The Complete Razia Series, page 96
"I am not even setting foot on that planet until I have faith that he can do this," Ganon said, definitively.
"Yeah, yeah. He'll be fine," Sage waved him off. "So back to the map here..."
***
Ganon still had his doubts about the job, but time was of the essence, and Sage wasn't going to turn down a huge payout because one member of his crew was concerned. Besides, Sage always worked best under pressure, and he was sure that Sobal would come through when the time came.
Although the heavy breathing echoing the speaker in his helmet wasn't giving him much confidence.
Sage was finishing their final preparations near the hatch where they'd jump out. Due to the security on the planet where the Academy was located, they would have to parachute in from space. The ship was skimming the stratosphere at about 40,000 meters, just above radar. The plan was for Sage, Sobal, Ganon, and Nalton, one of Sage's three body men, to parachute on top of the building. Sobal would use his considerable cyber skills to hack into the rooftop security system and disable it without alerting the local authorities. He'd only have five minutes to complete the task, which was probably why he was sweating bullets.
Sage clapped the kid's shoulder with a gloved hand. "You'll do fine."
"Sounds like a damned asthmatic in my ear," Ganon's voice came through the speaker, and the source walked onto the bridge, followed by Nalton.
Even if he couldn't see his face, Sage would've recognized Nalton by his shape: the tallest on his crew, even a head taller evan than Sobal, and skinny as a pole. As sinewy as he was, he was strong, and even more intimidating, which came in handy when someone was on his tail. Nalton and his other two body men, Paren and Jorwen, had been acquired over the past year. As Sage rose to prominence on his own merits, instead of simply being known as Tauron Ball's pseudo-kid brother, he'd found himself hounded by bounty hunters and other pirates. Having a couple of beefy guys around was always good to keep the riffraff to a minimum.
While Nalton was tall and thin, Paren and Jorwen were big and beefy, good for nothing except intimidation. For a mission like this, they were best left under the care of Keal, Sage's mechanic, who was taking over piloting duties while Ganon was on the planet with the Sage. Keal, who'd joined the crew shortly after Ganon when his pirate boss had recently retired, was good-natured and had a bit more patience than Ganon when it came to their newest hire.
"You'll do fine, kid," Keal said, his words intended for Sobal, though they echoed in Sage's helmet.
"Thanks," came Sobal's weak reply.
"'Bout at the drop site, boss. Make your final checks," Keal said.
Sage checked the security on his parachute for the fifth time. He wasn't paranoid, but he was jumping out of a ship at the edge of space.
Ganon pressed a button on the wall, and the hatch opened beneath them through the glass of his helmet. He'd seen this sight many times before, but it never ceased to take his breath away. They were on the very edge of space, high enough to see the blurred line between the blue atmosphere of the planet and the blackness of space. The planet curved beneath them, a brown mass under the blueish color of the sky. Somewhere down there was the building they needed to parachute onto.
"We're in position." Ganon's voice was in his ear and his suit-clad body move towards the hatch.
"You ready, kid?" Sage asked, looking over at Sobal.
Sobal's helmet moved up and down slowly.
"It's fun," Sage said as he moved to the edge and stepped off the ship, falling into nothing.
A surge of exhilaration rushed through him as the thin air whipped against his suit. At first, he drifting slowly, watching the ground and the local star rotate around his feet. Then, as he gained speed, the rotation sped up, until the star and the ground were flipping so fast, he began to get dizzy. He clenched his jaw to stem the sickness and pushed his arms out to slow his rate of speed by capturing more of the air as it thickened around him. After a minute or so, he stabilized and he was simply falling, once again taking in the absolute beauty around him.
Sage pulled his eyes from the now bluer picture in front of him to read the small screen at the top corner of his helmet. There he could see his altitude, distance from the target building, current oxygen levels in the tank on his back, and rate of speed. He'd had just passed the sound barrier, in fact, but was slowing down as the drag on his suit caught more air.
