Just before you read this, it's just to tell you that Ulyferal, who's helping me with the revision of my stories, noticed that there were a few mistakes in this chapter, which she corrected. Thank you, once again for helping me, and well… On with the story. I hope you like this chapter, which was really difficult to write, because of the speed of the action itself.
Chapter 7: Infiltration
After a few good hours of sleep, the Loonatics rose and got ready to begin, what Duck had dubbed, 'Operation: Infiltration.
To prevent any suspicions being raised, they started their day like they had the previous ones. Breakfast was eaten, they got dressed, then went down to the court for training. Their plan for getting away was to pretend they'd been called to respond to an emergency
Reporting for training as usual, they'd barely begun when Ace's communicator sounded off as prearranged by Tech. Ace listened to the fake message letting Mark hear a little of it deliberately. When the call ended, Ace put on a serious face.
"Problems?" Mark asked politely and with some concern.
"Yeah, there's an asteroid about to collide with a planet in the Gurvery System. They are in a panic because they have no way to stop it." Ace explained. "I think this emergency needs only half our number so the rest will be here to practise."
Ace pretended to pick the team to handle the fake emergency. In reality, they had already been chosen last night. Out loud for Mark's benefit, he told Lexi she was in charge of the mission, which would consist of: Duck, Slyth, Slam, Swift, and Mimi.
"Remember guys, be careful and watch your backs. As soon as you have stopped the asteroid get back here. If you need backup, give us a call." Ace ordered. "Off with you and good luck!"
"Right! Don't worry, Ace! We've got this covered. Let's jet guys!" Lexi said, turning and running back off the court followed by her team.
They returned to their rooms and changed into their uniforms then made for the hangar where their spaceship was parked. As soon as Lexi notified traffic control center of their plans for takeoff and their destination, she taxied the ship out of its hangar while awaiting clearance. She got it some minutes later and they were off on their fake mission.
They pretended to head in the direction they had given traffic control until they passed out of the systems monitoring area. As soon as they had, she ordered Mimi to turn on their stealth mode which effectively made them invisible to everyone. Lexi then reversed their course and took them back to the moon they'd just left.
She ordered Sylth to set the coordinates for the laboratories and soon they were heading to another part of the moon.
While they were travelling to their destination, Lexi called for everyone's attention. After their meeting last night, she had gone over the plan and felt some changes were required that might increase their chances of success.
"Okay guys, I've made some small changes to our original plan so listen up as I go over the whole thing again. I'll disguise myself as a scientist and pretend I have an appointment with one of the managers, effectively distracting the receptionist." Lexi began.
"While the receptionist preoccupied, Duck, you will use this hacking disk Tech gave me. It will give us the ability to hack into the main computer and using our ships computer we'll be able to insert a message telling the building's occupants that they have a cockroach infestation and that a team of exterminators has been called from Acme Exterminators, Inc. That's when Sylth and Swift, wearing exterminator clothes, will enter the building, show these fake Ids Tech made up." Lexi explained, handing over the Ids to the pair.
"Mimi, you will be hiding in one of the canisters Sylth and Swift will be carrying. Now, once you two are in, start looking for the control room for the place. Once you have, Mimi will slip from the canister and use her abilities to enter the room and unlock the door before the guards know she's there. Swift will then shoot the guards with tranquillizers that will keep them out for about thirty minutes." Lexi went on.
"That's all the time you have to get into the computers and erase your entry into the room then search for the location of the archives. Mimi, you will remain in the computer room and will guide Sylth and Swift to them as well as turn off all the security cameras along their path. Once you've found the archives, search for the data we're looking for. If you find it, photograph it and get out quickly. Once out in the halls again, pretend you're spraying cockroach poison. Mimi, make sure the cameras are back on and be sure to blank your presence then use the air conduits to leave the control room.
You two finish up your pretend job and come back toward the entrance again. Since the security guards are going to search you, pass close to me and hand off the camera then leave quickly for the ship. I'll pretend I've had enough of arguing with the receptionist, leave in a huff and join you back at the ship. No one will be the wiser if we manage this perfectly. Any questions?" She asked.
"Yeah! What about me and Slam? Have you forgotten about us, hmm?" Duck asked in annoyance.
