Sheldon and Miss L moved like characters in a spy movie. The passages beneath Verraskhellion's mansion were narrow and dark, with only thin strips of service lighting running along the walls. Unlike the luxurious halls above, everything down here was bare and utilitarian. They counted the guards' footsteps, slipped past them in silence, and used every key they had. From time to time Sheldon had to knock a guard unconscious, but he immediately dragged the body into the shadows before anyone could notice.
"Tell me, why does a place like this need so much security?" Sheldon asked when they finally had a free moment.
"I'm wondering the same thing. I thought this would be an easy walk."
"I hope it's worth it."
Miss L only smiled. They kept moving and soon reached the entrance to a large hall. The doors stood slightly open, and through the narrow gap they could see almost the entire room.
Guards were everywhere. Each of them paced slowly among the items being displayed for auction.
Miss L stepped back from the door, clearly unhappy with what she saw.
"Something wrong?" Sheldon asked.
"There are too many of them, and I only need one thing. Kelano's card works for both the vault and the hangar, but the second round has already started, which means they must have brought the Bible out here. So where the hell am I supposed to find it? Damn it," Miss L muttered.
"That's not even the worst part. We still have to get to the hangar afterward."
"That's afterward. First we need to figure out how to get in there." Miss L nodded toward the door.
"There's only one way. Distract them." Sheldon rose from his crouch. Miss L stood with him.
"Wait... You're going in there by yourself?"
"No choice. Besides, I'm still Colton Walton."
Sheldon stepped forward and kicked the door wide open.
Miss L stayed behind the wall, waiting for the right moment.
Every guard snapped to attention and immediately aimed a weapon at Sheldon.
He decided to play the part all the way.
"All right, gentlemen, where's my statue? I paid for it, you know!"
He slowly moved away from the doorway, giving Miss L room to slip past. The moment she disappeared inside unnoticed, Sheldon stopped.
"We've got an intruder!" one of the guards shouted.
"We need backup!" another barked into his radio.
Within seconds, a small group of heavily armed guards surrounded Sheldon. Every one of them wore an expensive, perfectly tailored suit, but each also carried two blasters and an automatic rifle.
Sheldon understood immediately: one wrong move and they'd kill him on the spot.
"Hey, hey. I came for my statue. Give it to me and I'll leave."
"Turn around. Hands up!" ordered a bald guard.
"He came through the main entrance. This is a diversion!" a Vesperian guard realized.
The others immediately spread out through the hall, rifles ready. Only two human guards remained near Sheldon.
"I'll say it again. Turn around. Hands up."
"You can say that to your bedroom partner. Give me my statue."
Sheldon backed toward the wall, felt a cable behind him, and wrapped his hand around it.
"Last warning, or I shoot!" the guard shouted, stepping closer. The second man never took his eyes off Sheldon.
"All right, don't get worked up, sweetheart."
Sheldon began turning slowly.
Then the alarm screamed.
The guards looked away for only a fraction of a second, but that was enough.
Sheldon ripped the cable out of the wall and whipped it around the nearest guard's neck. Using the man as a shield, he kicked the guard's rifle aside and pulled a blaster from the holster.
The captive clawed at the cable around his throat and even managed to hit Sheldon in the ribs, but it had no effect. Sheldon barely seemed to notice.
He struck the man in the head with the blaster grip to calm him down.
The second guard tried to aim, but couldn't get a clear shot.
"Drop the weapon and let him go!"
"Yeah, sure."
Sheldon knew he had nowhere left to retreat, so he fired first.
Twice.
One blast hit the guard in the arm, the other in the leg. It was enough to put him out of action for the moment. He never even managed to fire.
Sheldon crossed the distance in two quick steps and knocked him unconscious with the blaster.
That left only the guard on the floor, still tangled in the cable.
"Who are you? Fleet?"
"Good guess," Sheldon said, and knocked him out too.
After grabbing the weapons, Sheldon noticed that no one else was coming after him.
The alarm was still howling.
He moved deeper into the hall and nearly collided with Miss L, who was hurrying toward him in a crouch.
"Move!" she hissed, clutching a huge book to her chest.
Sheldon covered her, and they quickly left the hall.
Miss L led them along a different route, nowhere near the one they had used to get in.
"We're going the wrong way."
"No, we're not. Trust me."
Miss L darted to one of the doors, used a key, and slipped inside. Sheldon followed.