The sky was becoming less black and more blue, and the speaker in his helmet, silent up until now, began cutting in and out.
"...good...man..."
"...puke..."
"...being...baby..."
Sage chuckled and wondered which of his crew was whining—most likely Sobal. Sage remembered his first space jump; he'd actually gotten sick in his own helmet and Wade had made him wear it for the rest of the day. After that, he'd learned to keep it in his stomach.
He took a moment to scan the blue horizon for his crew. Ganon, he saw first, having seen his pilot space jump hundreds of times, he could identify him anywhere. Then he spotted Nalton to the left, spindly arms and legs extended firmly.
When he didn't see the kid, he began to worry a little. He'd gone through training over the past two weeks and had some practice jumps from a lower altitude. But this was his first real jump, and Sage had never bothered to ask the kid if he was afraid of heights.
"Anyone have a visual on Sobal?" Sage asked, hoping his helmet microphone was finally working.
All he heard in response was static, and he cursed. Sobal might be coming in too fast, unable to slow himself down—or worse.
With the expertise of an experienced space jumper, Sage turned his arm, using the change in the air current to roll over onto his back, his eyes adjusting to the brightness of the local star in the sky. He sighed when he saw the kid, arms and legs extended as instructed, floating just above the rest of them.
"Whatchoo doing there, Sage?" Ganon was in his ear, communications now fully re-established. "Thought'd you'd do a little sky dancing?"
"Look like a damned ballerina," Nalton grunted.
"Oh, you know," Sage said, relaxing into the free fall. "Thought I'd try it backwards."
"That's what she said…" Sobal replied, meekly.
A roar of laughter erupted from the entire group, including those left on the ship. Sage flipped back onto his stomach, enjoying the view and the camaraderie of his crew before the real work began.
***
Even though they hadn't been spotted by radar, Sage was still a little concerned as he maneuvered his parachute toward the target building. From the moment the first foot hit the rooftop, Sobal would have five minutes to disable the alarm.
Sage tossed a look at the kid, who seemed to be having a good time adjusting his parachute strings one way and then the other as he wafted downward.
"Kid, you ready to break this code?" Sage asked through his helmet.
"Yeah, um...I guess so," he said, the nerves evident in his voice.
"We don't need you to guess, we need you to know," Ganon snapped through the speakers.
Sobal sputtered more, and Sage could practically hear him sweating.
Ganon let out a frustrated growl.
"He'll be fine," Sage said firmly, but he wasn't quite sure he believed his own words.
It was too late to turn back now, as Ganon landed on top of the building, his parachute snapping back into the backpack. Sage landed a few moments later, followed by Nalton, and finally Sobal.
Sobal stood for a moment, looking around as if he had no idea what he was doing.
"Computer panel is over there," Sage said before Ganon harped on the kid, nodding at a covered electrical box on the corner of the roof. Sobal nodded nervously and began walking over, but he only got five steps before his parachute, still deployed, caught on the edge of the roof.
"I swear to the Great Creator, Sage," Ganon muttered, jogging over to the snagged parachute.
"You guys got four minutes," Keal said in his ear.
"Yep, working on it," Sage replied, as Sobal's parachute collapsed into his backpack and he scurried over to the computer panel. Sage pulled off his helmet and stuck an earpiece in his ear to stay connected with Keal on the ship.
"Hundred credits says he blows this entire operation," Ganon said, yanking off his helmet as he walked over to Sage.
"You're not being helpful," Sage snapped at him. Still, the rigidity of Sobal's body and the frantic way he was typing gave Sage enough impetus to walk over to check on him.
"And the...no, that's not right...how does it...shit," Sobal whispered, typing into the small computer plugged into the system.
"You're doing fine," Sage said, leaning against the box. "You've done this a million times, haven't you?"
"Yeah, but," Sobal swallowed, "I don't know if I can break this code, man..."
"How did you get past the encryption key on the transit system?" Sage asked.
"I dunno, I just...figured it out," Sobal muttered, typing furiously. "But this is...just...I mean, what if I can't do it?"
