geschlossene Wunde zu brennen. Sie war noch nie eine gewesen, die eine Leichenzahl zur\u00fcckgelassen hatte. Es war nicht nur schlampig und unn\u00f6tig, es neigte dazu, die Advos dazu zu bringen, so viel mehr zu versuchen, dich aufzusp\u00fcren.\n\n\"Mas, anstatt es zu deaktivieren, kannst du es so ausstrahlen lassen, als w\u00e4re die Wache noch in Ordnung?\"\n\nDer Banu nickte und manipulierte sein Pad weiterhin mit seinen langen, geschickten Fingern.\n\nAlex lie\u00df ihn arbeiten und zog das Etikett von der Uniform der Wache ab und benutzte es, um auf den Schrank eines Hausmeisters zuzugreifen, den sie vor einigen Schritten zur\u00fcckgelegt hatte. Sicherlich war darin ein Schrubber. Sie trug es zur\u00fcck, gerade als Mas fertig war.\n\n\"Da\", sagte Mas und zog den Stecker zur\u00fcck. \"Ges\u00fcnder denn je.\"\n\n\"Dann lassen Sie ihn uns wieder auf Streife schicken.\" Sie \u00f6ffnete die hintere Klappe des W\u00e4schers und Mas lie\u00df das blutbefleckte Leuchtfeuer in den M\u00fcllbeh\u00e4lter fallen. Ein paar Pressen sp\u00e4ter und der Schrubber reinigte sich gl\u00fccklich den Weg durch die Halle. Es bestand immer noch eine gute Chance, dass die wenigen Sekunden, in denen der Totschalter aktiv war, ausreichen w\u00fcrden, um ein Sicherheitsteam zur Untersuchung zu schicken, aber wenn sie Gl\u00fcck hatten, w\u00fcrden die Bewegungen des Schrubbers ausreichen, um jemanden zu \u00fcberzeugen, der \u00fcberwacht, dass es sich um eine Art St\u00f6rung handelte. So oder so, sie mussten sich beeilen.\n\nDas Forschungslabor strahlte mit einem makellosen Glanz, der Geld und Gefahr schrie. Nach Alex' Erfahrung war der einzige Grund, warum jemand jemals einen Raum so makellos gehalten hat, dass ein wenig Schmutz ausreichen w\u00fcrde, um ein Verm\u00f6gen in der Forschung zu verlieren oder jemanden durch einen Unfall zu t\u00f6ten. Nat\u00fcrlich erwartete sie mit dem Betrag, der ihr f\u00fcr die Durchf\u00fchrung dieses Jobs versprochen worden war, nicht weniger.\n\nMas stellte das Datenpod neben einer Bank von eleganten wei\u00dfen Prozessoren am anderen Ende des Raumes ab. Wenn ihre imposante Gr\u00f6\u00dfe nicht ausreichen w\u00fcrde, um zu sagen, dass sie wichtig sind, w\u00e4re die dicke Kabelrolle, die in die Datendrehscheibe f\u00fchrt, ein eindeutiges Zeichen gewesen. Fast jedes St\u00fcck Technik an diesem Ort war mit den Computern verbunden. Er hob eine Zugangsstelle hoch und steckte sein silbernes Kabel ein.\n\n\"Irgendwelche Probleme?\" fragte Alex.\n\nDer Banu streichelte seine Bude. \"Nur minimaler Schutz. Ich glaube, sie z\u00e4hlen auf die Sicherheit des Geb\u00e4udes, um den Zugang zu verhindern.\"\n\nUntersch\u00e4tzen Sie niemals das \u00fcbertriebene Selbstvertrauen, das mit dem Besitz eines gro\u00dfen, festungsartigen Geb\u00e4udes einhergeht.\n\nNachdem Mas die vorl\u00e4ufige Sicherheitsvorkehrung umgangen hatte, \u00f6ffnete er einen Port und h\u00e4ngte den Datenpod an seinen Platz. Er entschied sich, die Daten zu extrahieren und begann zu summen, Could Have Been You, ein sicheres Zeichen daf\u00fcr, dass er im Code verloren war.\n\nAlex schlenderte durch den Raum und st\u00f6berte an den Arbeitstischen, an denen sich die von ihr vermuteten Behring-Waffen der n\u00e4chsten Generation befanden. Zum millionsten Mal w\u00fcnschte sie sich, sie w\u00fcsste genau, was in den Daten steht, auf die sie zugreifen. Der Name allein war nicht viel, aber der Typ, der sie angeheuert hat, weigerte sich, ihnen mehr zu sagen. Alex hatte noch immer Zweifel daran, ob es klug war, sein Angebot anzunehmen. Ihr Verdacht war jedoch, dass der Job weniger ein Angebot als vielmehr eine Bestellung war.\n\nDer Mann, Herr Grouse, kontaktierte sie \u00fcber die \u00fcblichen Kan\u00e4le auf den Amateur-Ornithologentafeln. Nachdem alle seine Bonafides ausgecheckt waren, trafen sie sich in einem kleinen Caf\u00e9 am Rande von Prime. Er war leicht zu erkennen, dank des gelben Hutes, den er zu tragen versprochen hatte. Alex hatte ihr normales Verfahren durchgef\u00fchrt, fr\u00fch anzukommen und eine kleine Lochkamera an der Wand anzubringen. Es war eine gro\u00dfartige M\u00f6glichkeit, einen potenziellen Kunden vor dem Treffen zu erkunden und sicherzustellen, dass er nicht zu stark schwitzt oder eine ungew\u00f6hnliche Menge an Waffen versteckt. Allerdings galt