Malika and Andar had just turned back into the main corridor after making a wrong turn down a side hallway that dead-ended.
"How was I suppose to know that was the wrong corridor?" asked Andar. "This thing just gives direction not floor plans. You're the one who's been on a Command Carrier before."
"I'm sorry, they're not all exactly the same," said the Delvian girl.
They walk for a few more microns following the homing beacon and soon they were able to hear a loud commotion from up ahead of them.
"We must be near the off-duty lounge," Malika concluded.
"Sounds like they're having a party or something," commented Andar.
The pair kept walking on, Malika fell in close to Andar and both draped an arm around the other as the ruse had been working fine for them so far. They reached the double doors to the lounge and slowed their pace to look inside as they drew even with them. Just then, a form came flying out headfirst and passed directly in front of them to impact with the wall. The crowd inside let lose a huge cheer as the body slid down the wall. The couple was shocked to realize it was Berret who lay on the floor before them.
The Shrike shook his head as if to clear it and looked up at Andar, then groaned under his breath.
"You're not there yet?"
"We got lost," said the teacher in a low voice.
Berret looked back into the bar as he got back to his feet and saw everyone was too busy congratulating the sergeant to pay much attention to him.
"What the frell are you doing?" hissed Malika.
"Losing a fight I picked," replied Berret as he shook out a kink or ache in his shoulder.
"Why the holy hezmana did you..." the girl tried to ask.
Berret cut her off. "No time... down the corridor three intersection and then make a right," he directed them. "If we meet up again... ignore me," said the Shrike as he headed back toward the lounge doorway.
"I plan to," said Andar to the assassin's back.
They watched as the man disappeared back inside to the roaring crowd.
"I can't believe I let that man talk me into this," grumbled Malika as they quickly moved away from the lounge area. "Here we are risking our lives while he has fun bar room brawling."
"What else did you have planned to do tonight?" whispered Andar.
"Oh! I don't know," said the Delvian girl as she forced herself to smile at a passing Sebacean man who leered at her. "...Mediate, read a good text... not get killed on some hair-brained scheme on a Peacekeeper Command Carrier."
Andar brought one of her slim blue hand to his lips and romantically kissed the back of it.
"Admit it... the hair-brained scheme is much more fun," he said with a roguish grin.
"This sector is clear and there's nothing on the scans," reported Aeryn.
"There is no sign in this frelling sector either," replied D'argo from the other Prowler, "I'm moving on to the next scheduled search pattern."
"Copy," said Aeryn, "I'm moving to my next one also."
Chiana listened to the reports coming in over Moya's comm system from the two Prowlers and sighed.
"There's still no news," she said aloud to no one in particular.
"I'm telling you, if we were smart we'd starburst the frell out of here instead of waiting around," harped Rygel for the hundred time.
"We are well aware of your feelings, Rygel. Now be silent!" commanded Zhaan. The Delvian caught the Nebari girl's attention again and asked, "Are you sure you can't think of a way to contact this Shenna person again. If he has been watching Berret so closely as he claims, he might know where he and the others have gone to?"
"I wish I could, Zhaan. If anybody could find him, I have no doubt it would be that strange old man," replied Chiana.
"Perhaps he'll see fit to contact us and let us know their whereabouts," Zhaan said hopefully.
Chiana frowned, the worry plain on her gray face, "It wouldn't surprise me if Shenna was right there with Berret. He seems to be the type that is full of surprises," she said.
The topic of the Delvian and Nebari's discussion was indeed close by to Berret. The old Delvian shook his head as he watched the man be slammed onto a table by the big Sebacean. The table smashed to pieces as Berret's weight fell on top of it.
"That boy... that boy..." mutter Shenna. There were subtler ways of creating a distraction he said to himself. A few microns earlier when the sergeant tossed the younger Shrike out the front door he had caught a glimpse of two familiar figures in the hallway that paused for a few microts. Shenna had recognized Berret's two shipmates immediately and realized what the man was up to. The PK trooper picked Berret up from the wreckage of the table and hauled him to his feet. Using one meaty fist to hold the Shrike study he cock the other back to punch Berret in the face. Berret waited until the man had drawn his arm all the way back and then sent a hook punch of his own into the man's armpit. The Peacekeeper released Berret as he caved over to that side in reaction to the strike. Berret than stamped on the man's forward foot with his own heavy boot, making the man dance away from the Shrike, not being able to decide which hurt more... his armpit or his foot. While not exactly fair, the other Peacekeeper seemed to enjoy the underhanded move and Shenna could see several of them standing nearby, file the technique away for future reference. The crowd cheered and Berret turned half drunkenly to them and held both arms up in the air as if in victory. Berret paraded for the crowd while the sergeant behind him cleared his head and charged at Berret's back. The spectators roared their approval as the Shrike's eyes went wide in surprise as the big Peacekeeper soldier yanked both feet out from under him.
