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Chapter 35

Chapter 35

January 25th, 2158

Jean had been sitting quietly in the cafeteria.  He hadn't spoken a word in a few hours.  He was a little surprised when Brit got up from the table and walked away from him.  Normally Brit didn't venture too far away, unless it was needed or preplanned.

Brit walked towards the middle of the cafeteria touching most of the unoccupied tables and chairs as he went.  This was a little odd for Brit, but Jean sat and watched, knowing that an explanation would be forth coming.

After about ten minutes Brit had walked up and down several isles of the cafeteria and made his way back to Jean.  He sat down without a word.

"What was that all about?" Asked Jean.

"I believe that it will be better explained else where."  Brit said.

It was obvious to Jean that Brit was concentrating on something, but for now he could only guess.  Brit looked to be rearranging and reprogramming some of his nanobots.

The two sat in silence for another few minutes.  Jean finally broke the silence, "Shall we be off?"

Brit nodded his head and the two exited the cafeteria.  They walked down the identical looking corridors until they reached their dormitory for non-secure personnel.  Once they were inside their room, Brit sat down in his normal spot where he plugged himself into a power jack and began to charge.  Jean reclined on the lower of the two bunks and picked up an old paper book.  It was large and covered most of his face from the camera that was spying on them.

"I have intercepted the audio, they will not be able to hear us."  Brit said.  His mouth did not move, but the tone was clear and easy to understand.

"Ah, good.  Now, what is it my friend?"  Jean said making sure that the camera couldn't see his mouth or jaw move.

"I believe I now know the purpose of this station."  Brit detected the slight change in respiration of Jean as he spoke.  "A linguist left an organic data drive in the cafeteria for me to pick up."

"Ah, I see.  And did this linguist give a reason for treason against his country and company?"

"Yes, the linguist believes that the asteroid minors who died while in transit a few months back were actually murdered.  Murdered by officials in the company.  He wishes to hire us to investigate his brothers murder."

"And what does this linguist offer for payment?"

"The information itself.  There is an abundance of information in the drive that he left me.  I do believe that it can be sold for a great deal of money.  Plus, I think we can gain access to the secured server through this linguist."

If Jean were slightly less disciplined he would have jumped straight up.  However he was able to turn his twitch of excitement into him shifting position on the bed.  Access of the secured server would set them for the rest of their lives, plus several more a hundred times over.

"We will have to change our plans slightly," Jean said regaining control.  "How long until our ride arrives?"

"Our ride will be here in just over a week."

Jean knew that Brit had become uneasy with their situation.  They were sent to the station to meet with Doctor Reed, Officer of Scientific Research and Theory, and Board member of Jackson Stone.

The two had managed to fast talk a low level Security Special Forces officer, allowing them to board a ship to the Jupiter station.  However, upon waking from hibernation they learned that they were now captives with little freedom.  They quickly learned that they would never be able to meet with Doctor Reed, and they would never be able to uphold their contract with Madam Hitomi.

Brit broke the silence, "I am guessing that the software that we procured for the company is being used as an advanced form of navigation to parts of the universe that were previously unseen.  It would seem that Jackson Stone has a new faster than light form of travel."

"Is that information on the data drive?"  Jean said without moving.

"Not exactly, our linguist friend hasn't been trained in tactical speaking.  He never says any of that, but I have combed through all of the files he has sent us and there are several clues that lead me to believe this.  My theory is within seventy percent accuracy based on the information that I have received."

"There are a lot of companies that will pay handsomely for a new faster than light drive.  If we can get this information we could buy our own planet."

"Such a large jump in technology would create a monopoly unlike any sentient being has ever seen.  I do not think that any one company should own this tech, I think it should be shared with the world."

This time Jean dropped the book slightly and looked straight at Brit.  He slowly raised the book to once again cover his mouth before saying, "Are you saying what I think you are?"

There was a pause while neither spoke for a moment.  Then Brit said, "Yes, I think this information should be uploaded into the Temple."

Jean's eyebrows knitted together, "I thought you didn't give that religion much stock."

"I don't support the idea of Intelligent Evolutionist's, but I do recognize that it would be the easiest way to spread the knowledge freely to all of humanity."

There was another moment of silence before Brit continued.  "Jackson Stone already controls too much of the worlds economy.  They can not be allowed to control more."

Jean knew that Brit had some bad blood with the Intelligent Evolutionists, and didn't want to be associated with them.  However, his dislike of how controlling Jackson Stone was, and their potential world monopoly was even greater.

"Alright," Jean said.  "What do we need to do to gain access to the secured part of the station?"

"First, I will need a strand of hair."  Brit said.  "I need to turn the hair into a data storage device like our linguist did.  I can reuse all of the parts from that data drive except for the hair that was inside.  Then I need to write a program that will gain us access from the linguists DNAC to the secured terminals.  Once we have established that, then we should be able to gain full access."

"I have an idea for our exit strategy, but you are not going to like it."

Brit looked at Jean and didn't say anything.  Jean guessed that he knew what he was about to say.

"When our ride arrives," Jean said, "we will need to pull a Mars Escape."

Jean believed that if Brit could shoot lasers from his eyes, he would have done so right then.  There was another long pause between the two before Jean continued.  "For that to work I will need you to write another program.  Something old, that they wouldn't expect."