FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The landing lot at the entrance of the Telrize complex was almost full; the shuttles there went from inexpensive models to some that would take everything Alex had set aside in his mercenary career. The Complex didn't allow shuttles to fly within its limits, so on the other side of the entrance, where Alex and Tristan had to swipe their ID cards was another lot, this one containing hover vehicles.

Because they weren't regular workers at the complex, the guard had to check the system to confirm they had been called in. While he did that Alex looked up at the transport shuttles coming and going. They were the reason no other shuttles were allowed over the complex. Once the guard confirmed they had been called in, they picked the closest hover and rode to their first target building.

Tristan was at the controls, so Alex had nothing to do but look around. They passed restaurants, a medical clinic, a few gyms as well as some clothing stores. The complex was laid out as a small city, minus the housing. So on top of working at whatever companies were located here, the people could eat their meals, go shopping, ensuring that as little time was lost to having to go back home. Alex wouldn't be surprised if some of the offices came with cots and the companies encouraged the workers to sleep there.

The building at 327 was seven stories tall, a nondescript metal and glass structure like all the others around it. If anyone wanted to go shopping they'd have to travel a few blocks. Tristan eased the hover in a free spot next to the building.

Alex checked the time. Middle of the afternoon. Everyone was in their office, leaving this section of road deserted. He followed Tristan to the door, where it wouldn't open. The Samalian swiped the ID card, and got a refusal sound. He looked at Alex.

"The ID's valid. And it's a work day, the door should be unlocked." He pressed against the glass wall, shading his eyes. "I can see a security desk, but not the guard." He looked around the lobby.

Tristan looked around and pulled tools out of his bag. "Keep an eye out."

"There should be at least one guard at the desk at all time during the day," Alex said, leaning back against the wall.

Tristan opened the reader and did something to it. It gave a pleasant beep and the door swung in. Alex moved to enter, but Tristan stopped him. He put the cover back on and poked his head in. He stepped in, stopped, then motioned for Alex.

The chemical smell was faint, but definitely out of place. He didn't recognize this particular smell, but he still knew what it meant. He headed for the counter while Tristan did something with the internal lock.

"I have two downed guards." Alex went around the counter and checked them. "Alive, just unconscious." By the position of the chairs, they'd slid out of them as they lost consciousness. He brought up the security screens and went through them quickly. The scene was similar everywhere he looked. People lying on the floor or slumped in their chairs.

"The building's been gassed. I'm not seeing anyone conscious."

"There's going to be a team moving around, find them."

Alex went through the options. The guards had been logged in so he didn't have to coerce anything. The building had a sensor grid. "I have four people moving about on this floor, at the rear. They've just entered an office." He watched as they looked around, then left it. "They're entering the next one." He looked up.

"They don't know where the stacks are."

"How? It took me less than ten minutes to get through the protections and find it."

Tristan smiled and Alex's heart skipped. "They don't have you. That gives us the advantage."

"You want me to lock down the lifts?"

Tristan shook his head. "That'll tell them there's someone awake. They'll be on their guards after that." He headed for the stairs.

Alex quickly deactivated the alarm connected to them and followed him. On the fourth floor Tristan paused at the door, opened it a crack and canted his head, listening. Then they were running down the hall to a plain door with only a number on it.

Tristan opened the cover and worked in it, taking longer than usual to unlock the door. The door slid out of their way and they entered a cold room. Their breath fogged and Alex began shivering.

The mainframe stacks were black columns, a meter and a half in height with lights blinking on their uneven surface. Looking at one from far away, and squinting a little, it could pass for a tall building.

Tristan handed him two of the four disrupters and they set them on top of the stacks Tristan had picked. One disrupter was enough, but Tristan liked to be certain. He'd set them for a three-hour delay, ensuring they would be out of the complex before they went off.

"Change it to go off at a temperature shift, give it ten minutes before the sensor becomes active."

