I had never been much of a gun guy, at least not before I found myself stranded on an alien space station, but that set off some alarm bells.
"Hold on, I think that won't work. I'm pretty sure that if we block the barrel the guns will explode when they are fired. I don't want to maim these guys either if we can help it."
"Hmm, yes, that is a possibility," Kiril said. "The baseline materials are weak enough. I am sorry, we will have to come up with another idea."
What Kiril's device did to the Spike was really just generating a blockage. Anywhere in the barrel of one of the guns and it would be bad.
"Wait a minute. We don't need to block the barrel. We just need to stop it from firing the bullet. Can we block the firing pin? Freeze it in place?"
"Oh yes, you mentioned that these weapons are fully mechanical." Kiril said and shifted in his seat.
"A pin exerts force and starts the explosive reaction. Yes, I could alter the device to anchor a mechanical pin in place rather than attempt to block the barrel. I would need some examples to make sure the design works."
"There's still a problem though," I said. "We'll have to get your device down near the firing pin. I'm not fond of the idea of sneaking around that base shoving stuff down the barrel of every gun."
"Yes, there are too many weapons for that to be feasible in any case. I have an idea, but it will involve the help of your... of Brick."
"I am always happy to help, Seeker," Brick replied.
Kiril grimaced, and told us his plan
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Priming the Distraction
"FIRST, I WANT TO SAY that this was a team effort. Metra and Brick helped me a lot and I think it turned out great," Marty said.
Two days had passed, with Kiril and me working furiously on our own part of the heist. We were all assembled in the outpost's control center. It was a bit cramped, but there was enough room for the five of us, if only just. I was lounging in one of the two chairs, pushed back a bit to give Marty space to present. The rest were either standing around or sitting on one of the beds.
"We're all eager to see what you have made, Marty," Regar said, his voice encouraging.
"Right, I'll just stop talking and play it," Marty said.
A large Interface screen appeared in the room, taking up one entire wall. Marty moved out of the way, hugging the wall. All that we could see on the screen was the blackness of the night sky.
The view wobbled slightly, the camera obviously handheld. It panned across the sky, showing the stars in the clear night. The camera pushed down a bit, and I could just see the twinkling lights of a familiar base in the distance, far below. Whoever was shooting this video was up on one of the rocky hills nearby.
"Ted, I'm getting cold," said a female voice.
"Just wait, the lights will come again. They were here last night and the night before. I'm telling you, they're going to be here," Ted replied.
Two more minutes passed, the camera looking all over the sky.
"Seriously, this is dumb and I'm cold. Take me home, Ted," the female voice said again.
The camera shook, and Ted sounded exasperated. "Mary, I told you we were going out to the desert, why couldn't you dress—"
"What the hell is that?" Mary screamed.
The camera moved, focusing on the base. Directly over the airstrip was a flying saucer. There was no other description for it. It was huge, a slowly rotating disk with banks of blindingly bright multicolored lights all around. It was hovering a few hundred feet in the air.
"I told you, Mary! I told you! This is amazing!" Ted yelled.
The shadowy form of a young woman with long blonde hair ran into view, stopping fifteen feet in front of Ted. She was dressed in tight jeans with a light leather jacket.
Mary looked over her shoulder at the camera, her frightened face containing a hint of wonder. "What is that, Ted? Aliens?"
"It has to be. We don't have anything like that."
The camera moved with Ted as he approached the edge Mary was standing at, getting a clearer view of the scene below.
Without any sound two more saucers flashed down out of the sky, stopping instantly in formation with the first. They moved so fast and stopped so suddenly they left an afterimage on the camera. These two were slightly smaller than the first, with different light configurations.
A handful of vehicles drove out from the parking lot near the administration building, following the dirt roads to the airstrip. At first, they were just headlights on the video, but they quickly resolved into a pair of Humvees escorting a black sedan. The vehicles stopped not far away from the largest saucer, and two men got out of the sedan. One of them was carrying a metal briefcase.
"They're coming out to meet the aliens. Could this be first contact?" Ted asked.
The two men walked toward the largest saucer until they got almost underneath it, and stopped. The area underneath the saucer lit up like daylight. The men shielded their eyes from the light. Two long-limbed, thin figures appeared in the lit area. Their heads were oversized with large black eyes just barely visible on the video. Their skin was a silvery grey and they wore no clothing.
"Holy shit, Greys!" Ted whispered.
The two groups met each other after a few steps. The humans handed over the briefcase, and one of the Greys took it. If they were talking, the camera was much too far away to capture it. One of the Greys gestured with his right hand, and five square metal crates appeared on the ground near the two groups.
"Whoa! They're trading?"
"Ted, I want to
