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  Jack frowned. “That’s curious.”

  “It’s also highly radioactive. Like, super-hot radioactive.”

  “So it’s probably bad I’m holding onto it.”

  “Not the greatest, no. I mean, the canister should contain it. And the airlock is sealed against radiation, same shielding as the hull.”

  Jack set down the canister near the back wall. “I don’t want to be in this room with the radioactive nonsense, Triss. Let me out! Alyssa, make her let me out!”

  “Okay, just hold on,” Alyssa soothed. “We’ll go into the sleeping cabins while the door is open. Re-seal the airlock when you’re inside.”

  “What about my suit?”

  “It’ll be… fine,” Triss replied. “Just toss it in the closet.”

  “All right…” Jack agreed.

  The others ran away from the door and gave him an all-clear signal when the cabin doors were closed. He opened up the interior airlock door and re-sealed it, then stripped off the EVA suit as quickly as possible. A decontamination routine activated on the suit when it was in storage.

  “That’s a terrible design,” he grumbled.

  Alyssa, Triss, and Finn crept out from the two sleeping cabins.

  “Well, this is going to make the break-in significantly more difficult,” Alyssa said.

  “You’re welcome, by the way,” Jack said.

  “Yes, thank you for going out there,” Alyssa acknowledged. “But seriously, though, the plan counted on a stable radioactive compound. With the grapple shot, we don’t have another chance to extract what we need.”

  “Why did you need it?” Jack asked.

  “To throw off the security sensors in the GiganCorp labs,” she explained. “The presence of a radioactive substance diverts some of the resources away from normal bio-detection—like a decoy.”

  “Well, this would make one heck of a decoy!” Jack exclaimed.

  Alyssa sighed. “Way too much. I think the entire lab would lock down as soon as something that potent was detected.”

  Jack thought for a moment. “What are the procedures when there’s a dangerous containment breach?”

  “Everyone immediately goes into secure bunkers. Emergency doors seal.”

  “What kind of visibility do those bunkers have to security cameras and the like?” Jack prompted.

  “Not the full control center, but probably some,” Alyssa replied.

  “But looping footage of an empty hallway is easy,” Triss cut in. “And Finn and I can bypass any lock.”

  “Yeah we can!” Finn cheered.

  Jack grinned. “Alyssa, I think getting this actinium might be a happy accident. We can clear out the whole lab and take what we want. Be in and out before anyone really knows what’s going on.”

  A smile slowly spread across her face. “That could work. Handling the material is going to be tricky, though. We’ll need extra radiation suits.”

  “They probably have some stashed away at GiganCorp, right?” Triss prompted.

  “Almost certainly,” Alyssa confirmed. “But it’s possible all of them will be taken by staff as soon as the alarm is triggered.”

  Jack smirked. “Easy. We just need to make sure the alarm triggers when the facility isn’t fully staffed.”

  “We have two days to get this done,” Alyssa reminded him. It’s not like we can wait for the weekend. And overnight, the security systems follow different protocols and we’d be screwed.”

  “So we time it right during normal operating hours but make sure to clear it out,” Jack stated.

  Alyssa raised an eyebrow skeptically. “And how do we do that?”

  Jack waved his hand. “By declaring a bottomless margarita happy hour at the nearest bar, of course! And ‘all you can eat’ taquitos for three credits. That’ll empty the place.”

  “I’m beginning to realize that most of our ideas revolve around food,” Finn observed.

  Jack nodded. “I really am bummed about all of that chili going to waste earlier.”

  Alyssa shrugged. “Cost of doing business.”

  Triss had a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Jack, this idea of yours will work. Just mentioning taquitos is making me hungry.”

  “Me too,” Finn agreed. He looked around the group. “Should we go for taquitos right now?”

  “I think we need to test out the bar to make sure it has sufficient draw to serve our purposes in the plan,” Alyssa said.

  “Yes, just vetting the plan,” Triss concurred.

  “Why do I not have taquitos in my mouth right now?” Alyssa cried as she dashed for the cockpit.

