The Girl in the Tank: Galactic Consortium, Season 1

Episode Four: Spies, ch.6

"So you think there's a third level?" Fox said, a smirk threatening to break through the mask of his face.

"Yeah, we've got evidence and everything," Runningbear said.

Fox had been right. He'd made his peace with Runningbear and while they weren't exactly friends, Runningbear was willing to dish. More than willing. He seemed bound and determined to convince Fox that the Consortium was up to something. By playing the skeptic, Fox got him to spill every detail the conspirators were finding.

"You've got one blurry photo of what appears to be a hatch opening at the top of the lift," Fox said. "I don't think that's enough evidence. Not enough to go to the Captain with, certainly." Fox had hinted that if the conspirators found anything significant, he'd go to the captain on their behalf. It guaranteed, he hoped, that they would come to him first, rather than trying to forward something to...whoever. Hornbeck claimed to be in contact with military intelligence but Captain Lannister couldn't get any verification and with Hornbeck, who knew?

"You don't believe us," Runningbear groused.

"I am not saying that," Fox said. "I'm a cop. There's a difference between suspecting something and being able to prove it in a court of law. We need more than one photo."

"We'll keep trying," Runningbear said. "You know, there was a time I thought these people were all right. But the more suspicious stuff we find, the more freaked I am getting. What if they want to do experiments on us or something?"

Fox chewed on his lip, biting back a laugh.

"There is this one room, on the map, that's not named but there's a whole bunch of chemical symbols attached to it," Runningbear said.

Medical Gel Manufacturing, Fox thought, and if you knew how to read that map properly, you'd already know about the third level.

Fox sighed. "Okay, I have a lead for you, even."

"Yeah?"

"There's a door at the end of the bottom corridor. I went by there the other day and somebody was coming out."

"What was inside?"

"I couldn't see," Fox said. "It was too bright."

"Bright?"

"Yeah, the room was completely lit up, like bright white. You guys should try to check that out."

Runningbear nodded.

Fox caught sight of Nara in the lounge doorway. "I gotta go," he told Runningbear and headed towards her. Once they were part way down the hall and the lounge door closed behind him, Fox burst into laughing. "God, I had no idea how much fun this investigation was going to be."

"What now?" Nara asked.

"They've discovered a secret third level of the ship." Nara scrunched her eyes. "I know, I know," he said. "It's on the map. The flight deck and upper storage. Where we can't go, you know, because we aren't certified."

Nara shook her head. "But that's on the schematics."

"Yeah, but you've got to understand, our maps, our places, are mostly two dimensional. We don't think about up and down. It probably never occurred to them to tap up a level on the map, or ask the system to explain."

"Did you plant my hint?" she asked.

He nodded. "I did."

The lower hydroponics room was conveniently mislabeled in English and the bright lights of the room would screw with the camera app, so they figured it was the best place to send the spies, far away from anything they could get themselves into trouble over.