The Fellowship visitors slowly made their way to the main airlock out of the hold. They were gesturing at each other and to the panel on the wall. Gerakken knew enough about the Fellowship to know that most of them understood technological concepts, but were leary of trusting technology and had limited practical knowledge of its use. After a few brief seconds of the bald man trying to figure out the controls, the robed wizard waved his hand and the outer door opened. Gerakken was in a bind. Staying hidden and still in the quiet corner was one thing, but trying to sneak up on the group now while wearing a spacesuit when they entered a well-lit room would surely expose him. Against his normal policy of never letting observation targets out of sight, Gerakken stayed where he was and let the visitors enter the lock.
Over the comm channel, Gerakken could hear security monitoring the progress of the three:
"They are in the lock. The robed man is putting the light globe into his robe. It looks like they are discussing something... I can't make it out. Team 1, team 2, are you in position?"
"Roger, control. We are in position in side corridors off the main passageway."
"What is this? Team 1, team 2, the robed man is chanting something and gesturing. We lost visual of the target! The camera is working, but they are gone! No readings on infrared cameras, either! Wait, the inner door is opening. Nothing on cameras still. Teams, move in. Block the main passage now! The door is closing. We still have no visual on the target."
Gerakken made his way to the outer door. After it opened, he walked into the airlock and waved his outstretched arms widely in front of him, checking to see if the unseen ones had truly left the airlock. Nothing was felt, but it was a vain attempt in this big airlock with large doors designed to drive vehicles through. The Fellowship trio could very well be staying right out of reach while invisible. The fire alarm could be tripped, flooding the airlock with a special gas, but the infiltrators obviously had some sort of respiration assistance if they could walk out in the breached hold exposed to the void of space. The gas might also outline the targets as it poured in, but visibility in the thick gas was very limited. Unless the unseen ones were within a few feet, they would still be invisible. And then the gas would have to be pumped out. So a fire drill was not a good idea.
It was time to take off the spacesuit. Trying to stalk people in a space suit in a dark, vacuum filled hold is one thing, but the suit was noisy and bulky under normal conditions. It was better resume the hunt for the mystery guests after taking off the suit. Security could be heard on Gerakken's earpiece still:
"Team 1, team 2, be advised Gerakken is in the airlock."
"Control, roger that. We rushed the passage and are now on both sides of the inner airlock door. No way the intruders could have got past us!"
Meanwhile, the stealthy visitors were amazed at how well they could currently elude security. They had indeed left the airlock. Hearing the thundering rush of the security teams coming towards them from down side corridors on both sides of the main passage was discouraging, but a simple dimension door spell transported the three in an instant far down the passage. They smiled at each other from within their small invisibility globe as the charging guards rounded the corner far behind them and found only each other.
The Fellowship needed information. If the boarding party's luck held out, they may well reach their goal: the Doom's central computer bank. From there, the goal would be to try and access other GROSS terminals that would include information on ports of call in friendly star systems, lists of corporate holdings, both legitimate and criminal, personnel records, operational briefings, and even the ability to control the Doom itself if the situation required it and the team was compromised. Unfortunately for the infiltrators, their luck would soon sour.
Stardock Forums
