Omega Force: Rebellion (OF11), стр. 39

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"That's basically all I know. We were picked up using the proper authentication codes to recall all essential personnel, and then when the transports arrived, we were put in restraints and dumped in these cages."

“So, the full crew isn't here?" Lucky asked.

"No, just the people that fly and fight her, and not even all of them," the Eshquarian officer said. "All of the admin and civilian science staff we normally carry weren't brought back. I did overhear someone talking about one more stop to pick up more prisoners, but I couldn't hear everything they were saying. You going to let us out?" Lucky looked at him a moment, running the probabilities through his head.

"I can't," he said. "You are one of forty-two ships in this formation. Even if I released you, it would be unlikely you could overpower the security contractors and take back the ship and you would only alert the others that their plans have been compromised. There is still much I must learn before I can worry about rescuing your crew."

"What?!"

"The lives of many may be at stake," Lucky said. "Releasing you prematurely could jeopardize my chances of stopping that."

"Hey! What are you doing down here?"

"Discussing something with this prisoner," Lucky said calmly as one of the security supervisors stormed across the deck towards him.

"That's prohibited! You know that! I'll have your contract nullified for this."

"If you must," Lucky said. The supervisor almost got within range to grab him when Lucky lashed out with the flat of his hand so quickly that the two biological beings couldn't track it. The hit crushed the throat of the supervisor, dropping him to his knees as his eyes bulged, and he clawed at his neck. He died gurgling at Lucky's feet as the battlesynth never took his eyes off the officer he was questioning.

"My gods!"

"Take this," Lucky said, passing an ident card through one of the holes. "That card is also coded to open these cages. I'm trusting you to know when the time is right to use it and not before."

"What about him?"

"I will take him with me and dispose of him," Lucky said, lifting the supervisor's limp corpse like it was nothing. "Remember…not before it is time."

"Not before it's time. Got it."

Lucky rushed from the cargo hold, intent on stashing the third body with one of the others when he felt the shift in artificial gravity that told him the ship had dropped out of slip-space. Instead of moving back up to the administrative areas, he reversed his course and dropped down two decks into the bowels of the engineering spaces. He was crossing a catwalk that was suspended far above the machinery that made the ship move when he shut down his disguise, no longer wanting to expend the energy it took to keep it solid. He gauged the distance to the deck below and then flung his cargo over the railing. The security supervisor bounced off a fresh water pipe and then landed on the deck with a sickening crunch.

Having learned all he could aboard the ship, it was time to make a discreet exit. He checked his own equipment to make sure it was still functional and then made his way towards one of the maintenance airlocks that allowed access to the outer hull. The codes to all the secure hatches were still disabled so it was a simple matter of cycling the lock, walking out onto the hull, and then blasting away on his repulsor jets after engaging his stealth mode. He recorded everything in local space with his passive sensors as he streaked away, shutting off his jets and allowing his body to drift. From what he could see, there were five civilian transports that had rendezvoused with the fleet, each of them maneuvering for docking which indicated they were going to transfer more cargo than a shuttle could handle.

Lucky waited until every ship had meshed-out of the area, leaving him alone and adrift in interstellar space. He looked around and took a star fix, his instruments quickly determining his exact location. Once he'd repeated the procedure four more times to account for his relative speed and direction, he pulled the portable slip-com radio off his hip and activated the field. After punching in his coordinates, the direction and velocity he was flying, and his status, he shut the device down. He also shut down most of his non-essential systems and set his mind to analyzing the new data he'd collected on his mission. Now that he was back in normal operating mode, he was able to think more clearly. The covert operation modes were so immersive that he felt like he was losing sight of the bigger picture, wholly focused on the mission of gathering intel to the point of obsession. Normally, he wouldn't have been so casual about killing targets of convenience, slimy mercenaries or not. He made a note to address his concerns with Tauless when he saw the pru again, and then put the matter from his mind. The new information he'd gathered seemed to confuse the issue more than it cleared it up.

"Welcome back. Don't ever do that shit again."

"My mission was somewhat successful," Lucky said, ignoring the comment. "I was able to gather what I think is critical intel, but I have no contextual framework