Engagement [Book 3: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 25: Diversionary Tactics

Chapter 25: Diversionary Tactics

Trace's sense of apprehension hadn't completely dissipated yet but even he had to admit that so far, almost everything had gone their way. His concern that they would either be found out before getting to the surface or experience some sort of cataclysmic transit landmine during their journey between the Capitol City of Tujir and his hometown outer province of Xiron had somewhat receded at this point. Remarkably, the Sympathizer network had somehow managed to insert competent assistance at every checkpoint along the way. Without their help, it would have been very unlikely that they would have made it this far. He knew that this truly was a remarkable feat, especially for an organization that had a track record that was inconsistent at best. Trace realized that all of this could not be attributed to good fortune. A much more reasonable explanation for today's incredible success was that the Sympathizers were the beneficiaries of considerable external assistance. Trace had lived on Zeta his entire life and had never witnessed anything close to the coordinated effort he had seen so far. As it turns out, Cairo was listening in and concurred with his conclusion.

"Well, I can't speak to the Sympathizer's track record, but I am quite certain that Quin's hand was all over this," she replied to his thoughts telepathically.

"What the-?" Trace nervously mumbled before realizing where the stealth mental transmission was coming from. "Please don't do that..." he responded. "My nerves are already frayed!"

"I'm sorry about that. TP is just so natural to me and being boxed up like this...well, isn't."

Trace laughed. He knew that all of this had to be tough on her. He also realized that they had no choice but to take extreme precautions. Their current situation puts them both at considerable risk. Cairo was a Human stowaway on a planet whose dominant species wanted to eradicate her species. They were also transporting a highly efficient bioweapon specifically engineered to kill Zetas on contact. If the authorities managed to uncover either of these facts, their journey, and lives would come to an abrupt end...immediately.

Trace and Cairo weren't the only ones under the gun. Each of the Hybrids was wearing biofilm which itched endlessly and made it feel as if their skin was crawling. Actually, Trace knew that there was no "if" about it since the stuff did in fact make the surface epidermal layer move! For the 1st day or so, the partially alive exo-covering was continuously in motion on the molecular level as it adjusted and attempted to perfectly conform to the existing contours of the face and other body lines. As gross as it sounded, Trace also knew it was absolutely necessary. Just as necessary as keeping Cairo and the deadly bio-slurry continuously concealed. While the 15 and 31 Hybrids looked the part of being native, the risk of setting off genetic anomaly markers at the various checkpoints was too great, even with Sympathizer "plants" in place. The film was specifically designed to make sure that would not happen. As for Trace, he needed to hide his identity for a different reason. Soon after the murders of his father and Teek Bitrall, several members of both families were placed under "obvious" surveillance so as to "visibly" discourage them from attempting anything that could be construed as retaliatory against the State. Given that reality, altering his appearance with the biofilm allowed Trace to temporarily avoid any unwanted scrutiny during their critical transit to Xiron. On the bright side, all of this subterfuge would soon be coming to an end. They were now less than 100 km from their final rendezvous point. Even so, Trace was still not willing to take any chances given how much they had to lose. One more hour of creepy skin and solitary confinement wouldn't end up killing anyone.

This time, Cairo broke the silence audibly.

"So what's next?" she asked

Trace wasn't exactly sure what she meant but answered her question anyway. "Not much longer. You will be stretching those cramped legs of yours soon enough, don't worry."