das auch nicht f\u00fcr Grouse. Er war so ruhig wie m\u00f6glich gewesen. Noch mehr noch, seine Haut hatte diesen k\u00fcnstlich glatten Look, ein h\u00e4ufiger Nebeneffekt bei einigen der neuen chirurgischen Einheiten zur Gesichtsrekonfiguration. Was \u00fcberraschend war, denn wer w\u00fcrde sich daf\u00fcr entscheiden, sein Gesicht so uninteressant zu gestalten? Er war wie das menschliche \u00c4quivalent der Fahrstuhlmusik. Sogar als Alex von ihm gegen\u00fcber am Tisch stand, hatte er gesp\u00fcrt, wie ihre Augen aus Mangel an Interesse weggelaufen waren. Auf den zweiten Blick konnte sie sehen, warum aggressives Langweiligkeiten eine gute Wahl sein k\u00f6nnten, wenn man bedenkt, welche Arbeit sie angenommen hatte.\n\nNach ein paar Minuten, in denen sie ihn beobachtete, um sicherzustellen, dass alles nach oben schien, bemerkte sie, dass er in seine Aktentasche griff und einen kleinen Handscanner herauszog. Als er das Caf\u00e9 kurz durchst\u00f6berte, l\u00e4chelte er, als er die montierte Kamera entdeckte.\n\n\"Alexandria Dougan\", hatte er mit ruhiger, gleichm\u00e4\u00dfiger Stimme gesagt. \"Ich bin bereit, mich zu treffen, wann immer du willst.\"\n\nNun, das ist das erste Mal.\n\n\"Und wenn ich mich nicht irre, ist dieser Banu da dr\u00fcben, der den Sonnenhut tr\u00e4gt, dein Partner Mas Houlan. Warum l\u00e4sst du ihn nicht zu uns sto\u00dfen, damit wir unser Gesch\u00e4ft gemeinsam besprechen k\u00f6nnen?\"\n\nWenige Augenblicke sp\u00e4ter h\u00f6rten sie und Mas geduldig zu, wie Grouse erkl\u00e4rte, dass er alle Aufzeichnungen eines Forschungsprojekts vollst\u00e4ndig aus dem Labor von Behring Applied Technologies l\u00f6schen wollte. Bevor sie \u00fcberhaupt anfangen konnte zu protestieren, hatte er ihnen die Zahlung mitgeteilt. Es war deutlich h\u00f6her, als sie es gewagt h\u00e4tte, selbst an ihren dreistesten Tagen. Es reichte, sie und Mas auf eine einfache Stra\u00dfe zu setzen und viele alte Schulden zu begleichen.\n\nEs hatte sie sehr nerv\u00f6s gemacht.\n\nDeshalb hatte sie beschlossen, Kopien der Projektdateien anzufertigen, bevor sie alle Spuren von ihnen aus dem Laborarchiv l\u00f6schten. Wie das alte Sprichwort sagt: Traue niemals einem Verbrecher.\n\nEtwa auf halbem Weg nach Mas, der den Tag vor uns summt, ging der Alarm los. Das war beunruhigend, aber nicht ann\u00e4hernd halb so sehr wie die riesigen T\u00fcrme, die von der Decke heruntergelassen wurden. Alex hielt den Atem an, aber anstatt sich zu drehen und auf sie zu schie\u00dfen, zielen die beiden T\u00fcrme auf die T\u00fcr des Labors.\n\nEs d\u00e4mmerte ihr schnell, warum sie noch atmeten. Es hat sich nicht gelohnt, das Risiko einzugehen, die ganze wertvolle Ausr\u00fcstung in die H\u00f6he zu treiben. Die T\u00fcrme wurden entwickelt, um zu verhindern, dass jemand das Labor betritt oder verl\u00e4sst. Und h\u00f6ren Sie mit extremen Vorurteilen auf, wenn die gro\u00dfen Behring-Logos auf den ballistischen Gesch\u00fctzen etwas Besonderes w\u00e4ren.\n\n\"Wie lange noch, Mas?\" rief sie \u00fcber den heftigen Alarm.\n\n\"Die Dateien haben kopiert, aber ich werde etwas Zeit brauchen, um die Aufzeichnungen zu l\u00f6schen.\"\n\nOkay, dachte Alex, lass uns sehen, wie viel Munition diese Dinger haben.\n\nAlex griff in ihre Tasche und brachte ihren Insta-Friends-K\u00f6der hervor. Sie grundierte es und schob den Puck in die Killbox hinaus und bedeckte ihre Ohren erwartungsvoll. Einen Moment sp\u00e4ter ging der Lockvogel los und die T\u00fcrme erwachten zum Leben und lie\u00dfen Kugeln auf die k\u00fcnstlichen Ziele regnen. Man muss Joker Engineering lieben. Die meiste Zeit funktionierten die dummen Dinge nicht, aber wenn sie es taten, Junge, funktionierten sie.\n\nSchlie\u00dflich starb der K\u00f6der und die T\u00fcrme drehten sich nach unten. Der Boden war komplett durchgekaut. Es sah so aus, als ob sie so konzipiert waren, dass die Kugeln in die teure Technik eindringen konnten, anstatt abprallen zu lassen. Richtig.... Abpraller. Ich h\u00e4tte wahrscheinlich zuerst daran denken sollen... Alex m\u00fcsste Mas daran erinnern, dem Gott des Gl\u00fccks ein zus\u00e4tzliches Opfer f\u00fcr sie darzubringen.