"That boy... that boy..." muttered Shenna again as he headed for the lounge doorway.
Andar and Malika followed the Shrike's directions, double-checking their course with the tracking device; they found that Berret had given them accurate instructions.
"Well, at least he gave us the right directions. Surprising since he smelled like a distillery," Malika commented in disgust, "I still recall what happened when Chiana got him drunk on that wine."
Andar chortled, "I wager Rygel remembers that night too. He complained for three solar days about having to peel adhesive from his skin after they taped him to that support beam. Lucky for him, Zhaan came along and rescued him."
Malika smiled at the memory, "Zhaan was certainly crossed with them. I've encountered Shrikes in the past and I have to admit for a professional assassin, Berret is unquestionably... unique."
Andar shook his head, "Well, I've never met any people who lived in space before... much less a professional assassin, to me you're all 'unique' to the point of being bizarre," he joked.
Malika twisted her thin lips up at his comment but before she could come back with a response the homing device started to chirp.
"That's the intersection up ahead," he said, all business now. They slowed their pace as they performed a cursory walk-by to check for security. To their surprise the short hallway leading to the heavy security door was unguarded.
"Do you believe this, there's no guard here," Andar whispered, stating the obvious.
Malika frowned as she visually inspected the hallway, but she couldn't see any of the normal security alarm systems anywhere. "No alarms or sensors either. Zhaan told me that Scorpius took this Command Carrier over from Crais not too long ago, maybe he hasn't had time to install any alarms yet?" she ventured.
The Sebacean man looked around them, "Well, we can't stand here all night. Someone's bound to come along sooner or later and ask what we're doing here. I suggest we get on with it."
The Delvian girl nodded in agreement and reached for her small tool bag. The pair was just about to take the first steps into the hallway when a pair of Delvian blue hands yanked them back by the scruff of their necks.
"You two youngsters almost made your first and last fatal mistake," said the old Delvian who had dragged them away from the hallway. "There are high intensity lasers hidden in the walls. One step and you both would have been diced into pieces. See that red stripe?" asked the old man as he pointed at the red line at the mouth of the corridor. "Those indicate a high security area. No one without clearance can venture into them."
The young pair released a penned breath in unison as they realized that the old Delvian servant wasn't a Peacekeeper and from their narrow escape. Malika was the first to recover and she quickly moved to retain their disguises. Continuing to play the part of a young pleasure slave, the girl made an odd hand gesture and spoke a quick phrase in old Delvian and then added respectfully,
"Thank you, Grandfather. We were just looking for a private place and weren't paying attention to the danger."
Andar caught on quickly and chimed in, "Yes, thank you. I guess we had too much to drink tonight."
The old Delvian smiled pleasantly and replied, "You are most welcomed Pa'u Malika, and you also Andar of House Murdough." The servant's grin grew broader at the look of shock on the couple's faces after he had called them by their names. "Peace, young ones. We have a common acquaintance," the Delvian said. "I am Shenna, Grandmaster Shrike... and personal housekeeper to Scorpius." The last part he added with a tone of amusement. "Allow me to deactivate the security system for you," he told them.
Shenna produced a device that looked as if it was cobbled together from a bunch of spare electronic parts.
The machine clicked and whirred for a few microts.
"Scorpius is somewhat of an untidy sort, leaving the disarm codes laying around his quarters for anyone to decipher and built a sonic key for... such an unorganized lad," he said to the dumbfounded pair as the device shut off. "There, all done," said the Grandmaster. "I'm sorry but I wasn't able to find the physical key to unlock the security door itself. I'm afraid that you will have to open on your own."
The old Delvian looked at Andar who had a comical look on his face and added, "Close your mouth, young man... before something flies into it."
Andar realized he'd been staring opened mouthed at the old Delvian man.
"All right, you're the old Shrike Berret and Chiana mentioned? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"One and the same," replied Shenna. "I'm here for a few reasons, one of which is to keep an eye on your friend Berret. Speaking of which, I have to get back to him before he and that rather large man beat each other into a pulp in their silly game. I knew where the two of you were headed when I saw you and I wanted to make sure you made it by the security system all right."