Sage shrugged, trying his best to look unconcerned. "Keal swoops in, pulls us out, and I'll take the couple million outta your commission for the next ten jobs."
The joke fell flat on Sobal, who looked, if possible, greener.
"Three minutes, boss," Keal said in Sage's ear.
"When I was a kid," Sage said, pulling the earpiece out of his ear and sticking it in his jumpsuit, "Tauron had me working with this guy, Wade, who was a real dick. He'd tell me to do something, but not give me any help on it—just made me figure it out. This one time, I did screw up a job so bad we couldn't finish it. I thought Wade was gonna kill me."
Sobal stopped typing and looked up at Sage.
"But he got over it, and Tauron wasn't even that mad," Sage said. "And they had me doing the exact same thing a month later and that time, well...it went much better."
"Ganon's gonna murder me if I don't get this right," Sobal said, defeated. "Man, I'm gonna get kicked off the crew."
"Ganon may fly the ship, but remember who's the boss, here, huh?" Sage said, repeating the same words Tauron had said to him at that age. Sage clapped Sobal on the back and the kid went back to typing, although his face was a little less fearful than before.
Sage stuck his earpiece back in, just at the tail-end of Keal's latest warning.
"...minute, left. Hope the kid's working fast."
Sage shared a look with Ganon, who was talking to Nalton on the other end of the building. Sage nodded at him, and tried not to look at Sobal as he continued mumbling to himself.
"Thirty seconds, guys. I'm starting evacuation protocols," Keal said.
"Give him a minute," Sage said.
"He doesn't have a minute," Ganon said angrily. "Start the evac—"
"He's gonna do it. Now shut up, both of you," Sage fired back.
"Fifteen seconds," Keal responded after a moment.
"You know they'll be on our ass in about ten minutes," Ganon replied conversationally.
"Ten seconds."
"And it takes fifteen minutes to—"
"Five seconds. You guys, the alarm is about to blow—"
"Got it!" Sobal cried, jumping back from his computer with a satisfied grin.
"Great Creator in Leveman's," Keal swore in his ear. "He did it..."
"See?" Sage said, pretending his heart wasn't beating out of his chest as he approached the roof-top door. A quick jab of his universal key and it was open. "Now let's get those damned things and get outta here."
"You got it, boss." Ganon grinned, emphasizing the word enough that Sage knew he'd overheard his talk with Sobal. "After all, I only fly the ship, right?"
"Oh, get sucked."
***
The rooftop alarm was simply to prevent the system from alerting the local security forces that there were pirates on the roof of the Academy. But the diamonds themselves were protected by the infamous Tychon Security System, and that would be where Sobal's advertised skills would really be tested.
With Nalton on the roof as a lookout, Sage, Ganon, and Sobal climbed down the stairwell of the building, Keal in Sage's ear telling him where the security cameras were posted.
"There's another one on the next landing," Keal said.
"God in Leveman's, paranoid much?" Sage rolled his eyes, yanking a small machine from his pocket. With a press of a button, it sprang to life, eight little legs extending like a spider's. As soon as Sage placed it against the wall, it scurried across and disappeared onto the ceiling of the next landing. After a few moments, it beeped, signaling that it had attached itself to the camera and was looping an image of the empty staircase to the security forces.
With that camera taken care of, the trio continued their descent, taking care of four more cameras before they reached the ultra-secure floor where the fake diamonds were housed.
"You're up again, Sobal," Sage said, as another scrambler disabled the camera in the hallway.
The kid nodded, his confidence from his rooftop success evaporating with every step toward the computer panel. He plugged his small computer into the wall and took a moment before typing slowly.
Sage and Ganon walked over to the large glass window to the laboratory. Even dimly lit, the white tables, floors, and walls glowed in their sterility. Sage felt kind of bad about ruining their clean room, but figured they'd probably figure out soon enough that their famous diamonds weren't exactly real, so there wasn't much point in worrying about it.
He heard a frustrated sound from Sobal in the corner and did his best not to look at him.