\n\nSie hatte nur einen zus\u00e4tzlichen K\u00f6der mitgebracht und hatte das Gef\u00fchl, dass die Gesch\u00fctzt\u00fcrme mehr als genug Munition hatten, um ihn zu \u00fcberdauern. Was sie brauchte, war eine M\u00f6glichkeit, die Insta-Freunde zu zwingen, l\u00e4nger zu \u00fcberleben. Beim Scannen des Labors fand sie schnell, was sie suchte: Ein gro\u00dfer, halb gebauter Laser sa\u00df auf einer der Werkb\u00e4nke, die mit einer Reihe von Batterien verbunden waren. Sie \u00fcberlegte kurzzeitig, eine der experimentellen Waffen des Labors zu benutzen, um die T\u00fcrme zu zerst\u00f6ren, entschied aber, dass sie es mochte, wenn alle ihre Gliedma\u00dfen zu sehr befestigt waren, um mit einem unfertigen Laser zu spielen. Stattdessen l\u00f6tete sie mit ihrem Pyro eine der Batterien an den Lockvogel und schob das schwere Behelfsger\u00e4t in den Bereich der T\u00fcrme. Wieder einmal erwachten die Waffen zum Leben. Erst als die K\u00f6der zu flackern begannen, die gr\u00f6\u00dfere Batterie schlie\u00dflich leer war, h\u00f6rte sie das fr\u00f6hliche Klicken der leeren Kammern, die versuchten zu schie\u00dfen.\n\n\"Ich bin bereit zu gehen\", sagte Mas und schlenderte selbstbewusst durch die noch gl\u00fchende Killbox mit dem Datenpod. Alex eilte, um sich zu informieren.\n\nSie verlie\u00dfen das Labor keinen Moment zu fr\u00fch. Vom Kanonenfeuer angezogen, stieg eine ganze Gruppe von Wachen auf sie herab, als Mas und Alex es schafften, die Ecke au\u00dfer Sichtweite zu bringen. Einer der Vorteile des \u00dcberfalls auf einen so gro\u00dfen Campus wie den von Behring ist, dass es eine Weile gedauert hat, bis die Sicherheit in Position gebracht wurde. Wenn sie jemals ehrlich wurde, w\u00fcrde sie vielleicht einen Job als Berater bekommen und gro\u00dfe Kredite verdienen, indem sie auf all die dummen Dinge hinwies, die Unternehmen mit ihren Sicherheitssystemen taten.\n\nNach dem Verlassen des Hauptforschungsfl\u00fcgels schl\u00e4ngelte sich das Paar durch das labyrinthische Geb\u00e4ude zur\u00fcck zum B\u00fcro der F\u00fchrungskraft, durch das sie gegangen waren. Alex hielt sie an jeder Kreuzung an, um den Weg nach vorne zu weisen. Es w\u00fcrde sie auf Scannern hervorheben, aber es war sicherer, als blind in die umherwandernden Gruppen von bewaffneten Wachen zu stolpern.\n\nGl\u00fccklicherweise, als sie im privaten Hangar des Exekutivorgans ankamen, war es unbewacht und die kriegerische Ente blieb so, wie sie es verlassen hatte. Es war eine dieser interessanten Tatsachen des Lebens, dass die privaten Hangars der m\u00e4chtigen V\u00f6lker als so tabu gelten, dass die Sicherheitskr\u00e4fte davon ausgehen, dass Kriminelle wissen, dass sie dort auch nicht landen. Deshalb waren private Hangars normalerweise eines der ersten Dinge, nach denen Alex suchte, als sie ein Geb\u00e4ude umgab. Au\u00dferdem hatten sie normalerweise kleine kostenlose Wasserflaschen, mit denen man sich eindecken konnte, falls man w\u00e4hrend eines Raub\u00fcberfalls durstig wurde.\n\nAlex brachte ihr Mobi zur Sprache und schloss den Merkur auf. Mas steuerte die Rampe geradewegs zur Datenspeicherung an, um sicherzustellen, dass das Pod sicher gesichert war, w\u00e4hrend sie sich auf den Weg zum Cockpit des Sternenl\u00e4ufers machte.\n\nDie Hangartore \u00f6ffneten sich \u00fcber ihnen und die Ente hob sich in die Luft. Der Name lie\u00df sie immer noch l\u00e4cheln. Sie hatte es gew\u00e4hlt, um den eingebildeten Infoagent, von dem sie das Schiff gewonnen hatte, zu erz\u00fcrnen. Der aufgeblasene Schwanz hatte den Mut, dem Schiff den Namen Razor's Edge zu geben. Nun, wann immer er Daten von ihr kaufen wollte, musste er die Belligerent Duck verpflichten, um daran zu erinnern, dass es sich nicht lohnte, gegen Alex Dougan zu wetten.\n\nSie lie\u00df das Gaspedal nach vorne los und die breiten, geschwungenen Fl\u00fcgel des Schiffes durchschnitten leicht die ruhige Atmosph\u00e4re von Terra. Einen Moment nachdem sie den Hangar verlassen hatte, warnte sie die angenehme Kreuzritter-Computerstimme, dass sie ins Visier genommen wurden. Tats\u00e4chlich n\u00e4herte sich ein S\u00e4bel in Behring-Lackierung ihrem Schwanz. Es muss gestartet sein, als der Alarm ausgel\u00f6st wurde.\n\nDie Kommunikationen zwitscherten zum Leben, als sie gerufen wurden. \"Hier ist Behring Security. Landen Sie sofort, sonst werden Sie abgeschossen.\"\n\nGro\u00dfartig. Und es dauerte nicht lange, bis die Polizei von Terra einschaltete. Sie brauchten eine schnelle Flucht.\n\n\"Mas, Waffen, sofort.