Building 62 (Part 2)

Posted on Wed May 5th, 2021 @ 8:58am by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Amanda Rose

1,899 words; about a 9 minute read

[PREVIOUSLY]

"Oh ladies one more thing......" He commented as the side doors opened and two men in matching uniforms appeared, though these two were armed. "Halcion does not tolerate espionage of any kind and this room is outfitted to detect any forms of recording or monitoring equipment not of Halcion manufacture."

"By the will of Halcion you are under arrest." He said as he sat back in his seat.

[CONTINUED]

"Run!" She grabbed a vase off the desk and swung it at the man who was closing in on her. She missed him, but connected with the gun, knocking it away. She let go of the vase to spin around and hit the man in his xiphoid process with her elbow and completed the move with a punch to his face. She didn't wait for his reaction. She ran for the door they came in.

Amanda did not have to be told twice and started running as fast as she could. Unfortunately, Amanda had dressed the part of the entrepreneur and was still wearing her burgundy pumps, which slowed her significantly. And the more that she ran, the more wobbly she became. Finally, she turned and ankle and fell face forward onto the ground. Just in time, Amanda was able to turn her body so that she did not face plant. However, she knew that she would have a large bruise on her left side tomorrow morning.

The second man was heading for the door the two women just exited. There was no way the two could get away before the second guard caught up to them, and if he chose to shoot, they wouldn't stand a chance.

The second guard was coming, and there was no telling if others would shortly follow. Grace had no idea what she'd do, but she ran over to the side of the door to ambush him. There was a small decorative pot with a little bush in it next to the door. She grabbed it just as the door opened and swung as hard as she could, hitting the man in his chest and shoulder with the pot. The gun fired, shooting wildly into the air as he fell backward, hitting the ground hard.

"Come on," the first officer said, helping Amanda to her feet. "We need to get lost." If they could get a few streets away, they could take the long way back to the shuttle.

Amanda hastily took off her pumps, as she was helped to her feet. "Yes, I agree. And I will run much better without these on. Too bad it will ruin a good pair of nylons."

Grace glanced back at the door. "As long as it's only your nylons." No one came after them as they ran past the building and down a side street.

Only then did they stop so Amanda could put her shoes back on. "I think we'll be okay now," Grace said. At least, she hopped so. They just had to blend in and get back to the shuttle.

"If they are as paranoid as they seemed to be, I would not be so sure. We might see our faces on every holo from here to the next galaxy." She looked around and asked, "Where's the officer that helped me, Grace?"

"I'd like to be safely back on the Ontario before then. I'm concerned that they'll try to stop the shuttle." Grace was sure that a group that arrest someone for having a recording device wouldn't simply let the perpetrator walk away. "I don't know where the officer is." She looked around, but saw no one familiar. "Do you think the others will be back at the shuttle by now?"

There was a small klaxon in the distance followed by an automated voice. "Any action against Halcion is an action against progress." The holo then then shifted to the Halcion logo dotted all over Building 62 and a series of numbers. "Fugitives will be prosecuted."

"That could not be referring to us, could it, Grace?" Amanda asked nervously. "We should try to disguise ourselves and make our way back to the shuttle. If our friends are not there, at least we will be out of site of the Halcion."

"I think that's definitely referring to us--or, more specifically, me." They continued to move through the crowd so they wouldn't stand out. "I don't know if it would be better to get to the shuttle or go into a shop where they might notice us and report us." She sighed. "You might be able to get away with buying something. My looks are a bit more...distinctive." She hadn't seen many silver-haired women around.

"Then, I buy a wig and we stuff your hair into it," Amanda replied definitively.

Grace touched her hair. "I guess so...unless you can find some spray-on color."

"I'll see what I can see, though that might be a bit suspicious." Amanda's eyes darted around, looking for a shop. She thought she spied one and dragged Grace towards it. "Just stay to the side somewhere. I'll go in and quickly purchase something to disguise you."

Grace nodded. She was happy to let Amanda take charge of this.

With definitiveness that Grace had heretofore not seen out of Amanda, she decisively strutted into the shop. Looking around, she found that the shop did have some wigs but they were few and far between. Silently cursing her luck, but having no better options, Amanda asked, "How much for the wigs?"

The shopkeeper, an elderly woman said, "You don't look like you need a wig. You're a pretty young lady."

Amanda blushed and simply replied, "I'm here for a friend. She lost all of her hair and she is too embarrassed to shop for herself. I mean, can you imagine losing all of your hair? It is so rare for a woman."