He waved for them to continue on and turned to walk back the way he'd come. He paused for a microt as he passed the still wide-eyed Malika and bid her good-bye in old Delvian. Malika answered him back and he padded her hand before turning away from her and continuing on his way.
"Such a polite young lady," he murmured to himself loud enough for them to hear as he wandered down the corridor with his walking staff. "Now if only Berret and his lady friend, Chiana, could pick up some of her manners."
Andar turned to Malika and blinked his eyes a few times before saying, "This just keeps getting stranger and stranger."
"There's no argument from me there," agreed the Delvian girl. "But it's lucky for us that he came along or we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
Andar nodded and then said, "Let's go crack that door and get this over with before something else happens."
"You're in my light," hissed Malika as at the same moment Andar whispered, "Hurry up!"
The Sebacean stepped off to one side and added with a cockeyed grin, "Sorry, I know how much you Delvians like your light."
The girl paused with her work for a microt and blew a rogue strand of hair out of her eyes before replying,
"You're not funny," in a sarcastic voice and then went back to work on the door's lock.
Andar shrugged, "I was just trying to relieve the tension."
"You're still not funny," said the girl just as the lock clicked and the door's bolt slid back.
They pushed open the heavy security door and closed it after they slid inside. The room's lights automatically came on as they sensed someone enter the room. Scorpius' private computer station was reveled as the illumination came to full intensity.
"There it is," said Andar unnecessarily as he handed the homing device to Malika so she could retrieve the homing bug that the Shrike had planted earlier. Andar study the computer console for a micron and then produced his small pouch of tools from inside one boot top. He booted the system up and observed the data flowing over the screen. He hummed to himself and rubbed his chin in thought as Malika watched him scan the readouts. Without a word he pulled out a tool and detached one faceplate from the panel, exposing the computer's innards.
He selected a data crystal from his kit and inserted it into the drive port. Malika saw the data stream change and then Andar connected probes leading to a small box-like device from his belt tool kit into the opened face of the machine.
"What's that?" she asked the man.
"Something I put together, I really don't have a name for it yet," he answered while not taking his eyes off the screen, every few microts he press a series of buttons on the small device from his pouch.
"Well? What does it do then?" asked the girl in annoyance.
"Oh..." said Andar as he realized he'd been sidetracked and hadn't answered the Delvian's question, "It rewrites data in such a way that it doesn't disturb security protocols. It scans the data without removing it, rewrites it to a bi-octal code I made up, and then removes the bi-octal codes without touching or accessing the primary data codes in whatever language they are writing in. The bi-octal passes through the security layers because it's not recognizable as data to them. They default believing its just another layer of encryptment."
Malika blinked her eyes at the explanation, "What?" she finally asked.
Andar checked the device to be sure it was still downloading data and then tried again.
"Its like a reading a secret document through a pair of occulars, then writing what your reading down but doing it in a code that you make up. Anyone finding your copy would think it was gibberish and not pay it much mind, it would only be readable after you've decoded it back to it's original form. I was reading up on some computer programming and construction texts in Moya's library when the idea for this device came to me."
"Are you sure it will work?" she asked.
"Nope, never tried it on anything but the work stations aboard Moya before today."
"Well, did it work then?" asked the girl in alarm.
"Well... not at first. I had to 'tweak' it as John says some before it began to work... sometimes."
"Goddess help me! You didn't even know if this thing would work before we left on this crazy trip!"
"I'm reasonably sure it will," said Andar defensively. "It's only got a few bugs left to work out."
Malika rolled her eyes and began to chant to herself, asking for strength and patience.