The door shut behind them, leaving them inside a tiny supply closet. There was barely enough room to stand without pressing against each other.
It was dark, but Sheldon could still make out the satisfied smile on Miss L's face.
"It's been a while since we've been this close."
"What are we doing in here?"
"Trust me. We just have to wait."
"For long?"
"Maybe." Miss L shifted slightly. "Move your blaster away from my stomach. It's making me think about your other weapon, and I'm starting to get turned on."
"Is that book what I think it is?"
"Shh. Quiet. Not a sound."
Sheldon sighed and, as much as the cramped space allowed, moved the blaster aside.
They stood facing each other in silence for what felt like an unknown amount of time.
Having Miss L this close affected him more than he wanted to admit.
Eventually, footsteps sounded outside the door.
They stopped.
The door opened.
A cleaner froze in the doorway, mouth hanging open.
Miss L immediately looked into his eyes, and he fell under her hypnosis.
"Get us out of here," Miss L said slowly.
The cleaner pulled two dirty work uniforms from his cart.
Miss L quickly put one on over her dress, snatched the cap from his head, and pulled it on. Sheldon changed as well.
The uniforms weren't just filthy. They smelled disgusting.
They covered the book with rags.
The cleaner led them back along the same route Miss L and Sheldon had used earlier. Miss L pushed the cart while Sheldon carried cleaning equipment.
They passed only a few guards, and every one of them let the cleaners through without question. One gave them a suspicious look but didn't stop them.
By the time they left the mansion, dawn had already broken.
Not a single guest vehicle remained on the grounds, including their own. A service vehicle belonging to the cleaning crew, however, was parked nearby.
"We sat in there for ten hours. No wonder everything hurts," Miss L muttered.
"What would you like me to do now?" the cleaner asked.
"We need to get out of here."
"But I haven't finished yet..."
"You have now. Let's go," Miss L ordered.
They all climbed into the vehicle, and a minute later the mansion was behind them.
"Damn, I need to get rid of these clothes as soon as possible. I swear the smell is already soaked into me."
"Don't worry, ridrax fades quickly. Tell me, miss, where are we going?" the cleaner asked from behind the wheel.
In the back seat, Sheldon had already changed clothes, removed the glasses, and taken Miss L's dirty uniform from her.
He tossed it aside, then pulled out the book with its incredibly beautiful binding.
Gold letters on the cover read:
BIBLE
"Don't open it. Just look," Miss L stopped him immediately. "My client specifically asked me not to open it."
"All right." Sheldon set the book aside. "How did you manage to find it and get away from them?"
"I'll tell you another time."
With a stranger present, Miss L clearly had no intention of going into detail.
"So where exactly are we going, miss? Your place, I hope?" the cleaner asked, throwing passionate looks at Miss L.
"No. We're going to Testing Ground C. Turn right."
"How do you know where it is?" Sheldon asked.
"Kelano's card had the coordinates for the testing ground and the hangar number," Miss L replied.
"And is your friend staying with us, or will it be just the three of us?"
"Listen, darling. Be a good boy and just get us there."
Miss L smiled sweetly, and the cleaner obeyed.
"Does everyone want you when they're under hypnosis?" Sheldon asked.
"More or less, yes. I don't mind. I like it. Can't wait until you're under it too."
Sheldon said nothing and turned toward the window.
Forests and fields drifted past outside, then the landscape gradually became more technological.
All the while he could hear the cleaner talking to Miss L, but he tried not to listen. Even so, he learned that the man's name was Kenny, that he was waiting for his one true love, and that he considered himself a great romantic and a funny guy.
Miss L laughed at one of his jokes.
Her bright laughter encouraged Kenny, and he started firing off one joke after another.
Miss L kept laughing.
After some time, the vehicle reached the testing ground and stopped.
Sheldon knew it was time to get out.
"Kenny, you're a great guy. Listen, one last thing. Go to the Libra Bar. There's a bartender there named Kitty. Tell her a couple of your jokes, casually, and I guarantee you'll have one hell of a night," Miss L said with complete confidence.
"But what about you, Miss L? A woman like you shouldn't be alone..."
"Kenny, darling, see that man over there? My heart belongs to him."
Miss L winked at Sheldon.
"I understand, Miss L. I'll do what you said."
"Time to go."
Sheldon opened the door and stepped out.
