Chapter 32: Alarm

The two froze in shock and dismay. Soldiers and other personnel outside seemed alarmed and started running around. It was clear that the noise was caused in response to the two of them. This was ascertained by a person on speakers announcing that intruders had entered the spaceport.

How did they find out? Cadonif thought. Surely, it can’t be because of those two guards earlier.

Geenud looked pale. He looked at his guard uniform. “Hey, Cad. I believe I’ve come to understand how they have discovered our presence.”

“Yeah? How?!”

“The uniforms that we are clothed in have trackers implanted within them. They inform the guards when they exit the premise of the building.”

Cadonif looked at him for a moment in thought. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would they do that to their own uniforms?” he yelled over the sound of the siren.

“I shall explain as we travel. First, take off your uniform and briskly walk through the Dock. We must distance ourselves from them.”

They abandoned the uniform they had over their clothes and quickly walked through the Dock, passing by parked spaceships and trying to get away from the entrance while remaining inconspicuous. The guards seemed to be headed away from the Dock, toward the perimeter of the facility in a systematic and orderly manner, not allowing the disruption to beget chaos. Workers casually continued their work, confident that the Federation’s famously competent guards would take care of the problem.

“I have noticed since we’d arrived at this facility that the actual layout of the building slightly differs from that in the blueprint. I attributed it to remodeling, but the truth is pellucid now: the blueprint was false. It was a fake version forged by the spaceport’s security and intentionally ‘leaked’ and distributed unto the black market. It would be difficult to prepare against the various creative plans criminals would devise. Therefore, it would be simpler to insinuate a certain scheme that you are prepared against and induce them toward forming it—the one we ourselves formed…”

Cadonif quickly connected the dots and followed, both mentally and physically: Geenud was taking them toward the target cargo spacecraft.

“Then, they wanted us to see the fake changing room on the blueprint and get the guards’ uniforms, which aren’t real: the guards don’t actually use them. They’re a trap! The moment a uniform leaves the building, it goes off!” Cadonif finished.

“Precisely.”

Cadonif had known that something was off. UnIF was very cautious and intelligent. They would never have such lax security in one of their facilities.

Geenud explained that the guards’ standard protocol was to block off the exits and any possible escape routes first, and then sweep through the facility after first searching for the tracker in the uniforms.

“How are we going to leave?” Cadonif panicked.

“We shall think about that later. Let us concentrate on securing the chemicals from the spaceship for now. They’d want us to attempt to escape the premise desperately under the pressure incited by the loud alarm and extravagant actions from the guards. Observe. Yet, at the same time, the spaceships are all still operating under normalcy, uninterrupted.” Of course, on the inside, Geenud was more anxious than Cadonif.

Geenud guided the two to the destined spaceship. It wasn’t too large: about the size of a single-storeyed house. Its appearance wasn’t too different from that of a cargo plane on Earth, having an open cargo bay door at the back. A difference was that instead of wings, it had engines to propel itself through outer space. It appeared to have been finished being loaded and was now preparing to depart.

“You retrieve the Castignome. They should be packaged in the form of small vials inside of that crate.” Geenud pointed at a crate inside the spacecraft through the cargo bay door at the back of it. “I shall keep watch for guards out here. Take care not to drop the vials: the chemical is volatile and reacts with air to produce large, toxic fumes. Those would instantly reveal our location.”

“Got it.”

Cadonif hurriedly ran up the ramp and into the back of the spaceship, where the cargo was being kept. He found a durable, air-tight crate labeled Castignome. He forced the crate open after unstrapping the belts that kept it in place on the floor. He threw aside the lid and found inside about thirty translucent vials of a blue liquid secured tightly on a velvet tray. He started yanking them out and stuffing them into pockets, wishing he had more pockets; it would be difficult to carry the whole crate or even one of the many layers of such trays contained inside.

He heard a yell from Geenud over the loud alarm. The small spaceship’s speaker system announced departure inside the cargo area and the gravity-harvester engines started.

Oh, shoot. I have to leave before the spaceship takes off.

Cadonif walked to the ramp, prepared to jump off the door. He saw Geenud turn to the side and a group of guards arrive at the scene. Cadonif froze. The guards yelled something to Geenud. He attempted to give an excuse, but froze from pressure.

The guards didn’t seem to have noticed Cadonif. He went back into the ship and hid behind a crate. At the same time, the ramp of the ship, which also functioned as the cargo bay door, slowly began closing.

The guards shouted something and detained Geenud, pushing him to lie on the ground. Geenud looked at Cadonif who was hiding on board the ship and watching helplessly. He looked scared and his eyes looked at Cadonif, pleading for him to do something.

Cadonif could not do anything. Revealing himself would only get himself arrested too. Crimes on Sartoog were punished harshly, and one like this could result in anything from a life sentence to a death sentence. Cadonif knew that even by surprise attacking the guards, he couldn’t win. They were trained and could defeat him in a fight easily. Persuasion was no good here. His only other option was to stay on the ship as it left the spaceport. He was sure that Geenud knew this as well. Nevertheless, Geenud looked for him with hope, and Cadonif turned away and clenched his teeth.

Dang, it! Isn’t there something I can do?

Cadonif wasn’t in too good of a position himself. He didn’t know where the spaceship would take him. If he was caught, he’d suffer the same fate.

The spaceship began to rise and the guards took Geenud and started walking away to avoid the exhaust. As the cargo bay doors shut, Cadonif saw Geenud turn around and look at him one last time. He had tears in his eyes and his face displayed only despair—no anger. He felt him mouth his name. And that was it. The door closed shut.

Cadonif fell to his knees in anguish.

Then, the speaker came to life once again and spoke in a female robotic voice: “This is a non-stop autopiloted transportation voyage departing from Sartoog Interplanetary Spaceport. The journey has been designed to take as little time as possible, disregarding comfort. Life-support systems will be at a minimum in accordance with the laws for transportation without life-forms onboard. The estimated time of arrival at the destination will be two months. The destination: PVC base at Shitchi-One.”

With that, the Stellar Teleportation Drive kicked in and the spaceship quickly accelerated. With the sudden jerk in movement, Cadonif toppled over and hit his head against a sharp corner, leaving him injured, unconscious, and headed to Earth…