Berret had just been tossed through his forth tabletop and his body was beginning to seriously ache from the punishment he was taking. He rolled back onto his feet to face the big sergeant again. So far the damage total came to six tables, a broken gambling game, several crushed and bruised Peacekeeper patrons, and an unknown number of chairs. The fight had continued to draw an ever increasing crowd and even Scorpius and more of his toadies eventually showed up to watch the event. The half-Scarren seemed to be enjoying the spectacle, his toothy grin growing wider every time Berret appeared to be on the losing end. One of the big sergeant's blows had caught the Shrike full in the mouth causing him to bleed. He almost spit the blood out onto the floor, but with Scorpius present he thought against it and swallowed the salty fluid instead. No sense giving the pasty bastard anything to examine he thought. Berret wasn't sure if the half-breed knew about his microbe enhancement, but he damn sure didn't want him finding out he wasn't Sebacean. Pikes wound up and then fired a right cross at the Shrike's jaw. Berret slipped the punch and came up under the outstretched arm, driving both fists into the man's lower ribcage. The Peacekeeper expelled air from his lungs with the force of the double blow. Berret followed up by cocking his right arm back and delivering a ridge hand blow to the man's unguarded head, the hard edge of his stiffed hand slamming into the larger man's forehead and sending him staggering backwards a few steps. The strike wasn't meant to injure but only stun. Berret gave the sergeant a few microts to get his bearings; both men were tired and panting heavily, which gave Berret an idea. The sergeant warily put his hands up in a defensive position and started to advance towards the Shrike once again. Berret did the same and took a single step and paused as if in deep thought. Pikes did the same - expecting a trick.
After a few microts Berret said as a matter of fact, "Brawling is hard work." Not knowing what else to do the Peacekeeper nodded his head in agreement. The ex-assassin licked his lips in show and continued,
"I don't know about you but I'm thirsty and this is far from over. What do you say we call a temporary truce to refresh ourselves? Afterwards we can continue our duel in the proper honorable way."
"How do I know this isn't some sort of trick?" asked the burley sergeant.
Berret did his best to look offended, "Please, I never joke about something as important as a good Raslek," he lied. "I'll buy the first round and you may buy the second. That way nobody's honor will be impeached by having to drink on the other's charity."
The sergeant rubbed his lantern jaw and replied, "Now that you mentioned it, a drink would go down good about now."
The crowd started to hiss about the fight being halted so the Shrike announced, "A round of Rasleks for all on me!"
The hisses changed to cheers as the patrons rushed the bar. Pikes caught Berret's eyes.
"This fight is not over yet Shrike, don't think you're getting out of it this easy," he said.
Berret made a show of rolling his eyes, "Must you Peacekeepers be so uncivilized that you can think of only one thing at a time. There's plenty of time for drinking and brawling tonight."
He slapped the big man on the back as he sided up to the bar next to him.
"I guess it's up to me to teach you barbarians the proper way to have a good time. Fighting and drinking should go hand in hand, a man cannot have a proper fight if he's thirsty, so drink up." Berret lifted his drink up high to the room.
"To honorable dueling," toasted Berret.
"Honorable dueling," replied the sergeant and he clinked his flagon against Berret's.
"You're an odd man, Shrike," said Pikes over the rim of his mug, "What colony are you originally from?" Berret took a microt and then answered off the top of his head, a name he'd heard John use.
"Pittsburgh"
Pikes grunted, "Never heard of it."
"Small ball of dirt in an out of the way place. All we mostly did was drink and fight. Might say we have it down to an art form."
Pikes down the rest his drink and slammed it on the bar top, he loudly called for the next round as Berret finished his glass. As the barkeep filled both mugs the Shrike turned back to the crowd.
"Another round for all on me!" he called out again, patrons pushing and shoving to get to the bar immediately swamped the pair.
"You're also a generous man, Shrike," concluded Pikes as the bartender set their mugs before them.
"I can afford to be... it's all going on Scorpius' tab," replied Berret, remembering to raise his mug in mock toast to the scowling half-Scarren in the corner. He turned back to Pikes and held up his mug again.
"To learning the proper way to drink and fight," toasted the Shrike.
"The proper way," agreed Pikes as he knocked glasses with him.
"Uh-oh, I was afraid of this," said Andar.
"What?" exclaimed Malika.
"There's a high security firewall in the software," he replied.
"What the frell does that mean?"
"It means that it'll take time to get to the data we need."
"Well, how much time!"
Andar checked the read out on his instrument, "About 12 arns, give or take an arn."
"Twelve arns! You said that thing could get to the codes despite the security protocols."
"It can, but a firewall's different. It has to worm its way through it. The good news is that there can only be one firewall in the system," the Sebacean explained.
"That doesn't matter now. We can't stay here for 12 arns. We'll get caught."
Andar began to pull out files from Scorpius's computer database and download them into his hand-comp.
"We'll just have to come back latter then," he said as he stuffed his code-copying device inside of the computer and began to seal the machine back up. "I've downloaded the pass code for the hallway security system so we can get back in latter, I hope no one takes this computer apart in the next 12 arns. If they discover my little black box, we're done for."
