Assuming things would be that easy was breathtaking idiocy, of course; things never went that well, especially considering Aiden's luck. Exemplified by the fact that they were in a whole different galaxy, and the Vindicator had still managed to stumble across them while doing a completely unrelated errand.
Sure, the Deek cruiser hadn't actually found them. But the possibility had been there, like the universe giving Aiden the finger.
So he was going to plan for things to go wrong, starting with the gunner being ready to have the Last Stand's weapons pulverize the docking bay's defenses with low powered laser bursts, and if necessary blow open the reinforced door into the facility.
Which was slightly complicated by the fact that it was a blast door, designed to withstand at least a few laser bursts, and that many shots would likely slag the hallway beyond and make it impassible. Thankfully the Last Stand used unconventional railguns as part of her arsenal, and the hyper dense slugs could punch through pretty much anything.
So easily, in fact, that the young man would probably have to use the schematics for the door that Elyssa had provided them, to calculate the force necessary to break it down without destroying half the facility beyond. Not to mention likely opening significant portions of it to space.
Which wouldn't be a problem for them, since they'd be suited up in case of just such accidents; that was just common sense for any fight on a facility in space or an inhospitable planet. So much so that standard uniforms were made to be airtight, including a hood with goggles that could be untucked from the back of the neck and rolled up and over the head, automatically sealing around the collar, and an emergency half hour air reserve.
That was a bare minimum emergency measure compared to actual space suits, but anything but standard uniforms would instantly arouse suspicion in the facility's security. Still, as an added precaution Aiden had everyone who'd be part of the attack carry belt packs with extra batteries for heating elements, another hour of oxygen, and sealant in case of suit leaks.
The Last Stand jumped in about an hour from Recluse, using the usual procedure for resupply ships and transmitting the proper codes. There was a moment of worry over the facility's security officer not recognizing their ship as one of the ones that always made the resupply runs, and the man having to dig through memos to find the one Elyssa had spoofed up alerting the facility to their arrival.
Aiden spent a tense half minute or so staring at the facility's unmanned orbital defense platform, while he waited for the officer to clear them to approach. That, or for those weapons to lock onto his ship and alert him that it was time to get the blazes out of there.
It was bristling with enough weapons to take out half a dozen light cruisers, as well as shields to rival any light class of capital ship. In fact, it was far more defense than even a top secret research facility like this warranted, unless whatever Elyssa had sent them to take from it was not just valuable but tactically significant.
The only saving grace was that it was controlled by AI, meaning all they had to do was bluff their way past it long enough get into the facility's control room and disable it.
Easy.
The security officer finally cleared them through, and even apologized for the delay. Unusually polite for a Deek, although technically the man was an ERI flunky. Or maybe it was more that he was lonely, since he then spent most of the rest of the Last Stand's approach to the facility chatting almost nonstop.
Mostly to Ali, since she seemed to have no problem holding an endless, inane conversation. His companion even had the good grace to move it to a private channel, and transmit her replies without vocalizing.
Which was a good thing, or Aiden might've gone crazy and opened up on the facility just to shut the guy up.
* * * * *
The captain looked occupied with other things, so Lana risked leaning over her terminal and resting a hand on Dax's arm. “I should be going with you,” she insisted, for what was probably the dozenth time.
In spite of her persistence, her boyfriend was perfectly patient in his reply. “The Captain refused your request. You coming along doesn't make sense tactically, not to mention that having too many crew members entering the facility to report in would be viewed as suspicious.”
She had a feeling that first objection had been a polite way of saying she'd be a liability in a fight, which wasn't really fair. Sure, she might not be a genetically modified superhuman encoded with the skills of dozens of experts, but she'd worked hard with Dax in full immersion learning to defend herself. “You told me just a week or so ago that you couldn't think of anyone else you'd rather have watching your back in a fight.”
Dax shifted uncomfortably. “Oh. Well, that was . . .”
What, a romantic gesture? Come to think of it, Lana had been trying to get him out of his uniform at the time, feeling more exuberant than usual after a particularly good training session with him. Still, she hadn't thought he was the sort to flatter her when it wasn't true.
He seemed to sense the way her thoughts were going, because he hastily leaned forward, letting some of his feelings show. “No, I wasn't just blowing exhaust back up your tailpipe! I think for the training you've had you more than hold your own.” Before she could decide how she felt about