"That's horrible," the shopkeeper responded. "I can help out." She reached up to a short haired brunette wig with curls at the end. "Let's see, this one here is 15 pieces of latinum."

Amanda sighed. She did not bring latinum, but she had Federation credits. Not wanting to tip herself off, she asked, "Can I charge a purchase? I don't have any latinum on me and I'm afraid that I only have a card that can be used to draw upon."

"There would be an extra fee for the credit. Three percent."

"That's fine," Amanda replied a little too quickly. Looking over the selection, she asked, "How about that long haired blonde wig?"

"Oh, that's 30 latinum. That's quite the eye that you have there. With a charge, it would be 31 latinum." The shopkeeper smiled at Amanda and patiently waited.

"I like it. I will take it."

The shopkeeper smiled and asked, 'Would you be wanting any pins or anything else to go with it? It would be a shame to just purchase a wig for your friend."

"No, no," Amanda insisted, handing over a card to charge.

After a long minute, the shopkeeper handed the card back to Amanda and put the wig in a bag. "There you go, deary. I hope this makes your friend's life easier."

Amanda thanked the woman and hoped to find Grace outside. At least ten minutes had passed and Amanda was nervous about whether Grace had been found.

At first, there was no sign of Grace, then she came around the corner. "Sorry, didn't want to linger out here for long." She saw the wig and smiled. "Thanks. Let's go back here so I can put it on in private." She led the way around to what amounted to an alley and slipped behind a large can to put on the wig.

"How does it look?" she asked, coming out again.

"There was an old saying that blondes have more fun. But considering your hair is silver, any silver hairs that show will only be confused for greys with that blonde. I think it is a good look. You don't have any clothes that you can change into, do you? Might help throw off descriptions, too...."

"I left them in the shuttle," Grace admitted. She thought it would be easier if her hands were free. "Hopefully these are nondescript enough to do until we can get back to the Ontario." She tucked some hair back under her wig. "Well, I think we should at least make our way to the shuttle. We can change plans if anyone starts following us." She sincerely hopped they wouldn't have to deal with that.

"If you think this is enough, Grace," Amanda responded hesitantly. "We should get moving as nonchalantly as possible.

"I don't want to go into too many shops, and I don't want to linger too long," Grace replied. "So yes, let's get going...casually."

"May I ask you a question, Grace?"

"Of course," the first officer replied, glancing at Amanda.

"Do you always jump head first into things like the cat that was killed by curiosity?"

"No." Grace laughed at the imagery. "But this...this feels different. We're here to learn more about this place, and we've been pointed to Building 62. Why not go see what they had to say? I believed it was part of getting the whole picture, and then, when we heard that announcement, it became more imperative to find out what was going on before we got ourselves into trouble." She smiled wryly. "And then we got in trouble trying to get information." She glanced at Amanda. "And if we hadn't gone there, we'd know nothing about how Draconian they are. If we had to deal with them leaving the system, we'd know less than we do now and might have gotten in more trouble leaving the planet."

"Well, I'd say that we learned about it!" Amanda replied, shuffling her locks out of the way as she laughed. "I'm not sure that there was another particular way of doing things here but adding fugitive to my dossier does not seem like a great career choice."

"No, but if it makes you feel better, I'm the one with my thumbprint on the PADD," Grace said, smiling wryly as she thought of how much trouble she was in. "And I'm the one who assaulted two guards. You were just an accomplice."

"In this society, that may mean that I get the death penalty for all we know," Amanda reminded Grace. "But, of course.... Your thumb print. That would have residual DNA and would be able to trace you! I'm such an idiot! I should have thought about that!"

"Why?" Grace asked, turning a corner to take them on an indirect route to the shuttle. "Why would either of us expect to be arrested for recording a blank contract?" She had no doubt the punishment, if they'd been caught, would have been severe. "I just thought they'd charge an exorbitant fee to do business." She glanced around at the crowds. "Let's talk about this later when we're not likely to be overheard." The last thing she wanted was someone to wonder what they were talking about and inform the local police.

Amanda nodded at Grace, understanding what she was inferring. "Hopefully analysis would be slow...."

Grace was less optimistic. She just hoped they got off the planet first.

____
OFF

Lieutenant Commander Grace Vetur
Executive Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Amanda Rose
Chief Counselor
USS Ontario

RSS Feed