Engagement [Book 3: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 26: Elite Execution

Chapter 26: Elite Execution

Chapter 26: Elite Execution

Months of monotonous planning had finally come down to this. Cairo had no business complaining since she and the four Hybrids involved in the operation had been in training at the Bitrall compound for just over three weeks while Dietra Bitrall, daughter of slain trader Teek Bitrall, had been waiting for this moment since the day of her father's death. In theory, the plan was executable, but it also had very few degrees of freedom and almost no room for error. Essentially everything had to fall in place. If one domino landed incorrectly, the mission would end, likely along with all of their lives as an added bonus. While Cairo was fully aware of the risks, at the moment she was mentally elsewhere. She was not looking forward to being boxed up...for hours...yet again. For the third time in less than a month, she found herself situated in a bio-screened container. She understood the necessity of her predicament given the circumstances, but her ability to rationalize the situation didn't make things any easier, especially given the fact that she had already discovered her mildly claustrophobic tendencies during her first exposure to a lack of exposure. Thankfully, her condition wasn't debilitating, but even so, the confined quarters certainly added to her overall stress level. And repetition wasn't making things easier. In fact, after her last boxed-in affair, her initial self-assessment of "mild" claustrophobia had now advanced into the realm of "moderate".

"This is not one of the checkpoints!" Tiru Flireen suddenly blurted out.

Cairo responded to him telepathically.

"What's going on?"

"Please remain quiet, it's part of the security detail. I need to pull over..."

Cairo was prepared for the enhanced level of scrutiny that they were likely to experience due to the Bi-Annual Global Review. No vehicles, other than State transports would be allowed inside a 6 kilometer radius of the Capitol Complex. In addition, many pre-set, vehicle security screenings were established outside the mandatory perimeter but apparently, this wasn't one of them. That made Tiru nervous, which in turn, made Cairo uneasy...

Tiru, who was Trace's second cousin, decided to speak before spoken to. As the security officer approached the vehicle he said:

"Greetings Officer, I hope I did not violate any transport-"

"Silence, Surface Dweller. State your business."

Their plan had a contingency for a situation such as this, but that did not make Tiru any more comfortable. He knew all too well that Zeta security forces could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to people like him with little to no consequences.

Calm...Stay calm, he coached himself.

"Sure Officer, we are transporting needed supplies to our marketplace location on the east side of the city."

Tiru electronically pushed his citizen and business permit details to the security officer before they were requested. After studying the details on his tablet for a moment the officer added:

"Open the rear hatch."

Don't worry, we planned for this. However, what did worry Tiru, was if the biofilm would still work within heavily guarded portions of Capitol City.

Tiru got out of the vehicle and removed the security release that allowed access to the rear portion of the vehicle. As the official looked through and began scanning equipment and other items in the cargo area, Tiru made sure to block all outgoing mental transmissions. Thankfully, he "heard" nothing incoming from Cairo as well. She was securely situated in a "box" that was generically notated as "electronics and related hardware". Any x-ray scanning device used to see what was on the inside would "confirm" the contents as such. If by chance the official demanded an internal inspection, they had a protocol they would enact for that specific situation as well.