A few seconds later Miss L jumped out after him, and the vehicle drove away, leaving them at the entrance to the testing ground.
Testing Ground C was a large technical complex made up of hangars and low service buildings separated by wide, empty roads.
In the morning light, it looked almost abandoned.
Sheldon looked around.
There wasn't a soul in sight.
"Too empty."
"Then we'd better stay alert. The hangars are over there."
They followed the dimly lit road and soon found Hangar 77.
A keypad lock was mounted beside the doors.
Sheldon entered the code Kelano had given him, and the doors opened.
Inside stood a huge ship, positioned right in the middle of the hangar.
Hangar 77 was almost empty. Its high ceiling disappeared into the gloom, while technical platforms and cables ran along the walls.
It was Scarlett.
Her elongated hull, narrow wedge-shaped nose, and short swept-back wings made her look fast even while standing still. Under the hangar lights, the dark plating reflected a deep red in places, and the smooth lines of the hull were almost completely uninterrupted by external structures.
Sheldon smiled and walked closer.
After circling the ship, he found the control panel for the magnetic clamps holding Scarlett in place.
The system required access authorization.
Sheldon turned to Miss L.
"Give me the card. Let's finish this."
The moment Miss L placed the card against the reader, the alarm went off.
Every door slammed shut, and armed robots began emerging from all directions with blasters raised.
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Move! Get on the ship!"
Sheldon grabbed Miss L by the hand and pulled her into Scarlett's open airlock.
The robots immediately opened fire on the ship.
Without specialized equipment, fighting that many of them would have been pointless.
"Identification complete. Hello, Sheldon. It's been a long time since we spoke," the ship's operating system said in a pleasant voice.
"Hello, sweetheart. I'm restoring manual control now," Sheldon replied gently, and Miss L almost seemed jealous.
He began entering codes while the robots kept firing on the ship, which still had no defensive field.
The process took time, but Sheldon worked as fast as he could.
"Systems active. Hold on."
Scarlett completed the system restoration.
The robots had already reached the ship and started climbing onto the hull.
The hangar doors opened, and Sheldon threw himself into the pilot's seat and launched at tremendous speed just as the robots were about to reach the airlock.
Miss L barely managed to grab the passenger seat before Scarlett screamed upward.
One by one, the robots clinging to the hull lost their grip and fell away.
Sheldon smiled wider than ever.
For the first time, he looked genuinely happy.
Once they reached orbit, he reduced speed, and Miss L settled into the passenger seat.
"Nice to see you in such a good mood."
"Don't think you've earned my trust back that quickly."
Sheldon immediately became focused again.
"But I'll keep trying."
"All right. Give me the coordinates for the meeting with your client."
"First I need to contact him. Can I use your room?" Miss L asked.
Sheldon only nodded.
She immediately headed to the rear section of the ship and closed the door behind her.
"Who is your companion?" Scarlett asked.
"An old acquaintance," Sheldon replied.
"May I tell you something?"
"Go ahead."
"You know that while you were away, I was requisitioned..." Scarlett began.
"That's why I'm here. I got you back."
"I was transferred to the Galactic Council, where a decision was made to remove my system memory..."
"I see. So you couldn't track who was operating you."
"Correct. But one recording survived. Would you like me to play it?"
"Do it."
Scarlett displayed a video of very poor quality on the screen.
No faces or clothing could be made out. Only three silhouettes were visible.
They boarded the ship and began working on something.
"I hope no one has changed their mind?" asked one of the male voices.
"No. Her memory has to be removed. Besides, the Prophet promised us triple payment," replied another man, his voice lower.
"This is Sheldon's ship... What if he finds out it was us?" asked a female voice.
"Believe me, he won't be back for a long time. I think I know what they're going to do with him," the first man replied.
"Relax. No one will ever know... Found it! Kira, over here."
Then footsteps sounded, and moments later the recording ended.
For a second, Sheldon was speechless.
"Sheldon? Are you all right?" Scarlett asked after noticing his silence.
"Can you identify them?"
"No. The recording is too degraded, and this is all that survived. Do you need assistance?"
"No. But I need to think. Kira..."
Sheldon stared into space as if trying to remember where he had heard the name before, searching for even the smallest clue.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Miss L return.
She gave him the coordinates, and he entered them into Scarlett's computer almost automatically.
Sheldon remained so lost in thought that he barely noticed anything happening around him.