Diplomatic Relations (Pt 6)

{Yes, I know that it's been a while since I posted. Let me warn you that it might be a while before it's truly finished. School is eating up every spare minute of time I have, plus all brain cells normally devoted to writing. But it will be finished. Hopefully soon, but don't quote me. That being said, I did want to give you a little more of what I have. Also, my font is messing up, and I don't know how to fix it. :~p }

For an hour, they debated hotly about the viability of a rescue. Every plan that was projected was quickly shot down. The ID card lying on the table received more than one bitter glance. Being in possession of one card was almost worse than having none, since it had raised and then crushed everyone’s hopes.

Redding had retreated back to the computers, leaving the rest to argue about the best point of contact. Of the three possible locations—the Detention Center, in transit, and the court house—the Detention Center had been completely ruled out, the court house had been deemed too risky, and now they were studying the route between the two.

“What about this intersection?” Dara pointed to a place on the map. “Not a major intersection, no large businesses, and at least eight minutes from the Detention Center and six from the court house.”

“No good.” Josh touched a building three blocks away. “This is a security hub. They could have us in custody before we got the doors open.”

Jayem frowned. “They have those hubs very efficiently placed.”

“Here, then,” Dog said. “They pass a side street halfway through the route, and it’s ten blocks to the nearest hub. If we work fast—“

“No good.” Jayem shot it down this time. “There are too many businesses there, and they’ll definitely be populated. We can’t risk that many people seeing us, and I doubt we could lure the transport into a side street.”

“I knew this wouldn’t work,” one of the Fringe’s computer experts said glumly. “This whole scheme is impossible, especially on such short notice. If we had another card—“

“But you don’t,” Dog snapped. “And if you want our help, you don’t have the time to get one. If you’d like to wait until we’re gone and your leader has been transferred somewhere more secure, then be my guest. “

“Dog.” There was more than a hint of warning in Dara’s voice.

“We never asked for your help,” the man retorted. “We were fine before you came, and we’ll be fine when you’re gone.”

“That’s enough, Zack,” Josh said firmly. “We wouldn’t even be having this meeting if it weren’t for these pilots. The least you can do is be civil.”

Zack and Dog glared at each other, and the tension in the room was almost tangible.

“I think we should take a break,” Dara suggested. “Fifteen minutes to clear our heads and get some fresh perspective. I’ll get Redding to pull the floor plan of the court house, and we’ll see if we can find a chink in the armor there when we get back.”

They dispersed with a minimum of grumbling. Josh threw a worried look Dara’s way, to which she replied with a reassuring smile as she left the room.

The computer room was quiet when Dara walked in. Redding was the only occupant, leaning back in his chair, his feet kicked up on another, staring at the console. Dara glanced at the screen and saw that he was watching security cam feeds from the Detention Center.

“Redding, we need floor plans for the court house. And if you could get the security schedules, too, that would be….” Her voice trailed off, and her face was a study in concentration.

“Splendid? Horrid? Fantastic? Awful?” Redding prompted. He looked up at her, caught her expression. “What is it?”

Abruptly Dara burst out laughing. Redding shot her a look suggesting that he was ready to call the psych medics.

“It’s perfect,” she gasped in between taking deep breaths to compose herself. “I can’t believe we missed it.”

“Missed what?” Redding demanded.

She pointed to a screen, and Redding frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“Watch.”

He did, then his expression cleared, and his eyes lit with understanding. “Oh! Of course!”

“Prepare to be invaded,” she warned him. “I’m going to bring everyone in here.”

“Anything I should start doing?”

“See what kind of orders you’ll need to falsify. And double check what time Marna is scheduled to be transferred.”

“Will do.” Redding sat up straight and began feeding commands into the computer.

* * *

“That is our solution,” Dara said, pointing at the screen.

“Transport speeders?” Josh asked incredulously. “How?”

“We don’t have to go into the Detention Center to get Marna. We’ll just pick him up at the door.” Redding wore a very satisfied expression.

“Exactly,” Dara confirmed. “Play the portion of the vid that I showed you.”

Redding found the correct marker and played it. They all watched as three guards signed out a speeder and drove it out of the garage.

“And this helps us?” Zack’s disbelief was plain in his voice. “Instead of two guards, now there are three, and we still only have the one ID card.”

“Watch again,” Dara directed. “Yes, there are three guards, but notice how many of them produce their ID card.”

The room was very quiet as they realized what Dara was driving at.

“Three guards, one ID,” Josh said in a hushed voice.

“So, Redding falsifies orders for us to get the speeder and pick up Marna, and we just drive out, free and clear?” Dog shook his head. “How did we miss that?”

“We’ll have to ditch the speeder immediately after leaving the Center, though,” Jayem cautioned. “They likely all have homing beacons so they can be tracked.”

“Not a problem,” Josh said, a trace of dazed wonder in his expression. “We’ll have our own speeder ready for transfer somewhere nearby.”

“Excellent,” Dara said. “Redding, pull up all the information you can on prisoner transfer protocol, this one in particular, including holocams and personnel logs. We’re going to go over every step of this plan. I don’t want any surprises.”

(to be continued...)