"You're our back up, of course, in case something goes wrong. We certainly don't want to get caught so you two need to stay close and listen over our open radios for trouble. I'll have a signaller disguised as a button on my coat that will tell you guys we're in trouble." Lexi said seriously.
"Back up! You want me, Danger Duck to be back up?" Duck blurted in anger, crossing his arms over his chest. "No way sister, I'm no ones back up. I'm the star of this team and I refuse to be treated as anything else. And furthermore..." He ranted before he was rudely shut up by someone grabbing his beak and holding it closed.
"Why don't you be quiet? You're embarrassing yourself, Duck." Sylth growled, shaking duck's beak for a moment before releasing it.
"Sylth's right, Duck, take orders for once without making a spectacle of yourself. Slam isn't complaining about being backup." Mimi said in disgust.
"Thank you." Lexi said to the two that had chastized Duck. "You will stick with the plan, Duck, understand? No more complaints. We've arrived! Check that your comms are on! Sylth and Swift come to my room so I can get your disguises done. Everyone else wait here." Lexi ordered then left the bridge.
While Duck fumed for a bit, Lexi went to her quarters and put on a disguise as a scientist, changing her hair color and appearance so much she didn't look like herself. Once done, she helped Sylth and Swift get transformed into exterminators.
Once set to go, they returned to the where Mimi used her stretching abilities to allow her to climb into a medium sized silver canister Sylth picked up and slung over his shoulder while Swift picked up a smaller one with real poison in it. Lexi gave Swift a tiny camera which he put into a pocket inside his coveralls. Each one checked their communicators which looked like watches then they were ready to leave.
As they came up on the laboratory complex they noted it was a rather remarkable building, reminding them of the architectural detail of the late 27th century. Being completely white, it stood out from the rest of the buildings with their more industrial look and its entrance was away from the parking area of the other buildings. This would make getting away a bit more easier.
They parked their still invisible ship on the dark side of the building away from the others in the area. Lexi walked around to the front entrance first while Swift and Sylth waited for approximately ten minutes to make their appearance.
Dressed in a white coat, wearing a hat, a pair of sunglasses and carrying a briefcase, Lexi looked like she belonged here. She pushed open the entrance door and into a rather grand looking greeting area. There were various plants here and there, chairs and tables with magazines as well as a small corner with a drink setup.
The receptionist sat at a curved counter of polished oak. To the left and right of him were double doors where people were entering and exiting rather regularly. Lexi went directly to the reception desk and greeted the man
"Hello, there honey. My name is Dr. Rose Orchid and I'm here to see the person in charge of these facilities." She said in a fake accent and flashing a professional smile.
"You want to talk with Dr. Trewilk? Do you have an appointment with him, miss…" He asked politely.
"Doctor… Dr. Rose Orchid, honey, but you can call me Rosy, if you want to... and, yes, I do have an appointment with him in about ten minutes." Lexi said haughtily.
"Of course, Dr. Orchid. Let me just check his agenda. It won't take a moment." The receptionist said as he keyed up his computer and checked something on his screen. "I'm sorry doctor, but I don't show any such appointment. The only meeting I show for Dr. Trewilk is for after lunch." He said apologetically.
Lexi pretended to huff in irritation. "Well, check it again, please. He and I scheduled this appointment almost three months ago and I came all the way from the Sapphire Galaxy to be here. So be a sweetheart and do that for me, alright?" She asked, laying on the sugar but showing she was annoyed as well
Trying to please her and not make her angry, the receptionist quickly went back to his computer. "Uhm, yes ma'am, I'll check it again."
While the receptionist tried to find the elusive appointment, the entrance door opened again revealing two scruffy individuals wearing tan coveralls that said Acme Exterminators on the back and wearing baseball caps in red with the same logo on it. They each carried a silver canister and the smaller of the pair also carried some kind of GPS unit. They walked up to the counter.
"Excuse us sir, but we're from Acme Exterminators." Sylth said showing his and Swift's Ids. "We're here to spray for cockroaches." He maintained a calm and fake bored expression.
"Uh, I don't recall being told about cockroaches." The receptionist said in surprise.
"Well you better check it out, buddy. I have other jobs to do today." Sylth said blandly.
