Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Turmoil (28 page)

"Loren, grab
whichever hovercar you weren't using earlier and get ready to watch Starr when
Cory and Merritt have to break off and reset.  Web and I are taking the second
hovercar and we'll set up down the line after you give us a guess where she's
headed."

Halley dashed out
into the hall, Web closing the door behind him and misting the surfaces as he
passed.  Then they were on the way to the roof.

Tana Starr walked
confidently down the third tier sidewalk towards her favored nighttime hangout,
a bar called Energy.  At first, walking on the upper tiers of the city had made
her nervous; being caged inside a ship for most of her life didn't provide many
opportunities to acclimate to such wide open spaces, heights and long drops to
the unyielding ground below.  She had come to love them, though, as a symbol of
what her people would reclaim as they settled on the planets of the galaxy.

She peered over the
edge, careful to not get too close to the framework of the energy barrier.  It
would send a mild but undeniable jolt through anyone who tried to pass beyond
the edge, and she had tested it only once.  She slowed down so she could
inspect the people wandering below in the night; from up here, they looked like
insects bustling about, carrying on with some mindless task that only they
seemed to understand. 

She did love the
night time.  It was a bridge for her, between the freedom and open skies of the
planet and the dark, infinite reachees of space which she was most familiar
with.  This time of the evening allowed her to feel a little of both.  She was
home, yet part of her new surroundings as well.  Going to the bar was part of
her desired cover, but taking the third tier skywalk instead of a tube car was
a personal choice.

She approached the
entrance to Energy, a brightly lit and bustling two story building, all glass
and chrome with some concrete fixtures here and there to give it some
dimension.  There was a large patio that jutted out into the clear space far
above the street below, and a good number of people were simply wandering
around the open space, enjoying the clear night air.  She'd chosen this bar
very carefully, despite it also being the closest one to her apartment. 
Primarily, she liked the demographic.  Half a dozen different species, most in
their twenties and thirties, most of them professionals or just urban and
trendy. 

She wanted to avoid
the political hangouts like the plague.  In every government town, there were a
handful of bars and restaurants that the officials and their staff loved to
frequent.  The officials mingled to show off their power and influence, hoping
people would see them.  The staffers mingled to be seen as well, but they were
all still on the way up and needed to be seen as part of the system.  Everyone
knew that plenty of work was done after hours, hammering out deals and feeling
out opinions on matters that would be discussed in public the next day.  While
the officials came to unwind a bit, the staffers were always on the clock in
one way or another, whether it was making a deal or simply keeping tabs on each
other.  Tana avoided it for that very reason.  When she was out at night, she
didn't need anyone from the capitol building trying to buddy up to her and
curry favor.  She'd been forced to switch bars once before, just after she
inserted herself into Dennix's office.  Somebody had made the connection, and
before she knew it people were attempting to attach themselves to her while she
was out maintaining her cover.  She'd even gone so far as to change apartments,
and had made it known that she did not play the game and wanted no part of
anybody else's efforts, either.

Having made an
innocent-looking but deliberate sweep for anyone who seemed familiar or too
interested in her, her curiosity was satisfied and she entered the bar.

Loren watched it all
happen from a block away, hovercar tucked in the rooftop parking lot of a three-star
hotel chain.  He'd been cautioned by Halley about using recording devices, so
just as she did, he was using the optics only of his high end camera.

"Loren,"
he heard Halley's voice through the comm unit sitting in his lap.  While
commercial versions of Halley's dermal communicator patch were common (although
controlled by a data pad and not nanites), most people still preferred to use
the handheld comm devices, Loren included. 

"I'm
here," he replied.  "One block West, top of the hotel in the parking
area."

"What's her
status?"

"Took a stroll
around the front patio area to clear her tail, then she walked in.  Maybe
thirty seconds ago."

"Okay.  The
rest of us are going to get closer.  Web and I will head inside and try to see
if she's meeting anybody.  Cory and Merritt will hang out front and watch for
sleepers or follow her if she gives us the slip."

"I could come
down there," Loren suggested, feeling useless while stuck in the hovercar.

"There are two
types of people down here, Loren.  The first type are couples.  They're here
together, to enjoy each other's company.  They disappear into the background
because that's what people expect to see in a place like this.  Then there are
the singles.  They want to be seen because they're looking to meet someone. 
Singles get noticed, and you can't afford to be noticed, even if you stay
somewhere that Starr never goes."

"There has to
be a way I can get in there and do something," Loren insisted.

"Sure," he
heard a new voice, Merritt's, break into the channel.  "You can go find a
random girl and pick her up, bring her inside with you so you can blend in. 
Better yet, we can call Cassie and ask her what qualities you look for in a
woman and get her advice.  She can help us pick someone nice for you."