\"\n\nAls sie sich das erste Mal getroffen hatten, hatte Mas sich geweigert, etwas auf dem Schiff zu tun, was nicht mit Hacking und Computern zu tun hatte, die behaupteten, dass es \"nicht sein Zweck war\". Es war fast sechs Monate her, dass Alex \u00fcber eine L\u00f6sung gestolpert war, die funktioniert hatte - sie hatte ein Terminal von einem kaputten Simpod in den Sitz des bemannten Turms gesteckt, so dass Mas auf einen Bildschirm statt aus dem Fenster starren konnte. Das war alles, was n\u00f6tig war. Jetzt war er ein guter Sch\u00fctze.\n\nMas rutschte in das Waffen-Terminal, seine langen Beine in dem unangenehmen Winkel, den alle Banu gezwungen waren, mit menschlichen Sitzen anzunehmen. \"Wie sehr soll ich sie explodieren lassen?\"\n\n\"Keine! Mach ihre Radaranlagen kaputt und ich k\u00fcmmere mich um den Rest.\"\n\nAlex zog hart und schwang den Merkur weit, was Mas Zeit gab, die Verzerrungskanonen aufzustellen. Der S\u00e4bel reagierte schnell genug, um die ersten und zweiten Salven zu vermeiden. Alex rollte in letzter Sekunde, um dem R\u00fcckschuss zu entgehen. Ihnen lief die Zeit davon.\n\n\"Raketenabwehr\", sagte Mas.\n\n\"Mas, wir werden sie nicht t\u00f6ten!\"\n\n\"Kein T\u00f6ten\", stimmte der Banu zu. \"Nur eine Ablenkung.\"\n\nAlex verlangsamte sich, bis sie rot sah, und brachte das Schiff zum Einsatz. Nachdem ein oder zwei Herzschl\u00e4ge in ihre Brust geschlagen hatten, erreichte sie das Schloss und feuerte zwei Raketen ab. Der S\u00e4belpilot, der wie erwartet handelte, beleuchtete den Himmel mit Leuchtfeuern und brachte die Raketen vom Kurs ab. In Erwartung der kurzen Ablenkung feuerte Mas den Turm erneut ab. Die Verzerrungskanonen bissen in den S\u00e4bel und unterbrachen seine Macht. Es gab keine M\u00f6glichkeit, das Radar aufrechtzuerhalten und nach einem solchen Treffer weiter zu fliegen.\n\nAlex, der die Triebwerke f\u00fcr alles, was sie wert waren, ausfindig machte, raste die Ente vom Hauptsitz von Behring weg. Anstatt jedoch den Planeten zu verlassen, winkelte sie das Schiff in Richtung der nahegelegenen bergigen Inselgruppe. Dort senkte sie das Schiff in eine kleine Nische, die in den Strand unter einem felsigen Felsvorsprung geschnitten wurde. Mas lenkte die Energie von den Schilden und Triebwerken des Merkurs ab und startete ihren Regensalat. Jetzt k\u00f6nnten sie f\u00fcr eine Weile inkognito herumfliegen. Sollte in Ordnung sein, solange niemand zu hart aussah oder auf sie schoss. Sie hoffte, dass sie nicht die einzigen in der Gegend waren, die heute einen Merkur fliegen.\n\nEs war definitiv nicht ihre sauberste Flucht. Auf keinen Fall w\u00fcrden sie jetzt das Rendezvous machen, aber Grouse w\u00fcrde sich nur mit der \u00c4nderung der Pl\u00e4ne befassen m\u00fcssen. Alex brachte ihre Mobi zur Sprache und begann eine Nachricht an ihr Netzwerk von Kontakten. Behring hatte viele Credits zu vergeben. Du raubst jemanden so aus, und er hat es normalerweise wertvoll gemacht, dich zu jagen. Das Verlassen des Systems w\u00fcrde nicht ausreichen. Es dauerte nicht lange, bis sich die Advocacy und eine ganze Flotte von Kopfgeldj\u00e4gern im Nacken befanden. Wenn sie in einem St\u00fcck aus dieser Situation herauskommen wollten, brauchten sie zus\u00e4tzliche Hilfe, um die Augen offen zu halten. Hoffentlich w\u00e4ren ein paar der Freunde, die sie und Mas im Laufe der Jahre gewonnen haben, bereit, eine Hand zu reichen und sie zu alarmieren, wenn sie Wind von den Beh\u00f6rden bekommen, die sich der Ente n\u00e4hern.\n\nNachricht gesendet. Jetzt brauchten sie nur noch einen Ort, an dem sie sich verstecken konnten, bis sich die Dinge beruhigt hatten.\n\n\"Hey Mas, was h\u00e4ltst du davon, deinen alten Souli zu besuchen?\"\n\nWIRD FORTGESETZT","zh_CN":"Duane stepped out from the washroom wiping his hands on his trousers. The sanitizer was supposed to dry them completely, but either he was doing something wrong or maybe the stupid thing just \u2014 his musing was abruptly halted when he spotted the Banu standing in the middle of the hallway. What the hell is a Banu doing here?\n\nHe reached a hand slowly to the stun baton on his belt and firmly asked, \u201cCan I help you?\u201d\n\nA wide smile broke across the Banu\u2019s elongated face, deepening the network of crags there. \u201cHello!