"Security wasn't notified of this either." A burly security guard said gruffly, looking at them suspiciously. He seen them enter on his monitor and felt a tingle of alarm so decided to check them out. He had walked up while everyone was focussed elsewhere and now stood close to the pair, eyeing them.
"I could care less. We dropped an important job to be here so check your system for a call or we're out of here." Sylth said still maintaining a calm exterior and not letting the guard worry him.
"Better check it out Gerry." The security guard told the receptionist.
Gerry sighed in annoyance at all the commotion at his desk this morning.
"Uh, please excuse me Dr. Orchid, I need to check this." He said to Lexi.
"Sure, honey. I can wait a few minutes more." Lexi said casually. Mentally she worried. 'Hope Duck has already hacked into this computer with the order or we're screwed.'
Back at the ship, Duck was attempting to do that very thing using Tech's hacking disk. Unfortunately, things weren't going well because the lab's computer was resisting his attempts to break into it. Sweating, he continued to fight with it and cursing when it wouldn't obey him. "Despicable computer! I already gave you that order! What do you want me to do now?! I knew it, I should have been the one passing myself as a scientist, and Lexi should be here, trying to figure out what this thing wants!"
"Blalgrgahaglahgll… Problems?" Slam asked in concern.
"You can say that again, Slam! I can't understand this computer… Tech should have given us an instruction manual because he's sometimes too smart for his own good." Duck growled as he tried again.
"Ah! Finally, I'm in… remind me to tell Tech, instructions manuals are a must with his inventions. Now let's see what we can do around here." Duck muttered as he typed the required order into the computer. "Done! Nothing, not even a computer can outsmart, Danger Duck!" He crowed.
Duck had cut it close but Lexi mentally sighed in relief when the receptionist confirmed the infestation.
"Ah, here it is. Was added this morning. Looks like a nasty infestation alright. They can pass." The receptionist said as he handed their Ids back to them and gave them a map of the facility. "Now you can't have access to the secured areas but since the infestation seems to be in the corridors and offices, those are the ones you should do."
As pair nodded their understanding, the security guard, seeing that things were alright, returned to his office.
Moving easily, Sylth and Swift studied the map and pretended to discuss where to start spraying first as they made for one of the double doors.
'Right, now it's up to them. Hope they find it quickly. Now all I can do is try to draw out this distraction a little longer.' Lexi thought as she returned her attention to the receptionist and began a game of annoyance.
"Thank you for your patience, Dr. Orchid. Let me check with Dr. Trewilk's secretary and see if the appointment just failed to get into the system." Gerry said as he picked up his phone and dialled a number. He looked at her a moment, "Are you sure the appointment was for today and not tomorrow?" He asked as he waited for the secretary to pick up.
"Absolutely!" Lexi said firmly.
"Well, hopefully we'll get this straightened out quickly." Gerry said then began talking to the secretary on the phone.
While Lexi kept the receptionist busy, Sylth and Swift used the handy map Gerry had given them and quickly found the main security control room. Looking around them and pretending to be looking for cockroaches near the floor they searched for a small out of the way spot nearby to release Mimi. After a tense search, they found a small corner not covered by the security cam.
Sylth kept his back to the corner to hide Swift who released Mimi from her tight confinement.
"Man, this thing sure is tight." Mimi complained softly
"I'll bet. The door just down there is the control room. Get in and don't get caught." Sylth warned.
"I know what to do, Sylth... Men!" She snorted. She quickly turned herself completely flat and slide along the baseboard like a stain and soon slipped under the appropriate door. The guards backs were to her as they sat at their monitors totally focussed on their screens.
Relieved no one was looking her way, Mimi concentrated and changed enough of herself to make an arm with hand to reach up and slowly open the door. Swift was the first at the door and fired the moment he acquired a target, hitting each in quick succession. None had time to react before they slumped at their stations. Slyth slipped in behind Swift and closed the door quietly and locked it so they wouldn't be disturbed.
"Now, tell me if I wasn't spectacular?" The skunk smirked happily after she'd turned back to normal.
"If that makes you feel better, then, yes, you were quite spectacular." Sylth said flatly.
"You better be careful, Mimi, porque you're sounding just like Duck… And I'm sure you don't want to sound just like heem." Swift snorted.
