It took a bit of careful maneuvering to get the Phoenix closer in stealth mode for Claire to get on board. She was a pro though, knew better than the guys what was at stake and how keeping a low profile was paramount to the next piece of the action.
She explained to them what had happened previously. She and her partner had split up – Claire got dropped off at Gundo and found the cube’s encryption key while her partner, Drios, had gone to investigate a lead on the cube’s location in a safe-house on Daymar. She was en route back to the rendezvous point, when a surprise attack from the pirates – quantum interdiction and EMP – disabled her ship.
Drios tried to make a quick getaway but obviously didn’t get very far on spacesuit propulsion. The pirates used a tractor beam to steal the 85X and captured her to make some easy money on the slave market, which meant she was in no immediate danger from the rival research companies but had fallen instead into another trap.
There was no way Claire was going to abandon her friend, plus they didn’t know anything about the alien cube yet. Derek and John promised her they would do everything in their power to get her back and finish the mission. Now the clock was ticking and the rescue had to be perfectly executed, since the pirates were on their home territory, the lawless GrimHEX.
Derek had some shady friends back there, so he offered to go in first. They decided on hiding the Phoenix in plain sight, as no matter the stealth capabilities, a luxury vessel would attract attention once spotted, plus the entire area was heavily patrolled by pirates and other unsavory types. So he would play the role of a rich gambler who had come to play high stakes poker in the casino, which would allow him to get in touch with his shady friends. Claire wanted to get in on the action and play his girlfriend, but John declined, considering she was not completely recovered. He’d be there instead as Derek’s bodyguard and Claire would be their operation leader from the Phoenix base.
Once they had enough information, they’d rescue Drios fast, and Claire would be able to bring ship at any of the smuggler’s den many exit points for the getaway.
“Ready John?”
“Let’s do this. Claire, you know what to do. If we fail, hot tail it to the lab.”
“You won’t fail”, she said with determination.
As soon as their ship got near GrimHEX, they were greeted by the casino tower control and were told to go to the back entrance. Their plan was working!
Claire parked just outside where Derek indicated and both men EVA-ed to the space station door.
“Stay close and don’t say a word”, Derek told his friend. I’ve been here before under a different name.
“Well, look who has a shady past!”, laughed John.
“What did I just say?”
“Right, boss.”
The EVA was quick but the entrance looked as if it had been blown up. They had to go inside the elevator shaft floating to get to the spacestation airlocked door.
Once inside, they didn’t get too far, when someone shouted from behind. “Tony! Well I’ll be, it’s you! You got some nerve to show up here, you dirty bastard.”
That someone was Jules “Crazyeye” Garron, who seemed to be a friend of Derek’s. Or better said, Tony’s by the looks of it.
“Lemme buy you a drink Crazy, it’s been too long”, said Derek shaking the newcomer’s hand. “I hit the motherlode a few months back and now my hand is itching for a bit of poker, so I’m here to make more or lose it all”, he laughed.
“You’ve come to the right place”, said Crazy and lead them to the bar. “Who’s this? And what have you been up to brother, I thought you was dead!”
“This is my hired muscle, don’t mind him. I’m alive and kickin’ as you can see, and looking for some fun. It has certainly been a while since we smuggled that thing together, remember?”, said Derek smiling. John just looked at Crazy and nodded, then acted his role like a soap-opera actor, staring into the void.
“Listen, I need your help with something…”