File 5.2 - Small Steps Forward

Another late night run on the freight stores became the routine. Wells led the night’s run. It gave him something to focus on that was easier to handle. He felt like he achieved something and could see the results from their work each night. The ship became more likely to fly again. However, tonight had them out for a different reason.

Most of their supply raids for the ship ended. Anything else the ship needed would be when Rinn discovered they needed something else. No, the raid tonight was for another plan. They needed equipment for their rescue of Cal. Along with him was their newbie, Schir. “You good for this, Petty Officer?”

Schir looked a little distracted. Her gaze set on the side window. Out of everyone, she seemed the most affected by the Earth’s appearance. He knocked her chair to snap her attention. “Sir! Yes, sir!”

A little suspicious of her focus, he questioned her. “You remember why we’re here, right?”

“Of course! Sir!” Schir nodded, becoming nervous after her embarrassing behavior while on a mission. She straightened herself up. “We’re here to steal one of the industrial molecular cutters.”

“And a power supply. These things don’t just run remotely.”

“R-right!” Internally, she berated herself for missing a piece. It was obvious. She couldn’t believe she forgot it. The mission was in ways more important than their primary objective. None of them said it aloud, but it was something that they all believed. Schir spent the least amount of time with them, however it didn’t take a psychologist to figure out how important the Commander was to all of them, especially Wells. She wanted to ask, but never found the time.

Wells wasn’t blind to her behavior. She was a rookie. He stopped the truck. “Look, I know this isn’t exactly what you signed up for. But, everything will work out. They’re just a bunch of civilians, untrained and not looking for trouble. It’ll be a quick in and out mission.” He hoped the pep talk calmed her down a little. While hardly dangerous, he didn’t need someone highly strung when the moment required flexibility. These were hardly well-planned missions. They only had a few hours to put a working strategy together.

“It’s important though, we’re doing this for the Commander.”

“Which is why it’ll be fine. Nothing is going to stop us from getting him back out.”

Some uncertainty still filled the gaps of Schir’s heart. She had trouble with his optimistic outlook. “Yes, sir.”

Set in a dark alley, their truck parked up against the perimeter fence. Barbed wire protected the top, while electricity pulsed through the metal. It seemed like high security to them at first, but found it to be the norm in all of the warehouses. Protecting the goods was important.

Standing on top of the trailer, Wells and Schir judged their leap down to the inside property. Wells went first landing with a gentle roll as though the several meter distance was nothing more than a light step down. Schir remained back longer feeling a little hesitant about the jump. She leaned forward a little judging it a second and third time. It felt like she needed more time to figure out the distance.

Already standing and looking up at her, the Ensign motioned to her to get down. As things delayed, he looked around to make sure they were still clear. “Get down here, Petty Officer!”

She didn’t really want to make the jump. It seemed too far, but she was already committed to the mission. He needed her help and so did the Commander. ‘I hope I don’t break anything!’ Schir leapt from the trailer, but gave herself too much height than needed for a simple crossing. The mistake ruined her chances of a smooth landing, something she quickly realized.

It was thanks to Wells’ quick thinking and reaction that saved her from injury. He leapt up to a nearby crate and grabbed her in midair pushing them both over the gap to land on another crate. A slight bruise on his shoulder was what he received for his trouble. “You hurt?”

“No, sir! Sorry, sir!” She immediately got off him and stepped down to the ground. When she looked back up at the trailer, the distance didn’t seem as far.

Straightening out his work uniform, he stepped down. “Remember, while the gravity is heavier than you’re used to in space you don’t need to over compensate as much.”

“Yes, sir. You’re right. I won’t make that mistake again.”

He motioned to her to follow him up against the wall of the nearby building. “Yes, you will make the mistake again. A life in artificial or zero gravity will affect you. All you can do is keep moving forward. Your body will adapt along with your mind.”

“Yes, sir.” Nodding to him, she motioned their rear position for any signs of guards. Everything was still clear. ‘They’re very lax. They must trust their security.’ They had plenty of room to work with inside the property. “All clear behind still.”

“Good. Let’s move out. Our target is several buildings away thanks to the poor position we had.” He leaned around the corner checking on any lights. It was well lit, but lacked any presence of life. It was like all the others he went to in the last week. “Just remember your training, Petty Officer,” he advised, before running out.

Reaching the designated warehouse was a simple affair. The guards gave little attention to the interior allowing them to sneak through. However, they reached a different problem inside the warehouse. One that Schir hadn’t considered. She looked over at the Ensign hopeful for an answer. “Where is it?” The warehouse was huge and being industrial goods, the crates were all large. Aisles of crates continued until she only saw an exit at the opposite end. It was too large for them to search manually.

Tapping away at the screen on his computer, he pulled up an image and serial number of what they searched for. “Everything is organized categorically and numerically. We need to find the fourth aisle from the left. It should be there.”

She glanced over at the screen for a moment. “QR…382…” she recited, trying to memorize part of the serial number for her search. They went off following his directions to the aisle. The distance of the aisle still was intimidating for them. Schir couldn’t believe the volume of goods packed away in the warehouse. ‘There’s so many. Is it all really organized correctly?’

Such fears came to pass soon. When they arrived at the location where it should have been they found something completely different. It wasn’t even in the adjacent shelves as a misplaced stack. “Sir?” Hesitation and uncertainty filled her voice.

Wells looked down at the screen again, for the twelfth time. It didn’t matter how many times he looked at it. The results remained the same. “Just start looking. It’s here somewhere unless they messed up the inventory.” He walked off looking up and down at the stacked pallets of crates no longer passing attention to Schir.

She watched for him with some unease for a while. He kept pushing forward even with impossible odds of finding what they searched for. The warehouse was massive and it could be anywhere. Schir snapped herself out of her daze. ‘I’ve got to focus. If we don’t find it, it’ll affect the mission to save the Commander!’

What seemed like hours passed before Schir stumbled upon what they sought. She checked the number on the plate several times, not sure if she had found it. It was stacked up in the wrong aisle. She ran down to where Wells stood calling him to her. “This is what we’re looking for right, sir?” There were only two crates and neither looked very large for what they needed.

Even Wells looked at it a little confused. He pulled up the specs on the computer to be sure they didn’t get the wrong information. “Yes, this is it.”

“I sort of thought it’d be bigger. It’s mostly for construction, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I’ll check inside to be sure. Everything matches on the outside.” Putting away the computer, he retrieved another device from his one-piece overalls. He pressed it to the surface of the box. Suddenly, the lid lifted as the magnetized seal released. Pushing aside the lid, he looked inside. “This can’t be right.”

“Sir?”

“This is too small for the job. Did Rinn get the right one for us?”

Schir borrowed his computer to check their information as well. She poked her head in the crate. It was so small that they could just carry it out. However, when she looked at the physical measurements of the device it matched up. “This must be it, sir. It says it’s only supposed to be 85cm by 40cm by 62cm.”

He looked back at the screen Schir pointed out to him. It made him blink. When he looked at it before he thought he was just seeing it wrong. “This is insane. How can something so powerful be that small? I swear it’d be at least ten times, maybe even thirty times that size back home.”

“It makes it easier for us, sir.”

“I guess you’re right. I was expecting to need a lift to carry it out to the truck, but like this…” He pulled the lid completely off. “Take it out. We’ll carry it, they won’t notice it being missing for a lot longer.” Once Schir retrieved the cutter, he put the lid back on and activated the magnetized seal once more. They had one of their items from their list. “Now we just need to find the power supply that matches this.”

“I hope it’s better organized than this was.”

“Agreed.”