Omega Force: Rebellion (OF11), стр. 11
As he suspected, the little gang was tapping directly into the network switchers, their cobbled together interfaces standing in stark contrast to the sterile equipment of the public utility. Public Nexus junctions like the one he was now in weren't considered high security risks because the entire network was public access to begin with. What the slicer gang was trying to do was camouflage the fact they were chewing through prodigious amounts of data by hiding their activity in the traffic going through the switching node.
"You're not worried about V'pal Security finding your little hideout here?" Kage asked. "This is a little too easy to find and impossible to escape from if you pick up a tracker."
"You have a better idea?" the smaller mizule asked, posturing aggressively. And just like that, Kage knew what he could offer the group in return for their help.
"I do, Meeleos," he smiled, reaching out and patting both mizule on the back as he walked around the small space. "What if I gave you a way to not only mask your identity and location but make it look like you were actually somewhere else regardless of how much bandwidth you're pulling."
"I'd say you're wasting my time," Meeleos said.
"Not on the main slip-com trunk leaving the planet, of course," Kage went on, ignoring the comment. He reached out and touched the equipment around the room seemingly at random, peering at things thoughtfully. "ConFed Data Control Authority has the interplanetary links locked down tight, but the local Nexus? Easy. Especially on a world like V'pal."
"You saying our planet is garbage?" the larger mizule asked, bristling.
"You're saying it's not?" Kage was genuinely surprised. "I-I sort of thought everyone knew that. No offense, but most planets don't have air that tastes like metal."
"You arrogant little Verans are all alike," Meeleos said. "You come here and talk down to us as if we don't have any idea who—"
"What other Verans have been here?" Kage asked. "Again, meaning no offense, but this is well outside the normal circles Veran code slicers operate in. Most are all in the larger syndicates or running solo on tier-one worlds."
"I'm not being paid enough to put up with these insults!" Meeleos pulled a weapon and aimed it at Kage. "She didn't say you had to be conscious when we bring you—" The mizule didn't get another word out as Kage touched a spot on the inside of one of his left sleeves. The stunner patches he'd put on both aliens sent multiple high-voltage charges into them, overriding their nervous systems, and dropping them to the floor, where they lie motionless.
"Well…that was just rude, Kage." The voice came from the dark corner of the room Kage assumed was just a storage area. Instead, an Eshquarian woman walked out, and she appeared to be unarmed. "Be a dear and please disarm those charges you put on poor Meeleos's gear."
"Qazvi Ba, I presume," Kage said, tossing her the remote for the discreet charges he'd placed on all the critical components. "You're good."
"And you're dead if you can't give me a good reason why you've been trying to track me down."
4
"I'm not the only one looking for you," Kage said, still keeping his hands where she could see them. Just because she wasn't visibly armed didn't mean she was vulnerable. She was too relaxed for her not to have some advantage over him at the moment.
"That's not answering the question."
"It's ConFed Intelligence. They're here trying to track down the Eshquarian fleet units that escaped, the same as I am."
"I knew they'd been landing assets in the various cities, but I wasn't aware I was the target," she said. "How did you know this?"
"We tracked you through a gray market fuel trader in the Nabia System," Kage said. "As it turns out, we weren't the only ones who thought of tracking a missing fleet by trying to pick up the logistics trail."
"You next words better be explaining why you are looking for me. I'll deal with the ConFed easily enough."
"Not likely. They're going to enforce a blockade soon and tighten the net around you. The reason we're looking for you is that we'd like to talk to the Eshquarian fleet masters about…well…it's probably better if I let someone else explain it to you."
"I think I get the picture, and I can already tell you what they'll say," she said wearily. "An open rebellion even with every ship the Empire has left is likely to be short-lived. The ConFed fleet is immense, and they now appear to have the will to use it."
"Like I said, I'm not the person to talk to about this, I'm just the messenger," Kage said. "What have you got to lose? You'll at least be able to get off the planet."
"Not likely," she laughed. "If ConFed Intelligence is working with a fleet blockade to run me down, it won't be long before they get me. You'd have to have a ship with a captain who's either suicidal or stupid."
Kage just smiled widely at that. "Why not both?"
"Qazvi doesn't sound like an Eshquarian name," Crusher said suspiciously.
"And Crusher doesn't sound like a Galvetic name. It's part of my cover, genius. Is this the stupid one you were talking about?"
"Actually, he is." Kage pointed at Jason. "Crusher isn't in charge, he's just the—" A massive hand clamped down on the Veran's throat and squeezed.
"Consider your next words very carefully," Crusher growled. He opened his hand, and Kage fell to the ground, gasping for air.
"Oh, I can tell this is going to be fun already," Qazvi said.
"We should probably get moving now that you've managed to get everyone staring at us," Jason said. "Split up and meet outside