Justin
There was a seven-foot high gate blocking off the pier. It edged out about three feet over the sides so you couldn't slip around it. The gate was locked from the inside. Interesting. You would have to have a boat to get in. I was starting to wish I had a camera with me, and it wasn't just because of what Jhondie had to do to get over the fence. The fence itself wasn't a problem in the slightest to Jhondie.
"Don't you dare look," she joked, and hiked her dress up to almost her waist. Another inch and I would have been able to tell if she was dressed in the same color from the skin out. The view of her long legs was distracting enough as it was. I looked down when she ran about five feet, and then leaped high in the air. She cleared the fence easily, landing lightly. It never ceased to amaze me when she jumped like that.
I had a pocketknife with me, and she used it to pick the lock in about ten seconds. The gate swung open and she smiled. This was why I was pretty sure we could be back in an hour. She'd taken a ten minute pry job for me and turned it into a ten second jump. I bet Eye's Only wished he had a genetically engineered partner to get him over the rough spots. Especially one with legs like that. Keep to the mission. She pulled her dress back down. There is a God.
We crept down the pier, Jhondie leading the way. There wasn't much light at all, and I could barely see. Jhondie could see just fine though. The place seemed deserted, but we were still being careful. I knew Jhondie would see or hear someone long before they could see or hear us, but caution was still required. We were almost to the end when I got the first whiff of a strange smell. Jhondie glanced back at me, her nose wrinkled in disgust. I pinched my nose to let her know I could smell it too. I hoped a human did not make that smell. He would need to get to a doctor immediately. Yuck!
There were some lights on in the building at the end. It used to be the administrative offices for the pier when decent people could come out there and have fun, but I guess good old corruption wins out over decent people. No, not always. I was still out there, and so was Jhondie. We might not ever change the world, but we could change a little bit of it. We came up to it close. I couldn't hear anything, but Jhondie cocked her head slightly like she was listening to something.
"Money being exchanged," she whispered. "A lot more than a thousand dollars. Fifteen thousand dollars." Someone had gotten pricey on them. "Only two people on the boat right now." She glanced up at me and grinned. I grinned back, challenge taken. Hell, we were out there, and the two of us could take out two of anyone else if need be. There was something on that ship worth fifteen grand just to ship it. I wanted to know what it was.
We snuck down to the boat. I waited while Jhondie scanned it, looking for signs of movement. The deck was dimly lit, but that weird smell was stronger. It had to be coming from the boat. Maybe it was a floating meth lab. They used heavy chemicals to make that stuff. I almost felt sorry for the crew.
The ladder from the pier to the deck was still in place. Jhondie wanted me to climb down while she jumped, but we needed to make as little noise as possible. My grandfather's favorite expression was "just because you have a sledgehammer doesn't mean you need to swat flies with it". I never understood that until I met Jhondie. It's amazing how hanging out with Supergirl can change your outlook on things.
Everything was still very quiet. Smelly, but quiet. Jhondie made a hand gesture that I was proud to recognize. She had been teaching me the hand signals they used at Manticore. I knew she didn't like thinking about what she had been taught, but knowing how to communicate without talking was very helpful. I was catching on fast. She said that it was possible to nearly have a full conversation with just hand gestures. I wasn't quite up to that speed, but I was getting close I thought.
We went into the pilothouse first. There were some maps there with a route laid out. They'd go twenty miles out and come back to shore in a wide circle. Yeah, every legitimate shipper needed to hit international water to do their business. There wasn't much else in the pilothouse, so we started to do some more exploring.
Jhondie
The stench was hideous. I was hoping that it wouldn't stick to me. Yuck! If it did, there was no way I was going back into Prom, not with Haille ready to attack. I wondered if her dress had dried. Maybe I was just more sensitive to the smell. Justin didn't like it, but he wasn't gagging. If it did stick then we'd just have to…well, end up spending the rest of the evening together. Alone. Get your head back into the mission soldier.
The ship wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. I didn't want to run into the crew. It would be best if we managed to get through this without detection. It wasn't that I was worried if I could take them out physically; I was worried they might have guns. Men are funny in that if they're armed, and it's just a girl, they typically won't shoot. If they see another man, they will. I could probably dodge a gun, but Justin couldn't.
We went below and were slipping down a hall when we heard voices. Two men were describing their exploits with some girls in LA. Yeah, right, like they could get a girl to do that. Well, maybe if she was the paid variety…but her sister as well? Men. They were coming closer though.
I grabbed the knife and picked the lock of the door next to me. It had a little plaque on the front that read "Private". That was usually a good place to look. I had the door open in a few seconds, and we slipped in quietly. A minute later the two men passed, making me blush with their descriptions of what the girls were doing back to them. Did men really like that? No, I wasn't even going to think of Justin in that way. We had work to do.
There was a computer in the room, and Justin was sitting there. He turned the monitor on, and there was a computerized camera system throughout the whole ship. That was bad. It was going to be harder to sneak around if we were being filmed. We started to use it to look around the ship though. There had to be something on this boat that was worth some serious cash. Ooo, they had Oreos in the galley. Yum.
Justin found the cargo hold cameras. It looked like there were giant pressure cookers down there. On one side there was something else…but the vats were blocking it so that I couldn't see. I was willing to bet that whatever it was, that was the thing that was so valuable. Justin moved the camera, and a closet of some kind was open. There were some crates in there, and I could see the label on one. Sulfuric Acid. What did they need that for?
"What are they doing down there?" I muttered.
"Only one way to find out," he whispered back.
I leaned over the computer, and did some minor reprogramming on the cameras. The hall to the cargo hold and the cargo hold itself were put on a displayed loop. There were some blank CD's next to the computer, and I popped one in to start recording the real footage. That way we would have proof that the stuff was on the ship for the boss to display on his next hack.
"Ready?" Justin asked.
"Let's do it."