"How was I suppose to know that was the wrong corridor?" asked Andar. "This thing just gives direction not floor plans. You're the one who's been on a Command Carrier before."
"I'm sorry, they're not all exactly the same," said the Delvian girl.
They walk for a few more microns following the homing beacon and soon they were able to hear a loud commotion from up ahead of them.
"We must be near the off-duty lounge," Malika concluded.
"Sounds like they're having a party or something," commented Andar.
The pair kept walking on, Malika fell in close to Andar and both draped an arm around the other as the ruse had been working fine for them so far. They reached the double doors to the lounge and slowed their pace to look inside as they drew even with them. Just then, a form came flying out headfirst and passed directly in front of them to impact with the wall. The crowd inside let lose a huge cheer as the body slid down the wall. The couple was shocked to realize it was Berret who lay on the floor before them.
The Shrike shook his head as if to clear it and looked up at Andar, then groaned under his breath.
"You're not there yet?"
"We got lost," said the teacher in a low voice.
Berret looked back into the bar as he got back to his feet and saw everyone was too busy congratulating the sergeant to pay much attention to him.
"What the frell are you doing?" hissed Malika.
"Losing a fight I picked," replied Berret as he shook out a kink or ache in his shoulder.
"Why the holy hezmana did you..." the girl tried to ask.
Berret cut her off. "No time... down the corridor three intersection and then make a right," he directed them. "If we meet up again... ignore me," said the Shrike as he headed back toward the lounge doorway.
"I plan to," said Andar to the assassin's back.
They watched as the man disappeared back inside to the roaring crowd.
"I can't believe I let that man talk me into this," grumbled Malika as they quickly moved away from the lounge area. "Here we are risking our lives while he has fun bar room brawling."
"What else did you have planned to do tonight?" whispered Andar.
"Oh! I don't know," said the Delvian girl as she forced herself to smile at a passing Sebacean man who leered at her. "...Mediate, read a good text... not get killed on some hair-brained scheme on a Peacekeeper Command Carrier."
Andar brought one of her slim blue hand to his lips and romantically kissed the back of it.
"Admit it... the hair-brained scheme is much more fun," he said with a roguish grin.
"This sector is clear and there's nothing on the scans," reported Aeryn.
"There is no sign in this frelling sector either," replied D'argo from the other Prowler, "I'm moving on to the next scheduled search pattern."
"Copy," said Aeryn, "I'm moving to my next one also."
Chiana listened to the reports coming in over Moya's comm system from the two Prowlers and sighed.
"There's still no news," she said aloud to no one in particular.
"I'm telling you, if we were smart we'd starburst the frell out of here instead of waiting around," harped Rygel for the hundred time.
"We are well aware of your feelings, Rygel. Now be silent!" commanded Zhaan. The Delvian caught the Nebari girl's attention again and asked, "Are you sure you can't think of a way to contact this Shenna person again. If he has been watching Berret so closely as he claims, he might know where he and the others have gone to?"
"I wish I could, Zhaan. If anybody could find him, I have no doubt it would be that strange old man," replied Chiana.
"Perhaps he'll see fit to contact us and let us know their whereabouts," Zhaan said hopefully.
Chiana frowned, the worry plain on her gray face, "It wouldn't surprise me if Shenna was right there with Berret. He seems to be the type that is full of surprises," she said.
The topic of the Delvian and Nebari's discussion was indeed close by to Berret. The old Delvian shook his head as he watched the man be slammed onto a table by the big Sebacean. The table smashed to pieces as Berret's weight fell on top of it.
"That boy... that boy..." mutter Shenna. There were subtler ways of creating a distraction he said to himself. A few microns earlier when the sergeant tossed the younger Shrike out the front door he had caught a glimpse of two familiar figures in the hallway that paused for a few microts. Shenna had recognized Berret's two shipmates immediately and realized what the man was up to. The PK trooper picked Berret up from the wreckage of the table and hauled him to his feet. Using one meaty fist to hold the Shrike study he cock the other back to punch Berret in the face. Berret waited until the man had drawn his arm all the way back and then sent a hook punch of his own into the man's armpit. The Peacekeeper released Berret as he caved over to that side in reaction to the strike. Berret than stamped on the man's forward foot with his own heavy boot, making the man dance away from the Shrike, not being able to decide which hurt more... his armpit or his foot. While not exactly fair, the other Peacekeeper seemed to enjoy the underhanded move and Shenna could see several of them standing nearby, file the technique away for future reference. The crowd cheered and Berret turned half drunkenly to them and held both arms up in the air as if in victory. Berret paraded for the crowd while the sergeant behind him cleared his head and charged at Berret's back. The spectators roared their approval as the Shrike's eyes went wide in surprise as the big Peacekeeper soldier yanked both feet out from under him.
