The Lost Voyager: A Space Opera Novel
light.  
    “How’s it looking up there?” Mach asked.  
    “Sufficient for our requirements. Make sure you grab the token. I’ll need it in the command center.”
    Mach pulled it from the slot and slipped it back in his pocket. Relief washed over him as he made his way around the humming generator. The first part of OreCorp’s request could be executed, which guaranteed half of their payment, but it was the easy half. At some stage, he knew he’d have to tell the crew the real story.  
    Sparks crackled and fizzed across a gloomy section of the tunnel. Mach quickened his pace, glanced across at an exposed length of split cable, and hoped it wouldn’t cause any issues above ground. He reached the bottom of the staircase and wasted no time clambering up the covering of debris to the top.  
    The warehouse lights were out around the damaged ceiling, but the front half, leading to the command center, shone down over the dusty machines and mining tools.  
    Adira and Sanchez stood chatting to Babcock and Squid Two.  
    Mach eased out of the gap, dusted himself down, and struggled back into his shell.  
    Sanchez looked over his shoulder and smiled. “I hear you were nearly taken out by a bug?”
    “Takes more than a pest to kill me,” Mach replied.
    Sanchez turned away. Mach fished the token out of his pocket and placed it against Babcock’s chest. “Time to do your thing. Let’s destroy that data and get the hell out of here.”

    ***

    Mach followed Babcock through the opaque glass door into the command center. The place had a safer feel with bright circular ceiling lights glaring down at regular intervals and the rest of the facility cleared. All five wall-screens were on standby mode and lights on the console winked. Sanchez sat back on a central workstation chair and rested his boots on the desk. Adira joined Mach below the screens.  
    “Find any clues to what happened here?” Mach asked.  
    “Pools of frozen blood next to the transport door but nothing else. Besides the three men, it’s deserted.”  
    Babcock placed the security token into a round indent on the console. A touchpad slid out and an orange holographic screen appeared above it. He keyed in commands and strings that Mach didn’t recognize.  
    Thousands of digits, letters and symbols flowed along the screen. Squid Two hovered closer, paused for a moment, and beeped twice. Babcock nodded.
    “Found what we need?” Mach said.  
    “There’s a hidden directory. Squid Two’s capturing the contents before I delete it.”
    “Are you sure that’s the data we’ve been asked to destroy?”
    “Unless they’re worried about their operations logs, video feeds or resource management information getting out, I’d say so. I’ll purge everything just to be sure, including the backup data. Provided there’s no physical copies, it’ll do the job.”
    “Will that leave this place screwed?” Adira said.  
    Mach shrugged. “Who cares? OreCorp can come back and reconfigure if they want to use it again. It does leave one question, though. Whoever attacked this place… did they take a copy?”
    Babcock fiddled with the pad. “The directory hasn’t been accessed since it was placed here. I think it’s safe to assume they didn’t.”
    “Probably a rogue attack,” Sanchez said. “Easy target for marauders outside the Sphere. What’s in this directory, anyway?”
    “Sensitive company information,” Mach said, trying to be as vague as possible. “You know how corporations like to bury dirty secrets.”
    “Don’t I ever. I’ve been one of those secrets more than a few times.”
    Adira narrowed her emerald eyes and glared at Mach. He suspected she might see straight through his high-level baloney. Being naïve wasn’t a normal character trait for a lethal assassin.
    “I’ll analyze the information later,” Babcock said. “We’re nearly done.”
    “We don’t need a copy,” Mach said.
    “Don’t worry. OreCorp’s secrets are safe

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