Corpo Age

Chapter 232: Clandestine Meeting

Once we disembarked from the ship, we removed the restraints from Collins so he could guide us to Zone B40, which his leader had spoken of. Only he was freed, though. His three companions were still tightly bound.

It made the scene of exiting the port appear like we were shepherding slaves to be sold. However, no one batted an eye at our group.

Well, I’m not sure if I should be relieved that no one cares or sad that this is a common sight.

We made Collins guide us straight to the meeting place without taking any detours. We were here under our guise as Shake and Echo. We couldn’t show up to our branch office or visit any of our acquaintances anyway.

“You said you’ll lead the way, so the show is all yours,” I said. “Should I call a cab?”

He took a moment to glance around before answering.

“Can you reactivate my SAID and optics? I want to see the map.”

“Sure, sure. Here you go. Just know that I can do a lot more than just shut it off if you try anything.”

“I’m not going to ruin our leader’s negotiation before it even starts.”

“Good. Let’s get moving.”

He shook his head at me as his eyes began to glow, showcasing his attention was on his optics.

“Okay, we’re not that far away. We can walk there.”

With that, our journey through the dirty streets of Aegis began. As we were on the outskirts, the smog was particularly bad as the vents were all located centrally.

It was the ugliest city I’ve been to, but also the one filled with the most opportunities. It was literally the bridge between all the resources in outer space and the entirety of Earth. I could only shake my head at how poorly the consortium maintained the place.

Walking along the periphery of the city, we soon passed by port after port. Some of them were privately owned, ranging from luxurious ones for personal use to commercial ones carrying bulk items. They were only separated by a short walk and a fortified security checkpoint.

Fortunately, as we were only passing through, they only gave us a cursory glance before letting us go.

We soon went inside one of the docks we had been passing through. Instead of having a large open area, it was simply a small building at the edge of the city. It was a modest place, with no one inside to greet us. Instead, there was a large screen on the side of the passageway, depicting various spacecraft and empty docks, all neatly laid out in their own squares. It listed the price and duration one could rent these vessels or hangar space.

It was set up exactly like a love hotel but for space travel.

“Come on, you’re the one that says we should hurry along,” Collins’ voice echoed from further down the passageway.

His nagging earned him a shove from Thorne, who hadn’t left his side. I quickly got my optics to record the screen so I could take my time going over it while continuing on our journey.

At the end of the hallway, we got into the elevator, where Collins began typing away on the terminal.

“Is this it? Your secret spot is just one of these hangar spaces?”

He didn’t respond and kept typing away on the terminal.

“Not very impressive for a secret meeting place,” I continued. “Even if you pay off the employees, I bet the company operating this place already knows about it.”

“I thought you were here to follow, not complain.”

I chuckled and began looking up the company running this place. Despite the lack of time, I wanted to investigate as much as I could. It could help predict any dangers or at least plan an escape route should anything happen.

Soon, the elevator began to move. Like the ones I’ve been on, it not only moved up and down, but on the horizontal plane as well. After all, from the view outside the station, these hangers basically looked like a beehive.

It wasn’t long before the doors opened, but not to what I expected. It wasn’t a secret compartment or employee passageway, but a regular hangar space meant for a small vessel. Inside, there was even a ship waiting for us. It was of the smallest kind, not meant for traversing the void, but operating around the space station. It was shaped like a jet fighter, except it was slightly larger, with four seats.

A quick lookup through the internet indicated it was a model commonly referred to as the Tender. Its main role was simple maintenance around the station.

“You know this isn’t going to fit all of us, right?” Thorne commented.

Collins shrugged.

“I guess we can do a round trip.”

“There’s no way I’m leaving any of you alone.”

“Just split up, then. There’s two of you.”

“No. Who knows where you’re guiding us? What if this is a ploy to break us up so you can deal with us one by one?”

As they argued, I made my way over to the ship in question and began inspecting it. As someone who was actively designing a ship myself, I couldn’t contain my curiosity. It wasn’t anything like the models I’ve been studying and was way simpler.

“You two, give it a rest,” I interrupted. “I think we can all ride together.”

I pointed toward the back of the small ship. It was the trunk where one would normally put the maintenance equipment.

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“That—you want to cram two of us in there?” Collins muttered with a frown.

“We should just stuff them all there. Don’t want any of them near the controls,” Thorne added.

It caused the three bound prisoners to make strange noises through their gags while Thorne smirked toward the person who he had just been arguing with.

“Wait! I can’t guide you if I’m left in the back.”

“I think you’ll be fine as long as navigation information is connected with your SAID.”

“Come on, now, Echo. Stop teasing him. Hurry up and load these three in the back.”

With the matter settled, we flew the small Tender out into space. Collins instructed us to move in an erratic path that didn’t make any particular sense, but I didn’t question it. The clandestine nature of this meeting meant everything was to ensure secrecy.

We eventually stopped the confusing flight path and began flying straight at the colossal station.

“What channel is that dock we’re headed for?” I asked as the blue energy shield protecting the hangar came into view.

“There’s none. Just fly through.”

“Are you sure? You’re saying their flight control will just let us in without saying a word? You know if they don’t, we’re going to ram into the shields hard. If that happens, I don’t think this flimsy thing will hold up.”

“Shake, we should just abandon this. It’s getting too sketchy!” Thorne warned.