"You will fly
minefield patrols for the rest of your career," Loren warned Merritt. 

"Fight
later," Halley said, taking back control.  "Everybody in
position."

Halley and Web
entered Energy and their senses were immediately assaulted.  It was loud, with
strangely pulsing music, the latest fad; dance and club music composed by
computers to supposedly encourage certain feelings and emotions.  There were so
many smells, Web couldn't sort them all out.  Perfume, cologne, spilled
alcohol, and one or two whiffs of a substance every Confed soldier knew; wakeup
capsules, designed to be held under the nose to give a burst of energy to tired
fighters or revive someone who was unconscious.   It was addictive if used
regularly, but sought after on the gray market for its use to heighten the
senses among those who liked to entertain themselves with chemicals.  The
lighting was a study in contrasts; the dance floor was often flashing with
bright lights in a kaleidoscope of colors, but other than the long chrome bar
itself much of the place was lost in shadows.  It was a great place to conduct
a quick clandestine meet.

Cory and Merritt
lounged at one of the tables set up on the big patio in the front of the
building.  They'd arranged their chairs so that Cory was looking right at the
front door while Merritt had a view of the exit to the walkway Starr had used
on her own approach.

"Does this
count as a honeymoon?" Merritt asked, sipping on a local ale.

"If you want it
to, I guess," she replied.  "I had some crazy things I was planning
to do to you during a tropical getaway, but if you'd rather have this..."
she let her voice drift off as she sipped her wine.

"No, no, this
is a sad substitute. I can wait."

"Good
husband," Cory replied with a smile.  She tapped her comm device and low-talked
using her dermal patch.  "Nothing interesting out here.  No tails we can
spot, nobody watching the festivities.  Just a lot of semi-inebriated folks
looking to burn the night away."

Halley nodded to
herself without saying anything.  She and Web were in the bar itself, casually
walking around while trying to keep an eye on Tana Starr.  They picked a spot
at the bar and ordered drinks, then Halley did her best to watch the woman in
the reflections of the mirror behind the bar.  Web did his best to not attempt
any surveillance at all; Halley had gently but firmly told him that there was
no room for error, and since they had to assume Starr was an expert at what she
did Halley would take care of everything.

Chapter Thirteen

The evening was a
bust as far as actionable evidence went.  Halley claimed it was still
successful because they could now scope out a likely location she'd use for a
meet, but everyone else was disappointed.

They spent the next
day with Loren, Web, Cory and Merritt rotating watch on Starr in her office
while Halley spent some quality time in and around Energy.  She mapped out all
the entry and exit routes to the building, access points to the building
itself, likely defense points, and half a dozen ways back to Starr's apartment.
 Apparently, Halley found this sort of thing incredibly rewarding; everyone
else was ready to see what jumping into the third-tier energy barriers felt
like.

The workday was over
and Cory returned to their temporary low-rent accommodations near the spaceport
after following Starr to her apartment and passing her off to Halley and Web.  

"Anything
interesting?" Loren asked hopefully as Cory headed for the small fridge to
grab some water.

"Nope,"
she replied sullenly.  "If this is the life of adventure that Halley
leads, I am definitely tearing up my application to the Spy Academy."

"Well, let's
hope Starr does something soon."  Loren got up and walked over to Cory and
gestured with his comm device.  "I just talked to Captain Elco.  The
orbital controllers are going crazy about Avenger being stuck in her slot
there.  They even sent someone over to 'monitor progress and render
aid'."  He chuckled.

"And how did
the captain react to that?"

"Badly,"
Loren admitted with a grin.  "He asked if the man would have preferred
Avenger detonate because of a core overload, and when the guy tried to find
something to reply with the captain invited him to get back onboard his shuttle
and leave.  He actually left, too.  I suppose the Captain didn't make any
friends today, but it probably felt good.  In any case, the clock's
ticking."

"Then let's get
Merritt in the hovercar and head over to meet Halley and Web.  We have a long
night ahead of us; hopefully something happens."

Tana Starr changed
into evening clothes and left her apartment the same time as she did the
previous evening.  She even took the exact same route to Energy.  Tonight,
Merritt and Cory went inside while Halley and Web stayed on the patio, with
Loren grumbling in the hovercar the whole time.

"So you're
saying you'd rather fight a saber-toothed neo-cat than a hungry hyenadon?"
Merritt asked in surprise to Cory.

She simply raised an
eyebrow at him as she took a sip of her drink from where they sat in  a dark
corner booth.  "You gave me the two choices," she replied.  "So
yes, if I had to take them on bare handed, I'd go after the saber-tooth."