"Aw, I'm just teasing you two… Can't you take a joke?" Mimi sighed in annoyance. "Okay, let's get to the next step of the plan. Listen for my instructions by radio, guys." She said getting serious as she pulled a guard from his seat and called up the information she needed to alter the cameras memory.
"Actually we don't need to Mimi. The receptionist gave us a map. This will cut out time significantly. Just be ready to unlock the door when we get there." Sylth said.
"Well that's certainly handy. Makes my job easier... okay let me see it for a moment." She demanded and Sylth handed it over. "Okay... take this route guys..." She pointed the route out to them. "Now let me shut off those cameras... right... done... get going guys and good luck."
"You too!" Swift said as he and Sylth picked up their gear. Swift checked with his x-ray vision to see if the coast was clear then they slipped out and shut the door.
Still pretending they were spraying for bugs the pair moved as fast as they dared to an elevator and on up to the third floor. Occasionally they ran into workers and scientists as they went about their business but they were ignored as they appeared to be there legitimately.
Finally, they reached the room of the archive. Again Swift checked to make sure there was no one in there but here their luck ran out. There were at least two people within.
They sprayed around the hallway while watching the door nervously. Some five minutes later, to their relief, the pair of workers left the room with folders in their hands and chattering in some high tech language.
They waited a few more moments then spoke to Mimi.
"Okay, Mimi, the coast is clear. Trip the lock!" Swift said softly into his radio.
"Gotcha! One unlocked door, coming up!" Mimi murmured back and the door made a soft click.
Quickly the pair entered the room of records and made sure the door closed behind them.
"I still don't comprendo why Ace didn't choose Pinkster to come along. He would have no trouble entering this room and we would not need to act like exterminators." Swift said the one thing that had bothered him since they started this mission.
"Because, according to our alibi, we're supposed to be in the Gurvery System, beating the crud out of an asteroid that is going to hit a planet, and not snooping around in a laboratory. It would look suspicious to send a light weight like Pinkster to a mission that required brut strength, speed and force powers to accomplish it." Sylth explained calmly as he looked around. "Sufferin' succotash! Just look at this place!" He exclaimed.
The Archive was larger than they could have imagined. The walls were painted in a very pale, almost ghostly green-tone and the floor was paved with mirror shined black mosaics which reflected everything in the room. There were hundreds of index cabinets, organized in rows, all over the place.
"And this is why Ace sent you instead of Pinkster… because you're faster and can check out all these cabinet in a matter of minutes. Can you tell me if any of these things has folders with printed paper files in them?" Sylth asked frowning.
"Uno momento!" Swift said as he used his x-ray vision once again and searched the room quickly. He soon noted that most of the cabinets had at least a few folders, while others were filled with them. "Oh yes, they all are, and worst yet, the cabinets are all locked with some kind of electronic safety lock." He reported.
Sylth didn't look upset about that as he took something out of a pocket in his coveralls. It looked like a small key or a computer chip of some kind. He turned to Swift and handed it to him.
"Remember, before I became a Loonatic, I was a hit man. And I was very good at what I did because I was always prepared for anything. This small key allows the user to break the security code of any lock... instantly." He explained. "Now get to it. We haven't much time left."
Without another word, Swift took the key and raced around the room unlocking all the cabinets. They checked the time. Fifteen minutes left! They had to hurry. They spilt up the room.
"You take that half of the room and I'll take this half. Sing out if you find anything." Sylth said as he made for the nearest cabinet. Swift moved quickly to the other side and moved through the cabinets in rapid fashion. Sylth wished he could move that fast.
Despite Swift's speed, it was Sylth who actually found something.
"I think I found something, come over here." He called out to Swift who was at his side in seconds.
Sylth had pulled out a folder and inside the top sheet said 'Project Prometheus'. Once again, one of Ace's hunches had paid off. Whatever this project was, it was so secret the laboratories hid any information on it in such a way no one would find it or remember seeing it.
Staring at the papers they couldn't make out what it was about because it had been written in some kind of code.
"These papers mean nothing to me, what about you?" Swift asked, frowning.
"Not a chance. Better take our photos and... wait someone's coming... hide!" Sylth hissed softly, putting the file back then turning invisible and stepping into a corner so he wouldn't be run into while Swift disappeared somewhere into the back of this huge place.
