The precinct computers must not have been very secure, because Thea was able to pull Dr. Prime’s address in two minutes. Dax watched her work, occasionally glancing up to make sure no one noticed them.
“Got it. Let’s go.” Thea started toward the front entrance.
Dax caught up on her right. “How are we getting there?”
Thea held up a hand and wiggled her fingers. “I’ll get us a vehicle.”
One hacked police cruiser and fifteen minutes of traffic later, they were walking up to Dr. Prime’s apartment complex. After the ease with which she was able to manipulate the cruiser’s computers into letting them in and taking them wherever she pleased, Thea spent the drive giving one of her usual spiels about the unnecessary use of computers in machines that didn’t need them, opening up opportunities for bugs in code to wreak havoc.
She especially liked to complain about appliances that could connect to the net, making it possible for her to hack them at any distance. Dax didn’t quite see the logic in complaining about things that made hacking easier, but he nodded along.
She switched gears as they approached the building. “I say we go in the balcony,” Thea said. “It’ll be easier than dealing with building security and the front door.”
“Sounds good,” Dax replied.
“It’s on the fifth floor.”
“Sounds less good. But okay.”
Thankfully, the building was easy to climb. They reached Dr. Prime’s balcony quickly and found themselves facing a locked glass door. Thea looked the door over. “Stand back.”
“Be careful,” Dax warned as he backed up. He’d have offered to break through the door instead, but her boots were much tougher than the sneakers he’d thrown on today.
Thea rolled her shoulders and gave the door a hard kick. Cracks ran up and down the glass. A second blow shattered it.
As Thea stepped inside, she lost her balance. Her hands waved to balance herself, and her right palm grazed a glass shard poking out from the door frame. She winced.
Dax hurried in behind her. “How bad is it?”
Thea held out the hand. The gash was already spilling blood onto her skin. “Could be worse.”
“Sure.” Dax pressed his palm against hers. “It should close up in a minute or so.” A faint blue light glowed between their hands, then faded.
“Thanks.”
The two entered the front room and split up. Thea headed for a computer on the desk in the corner. She rested a hand on top and closed her eyes. The screen lit up. Dax, meanwhile, sifted through the drawers around the room.
“Got something,” Thea said after a few minutes. “Messages between Dr. Prime and the mayor of Sera. He was letting her use a room in the basement of Moon Hall.”
“Great. So glad I could help,” Dax joked. He paused and frowned. “Do you hear something?”
They both fell quiet. The faint sound of voices passed through the front door of the apartment. The voices stopped after a moment, and the silence was interrupted by the sound of someone kicking down the door.
“They’ve got blasters,” Thea warned, flexing her hands.
No time to run or hide. Dax and Thea could only watch as three men dressed in black entered the room. The first man took aim at Thea, but she’d already disabled the weapons.
“Damn it.” The man smacked the side of the blaster.
“Mine’s not working either,” the second said.
The third chimed in. “Same here.”
The first man shoved his blaster into its holster. “Fine. Grab them.”
Dax barely had time to put his fists up before one of the men attacked. Dax blocked the first strike, then the second, but the third landed. He gritted his teeth against the pain and managed a hit to the man’s jaw. The man retaliated with a hard blow to Dax’s stomach.
Dax gasped and stumbled. The man took a step forward, his dark clothes and gray skin blurring in Dax’s vision. He lifted his fist to strike again. Dax sucked in a deep breath.
“You’re not a bad fighter, for such a young kid. Makes me feel less bad about—” The man cut himself off with a yelp. Dax’s vision returned to normal, and he realized a gash had opened in the man’s right palm.
Just like the one in Thea’s palm that Dax had healed minutes earlier. Had…he done that? Reversed his power, somehow?
Dax took his chance to kick the man in the stomach, knocking him onto his back. Nearby, Thea stood up, eyed her attacker to make sure he wasn’t getting up anytime soon, and turned to Dax. “Third guy grabbed the computer and ran.”
“Should we chase him?” Dax asked.
“He’s long gone. I tried to wipe the computer, but this guy kept me busy. If they’re working for Ringmaster—and I’m pretty sure they are—they have a good shot at finding Prime’s hideout.”
Thea unmuted her comm and explained the situation to the others as she and Dax returned to the cruiser.
“Ringmaster’s going after Prime’s hideout then, right?” Holly asked. “To steal the warp research?”
Jasper sighed. “As soon as he gets the location, I’m sure he will.”
“Why don’t we contact the mayor and tell him?” Grace suggested.
“He’s not going to listen to a bunch of criminals who broke into Dr. Prime’s apartment,” Jasper said. “And even if we did come up with a believable story, whatever security measures he puts in place won’t stop Ringmaster. We’ll just have to break into the highly secure government facility ourselves and steal the research before Ringmaster can. Ooh, this is starting to sound like an Earth movie I saw once.”
“Sure, let’s steal our ideas from movies,” Holly muttered. “That’ll work out great.”
“How are we getting in?” Thea asked. “Moon Hall doesn’t do visitors. I might be able to get us fake IDs, but their security guards are thorough, from what I’ve heard—”
“Don’t bother with all that. I have a better idea. It’ll be more fun, too,” Jasper said. “Thea, I have a job for you.”
Thea still had access to Starchatter’s backend, which allowed her to sneak a few short articles onto the website. Even though someone caught and removed them by the end of the day, they were up long enough for Jasper’s idea to gain momentum. The fact that other sites quickly shared—or straight up copied—them helped, too.
That evening, Dax and the rest of the team stood in the center of the police station, gathered in a circle with the officers on the Prime investigation.
“The star system is calling for a celebration of Si Hera’s 421st Precinct after articles detailing their competition with Van Terra for the dramatic capture of a dangerous killer spread around the net,” Detective Park read from his tablet.
“How exciting!” Officer Alyow exclaimed.
Detective Park shook his head. “The original articles were full of fabrications, and they were deleted later.”
“Don’t worry about the minor details,” Jasper told him. “You deserve all the praise for catching Mechwell.”
“He basically surrendered himself to me.”
“After a thrilling chase!”
“Good news, everyone!” Captain Prool exclaimed as he emerged from his office. “I just got off the phone with Sera’s mayor. His phones have been blowing up all day with calls about our celebration, and he’s decided to go ahead and host a party for us.”
“Guys, check this out.” Tary waved his smartsphere in the air, making the holoscreen flicker. “Top seven reasons Precinct #421 deserves a party right now, explained through pictures of felines. Oh, and there’s another one that talks about the arrest using reaction images from Star Conquerors—”
Dax glanced at Holly, who had never looked more exasperated in her life. Grace’s expression was more bewildered than anything. Thea was typing away on her tablet, undoubtedly still wrestling with net code.
Jasper looked amused, but there was a faraway look in her eyes that hinted her thoughts were elsewhere.