Alex had to go through the options to find it and set it. Tristan was already at the door as Alex put the first one in place. The second one went faster now that he knew what he was looking for. They exited and Tristan spent a few minutes with the lock, setting it back to its normal function. This was why he'd been slower going in. He had been careful not to damage anything.

They headed to the stairs and on opening the door heard hard sole boots clamoring up them. They stayed still. A door opened and the footfalls vanished.

They waited for a few minutes then silently went down the steps.

"Do you want me to set an alarm for them to trigger? I doubt Baran's with them. Any delays will work in our favor."

Tristan shook his head. "I don't want the Law here, it's just going to interfere with the job." They left the building.

"How do you think they got in the complex?" Alex asked getting in the hover.

"There's probably a few holes in the security grid."

"You didn't check?"

"I have you to get me in, why waste the time?"

Alex didn't say anything as Tristan got them to the warehouse. This wasn't the first time he'd relied on Alex to get in a secured area. He did feel some pride at that, he was good, he knew it, but to have Tristan acknowledge it by depending on him felt good. Only Tristan was normally thorough. Why hadn't he checked for security holes while he'd surveyed the complex?

The warehouse came into view, and kept on coming until it was all Alex could see. One giant wall at least a hundred meters tall. He couldn't see any way to enter as they rode across its entire front. Tristan stopped the hover in a spot two buildings past it, and Alex followed him along the side of the warehouse.

After five minutes they stopped and only once Tristan pulled a plate from the wall, revealing circuits, did Alex notice the edges of the door. It slid open and Tristan put the cover back on; it blended in perfectly with the black surface of the wall.

Cavernous didn't even begin to describe the space they were now in. A least ten meters high and it went on so far it vanished. Looking at it as a hologram hadn't done anything to convey just how large it was. Flying robots picked up and deposited crates.

Alex looked at Tristan. "You expected us to find the fabricator under three hours?"

"You said there'd only nine places it can be."

Alex motioned to the space around them. "Nine spots spread throughout all of this." He took his datapad out. "The closest one is on this floor." He pointed in the distance. "Far in that direction. The first stop you had me find for you is about halfway to there."

Tristan began walking.

Alex grumbled and followed. Tristan had known. He had to. He wasn't one not to notice actual distances. So why hadn't he said anything? Had he wanted Alex to point it out? The distances hadn't registered with him until they were here.

He cursed as he had to jump out of the way of a ground locked hover that raced at them. It had a few crates on it's back. It stopped by a rack of crates, picked one up and added it to those it carried. Another one was coming toward them, heading in the same direction they were going and Alex had an idea.

He switched his implant on, quickly sifted through the code flying around the warehouse until he found that of the hover. With a few words he stopped it. It was a dumb system, willing to accept any orders that had the authorization code, and that was floating, unencrypted, all around them.

Tristan tilted an ear as Alex stepped in the back.

"Get on, I'm not walking all the way there." For a moment Alex thought he saw annoyance on Tristan's face and then it was gone. The back of the hover wasn't made for passengers so they slid around as it made quick turns to take it to the destination Alex gave it. Once there Tristan broke a crate open and took out containers, putting that in his bag.

Their next stop was beside the one they wanted. Alex hadn't been able to send the hover directly there since it had been removed from the index. Unsurprisingly enough, it was empty, with enough dust to show it had been years since anything had been there.

Their next stop was two floors above. They had to get there without help, using emergency ladders that had to date back to when freight had to be moved by hand. There were no lifts for the ground hovers to take, and Alex wasn't risking using one of the fliers.

He commandeered another hover once they were on the floor and did three stops before reaching the empty one. At them Tristan broke more crates and took more canisters and electronic components from the last one.

While they rode the hover he mixed the canister's contents, forming a lumpy paste that he put back in three of the now mostly empty canisters. He only kept the full ones and the electronic parts when they got off the hover. This deleted spot contained the remnants of animals in cages.

Two dozen cages of various size. Checking one, they were cryo enabled, but the power supplies had run out. He shuddered at the thought that they had woken up, brayed or made whatever sounds those animals had made as they became hungry and thirsty, but there wasn't anyone living to hear them.

