Star fumbled with refastening her shirt. She quickly braided her hair, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. Her eyes were glued to the faint trail of red as she washed her hands before it disappeared. Her face hardened into a frozen mask of determination. She was going to bring him home. Her eyes glittered in fury as she stared into the mirror one last time before she turned to find Madas. She was going to bring him home and she was going to kill the man who had hurt him. No one messed with her family and lived, no one!
*.*.*
Dakar set a cup of steaming tea down in front of Star before he moved around the narrow table they were using as a conference table to sit on the other side. Madas let her tongue taste the brew before she smiled in pleasure and took a deeper sip of it. Armet pushed into the room late. He had set the auto-pilot and wanted to double check some of the weapons systems before joining them.
“This is what we are facing. We need to not only break into this fortress but then try to get out of it in one piece,” Dakar said pulling up a three-dimensional map of Tai Tek’s prison fortress. “There are four levels in all. Three above ground and one below. The cells are below ground, of course. Look at these towers. There are six of them. Each has a high power laser cannon capable of bringing down any size fighter. In addition, there are smaller automated laser cannons that can be controlled from this center building. They are set to automatically fire at anything that shows a heat signature. You would see what I mean if you could walk around the perimeter of the fortress,” Dakar said in disgust. “It is littered with the remains of any creature unfortunate enough to wander into the firing range. Truthfully, I don’t think there is any way to get into the fortress alive.”
Star stared at the structure in front of her. Her eyes following the lines of the fortress as Dakar showed it from different angles and explaining the materials used to build it. Her eyes kept going back to the long, thin cable that extended from the mountainside where the fortress was built into to the main control rooms in the center of the grounds.
“What about from above?” She asked hesitantly. “Are the cannons aimed for anything coming from above the fortress?”
“Of course, they are set to fire on any incoming vehicle,” Dakar said, pointing to a series of cannons pointed upward.
“Yes, but what about from here,” Star asked pointing to the narrow aqueduct system that came out of the mountain and the cable attached to right below it to the center building. “What about if someone were to go through the access tunnel at the top of the mountain? They could make their way to this release duct. Would the cannons detect someone coming across the wire from where it is connected here to the control tower?”
Armet leaned forward studying the areas Star was asking about. He shook his head. “There is no way to do that. The vents are too small. They can’t be more than two feet in diameter. Even if Dakar or I could fit through there we wouldn’t be able to cross the cable. There is a security field set up that stops about a foot under the wire.”
“But, if someone was able to make their way through the vent, cross the cable to the control tower, and take out the control room, it would allow others to breach the fortress, right?” Star insisted looking at the wire that ran down where it attached just outside an access door to the control room. It was a left over from the building stage and had probably been left as an afterthought for maintenance.
“IF someone could squeeze through the narrow tube AND cross the wire without triggering the alarms, then yes, I guess it is possible to bring the system down long enough to get additional support inside,” Armet said reluctantly as he looked with growing unease at Star who was smiling.
“Then, we know how we will get in. Dakar, I will need you and Armet. Jazin is hurt and I’m not big enough or strong enough to carry him out. You know the inside of the prison, Dakar. You will know where they are likely to be keeping him. Madas, you will have to pilot the star ship,” Star said looking excitedly from one frowning face to another to the last which had a grin on it.
“No, little warrior. I will go with Dakar. Armet is the better pilot. Once their defenses are down and we have Lord Jazin, we will have to be able to leave quickly. The star ship is capable of landing in this area,” Madas said pointing to a larger area used for training exercises. “I am a fair pilot but we need an excellent pilot who can come in fast and leave just as quickly.”
Star looked at Madas for a moment before looking at Armet’s tight face of disapproval. “She’s right. She is strong enough to help carry Jazin.”