Two persons entered in the room, talking to each other. They went to one of the cabinets and opened it, surprised to find it unlocked.
"Hey, did you forget to lock this cabinet the last time we were here?" One of the men asked.
"I don't think so… Why do you ask?"
"Because this one is opened."
"No, I don't remember leaving that cabinet open."
"Well, let's not worry about it. This place is like a vault. Just don't say anything about it and there won't be a problem. Come on, let's put these files away and get out of here. This place always gives me the creeps because of the decor."
After putting the files in the cabinet and locking it, they turn to leave. Suddenly, one of them halts and looks around, listening.
"Did you hear that?" He asked nervously.
"Hear what?"
The pair stood listening for a long moment but only silence greeted them.
"Ah... you've been eating too many Twinkies and its starting to rot your brain. There's no one but us here. Now, come on, we've got other things to do. Don't forget to pull the door tight to engage the lock." The other snorted and went out the door followed by his nervous friend.
Sighing in relief, Sylth became visible again and called to Swift.
"Safe to come out now and bless you!"
"Gracias, amigo! Sorry about that. The dust in this room made me sneeze." Swift said, embarrassed.
"Don't' worry about it. Now let's get that stuff photographed and get out of here ourselves." Sylth said.
"Sure, but why didn't Mimi tell us about those two? We could have been caught." Swift wondered.
"Hmm, you're right. Let's ask her." Sylth said with a frown. "Mimi, we had unexpected visitors. Why didn't you see them?" He spoke into the radio.
Her voice came back to them a bit distracted. "Sorry guys, I was distracted for a moment and..." She was interrupted by a noise near her "...oh no the guards are coming around. Time's up guys. I've got to leave. Hope you're ready to leave too, but you can't use the door cause of all the traffic in the area. Use the ventilation system like me and hurry." Mimi said, then changed her form and slithered up to the vent herself and vanished before one of the guards groggily raised his head.
"That's not good! Better do as she says Swift. Let's hurry." Sylth said urgently.
Swift nodded and pulled out the camera while his partner reached into the cabinet and grabbed the folder again. They went to a nearby table and Swift took pictures of each page Slyth flipped. They were done quickly. Sylth put the file away and locked the cabinet.
"Lock them all, Swift." Sylth said as he went to the ventilation system and studied how he would get up there and out. It was a struggled but he finally managed. Swift moved fast enough to literally fly toward the ceiling. He paused long enough to replace the grate then followed his partner through the vent system.
Meanwhile, Lexi at the front desk was running out of things to get the receptionist to continue looking and knew it was time to leave when she heard Mimi's warning to the guys. She pretended to suffer a severe coughing fit and excused herself to go outside for air. The receptionist was just glad to see her leave though he was a bit concerned about her. But as he saw her outside, she seemed to recover alright. Relieved, he went back to his work.
Moving out of the sight of the lobby, Lexi contacted the others.
"Sylth, have you got the information?"
Sylth paused a moment to speak with her. "That's affirmative and we've gotten pics of it. On our way out now through the ventilation system. You'd better have Duck and Slam create that diversion now. Where are you?"
"I'm outside, fortunately. Keep coming. I'll call the cavalry." Lexi told them then switched the frequency.
In the security control room, the guards were starting to wake up. The first one that had was already studying the screens and noted one was dark. Mimi had failed to turn the cameras on. Hissing in anger, the guard set off the intruder alarm. It's loud wailing filled the building.
Waiting tensely outside, Lexi had already pushed the button on her coat to notify Duck and Slam to cause a diversion. She decided it would be best if she got back to the ship before anyone saw her.
The signal reached Duck and Slam who had been cooling their heels outside the ship.
"There's our cue, buddy!" Duck exclaimed. "Time to show them that we're experts at what we do!"
"Blagahglrghlarghl… Right!" Slam shouted.
"I'll blow that tank of liquid oxygen while you make things shake a little and remember, don't let them see you!" Duck warned him.
With that, both of them departed their separate ways. First, Duck teleported himself to where the tank of liquid oxygen was and used his powers to create a blazing morph ball, which he fired into the tank making it explode like a fireball. The explosion was powerful enough to knock a few things down, including the buildings energy grid.
