Van Terra

Chapter Two ~ Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don't

Footsteps approached the cell before Grace had a chance to ask how Jasper intended on getting out of the station. Grace instinctively backed away from the bars, fearing it was her death approaching, while Jasper appeared unconcerned. Grace couldn't say she found that reassuring.

A girl stopped in front of the cell and began fiddling with the lock. It was difficult to discern much of her appearance in the red glow creeping in through the window, but she appeared to be wearing an officer's uniform.

"Got the key?" Jasper asked. "And my comm device?"

"Obviously," the girl muttered as she drew a key from her pocket.

Grace watched the girl unlock the cell with wide eyes. "Who is that?" she asked. "What's happening?"

"Shh." Jasper gestured to the girl. "This is Holly. Stay quiet until we get out of the building, all right? And move fast. My hacker can't keep the station's power out forever."

Holly unlocked Jasper's chains next, and then the two were hurrying out of the cell. Grace rushed to follow them down the hall.

Even though the world darkened with every step away from the windows, Jasper led the way with ease. How could she see so well? She was surprisingly quiet, too, considering her dramatic entrance.

"Big group of guards at the end of the hall," Jasper whispered. "On the other side of that door. Thea, you on comms?"

In the silence that followed, Grace became painfully aware of the sound of her own breathing.

"Excellent," Jasper said. "And your heat scanning drone is working?"

They stopped in front of what must have been the door. Grace narrowly avoided bumping into Jasper.

"Quite a few guards between us and evidence storage," Jasper said. "And they'll all have flashlights. Holly?"

"Ready," Holly replied. She pulled something out of her pocket. Grace could just make out the sight of a small sphere passing from her hand to Jasper's.

The door creaked open. Jasper grabbed Grace's arm and pulled her forward into the black. A beam of light cut through the darkness ahead. There was a click, followed by the sound of the sphere rolling across the floor. Hissing filled the air. Flashlight beams swung toward the three.

The light never reached them. Thick, black fog kept them from view. "Smoke bomb," Jasper whispered, sounding smug.

"Stop showing off," Holly hissed.

The three slipped past the confused officers. The officers' quiet chatter helped hide Grace's footsteps and heavy breathing. Jasper guided her and Holly through the building, and Holly occasionally dropped more smoke bombs from her pockets to keep them hidden.

A few minutes of walking brought them to a quiet hallway. Jasper released Grace's arm. A moment later there was a thud, a grunt, and the sound of a guard hitting the ground. Grace winced.

Holly turned on a flashlight and pointed it at Jasper. Jasper drew two pins from her hair and set to work picking the lock on the door in front of her. It clicked a few moments later, and she eased the door open. She entered, followed by Holly, then Grace.

Pink neon light spilled into the evidence room through the blinds. White lockers took up most of the wall space. Jasper trailed a finger across them as she circled the room. When she found the locker she was looking for, she picked that lock, too.

"Before you ask what we're here for, this was taken from my team during our last job," Jasper said as she opened the locker door. "We barely got away." She pulled out a data drive, black leather gloves, a miniature drone, a smartsphere model that looked a few starcycles old, and some cords. They all went into her pockets. The last item, a silver cylinder about half an inch in diameter, stayed in her hand.