  “I’m soooo hungry now that I’m thinking about it,” moaned Triss. “How far away is the GiganCorp lab with the MEC?”

  “About four hours in hyperspace,” Alyssa said with a frown.

  “Four hours?! I’ll never make it,” Finn wailed.

  “We could have a snack to hold us over—” Jack started to suggest, but the others fixed dagger-eyes on him.

  “Taquitos are a snack. An ultimate snack! We can’t snack and then have another snack,” Triss stated.

  “You know…” Finn clasped his hands. “What if we stop off at a nearby station to have some taquitos and then go to the place near GiganCorp to get more taquitos?”

  Alyssa’s face lit up. “Finn, you are a brilliant, brilliant man.”

  CHAPTER 13: Hidden Past

  Wiping his hands on a napkin, Jack eased back onto the couch. “That was so good.”

  Triss reclined next to him. “I forgot how much I love taquitos.”

  “Must... resist... food coma…” Alyssa hauled herself out of the chair at the foldout table near the galley.

  “She’s right, we need to get to the system with GiganCorp’s lab,” Finn said from the chair across from her. “Wake me up when we’re at the next taquito place.”

  “Must focus.” Alyssa shook her head side-to-side rapidly and rubbed her eyes. “Okay, hyperspace.” She plodded into the cockpit.

  Triss winced and then forced herself off the couch. “I shouldn’t have gotten the double portion.”

  “You can have too much of a good thing,” Jack said.

  “Lies.” Triss followed Alyssa into the cockpit.

  Jack held on to the handholds in the couch as the ship made the jump to hyperspace. The pressure during acceleration was significantly more uncomfortable than normal with his full stomach.

  As much as he wanted to nap during transit—both as a result of his large meal and from being up all night thanks to Finn’s bizarre night terrors—he knew there was a break-in to plan.

  Alyssa left Triss in charge of piloting the ship while she helped Jack and Finn map out the details.

  Jack was surprised by Alyssa’s intimate knowledge of the facility. He asked dozens of random questions while they were going over the building schematics and security systems, and somehow she had a definitive response. Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him.

  “Alyssa, how do you know so much about such an ultra-secure facility? I mean, I know it doesn’t seem all that secure because we’re talking about all the ways we can outsmart the systems, but we are the best.”

  “Well, we’re the best. You’re Jack,” she countered.

  “Now you’re just dodging my question.”

  She looked down at the tabletop.

  “Did you used to work there?” Jack pressed.

  “Yes,” she replied at last.

  Finn’s eyes widened. “You never told me that before! I thought you just had an in with security or something.”

  “No, not exactly.” Alyssa hesitated. “When I left the company, my access credentials were never fully deactivated.”

  “That seems like a pretty big oversight,” Finn commented.

  “It was. Especially considering it’s been seven years,” she replied.

  Jack eyed her. “How do you know you still have access?”

  “I can still log into the VPN, which means I’m in the system.
I’ve been regularly logging onto the account over the years to keep it from going dormant,” Alyssa revealed. “The communications forwarded through that account are how I learned they’d constructed the MEC prototype.”

  Finn nodded thoughtfully. “That explains a lot.”

  “That means my old keycard should be able to help get us in through the front door,” Alyssa continued. “However, since it’s an old account, we’ll need to trick the system.”

  “Hence the nano induction module,” Triss supplied from the cockpit.

  “Exactly,” Alyssa confirmed.

  “You must have had some pretty high-level security clearance if you were receiving messages about a product that hasn’t been publicly announced,” Jack realized.

  “Yeah, you could say that.” Alyssa shrugged.

  Jack wasn’t convinced that she was telling the whole story. “What was your job at GiganCorp?”

  “What did you say, Triss?” Alyssa called out in an obvious evasion. “You need me to look at what?”

  “I didn’t—” Triss cut her off. “Right. The, uh, forward inertial dampeners are giving some readings slightly outside of spec. You should totally double-check that right away.”