"That's
amazing, considering-" he was cut off by Cory's gesture, her index finger
lifting up from the surface of the table.  "What?" he asked.

"Starr just
bumped into someone," she replied.

"She didn't
bump into anyone," they heard Halley's voice through their patches. 
"If she's talking to somebody, it's a meet.  Keep an eye on the subject. 
Describe him to me."

"Male
Drisk," Cory began, "mid thirties, athletic, dressed like everyone
else.  Blends into the crowd."

"That's our
guy," Halley stated simply.  "Cory and Merritt, you stay on Starr. 
Everyone else get ready to follow the mark."

"I apologize
again for bringing you out to meet," Salvor was saying over his drink where
he and Starr stood near the various gaming tables, "but we need to change
locations.  At the very least, we should move out farther from the capitol. 
I'm surprised Confed isn't conducting building-to-building searches right
now."

"That's not the
way they work," Starr cautioned as she smiled for anyone who might be
looking.  "They have to maintain a balance between keeping the populace
pacified and compliant.  You have time.  I will have you in a new safehouse by
the weekend."

"Alright,"
Salvor said slowly, as though the words were hard to utter.  "We will also
need more funds.  We've used up what you gave us initially."

"I'll bring you
a number of credit chips before you move to your new safehouse," she
replied calmly.  "I have also just purchased a used transport that you
will be able to use to escape once the blockade is loosened."   She felt a
twinge of guilt as she made promises of the future for them.  She'd received a
coded message that afternoon from the Commander himself, and it was what she
had dreaded but accepted as an eventuality.  The order was to go through with
the original plan of having Velk not survive the escape attempt.  She would
supply a transport for the team to use to leave the planet, but she was also
going to place a bomb onboard.  During their flight from Delos, the transport
would explode, and Representative Velk would be removed as a threat to the
Commander's plans for this galaxy.  Starr regretted that Salvor and the remains
of his team would also have to perish to sell the act, but they were soldiers
and this was war; they knew they could be called upon at any time to die for
their cause.  The act of arranging the death of the former Commander weighed on
her, but she trusted in Commander Tash's plan and vision, despite her reservations
about how un-Priman it was. 

"Excellent,"
Salvor replied, showing what appeared to be a genuine smile.  "I thank you
for your efforts, Ms. Starr."

"Now go.  We
can't be seen together.  I will stop by the safehouse tomorrow evening with the
credits and the information about your new location as well as materials you'll
need to claim the transport."

"Until
then."  Salvor put on a smile, then walked off into the crowds, the act of
a man who'd been rebuffed by a woman and was trying to take it with good humor.

"He's leaving
now," Merritt mumbled for his comm patch.  "Dark gray overcoat, black
pants."

"I have
him," he heard Halley reply.  "Stay on Starr and head back to our
hotel once she goes home for the night."

"Got it."

The Drisk walked
home, exhibiting the same subtle but practiced tradecraft that Starr did.  He
doubled back, stopped to gaze in store windows, look over the edge of the
second tier balcony at times, and in general tried to be unpredictable without
being too obvious about it.  It took almost forty minutes, but eventually
Halley, Loren, and Web followed him back to a second tier, three story home. 
It was as plain and neutral as one could hope to find; the perfect base for
someone hoping to hide in plain sight.

The three Confeds
met in the parking lot of a small all-night restaurant a few blocks away, Loren
having parked the hovercar there earlier so he could walk the streets and
relieve Web and Halley.

They sat at a table
nursing cups of stim-caf.

"So, that's the
place?" Loren asked for the benefit of the doubt.

"It's our only
option, but it seems like exactly what we're looking for," Halley replied
with less conviction than Loren was hoping for.  She'd used the thermal vision
abilities of her contacts, among other features, on the building as she'd
walked by.  "I saw two people on the first floor, but the second was
blanketed entirely; they're shielding it from every scan I could try, from
thermal, to x-ray, to laser imaging.  Not many reasons to do that, other than
to hide something."

"So we don't
know for sure how many Primans might be in there?" asked Web.

"Not yet,"
replied Halley firmly.  "We'll give this place the full treatment starting
as soon as we all meet back at the hotel.  We can pick up Starr after work
tomorrow, but for now we make this place our focus.  Don't plan on getting much
sleep until you're back up top aboard Avenger.  You know what else I noticed
about our friend in there?" She eyed the men to see if they'd caught it.

Loren and Web looked
at each other and shrugged.

"He was wearing
a ring just like Starr's."