\u201d\n\nDuane quickly checked to see if the Banu\u2019s chest had a \u2018visitor\u2019 tag. Sometimes one of the techs would bring in a guest if they had to work on the weekend, and it wouldn\u2019t be too surprising if Eiko had forgotten to comm him from the security desk.\n\nNo. No tag. And the Banu was carrying a datapod. Duane felt his pulse quicken. After working as a security guard for eight years at the Behring Applied Technology labs he might actually be in the middle of his first real break-in. Don\u2019t screw this up, Duane.\n\nCalmly, Duane informed the Banu, \u201cIf you don\u2019t have security tag, I have to ask you to accompany me to the lobby.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour tag,\u201d said the Banu nodding to the small purple badge on Duane\u2019s chest. \u201cDoes it open the doors for all the laboratories?\u201d\n\nDuane slipped the baton from its loop and pressed the primer. \u201cLast warning. This area is for authorized personnel only and I will remove you by force if necessary.\u201d\n\nThe Banu simply tilted his head to the side and smiled wider. \u201cPlease look at me for the next five seconds. Thank you.\u201d\n\nDuane realized too late that he had forgotten to see if the Banu was alone.\n\n\u201cDamn it, Mas. I told you to wait,\u201d Alex said as she peeled the still smoldering stun-glove off her hand and tucked it into her belt. She had to admit, Klanger had done a hell of a job designing the thing. Too bad the glove was destroyed after one use. Worth the money though, to be able drop someone near instantly. Next time she was on Spider she\u2019d definitely need to see if there were any more for sale.\n\n\u201cYou said wait till you found the key. We found the key,\u201d Mas replied, setting the datapod gently on the ground.\n\n\u201cWhat if this idiot had comm\u2019d for backup or triggered an alarm?\u201d\n\nThe Banu shrugged. Alex knew it was useless arguing with Mas about things like this. He was one of the best hackers she had ever known, but trying to get him to stick to a plan was about as useless as trying to get a Vanduul to talk out an issue. Anyway, improvisation was the key to being a good data runner. Knowing that Mas was going to do whatever the hell he wanted had just become a standard part of all her plans.\n\n\u201cI believe he has done both,\u201d Mas said as he rolled the guard onto his back.\n\nIt was then that Alex noticed the faint light blinking under the skin of the guard\u2019s neck. Crap, she thought. A deadswitch. Behring must have wired up their security personnel with them. Something happens to one, the rest would soon be on their way. Time for more improvising.\n\n\u201cCan you hack it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can try,\u201d replied Mas.\n\nReaching down, he turned the guard\u2019s head to better expose the neck. Drawing a curved spoon-like blade from the small sheath hidden under his arm, Mas carved the deadswitch out. Alex barely avoided being sprayed by a pulse of blood.\n\nAs Mas connected a small silver connector cable from his pad to the flashing deadswitch beacon that now lay in a puddle on the floor, Alex used her Pyro to cauterize the wound closed. She had never been one to leave a body count behind. Not only was it sloppy and unnecessary, it tended to make the Advos try that much harder to track you down.\n\n\u201cMas, instead of deactivating it, can you make it broadcast like the guard is still okay?\u201d\n\nThe Banu nodded and continued to manipulate his pad with his long dexterous fingers.\n\nLeaving him to work, Alex yanked the tag off the guard\u2019s uniform and used it to access a janitor\u2019s closet she had passed a few paces back. Sure enough, inside was a scrubber. She carried it back just as Mas was finishing.\n\n\u201cThere,\u201d said Mas, retracting the connector. \u201cHealthier than ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen let\u2019s put him back on patrol.\u201d She opened up the scrubber\u2019s rear hatch and Mas dropped the bloodied beacon inside the refuse storage bin. A few presses later and the scrubber was happily cleaning its way down the hall. There was still a good chance that the few seconds the deadswitch had been active would be enough to send a security squad to investigate, but if they were lucky, the scrubber\u2019s movements would be enough to convince anyone monitoring that it had been some kind of glitch. Either way, they needed to hurry.