"That boy... that boy..." muttered Shenna again as he headed for the lounge doorway.
Andar and Malika followed the Shrike's directions, double-checking their course with the tracking device; they found that Berret had given them accurate instructions.
"Well, at least he gave us the right directions. Surprising since he smelled like a distillery," Malika commented in disgust, "I still recall what happened when Chiana got him drunk on that wine."
Andar chortled, "I wager Rygel remembers that night too. He complained for three solar days about having to peel adhesive from his skin after they taped him to that support beam. Lucky for him, Zhaan came along and rescued him."
Malika smiled at the memory, "Zhaan was certainly crossed with them. I've encountered Shrikes in the past and I have to admit for a professional assassin, Berret is unquestionably... unique."
Andar shook his head, "Well, I've never met any people who lived in space before... much less a professional assassin, to me you're all 'unique' to the point of being bizarre," he joked.
Malika twisted her thin lips up at his comment but before she could come back with a response the homing device started to chirp.
"That's the intersection up ahead," he said, all business now. They slowed their pace as they performed a cursory walk-by to check for security. To their surprise the short hallway leading to the heavy security door was unguarded.
"Do you believe this, there's no guard here," Andar whispered, stating the obvious.
Malika frowned as she visually inspected the hallway, but she couldn't see any of the normal security alarm systems anywhere. "No alarms or sensors either. Zhaan told me that Scorpius took this Command Carrier over from Crais not too long ago, maybe he hasn't had time to install any alarms yet?" she ventured.
The Sebacean man looked around them, "Well, we can't stand here all night. Someone's bound to come along sooner or later and ask what we're doing here. I suggest we get on with it."
The Delvian girl nodded in agreement and reached for her small tool bag. The pair was just about to take the first steps into the hallway when a pair of Delvian blue hands yanked them back by the scruff of their necks.
"You two youngsters almost made your first and last fatal mistake," said the old Delvian who had dragged them away from the hallway. "There are high intensity lasers hidden in the walls. One step and you both would have been diced into pieces. See that red stripe?" asked the old man as he pointed at the red line at the mouth of the corridor. "Those indicate a high security area. No one without clearance can venture into them."
The young pair released a penned breath in unison as they realized that the old Delvian servant wasn't a Peacekeeper and from their narrow escape. Malika was the first to recover and she quickly moved to retain their disguises. Continuing to play the part of a young pleasure slave, the girl made an odd hand gesture and spoke a quick phrase in old Delvian and then added respectfully,
"Thank you, Grandfather. We were just looking for a private place and weren't paying attention to the danger."
Andar caught on quickly and chimed in, "Yes, thank you. I guess we had too much to drink tonight."
The old Delvian smiled pleasantly and replied, "You are most welcomed Pa'u Malika, and you also Andar of House Murdough." The servant's grin grew broader at the look of shock on the couple's faces after he had called them by their names. "Peace, young ones. We have a common acquaintance," the Delvian said. "I am Shenna, Grandmaster Shrike... and personal housekeeper to Scorpius." The last part he added with a tone of amusement. "Allow me to deactivate the security system for you," he told them.
Shenna produced a device that looked as if it was cobbled together from a bunch of spare electronic parts.
The machine clicked and whirred for a few microts.
"Scorpius is somewhat of an untidy sort, leaving the disarm codes laying around his quarters for anyone to decipher and built a sonic key for... such an unorganized lad," he said to the dumbfounded pair as the device shut off. "There, all done," said the Grandmaster. "I'm sorry but I wasn't able to find the physical key to unlock the security door itself. I'm afraid that you will have to open on your own."
The old Delvian looked at Andar who had a comical look on his face and added, "Close your mouth, young man... before something flies into it."
Andar realized he'd been staring opened mouthed at the old Delvian man.
"All right, you're the old Shrike Berret and Chiana mentioned? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"One and the same," replied Shenna. "I'm here for a few reasons, one of which is to keep an eye on your friend Berret. Speaking of which, I have to get back to him before he and that rather large man beat each other into a pulp in their silly game. I knew where the two of you were headed when I saw you and I wanted to make sure you made it by the security system all right."