  “That sounds urgent,” Alyssa said and rose from the table. “I think we’ve gone over the important parts of the plan. We’ll be there soon.”

  Jack and Finn exchanged bewildered glances as Alyssa retreated into the cockpit with Triss.

  “That was weird, right?” Jack whispered.

  “Very odd,” Finn agreed in a hushed voice.

  “What do you think she’s hiding?”

  Finn shook his head. “This is the first I’ve ever heard about her being a corporate employee. I’ve known her for about five years and in that time she’s been all about skirting the law, first with Trent and then with Svetlana’s crew. Frankly, I can’t imagine her being one of those suits.”

  “Me either. And why won’t she talk about it?”

  “Most of us have some element of our past we’d rather forget,” Finn stated.

  “True enough, but that reaction… There’s something she really doesn’t want us to know.”

  Jack and Finn decided it was best to not go down the dangerous path of idle speculation, so they let the issue drop for the time being. However, Jack was committed to getting the truth out of Alyssa at the first possible opportunity.

  The rest of the jump passed by quickly. Like many of the inhabited systems in the middle zone between the central worlds and outermost colonies, the system consisted of one main terraformed planet, several space stations, and a moon designated as the dumping ground for anything that wasn’t wanted by the other establishments. The GiganCorp research lab was naturally situated on an equatorial continent of the planet that afforded the nicest climate and beachfront. Fortunately, being the main attraction to the planet, it was also located next to a port on the surface, and in proximity to the restaurant on which Jack’s plan to clear out GiganCorp’s lab hinged.

  The Little Princess entered the atmosphere and descended to the port. Controllers directed them to a berth.

  “Just a quick taste,” Alyssa told everyone once they were docked. “No more double portions.”

  “You’ll have to handle the ordering, then,” Triss told her. “I don’t trust myself to order responsibly.”

  “Me either,” Finn admitted.

  “I’m really not that hungry again yet,” Jack ventured, but he quickly backpedaled when he saw the utter appall on the face of the others. “Kidding, of course.”

  Everyone relaxed.

  Triss chuckled. “I was going to say… No one turns down more taquitos!”

  They secured the Little Princess at the port and took a moving walkway from the docking area to a commercial district. The target establishment, Mexcelente, had a front façade finished in faux stucco with sombreros and maracas painted in red, green, and blue. Synth mariachi music filled the hall.

  “I smell them!” Hunger was in Triss’ eyes.

  “I’m ordering, remember,” Alyssa told her and took the lead into the restaurant.

  Several small groups were waiting in the lobby, and Alyssa needed to force her way to the front host stand.

  An unenthused red-headed man wearing a fake black moustache greeted them, “Welcome to Mexcelente, home of the most mexcelente burritos. How many in your party?”

  “Four,” Alyssa replied.

  The man consulted the holoconsole in front of him. “It’ll be about a forty-minute wait for the dining room.”

  Triss gripped Alyssa’s arm. “I can’t wait that long.”

  “What about the bar?” Alyssa asked the host.

  “Bar is open seating. Help yourself,” he told them. “Next customer.”

  Triss forged ahead to the bar off the right side of the lobby. She spotted a tall table near the middle and beckoned everyone over.

  “You really have no impulse control,” Alyssa commented as she took a seat at the table.

  “I’m sorry. Me and taquitos are like you and coffee,” Triss said.

  “I’m all for the bar seating.” Finn began perusing the drink menu.

  Jack settled into the final chair and looked over the main food menu. It seemed fairly typical at first, until he noticed that some of the proteins were somewhat unusual. “Frog tacos?”

  “It’s French-Mexican hybrid from Old Earth,” Alyssa told him without looking up from her own menu.

  Jack wrinkled his nose. “That’s so unnatural! I think I’ll stick to the synthobeef.”

  As he set down his menu, Jack noticed that a man was eyeing their table from across the bar. “We have company.”

  Alyssa glanced up and spotted the man. She immediately looked back down and tried to hide behind her menu.