“Just listen and don’t deviate from the current flight path,” Collins continued. “If you deviate, that’s when the real problem will happen.”

I followed his gaze over to the dark exterior of the space station. It was in an area that had no lights around, providing virtually zero visibility. However, the nearby lights that spilled over were just enough for me to make out the silhouette of a gun turret.

It made me do a double-take at the port we were headed to, and I soon noticed it was one of the maintenance docks. Only the city’s personnel were allowed there, which explained the purpose of the nearby gun turret.

I secretly messaged Thorne to prepare for the worst. Our power armor could allow us to survive, even if this ship was shot down or crashed. We just needed to evacuate before the worst of it came.

Heeding Collins’ instructions, I ensured we stayed on the same flight path, prepared for anything to happen. I was glad to find the turrets inactive, but the moment of truth came as we were about to make contact with the blue shimmer energy shield.

The view of the hangar grew bigger before my eyes until the tip of our vessel finally made contact with the shield. I made sure to slow us down so any impact wouldn’t kill us instantly, but it seemed my fears were unneeded.

Our ship slipped through the shield without incident. The dimly lit hangar greeted us with no one in sight. However, bright lights shone in the distance where the hangar’s traffic control was.

We got off the ship and, as suspected, Collins led us straight toward the light.

The entire place was eerily quiet, so it didn’t ease any of our concerns, though. Climbing up the metal stairs, we finally spotted somebody. They opened the doors, allowing even more light to leak through. The person who walked out was decked out in combat gear and rifle in hand. They wore a sleek helmet and loose clothes, hiding their face and figure.

They gave us a friendly wave as we approached.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Collins and his elite team making their triumphant return.”

The voice that greeted us was completely distorted, making it impossible to tell their gender or any accents.

“Can it, Bug-Eyes.”

“Woah, calm down. You’ll make our guests here think we’re savages with your attitude.”

I ignored their banter and interjected myself into their conversation with an introduction.

“I’m Shake. Are you Strand?”

“Oh, no. Collins here would’ve been much more respectful if I were her. She’s waiting inside.”

Thorne and I ushered our three captives in first as we quickly followed behind. We soon found the group we were going to be negotiating with in the area where traffic control normally sat. They were sitting in front of the fancy instruments, but they all turned around to face us as we entered.

In total, there were five of them, including the one who had greeted us at the door. They all wore the same outfit that hid their identities except for one woman, who sat there dressed in a typical corporate suit.

“You must be Strand,” I called out. “I’m Shake. We’ve spoken over the call earlier.”

She reciprocated my handshake and nodded to the men beside her. They quickly stood up, causing Thorne to tense up, but the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up as they vacated the room.

“I said we’ll talk after you have sent our men back” She gave a meaningful glance at the three who still had their limbs restrained and mouth gagged.

Seeing her gesture of trust by sending her men away, I nodded to Thorne as well, signaling for him to free them. The three men excitedly ran behind their leader, with Collins slowly following behind. His steps were hesitant, as he didn’t dare make eye contact with Strand.

“Stop throwing a tantrum and bring your people out,” the stern woman scolded. “You’re helping no one by spreading your gloominess around.”

Her words lit a fire under Collins, who swiftly and silently led his men away.

“So then, we’re good now, right?” I asked once it was just us and the woman remaining.

She slowly nodded. She stared at me the entire time, refusing to break eye contact.

“Care to share what you guys were up to?” I asked.

“What’s it to you?”

“We happen to be digging into a string of kidnappings done by some corporation. Your organization seems to be related.”

“No,” she stated firmly. “We’re no friends of the kidnappers.”

“Then why else were there dozens of unwilling corporate workers held captive on a ship under your men’s control?”

“Who hired you?”

“Hmm, no one yet. We’re digging into this case on our own initiative.”

“That means you’re free to take on jobs, then?”

I nodded in response, seeing where this was going.

“If you want to know, then we’re willing to hire you. It won’t be an easy job, though. We can’t share any details about it until you accept, too.”

“Come on. Listen to how unreasonable that is. There’s no way you expect to take a job knowing nothing. At least tell me who you people are.”

“As I had said, we’re nobodies,” she muttered in a self-deprecating tone. “It’s also why this kidnapping you speak of was targeted at our people.”

Her words and expressions told me a lot. Things slotted into place and began making sense.

“You guys are families of those who were kidnapped?”

With a frown, she slowly nodded.

These were people who had suffered at the hands of corporate human experimentation. They somehow banded together and gathered enough resources to put up a resistance! Their kidnapping of corporate employees was done in retaliation, likely in an effort to exchange hostages, but I knew it was a futile effort. Companies would rather just hire new replacements than negotiate with what they deemed to be terrorist groups.

“Does that mean you know which companies are behind the human experimentation?” I asked.

This time, instead of responding in a straightforward manner, Strand pushed over a terminal with an employment contract on it. I found it ironic that she would put her trust in a piece of document that was usually enforced by her enemies, but I still obliged.

The contract wasn’t entirely useless. If the clause was broken, she could spread it around, damaging the reputation of the mercenary who signed it. Then, no one would dare hire them again. Not corporations or any QGs.

Before I could finish considering if I should sign it, a blur shot out from the corner of my vision, taking the terminal from my grasp. I turned to find Thorne, or to be precise, Echo, finished signing the contract and throwing the terminal back at Strand.

“I signed it. Now tell us everything you know.”