He waved for them to continue on and turned to walk back the way he'd come. He paused for a microt as he passed the still wide-eyed Malika and bid her good-bye in old Delvian. Malika answered him back and he padded her hand before turning away from her and continuing on his way.
"Such a polite young lady," he murmured to himself loud enough for them to hear as he wandered down the corridor with his walking staff. "Now if only Berret and his lady friend, Chiana, could pick up some of her manners."
Andar turned to Malika and blinked his eyes a few times before saying, "This just keeps getting stranger and stranger."
"There's no argument from me there," agreed the Delvian girl. "But it's lucky for us that he came along or we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
Andar nodded and then said, "Let's go crack that door and get this over with before something else happens."
"You're in my light," hissed Malika as at the same moment Andar whispered, "Hurry up!"
The Sebacean stepped off to one side and added with a cockeyed grin, "Sorry, I know how much you Delvians like your light."
The girl paused with her work for a microt and blew a rogue strand of hair out of her eyes before replying,
"You're not funny," in a sarcastic voice and then went back to work on the door's lock.
Andar shrugged, "I was just trying to relieve the tension."
"You're still not funny," said the girl just as the lock clicked and the door's bolt slid back.
They pushed open the heavy security door and closed it after they slid inside. The room's lights automatically came on as they sensed someone enter the room. Scorpius' private computer station was reveled as the illumination came to full intensity.
"There it is," said Andar unnecessarily as he handed the homing device to Malika so she could retrieve the homing bug that the Shrike had planted earlier. Andar study the computer console for a micron and then produced his small pouch of tools from inside one boot top. He booted the system up and observed the data flowing over the screen. He hummed to himself and rubbed his chin in thought as Malika watched him scan the readouts. Without a word he pulled out a tool and detached one faceplate from the panel, exposing the computer's innards.
He selected a data crystal from his kit and inserted it into the drive port. Malika saw the data stream change and then Andar connected probes leading to a small box-like device from his belt tool kit into the opened face of the machine.
"What's that?" she asked the man.
"Something I put together, I really don't have a name for it yet," he answered while not taking his eyes off the screen, every few microts he press a series of buttons on the small device from his pouch.
"Well? What does it do then?" asked the girl in annoyance.
"Oh..." said Andar as he realized he'd been sidetracked and hadn't answered the Delvian's question, "It rewrites data in such a way that it doesn't disturb security protocols. It scans the data without removing it, rewrites it to a bi-octal code I made up, and then removes the bi-octal codes without touching or accessing the primary data codes in whatever language they are writing in. The bi-octal passes through the security layers because it's not recognizable as data to them. They default believing its just another layer of encryptment."
Malika blinked her eyes at the explanation, "What?" she finally asked.
Andar checked the device to be sure it was still downloading data and then tried again.
"Its like a reading a secret document through a pair of occulars, then writing what your reading down but doing it in a code that you make up. Anyone finding your copy would think it was gibberish and not pay it much mind, it would only be readable after you've decoded it back to it's original form. I was reading up on some computer programming and construction texts in Moya's library when the idea for this device came to me."
"Are you sure it will work?" she asked.
"Nope, never tried it on anything but the work stations aboard Moya before today."
"Well, did it work then?" asked the girl in alarm.
"Well... not at first. I had to 'tweak' it as John says some before it began to work... sometimes."
"Goddess help me! You didn't even know if this thing would work before we left on this crazy trip!"
"I'm reasonably sure it will," said Andar defensively. "It's only got a few bugs left to work out."
Malika rolled her eyes and began to chant to herself, asking for strength and patience.
