Infected

Chapter 48

Eclipse POV.

"Statis update?" Solar asked over the com links.

"Nothing yet. It was two different smugglers this time. We haven't seen these two specifically yet. Neither have said anything," Flare whispered over the line. "We must be close though. They're prepping this transport ship."

"You guys are leaving the atmosphere. We're an hour behind and still cloaked." Wavelength gave the update on their end.

Siege shifted before going back to standing still. The three of us were tucked into different corners of the small storage room, each of us was hidden behind a crate. The crates were old and had a thin layer of dust on them, empty and rusting at every corner. Siege could see Flare and myself. We could only see him. Turbulence caused the shuttle to shake and groan. This ship had to be as old as the Great War... Siege and I look at each other and I shake my helm. The main ship had to be so much worse inside...

"Has anything shown up on your radars?" I whisper over the comms.

*Nothing. The shuttle you're in is starting to flicker off the radar.* Harmony informed the three of us.

"It's possible you're in the main ship's cloak radius. Depending on what they have, that could be anywhere from 10 to 20 mile radius." Wavelength sighed.

"We'll have to track you purely by the comm links. The moment you enter the radius your signals will become spotty." Solar hummed.

"Great..." I sigh to myself.

"We'll still maintain radio silence while on the ship. We'll contact you with our discoveries as they're made. Nothing more." Seige informed Solar.

"Very well. Dropping to minimal contact now." Solar ended the conversation.

I can't imagine how test the control room is right now. The three of them are an hour away from us, they have no idea what's going on, and if we get caught they aren't anywhere near close enough to rescue us. If anything went wrong, nothing could be done. The entire mission hinged on being completely prepared for the unknown. The shuttle shuttered again before everything felt light. Welcome to outer space everyone... Siege looked over to Flare and nodded. We had to be a few minutes from the ship.

"Entering shuttle docking zone. We're lining up now. Move out of the way." I heard the raspy voice of one of the pirates.

Someone snipped back over their radio as the landing sequence started. I stayed still and tried to keep my wings from twitching. A chill ran down my backstrut when the shuttle shook and powered down. Steam blew out from the landing struts with a whistle and hiss. The two pirates shoved each other as they left the shuttle.

"Both of you stay here. I'm checking the cockpit to see who is around." Siege whispered and crept forward.

I slip out of my hiding place just to watch him. Flare hadn't moved yet. Siege was crouched down next to the pilot seat as he peaked up over the control panel.

"We seem to be fine. We'll have to sneak around still, but that was expected. But we do have an issue. Most of the metal is either dirty, rusted, or has a layer of soot. Eclipse and I should be able to blend in. Flare though..." Siege sighed.

"I'm bright red. I'll stick out like a sore digit." Flare sighed.

Both were right. I'm different shades of tan and brown. Siege is a rusted red, black, and grey. Flare had some brown, but the rest was white or a bright red. He looked polished compared to us and the ship.

"Do we risk him staying behind? Keeping watch over an escape shuttle?" I frown.

"No. The logs seem to show it leaving every few hours. The pirates are being sent on patrols." Siege scrolled down the holographic screen.

"So they could accidentally leave with me. That's definitely something we can't risk." Flare stepped out of his hiding place.

"We'll have to find something to cover him. Loose soot or dirt." I sigh. "Till then we'll use our wings to hide him the best we can."

"I hate that..." Siege hissed. "Alright, I'll open the hatch and we'll make our way from there."

"I'll keep my wings down then. Dim my bio lights as well." Flare stepped behind Siege and between his wings.

I opened the hatch door and peeked out. No one was around. I wave them out and point to one of the random hallways. Siege nodded and we made our way over. No one was in the hangar so far, and we weren't spotting security camera either.

"We need to figure out where the main haul is. Or figure out who is in charge of finding the relic." Flare frowned.

"I think the entire crew is? We could aim for finding the captain. They might have a log." I suggest while watching around the corners of the halls.

"He'll have those locked. There's no way they wouldn't. Competing smugglers, police, military, you name it. Those logs would be encrypted. Probably have silent alarms as well..." Siege growled slightly.

"Great..." I sigh. "Let's find the engine room first. Cover Flare then head to the main haul."

"From there we can figure out who's in charge. We can at least rummage through the captain's room to see what they have. Or who they are." Flare hummed.

"If we can figure out who they are that would be perfect. We might be able to look them up, see their track record and convicted crimes." Siege waved us forward.

We had no idea where the engine room was. Pure luck was what was going to get us there. And "pure luck" took three hours... Technically three hours and 18 minutes if you ask Siege, and three hours, 18 minutes and 27 seconds if you ask Flare.

"Alright, let's get you gross and dirty. The energon burner is practically raining soot. Go stand in that." Siege chuckled and pushed Flare in. "Just close off your air filters!"

I laugh a little and snap a mental photo.

"I smell like rotting decay..." Flare sulked.

"Rotting and decay means the same thing." Siege snorted.

"Well now that you look that part let's go. We have some more infiltrating to do." I wave back towards the door and we once again continue our sneaking around the ship.