Rule of Twelve, Double Take - Ch4 (Passage 3/5)
(… continuing)
Luna continued her reflection.
After the drop off they had moved quickly through the bush, towards the citadel. They covered their tracks as they went.
The outcrop they had selected gave them cover and an excellent view of the port. They had spent forty-five minutes observing the routines of the sentinels guarding the rig in pad 16b.
They had done various distance calculations, gathered weather data and synchronised their timepieces.
They had found the optimal position whereby Luna could hit a Sentinel, cause it to self-destruct and not cause too much damage. Hitting a sentinel when it was too close to the rig could cause the fuel tanks to ignite. The resulting explosion could damage nearby buildings. That would definitely result in collateral damage.
“Mentor had been very specific about avoiding that!” Luna reflected.
The first window had opened at 8:30 a.m., however, the sentinels weren’t in the right positions.
They had predicted it wouldn’t be until the 9:22 a.m. window before the sentinels would be in the correct position. They had waited patiently for the interference software to cause a momentary glitch in the citadel’s defences. Mentor’s information suggested the glitch would cycle every 8 minutes. When it did, a single shot could penetrate the shield undetected.
At 9:22, the sentinels were in the correct position, but a second sentinel blocked the shot. They had let that window pass.
“Three chances remained,” reflected Luna.
At a little before 9:30, the second sentinel had moved. The shot was possible.
Luna had checked that her breathing was still slow and steady.
She had checked her calculations again. They had calculated the shot would take two point seven seconds to reach the target. Luna went over those calculations once more as she swept the ground behind her.
Luna recalled, she had then checked the sight once more and counted down the seconds.
At precisely 9:29:57 she had taken a half breath, then applied a slight amount of pressure to the trigger. The rifle fired. She had absorbed the recoil and continued to hold her breath.
Immediately, Marr had placed a cover over the rifle muzzle. Then they fell silent and held their breaths.
At exactly seven seconds after Luna pulled the trigger, a slight pop reached their ears. Success they both thought. No massive explosion, just enough to detonate the Sentinel.
With the confirmation, they had lifted themselves up gently and backed away from the outcrop, covering their tracks as they went.
Luna finished her reflection by recalling the path they had taken away from the outcrop over the last forty minutes. She felt confident and content.
It was at this moment that they heard the sentinel quadcopters!
“Right on cue,” suggested Luna.
“Yep, let’s have a little rest and sit it out,” smiled Marr.
Pushing into the centre of a nearby bush, they settled in to wait.
Thirty minutes later, things hadn’t gone well for the observer in the citadel.
The mobile squad had been dispatched to the location of the muzzle flash. They found nothing. The location showed no evidence of any persons being at the location or in the vicinity.
The observer had been over the logs and footage several times. The footage coming in from the wild was patchy and movement tracking systems glitchy. However, the observer knew cross checks when the keepers returned in the evenings, always showed things were as expected. No one looked out of place.
The observer trusted the system and it showed no trace of bad actors. The flash must have been something else.
The observer’s superiors had taken over. They had listened to the report and then put the observer into a locked room. The observer would have no further involvement in narrative writing or work within the security team.
Sitting in the locked room, the observer tried to focus on reading the press release.
The observer would be reading it live to the media in a few moments. Staying focused was not an easy task given the rumours that the observer had heard about those that get unprivileged.
The press release read: “Earlier this morning, I was monitoring Pad 16b. I thought I saw someone acting suspicious near the rig. I ordered the Squad of sentinels to open fire causing a small amount of damage. I am terribly sorry for the damage that I have caused and accept full responsibility for the carelessness of my actions.”
(to be continued...)
[Rule of Twelve, Double Take, Chapter 4 - Cause and effect (Passage 3 of 5)]
All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2021 BJ Allen