  The man rose from his seat and approached them. “Alyssa?”

  She swore under her breath and slowly lowered the menu, forcing a smile. “Hey, Ed.”

  “Wow, long time no see!” Ed exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to see you around these parts again.”

  “Well, business…” she said with a shrug.

  “Huh.” He nodded. “Do your parents know you’re back?”

  “No, and I wasn’t planning to reach out to them,” Alyssa stated flatly.

  The man frowned. “Well, a lot of people would be happy to see you. It’s not every day that the genius daughter of one of GiganCorp’s leading researchers returns to town.”

  CHAPTER 14: Team Bonding

  Jack and Finn openly gawked at Alyssa.

  “You’re the daughter of one of the GiganCorp executives?” Jack stammered.

  “I’m no one,” Alyssa said and got up from the table. “Don’t tell anyone I was here, Ed.” She started for the exit.

  Triss caught her hand and drew her back. “No more running. You promised.”

  Alyssa let out a slow breath and returned to her seat.

  Ed searched Alyssa’s face. “What made you leave the company so suddenly?”

  “Some matters of business aren’t worth the personal sacrifice,” she responded cryptically.

  Jack noticed Triss squeeze her hand under the table.

  “Well, sorry to have interrupted your dinner,” Ed murmured. “Good to see you, Alyssa.” He returned to his seat.

  Finn waited until Ed was beyond earshot. “I get not wanting to explain yourself to him, but I think it’s time you tell us what’s really going on here.”

  Alyssa nodded. “I was hoping we could be in and out without running into anyone who knows me, but that was wishful thinking.” She took a deep breath. “Yes, my parents work for GiganCorp, and so did my grandparents, and great-grandparents, etcetera. I went to college to study engineering, just like I was supposed to, and began working in the research division as soon as I graduated. Things were fine for a couple of years, but then Competron came into the mix.”

  “They’re GiganCorp’s main competition, right?” Finn prompted.

  “Yes. Rea
lly, the only competition,” Alyssa confirmed. “But it’s not just competition in terms of the products. Competron has a fundamentally different business model—they’re all about freemium business models so no one has to go without, but those with the means can get whatever they want.

  “Obviously, this caused some problems in the executive ranks of GiganCorp. How could the company compete if someone else was giving away the same product for free?”

  “Free is nice,” Jack said.

  “Exactly.” Alyssa nodded. “So, being the unimaginative lot that they are, they decided to send me to Competron as a mole. That’s when I learned that Competron is actually a pretty nice place to work and they have a winning mission statement and all that.”

  “So you defected?” Finn said.

  “In a roundabout way. Triss and I met at Competron, where she was one of the engineers working on AI integration,” Alyssa explained.

  Understanding registered in Finn’s eyes. “Ah, that’s how you got so good.”

  “I wasn’t nearly as good before I met you,” Triss smiled.

  Finn ducked his head bashfully. “Aw, shucks.”

  “Anyway,” Alyssa continued. “GiganCorp wanted me to come back and spill everything I’d learned about Competron, but I wanted to stay. After some long, boring conversations about non-competes, I stumbled across a job posting on a board looking for volunteers to help the disenfranchised. I was annoyed enough with corporate interests that it sounded appealing. Things started out innocently enough, but Triss and I eventually found ourselves at the inner circle of Svetlana’s little empire. After things went bad with Trent, it was too dangerous to venture out on our own, so we were stuck.”

  “Then this job with GiganCorp came up,” Triss added. “It was a chance to take some tech that could allow a third player to enter into the competition mix in a big way.”

  “Through coffee?” Jack raised an eyebrow.

  “That’s one application,” Alyssa said. “Obviously that wasn’t going to be the only thing.”

  “But now the Vorlox are after the same thing, for unknown reasons,” Finn said. “So that makes things tricky.”

  “It does. I still don’t know their angle,” Alyssa admitted. “But I do know that GiganCorp is not the company that should have sole use of the MEC,” she whispered the last part so it couldn’t be heard beyond their table.