Page 36 of Survivor
XAVIER
The docking bay is monitored from a tower. We can see it from the walkway that leads to the bays. There are no guards here because once the ships are docked, you need a code to get back on board. A code that is allocated by the tower.
Luckily for us, we have that code.
Getting on board will be easy. Accessing the ship’s systems may not be so simple.
It’s a pirate ship, and from what I’ve heard, their systems are a bitch to hack. Hacking is my forte, but even I have to admit, the arena system was a bitch to get into. The ships will be worse.
But I never shirked from a challenge.
“Xavier?” Tide says softly. “You sure you can do this?”
“No. But we have no choice. I have to.”
He nods curtly and then begins striding down the walkway as if we belong there. Is anyone watching? Cameras? Probably, but we have the code. Lore and I follow Tide.
“Look relaxed,” Lore says.
“I am relaxed.”
The ship rises to our left, an obsidian monolith, sleek and deadly, but we can’t touch it. A blue shimmer lies beneath us, and the ship—a force field, the security barrier. Tide stops at the panel rising out of the ground. He has the code memorized and taps it in.
A second passes, and my heart almost stops because what if he got it wrong? What if Braker applied for a change of code?
But then, with a fizz, the barrier comes down.
Tide and I exchange triumphant glances. Phase one down.
Now, to get into the ship. This is where my hacker skills are going to come into use. The panel attached to the docking bay is sealed, but the pen laser I carry cuts away the barrier easily. The code required here is alphanumeric. There’s no way we’ll figure it out. I pop the panel and get to work on the wires.
Two minutes later, the doors are opening.
Unease skitters up my spine.
“Is it meant to be this easy?” Lore says softly.
Tide’s expression is wary as the yawning darkness opens to us. “Let’s not knock our good luck.”
He leads the way into the ship.
Darkness closes in on us, and then the doors are shut behind us. For a moment, we are standing in pitch black, and then twin red lights flare to life in front of us. The whirr of machinery echoes against the walls of the ship.
“Biometric data not recognized. Identify yourselves.” The voice is mechanical.
Fuck.
The room is bathed in red light, and a huge machineclankstoward us. Weapons trained on us.
“You have thirty seconds to comply.”
“Xavier?” Tide looks to me. “What do we do?”
My pulse is racing. We need a passcode. This thing will smoke us without one. “I need to deactivate it.” I take a step toward it, and one of the guns adjusts its aim to lock on to me.
“Remain stationary. You have twenty seconds to comply.”
“Xavier …” There is panic in Tide’s tone now.