\n\nThe research lab gleamed with an immaculate shine that screamed money and danger. In Alex\u2019s experience, the only reason that anyone ever kept a room this spotless was when a little bit of dirt would be enough to lose a fortune in research or get someone killed by accident. Of course, with the amount she had been promised for pulling this job, she expected nothing less.\n\nMas set the datapod down next to a bank of sleek white processors on the far end of the room. If their imposing size wasn\u2019t enough to tell that they were important, the thick coil of cables running into the data hub would have been a dead giveaway. Just about every piece of tech in the place was wired to the computers. He lifted up an access junction and plugged in his silver cable.\n\n\u201cAny issues?\u201d Alex asked.\n\nThe Banu swiped at his pad. \u201cOnly minimal protection. I believe they are counting on the building\u2019s security to prevent access.\u201d\n\nNever underestimate the overconfidence that comes with owning a big fortress-like building.\n\nAfter bypassing the preliminary security, Mas opened up a port and hooked the datapod into place. He settled in to extract the data and began humming Could Have Been You, a sure sign that he was lost in the code.\n\nAlex strolled around the room rummaging through the work tables that were home to what she guessed were next generation Behring weapons. For the millionth time, she wished she knew exactly what was in the data they were accessing. The name alone wasn\u2019t much to go by \u2014 \u2018Project Stargazer\u2019 \u2014 but the guy who hired them refused to tell them anything more. Alex still had doubts about whether it had been smart to accept his offer. Though, her suspicion was that the job had been less of an offer and more of an order.\n\nThe man, \u2018Mr. Grouse,\u2019 contacted them through the usual channels on the amateur ornithologist boards. After all his bonafides checked out, they met at a small cafe on the outskirts of Prime. He\u2019d been easy to pick out thanks to the yellow hat he had promised to wear. Alex had done her normal procedure of arriving early and placing a small pinhole camera on the wall. It was a great way to scout a potential client before meeting and make sure they weren\u2019t sweating too much or hiding an abnormal amount of guns. Neither applied to Grouse, though. He had been as calm as could be. Even more so, his skin had that artificially smooth look, a common side effect from some of the new facial reconfiguration surgical units. Which was surprising because who would choose to make their face that uninteresting? He was like the Human equivalent of elevator music. Even standing across the table from him, Alex had felt her eyes wander away from lack of interest. On second thought, she could see why being aggressively boring might be a good choice considering the work she assumed he did.\n\nAfter a few minutes of observing him to make sure everything seemed on the up on up, she noticed him reach into his briefcase and pull out a small hand scanner. With a quick sweep of the cafe, he smiled when he spotted the mounted camera.\n\n\u201cAlexandria Dougan,\u201d he had said in a calm, even voice. \u201cI am ready to meet whenever you are.\u201d\n\nWell, that\u2019s a first.\n\n\u201cAnd if I am not mistaken, that Banu over there wearing the sunhat is your partner Mas Houlan. Why don\u2019t you have him join us so we can discuss our business together?\u201d\n\nA few moments later, her and Mas were listening patiently to Grouse explain that he wanted all the records of a research project completely deleted from the Behring Applied Technologies lab. Before she could even begin to protest, he had told them the payment. It was significantly higher than she would have even dared asked for, even on her most brazen of days. It was enough to put her and Mas on easy street and settle a lot of old debts.\n\nIt had made her really nervous.\n\nThat\u2019s why she had decided that they would make copies of the project files before they erased all trace of them from the lab\u2019s record. As the old saying goes, never trust a criminal.