"Sounds like Junior could use another one of Daddy's pep talks," Ganon smirked.
"Get sucked," Sage snapped. "You find the diamonds in there yet?"
"Not gonna do us a lot of good if Junior over there can't do his damned job," Ganon said, loud enough for Sobal to hear. The kid hunched his shoulders, as if Ganon's words had physically stung him, and he continued typing, a pained look on his face.
"Why do you gotta mess with his head like that?" Sage snapped.
"You got your parenting style, I got mine," Ganon said with a snicker.
Sage tossed a look over at Sobal as he let out another frustrated hiss, typing faster into his computer.
"He gets paid same as everyone else, right?" Ganon said. "So why should we treat him different because he's a kid? I'm an equal opportunity shit-giver."
Sage grumbled, but couldn't argue with his point.
"Besides," Ganon said, quieter, "how in Leveman's Great Swirling Vortex is he gonna survive as a pirate unless he grows a thick skin? If he's gonna let some idiot like me get to him, then he's gonna get destroyed by someone like Royden Relleck in a minute. I'm just preparing him for the real world, 's all."
"H-hey, boss?" Sobal whispered, nervously.
"Yeah?" Sage said, fearing what he was about to say.
To his shock, the door to the laboratory opened with a loud suction sound.
"I got it." Sobal grinned.
"I knew you could do it!" Ganon cheered, trotting over to the kid and pulling him upright to shake his hand happily. "C'mon, kiddo. Let's get those damn cubic zirconums and get out of here so we can celebrate! I think I'm gonna buy you your first beer tonight!"
Sage stood in the hall for a moment, feeling a surge of affectionate appreciation for Wade Baarda, hoping that the man's soul was enjoying paradise on the other side of Eron's Arch.
***
"Yeah, yeah, you guys go on," Sage laughed.
Ganon had his arm slung around Sobal, who burped loudly. The two of them had apparently pre-celebrated, as they stumbled off the ship toward Eamon's, the hot new pirate bar that only allowed the most wanted pirates inside. Sage and his crew had been frequent visitors, and so the bouncers had come to let his crew inside without his presence.
Tonight, Sage wasn't much in the mood to watch his crew get drunk, or watch the barely-dressed waitresses try and flirt with him, so he was glad to let them go on without him.
He stood on the ramp of his ship as the crew disappeared into the lift, the ship silenced as the lift doors closed. Turning on his heel, he closed the ramp behind him and walked through the halls on the lower level of his ship. He passed by the barely-used jail where he'd stick bounties on the off-chance that he captured a pirate. Next to the cell was a spiral staircase, and he climbed past the second level to the top level of his ship, emerging in the storage room. He strolled toward the front of his ship, passing the planning room where they had plotted out the mission and finally walking onto his bridge.
The room was fairly expansive, with screens for Keal to monitor the status of the ship while Ganon sat in front piloting. Sobal had taken to sitting next to Keal, peppering the mechanic with questions about how the ship worked. His three body men rarely came onto the bridge, although Nalton could be seen every so often sitting in the corner and observing silently.
Sage, of course, settled into the captain's seat in the center of the room, a bevy of screens attached to a free-standing table in front of his chair. He flipped on the screens, displaying the latest info from the pirate web in a long list of mug shots and latest wanted information.
7) Lee, Linro
Wanted in connection with hijacking of transport ship. Estimated cost of stolen materials: 100,000C
10) Sloan, Flynn
Captured by Santos Journot
35) Journot, Santos
Wanted in connection with piracy (bounty hunting)
11) Teon, Sage
Wanted in connection with the break-in at the Academy of Geological Sciences. Estimated cost of stolen artifacts: 2,700,000C
Sage smirked as he saw his own face grinning back at him, the news of his latest theft making it to the intraweb in record time. His face fell a little when he saw the number next to his name—eleven—and was glad he wasn't out with the rest of the crew, in danger of being bothered by some uppity pirate looking to make a name for himself.
