It'll be easy, they said,Jordan thought as she crept down a claustrophobic hall carrying a gun she didn't even know the name of. Just jump out of the cake, take some clothes off, and enjoy the adoration.
It seemed so simple. Just some harmless fun for the boys serving our country. She could use a little money and as far as jobs went, this one was pretty tolerable. Maybe she'd even hook up with a cute sailor.
Jordan peered forward at the man stalking ahead in front of her. No use talking to him, the big crab. He'd just say something about shooting people and stuff.
Casey Rybeck,she thought peevishly. What kind of name is Casey for a boy? No wonder he's overcompensating.
It would be easy to assume that Casey was in fact compensating for something. His expression never shifted from a wooden, threating glower. He obviously worked out every day and he seemed to be an expert in anything that involved hurting people. And he walked like a bear that had been shot.
"In here," Casey said quietly, indicating a hatch door that looked like every other hatch door. For such a big fat musclehead, he had a surprisingly whispery voice.
Jordan sulkily followed him into the room. It was full of security cameras showing every part of the ship. That's not what Jordan noticed, though. She noticed the body on the floor. It looked like a sailor. He'd been shot in the back of the head.
"Oh my goodness, it's a dead guy! Gross!" Jordan squeaked.
"I told you you were better off in the locker," Casey said placidly. He bent over to check for a pulse, even though they both knew there wouldn't be any.
Jordan glared at him. He was no help.
"These are security cameras," Casey said. Jordan would have been offended, but the truth was she had no idea how they worked, so he was right to explain so simply. "I want you to stay here and watch them," he continued. "You'll be able to see me moving around. If anyone else shows up near me, I want you to press this button." He pointed to a round yellow button labeled "alarm."
"Wait, you want me to stay with a dead guy?" Jordan asked.
"You want to go back to the locker instead?" Casey replied.
"No," Jordan scowled.
"Just keep quiet and don't go anywhere," Casey said. He gathered his weapons and started to leave.
"Wait! What if I someone comes here and finds me?" Jordan asked.
"You'll see them coming on the camera. Just hide somewhere until they leave."
"What if they don't leave?"
"They don't know anyone is moving around. They have no reason to come here anyway," Casey said, and he left.
Jordan turned to look at the dazzling array of cameras and buttons. She had exactly no idea what anything did. She wanted to press a button to see what would happen, but she'd probably set the ship on fire or something.
She sat down in the chair in front of the cameras. Two of them were shattered, probably when the dead guy got shot.
The dead guy.
Jordan swiveled in the chair to look at him. At least he was across the room and she didn't have to look at him. But she had her back to a dead guy. So gross.
"Well, I'll just ignore him," Jordan said resolutely. She wished she could cover him up, but there was nothing in the room but electronics. She'd drag him out of sight, but touching a dead guy was even grosser than being near him.
She turned back to the cameras.
Just focus on the cameras. Focus on the cameras.
She scanned the screens until she found Casey walking down a hall. She felt better once she saw him. At least he made sense, even if he was a big mean grouch.
Okay, just gotta watch these cameras and be ready to press the button. She cupped her fingers around the yellow button.
Piece of cake.