\n\nAbout halfway through Mas humming The Day Ahead, the alarm went off. That was disconcerting, but not nearly half as much as the giant turrets that lowered from the ceiling. Alex held her breath, but rather than turn and fire on them, the two turrets took aim at the lab\u2019s door.\n\nIt quickly dawned on her why they were still breathing. It wasn\u2019t worth it to risk shooting up all the valuable equipment. The turrets were designed to stop anyone entering or exiting the lab. And stop with extreme prejudice if the large Behring logos on the ballistic guns were anything to go by.\n\n\u201cHow much longer, Mas?\u201d she shouted over the blaring alarm.\n\n\u201cThe files have copied, but I will need some time to finish expunging the records.\u201d\n\nOkay, thought Alex, let\u2019s see how much ammo these things have.\n\nReaching into her satchel, Alex brought out her Insta-Friends decoy. She primed it and slid the puck out into the killbox and covered her ears expectantly. A moment later, the decoy went off and the turrets sprang to life, raining bullets at the artificial targets. Got to love Joker Engineering. Half the time the stupid things didn\u2019t work, but when they did, boy, did they work.\n\nEventually, the decoy died and the turrets spun down. The floor was completely chewed through. It looked like they had been designed to allow the rounds to penetrate rather than ricochet into the expensive tech. Right\u2026 ricochets. I probably should have thought of that first\u2026 Alex would have to remind Mas to make an extra offering to the God of Luck for her.\n\nShe had only brought one additional decoy and she had a feeling that the turrets had more than enough ammo to outlast it. What she needed was a way to force the Insta-Friends to last longer. Scanning the lab, she quickly found what she was looking for: a large half-built laser sat on one of the workbenches connected to an array of batteries. She momentarily considered using one of the lab\u2019s experimental weapons to destroy the turrets but decided that she liked having all her limbs attached too much to mess with an unfinished laser. Instead, she used her Pyro to solder one of the batteries to the decoy and slid the heavy makeshift device into range of the turrets. Once again, the guns sprang to life. It wasn\u2019t until the decoys had begun flickering away, the larger battery finally drained, that she heard the happy clicking whir of empty chambers attempting to fire.\n\n\u201cI am ready to go,\u201d said Mas, strolling confidently through the still smoldering killbox with the datapod. Alex hurried to catch up.\n\nThey left the lab not a moment too soon. Drawn by the gunfire, a full squad of guards descended upon it just as Mas and Alex managed to round the corner out of view. One of the benefits of robbing a campus as big as Behring\u2019s is that it took a while to move security into position. If she ever went straight, maybe she would get a job as a consultant and earn big credits pointing out all the dumb things companies did with their security systems.\n\nLeaving the main research wing, the pair weaved their way back through the labyrinthine building to the executive\u2019s office that they had entered through. Alex stopped them at every intersection to ping the path ahead. It would make them stand out on scanners, but it was safer than blindly stumbling into the roaming groups of armed guards.\n\nThankfully, when they arrived at the executive\u2019s private hangar, it was unguarded and the Belligerent Duck remained just as they had left it. It was one of those interesting facts of life that powerful peoples\u2019 private hangars are considered so off-limits, security guards assume criminals know not to land there too. That was why private hangars were usually one of the first things Alex looked for when she was casing a building. Plus, they usually had little free water bottles you could stock up with in case you got thirsty during a heist.\n\nAlex brought up her mobi and unlocked the Mercury. Mas headed up the ramp straight for datastorage to make sure the pod was safely secured, while she made her way to the star runner\u2019s cockpit.\n\nThe hangar doors opened above them and the Duck lifted into the air. The name still made her smile. She had chosen it to infuriate the cocky infoagent she had won the ship from. The pompous prick had the gall to name the ship Razor\u2019s Edge. Now whenever he wanted to buy data off her, he had to comm the Belligerent Duck as a reminder that it didn\u2019t pay to bet against Alex Dougan.