On the floor above Tristan got more electronic parts and he assembled three detonators. They went up one more floor for the next empty spot.

They were getting back on the hover when Alex heard voices. Before Tristan signaled him he was already moving to hide. Hard soled boots sounded on the metal floor, coming closer.

"How far?" a man said.

"It's the next one over," a woman replied.

"Jefferson, hows security?"

"Still unaware. We're intercepting the signal before it reaches the office and it's looping. I'm keeping an eye on it to make sure the antibodies don't degrade it."

Alex peeked around the crate and saw a team of six in gray military armor come into view. They stopped in front of the empty space Alex and Tristan had been looking at.

"That's three," the man in front said. He took out a radio. "Bronson, tell me you found it."

"Noting resembling a fabricator at any of the ones we were assigned." The radio replied. It sounded like the man on the other end was older.

"Aswaygo, report."

"Still one to go. We'll be there in five minutes."

The man cursed. "Jefferson. Are you certain there's only these nine spots it can be in?"

"Based on the boss' information, yes."

More cursing.

Tristan caught Alex's attention. He motioned to the woman furthest away from the team, ran a finger across his throat and pointed at his feet.

Alex nodded and silently moved among the crates until he was behind her. He took out a knife, Put a hand over her mouth at the same time as he stabbed her in the throat, severing her spine. He held her in place while listening for any indication someone had heard. When no one sounded the alarm, he picked her up and carried her and deposited her at Tristan's feet.

The Samalian went through her belongings, a rifle, two handhelds, various chips in her pocket, data and credits. The radio. No IDs. No indications who they were working for, although Alex had no doubt they worked for Baran. Who else would be looking for the fabricator.

"Marc," the leader's radio said. "This stop is empty too."

The man cursed.

Tristan looked unhappy with what he found on her body. He pocketed the chips and looked thoughtful.

Alex wanted to ask about the plan, but he didn't want to speak, so he pointed at the team and ran a finger across his throat, eyebrow raised. It would be simple enough to kill all of them.

The leader was speaking in soft tones with the one Alex thought was Jefferson. They were looking at the datapad the man held.

Tristan shook his head.

Alex raised his eyebrow higher.

"Alright, we're doing another sweep. Considering how much the boss is paying us I'm not telling him that what he's looking for isn't here unless I am absolutely certain we haven't missed anything. I want us to spread one per row, keep an eye out for anyth--where's Anita?"

Tristan motioned for Alex to head away. Alex didn't argue.

They were four rows down.

"Anita's dead! Someone cut her spine!"

"Fan out. Shoot on sight. There isn't suppose to be anyone in here; so whoever they are, they're competition. Probably whoever blew the stacks. Aswaygo, Bronson, we have company, shoot on sight, try to take one alive so we can find out who else is after the package. The boss is going to want to know who his competition is.

Alex took control of the nearest hover and they climbed on. When he felt they were far enough not to be heard Alex spoke. "They haven't found it. You think they missed it? Screwed up?"

Tristan shook his head. "They're pros, the leader is ex-military, two of them were Law. If they say it isn't here, it isn't."

"So Olirian screwed up? It got shipped?"

"We're still alive, so no."

"The only thing left is that someone else got to it first."

Tristan nodded.

Alex considered what he knew. The ease he'd had in getting in, as well as that other coercionist indicated the security was weak. The company had become lax, relying on the automation to provide the security. As good as they both were, others could have gotten in. And if he ignored that whoever had taken it knew about the virus, it only left one group who might get in, looking for something of value, see an industrial fabricator, maybe they'd realized it was modified for biochemical use, and decided they could make a fortune with it.

"They're going to realize this too," he said.

"The leader has them do a second sweep. It gives us time."

"It isn't going to be easy. How many gangs deal drugs on this planet?"

Tristan smiled. "I know a few people I can ask. I've been here before," he said at Alex's quizzical expression. "And it won't be that tough, after all, how many gangs have been able to offer designer drugs at cut-rate prices recently?"