The next day was
spent in tense observation of the Priman safehouse.  They couldn't do much,
unfortunately.  Halley had tried to access the city's building records to
obtain a floorplan, but the home was old enough that the records had been left
behind in storage memory the last time a system upgrade had been performed. 
There was no activity, no stream of disguised Primans leaving the house.  The
place was silent, imposing, and gave them absolutely no help.  Web even
suggested breaking into an adjacent house to at least see what the floorplan
might have been like, but many of the homes had security systems and Halley had
vetoed the idea as too risky.  Better to lie low and not attract attention.

Just after lunch,
Captain Elco called for Loren.

"Loren,"
the captain said informally from the comfort of his own quarters.

"Captain,"
Loren replied.

"I commed so we
could trade updates," the captain began.  "The engine repairs will be
done tomorrow, and it's been made clear and in no uncertain terms that we will
be spending tomorrow evening in the naval yards at Navy HQ.  Will you be able
to join us in time?"

Loren appreciated
that the captain was receptive to the fact that this was an unsecured like. 
"That should be doable, Captain.  We plan to attend a party tonight, and
hopefully make some new friends by morning."

"Will I want to
meet them?"

"Most
definitely."

Halley had sketched
out a rough plan, and Loren could feel his short hair turning gray as she
spoke.  They didn't have warrants or any legal ground to stand on, but they had
enough evidence to warrant action.  They couldn't just go in with guns blazing
because they had to consider the fact that they wouldn't find what they were
expecting to.  It could be much more innocent.  Or much worse.  In any case,
they needed to enter the building and see for themselves.  If Velk was there,
he was going to be leaving with them.  Merritt put in a vote to try to collect
Tana Starr as well, and Halley agreed that they'd wait as long as possible to
see if Starr went to the safehouse that evening.  Either way, they were going
in before the night was over.    

The day was spent in
tedium, watching, cataloging, hoping to see something useful.  Halley had moved
everyone to an apartment just down the block from the Priman safehouse.  She'd
scoured the local real-estate listings and found an empty apartment for rent,
then broken in and declared that they'd spend the night there.  The team tried
to nap when they could, but nobody was getting any real rest; that would come
in the morning, provided all went well.

They'd decided on a
breaching plan.  Halley was, in her typically abrupt fashion, going to walk
right up to the front door, kick it in, and start shooting/beating/terrorizing
whoever she found if conditions warranted.  Loren and Web would enter through
the patio doors from the courtyard.  Meanwhile, Merritt and Cory would delay
briefly before landing their hovercar on the roof and having Merritt head down
inside.  Cory, as the best pilot of the group, would take back off and catch
any runners or be ready to make a fast getaway if need be.  They'd
disassembled, cleaned, and checked their weapons as many times as they could,
and all that was left was the waiting.  Waiting was the hardest part.  Boredom
and a stagnant mind created their own problems, and Loren stared at the chrono
field on his comm device, willing the time to pass faster. 

"Loren,"
he heard a voice behind him and he started, blinking his eyes rapidly as he
realized he'd been experiencing episodes of microsleep.

"I'm
here," he replied wearily, rubbing his eyes.  He turned to see the knowing
smile of Halley.

"I figured you
deserved at least ninety seconds of sleep," she began, "but now I
need you back."

"Happy to help,"
he replied, getting up and stretching to get the blood flowing again.  He
looked outside and saw that it was full-on night and wondered how long he'd
really been asleep.

"Don't you need
to sleep?" he asked her softly, trying his best to guard her secret nanite
allies in her bloodstream.

"Not as much as
you'd think," she replied.  "But it will catch up with me sooner or
later if I put it off too long.  Luckily, we'll wrap things up all nice and
tidy tonight."

"You sound
confident," Loren stated as he checked the power cell in his SSK one last
time before dropping it into his thigh holster.

"All of us make
a great team," she said simply.  "What could possibly go wrong?"

"Oh, you had to
go and tempt fate..."

"Jackpot,"
stated Web over their comm channels.  "Starr is getting dressed up for a
night on the town."  He
’
d
been watching her apartment while everyone else had staged in the vacant
apartment that Halley had found for them the night before.

Everyone in the
empty apartment stood up in excitement, all the weariness and fatigue getting
pushed to the side by one last shot of adrenaline.  They even knew what her
timeframes were for travel to the safehouse, thanks to Web.  During the day,
he'd taken the time to map out and then drive, walk, or take public transit on
a half dozen of the most likely routes from Starr's apartment to the safehouse,
even including detours past Energy.  If she was walking, it would take almost a
half hour to get there.  If she took the tube or a hovercar, she was still
looking at fifteen. 

"She's past all
the places to use if she wanted to catch a ride," Web said calmly into his
comm device, and Loren switched the video feed of his own device on.  He saw
Web's face against the backdrop of the rear of the hovercar, and that face was
currently distorted in concentration as the man was very obviously racing at
insane speeds through the city to get back to the group.