\n\nShe eased the throttle forward and the ship\u2019s wide swept-back wings cut easily through Terra\u2019s calm atmosphere. A moment after leaving the hangar, the pleasant Crusader computer voice alerted her that they were being targeted. Sure enough, a Sabre with Behring livery was closing in on her tail. It must have launched when the alarm went off.\n\nThe comms chirped to life as they were hailed. \u201cThis is Behring Security. Land immediately or you will be shot down.\u201d\n\nGreat. And it wouldn\u2019t be long before the Terra police joined in. They needed a fast getaway.\n\n\u201cMas, weapons, now.\u201d\n\nWhen they had first met, Mas had refused to do anything on the ship that didn\u2019t involve hacking and computers claiming that it \u201cwas not his purpose.\u201d It had been close to six months before Alex had stumbled upon a solution that had worked \u2014 she had hooked up a terminal from a busted simpod into the manned turret\u2019s seat so that Mas could stare at a screen instead of out the window. That was all it took. Now he was a crack shot.\n\nMas slid into the weapons terminal, his long legs at the awkward angle all Banu were forced to adopt using Human seats. \u201cHow much should I explode them?\u201d\n\n\u201cNone! Knock out their radars and I\u2019ll take care of the rest.\u201d\n\nAlex pulled hard and swung the Mercury wide giving Mas time to line up the distortion cannons. The Sabre reacted quickly enough to avoid the first and second salvos. Alex rolled at the last second to avoid their return fire. They were running out of time.\n\n\u201cGet missile lock,\u201d said Mas.\n\n\u201cMas, we\u2019re not killing them!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo killing,\u201d the Banu agreed. \u201cJust a distraction.\u201d\n\nDecelerating till she saw red, Alex brought the ship to bear. After a heartbeat or two had thudded in her chest, she achieved lock and fired two missiles. The Sabre pilot, acting as expected, lit the sky with flares, pulling the missiles off course. Anticipating the brief distraction, Mas fired the turret again. The distortion cannons bit into the Sabre, disrupting its power. There was no way for it to maintain radar and stay flying after a hit like that.\n\nMaxing out the thrusters for all they were worth, Alex sped the Duck away from Behring\u2019s headquarters. However, rather than angling up to leave the planet, she angled the ship towards the nearby mountainous island range. There, she lowered the ship down into a small alcove cut into the beach beneath a rocky outcropping. Diverting power from the Mercury\u2019s shields and thrusters, Mas booted up their reg-spoof. Now, they would be able to fly around incognito for a little while. Should be fine as long as no one looked too hard or took a shot at them. She hoped they weren\u2019t the only ones in the area flying a Mercury today.\n\nIt was definitely not their cleanest escape. No way they were going to make the rendezvous now, but Grouse was just going to have to deal with the change in plans. Bringing up her mobi, Alex began a message to their network of contacts. Behring had a lot of credits to toss around. You rob someone like that and they usually made it worthwhile to hunt you down. Leaving the system wasn\u2019t going to be enough. It wouldn\u2019t be long before the Advocacy and a whole fleet of bounty hunters were breathing down their neck. If they wanted to get out of this in one piece they were going to need some extra help keeping an eye out. Hopefully a few of the friends her and Mas made over the years would be willing to lend a hand and alert them if they caught wind of the authorities closing in on the Duck.\n\nMessage sent. Now all they needed was somewhere they could hide out till things cooled off.\n\n\u201cHey Mas, how would you feel about visiting your old Souli?\u201d\n\nTO BE CONTINUED"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":52,"created_at":"2018-08-22T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"7 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-04-25 13:28:33","valid_relations":["images","links","translations"],"prev_id":16723,"next_id":16725}}