At the same time, Slam started spinning, and with his fists, he slammed them against the ground, making things shake like it was a small earthquake, powerful enough to create panic, but not powerful enough to break things. People panicked and began to pour out of the building.
Meanwhile, Lexi waited tensely for her team mates to return. Slam and Duck were the first to arrive then Mimi who had gone flat again and stayed near the ceiling and escaped that way. Sylth had turned invisible when he dropped from the ventilation system into a small storage room.
Joining the mass exodus was a bit difficult since people kept running into his invisible body but he finally managed to get free of the crowd and made his way to the ship. Swift had been able to move so fast no one was able to see him and was already at the ship when Sylth got there.
Safe once more, they caught their breathes and waited to insure their take off would not be noted before taking off for space. They had to seem to be coming from further out before returning to Ace and the others.
"Now that was some aventura!" Swift exclaimed to the others.
"Yeah, but we almost got caught! Good thing Slam and I were covering your tails!" Duck said pompously, conveniently forgetting he didn't want to be back up.
"What matters now is we have the data we needed and let's just hope that Tech, Rev or Pinkster might find out what Swackhammer and those Crushers are really up to." Lexi sighed as she piloted the ship.
They took up a station keeping position for a few hours, to give the idea they were really on a mission. By the time they returned, they didn't have to pretend to look tired as they went back to their room to change and hide the camera. They went back down to the court and joined their team mates for lunch.
Ace eyed them and was glad to see no one was hurt and all was safe. They spent the rest of the afternoon playing hard. Finally, the long day came to an end and they dragged themselves to their room for much needed showers and dinner.
Checking the room for bugs again, they settled down and gave reports of what went on that day. Then the team on the mission presented the holographic images and tried to make sense of the information they had risked so much to get.
Tech sighed and rubbed his eyes before he gave them the bad news. "Well, one thing is for certain, guys. This has been encrypted in such a way that even I am having trouble making any sense of it. Whoever did this was a genius. I've never seen anything like it before in my life. I'm sure its quite simple, once we decode it, but for now, all these numbers, calculations, numerical matrixes and names that are written here, don't make any sense at all."
"Gee... and here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, brainiac!" Duck snorted derisively. "I risked my feathers to get that information for you, and you don't even know what it is?!"
"Get over yourself, Duck! You weren't in any danger and you know it. Only Sylth, Lexi, Swift and I were in any real danger. You were the diversion, remember?" Mimi snapped at him in annoyance.
"Blargaghlaghrl… Yeah, remember?!" Slam chided him.
"Oh yeah? If it weren't for our distraction, you guys would have been caught, and brainiac over there would not have the information he doesn't know how to break the code on." Duck snapped back.
"If you think that breaking and deciphering encrypted codes, using nothing but mathematic probabilities and statistics, along with comparison tablets and matrixes is easy, well, be my guest, Duck." Tech challenged the annoying bird.
"And we're just talking about the regular calculations, because if that isn't enough to decipher the message, we'll have to use quantum calculations, and use references from other possible codes, which will give us about a trillion possible deciphering combinations, added to the ones that we already had and that would give us about…" Rev rattled on.
"Okay, okay, okay! I get it… It won't be that simple. Sheesh, next time I'll just shut my beak!" Duck grumbled.
"Not that's the best thing you've said in a long time." Sylth muttered.
"Anyway, whatever it takes, we've got to figure this thing out. I just know its an important piece of the puzzle to explain whatever Swackhammer is up to." Ace sighed.
"Save it for tomorrow, guys. We're all beat so let's get some sleep. We need our strength to get through another day on the court. Good night all!" Lexi said, yawning to prove her point and getting up to go to her room.
"Good idea. I'm wiped... I really need to get some sleep." Patricia yawned as well.
"M-M-Me too… The t-t-training was e-e-exhaus… was e-e-exhaus… was e-e-exhaus… it really wore me d-d-down." Pinkster stuttered, as he dragged himself to his bedroom.
As the Loonatics all got ready to go to bed, somewhere else, two figures, both wrapped in shadows, held a secret conversation.
"Is everything going as expected?" One asked of the other.
"We're having a few problems with it, but you needn't worry. Everything will be ready, when the time comes."