Berret had just been tossed through his forth tabletop and his body was beginning to seriously ache from the punishment he was taking. He rolled back onto his feet to face the big sergeant again. So far the damage total came to six tables, a broken gambling game, several crushed and bruised Peacekeeper patrons, and an unknown number of chairs. The fight had continued to draw an ever increasing crowd and even Scorpius and more of his toadies eventually showed up to watch the event. The half-Scarren seemed to be enjoying the spectacle, his toothy grin growing wider every time Berret appeared to be on the losing end. One of the big sergeant's blows had caught the Shrike full in the mouth causing him to bleed. He almost spit the blood out onto the floor, but with Scorpius present he thought against it and swallowed the salty fluid instead. No sense giving the pasty bastard anything to examine he thought. Berret wasn't sure if the half-breed knew about his microbe enhancement, but he damn sure didn't want him finding out he wasn't Sebacean. Pikes wound up and then fired a right cross at the Shrike's jaw. Berret slipped the punch and came up under the outstretched arm, driving both fists into the man's lower ribcage. The Peacekeeper expelled air from his lungs with the force of the double blow. Berret followed up by cocking his right arm back and delivering a ridge hand blow to the man's unguarded head, the hard edge of his stiffed hand slamming into the larger man's forehead and sending him staggering backwards a few steps. The strike wasn't meant to injure but only stun. Berret gave the sergeant a few microts to get his bearings; both men were tired and panting heavily, which gave Berret an idea. The sergeant warily put his hands up in a defensive position and started to advance towards the Shrike once again. Berret did the same and took a single step and paused as if in deep thought. Pikes did the same - expecting a trick.
After a few microts Berret said as a matter of fact, "Brawling is hard work." Not knowing what else to do the Peacekeeper nodded his head in agreement. The ex-assassin licked his lips in show and continued,
"I don't know about you but I'm thirsty and this is far from over. What do you say we call a temporary truce to refresh ourselves? Afterwards we can continue our duel in the proper honorable way."
"How do I know this isn't some sort of trick?" asked the burley sergeant.
Berret did his best to look offended, "Please, I never joke about something as important as a good Raslek," he lied. "I'll buy the first round and you may buy the second. That way nobody's honor will be impeached by having to drink on the other's charity."
The sergeant rubbed his lantern jaw and replied, "Now that you mentioned it, a drink would go down good about now."
The crowd started to hiss about the fight being halted so the Shrike announced, "A round of Rasleks for all on me!"
The hisses changed to cheers as the patrons rushed the bar. Pikes caught Berret's eyes.
"This fight is not over yet Shrike, don't think you're getting out of it this easy," he said.
Berret made a show of rolling his eyes, "Must you Peacekeepers be so uncivilized that you can think of only one thing at a time. There's plenty of time for drinking and brawling tonight."
He slapped the big man on the back as he sided up to the bar next to him.
"I guess it's up to me to teach you barbarians the proper way to have a good time. Fighting and drinking should go hand in hand, a man cannot have a proper fight if he's thirsty, so drink up." Berret lifted his drink up high to the room.
"To honorable dueling," toasted Berret.
"Honorable dueling," replied the sergeant and he clinked his flagon against Berret's.
"You're an odd man, Shrike," said Pikes over the rim of his mug, "What colony are you originally from?" Berret took a microt and then answered off the top of his head, a name he'd heard John use.
"Pittsburgh"
Pikes grunted, "Never heard of it."
"Small ball of dirt in an out of the way place. All we mostly did was drink and fight. Might say we have it down to an art form."
Pikes down the rest his drink and slammed it on the bar top, he loudly called for the next round as Berret finished his glass. As the barkeep filled both mugs the Shrike turned back to the crowd.
"Another round for all on me!" he called out again, patrons pushing and shoving to get to the bar immediately swamped the pair.
"You're also a generous man, Shrike," concluded Pikes as the bartender set their mugs before them.
"I can afford to be... it's all going on Scorpius' tab," replied Berret, remembering to raise his mug in mock toast to the scowling half-Scarren in the corner. He turned back to Pikes and held up his mug again.
"To learning the proper way to drink and fight," toasted the Shrike.
"The proper way," agreed Pikes as he knocked glasses with him.
"Uh-oh, I was afraid of this," said Andar.
"What?" exclaimed Malika.
"There's a high security firewall in the software," he replied.
"What the frell does that mean?"
"It means that it'll take time to get to the data we need."
"Well, how much time!"
Andar checked the read out on his instrument, "About 12 arns, give or take an arn."
"Twelve arns! You said that thing could get to the codes despite the security protocols."
"It can, but a firewall's different. It has to worm its way through it. The good news is that there can only be one firewall in the system," the Sebacean explained.
"That doesn't matter now. We can't stay here for 12 arns. We'll get caught."
Andar began to pull out files from Scorpius's computer database and download them into his hand-comp.
"We'll just have to come back latter then," he said as he stuffed his code-copying device inside of the computer and began to seal the machine back up. "I've downloaded the pass code for the hallway security system so we can get back in latter, I hope no one takes this computer apart in the next 12 arns. If they discover my little black box, we're done for."