The Neo-Metropol Heist

41: Edward

They sat in silence in the belly of the jumpship.
Harry Cain sat in the cockpit, the pilot chair swivelled towards them and his face focused and solemn. Aphelion was surrounded by terminal screens and was the only one to occasionally break the silence to speak to Theo and Artem.
Cad sat near the back of the ship, the humming of his especially quiet cooling fans just audible over the amazingly silent engine of the jumpship.
Edward leaned against the warm hull, his cane crossed across his lap and his fingers interlocked.
They were stationary above the Neo-Metropol, hiding in plain sight but invisible to anybody who might be looking for them. The ploy was simple but clever, Edward had to admit.
From what he could gather, the jumpship was retaining its heat emissions to avoid detection and to remain close enough for Aphelion to stay in the security system to help Theo and Artem.
Every fifteen minutes, the building would carry out a security scan to detect any abnormalities around the building, and Harry would have to relocate the ship to avoid it, leaving the two inside the building in the dark for a few minutes until they readjusted.
When the ship was out of range of the building's security systems, it would vent the heat it had stored up and begin the cycle over.
"We're almost at the rendezvous point, is Cad ready?" Artem's voice played over the ship audio link.
"I am always ready, Artem," the robot replied politely.
"There you go," Aphelion replied, "when you're there, I'll black out the security through the uplink you established in the security office and Cad will make the drop."
"Thanks for summing up the situation in a soundbite," Artem sniped, but his tone was light.
"Four minutes until the next security ping," Harry said, "will we have to move the ship again before we make the drop?"
"Negative, big boss man," came Artem's reply, "we're almost there."
Edward looked Cad up and down. He seemed so relaxed, yet so straight and rigid - Edward wondered what kind of expression he would have if he actually had a face.
Harry crossed his arms and Edward accidentally met his gaze. The man still didn't trust him, even though everything was going to plan so far - Edward understood, of course, but the constant mistrust wasn't productive or good for the atmosphere, and it was starting to grate.
"All right, send him down and hit the switch," Artem said.
Aphelion buzzed into life and began flicking through the holo-screens around her in the impressively rapid but accurate way she always did.
"You know when I disrupt the building security, it will let the detective out of her cage?" Aphelion said.
Edward had only heard the confrontation between Artem and the detective that was on their trail - she was a fly in the ointment, but not a fatal screw-up - she sounded like a determined woman, though, and that made him worried.
"Well I'm not really seeing any other option from here," Artem explained, "we're well ahead of her now, anyway, she won't be a problem."
The young thief sounded confident as always, but there was something in his voice that Edward picked up on. He wasn't completely sure.
"OK," Aphelion said, glancing between Edward and Harry, "starting the disruption timer. Cad?"
Cad didn't reply, but he stood up from the seat at the rear of the ship and swung a small satchel over his shoulder. In fact, he didn't swing it at all, it was a careful action, precise and controlled like all of his movements.
He stepped to the back of the ship and a light went green on the far hull as the cargo hatch cracked open and lowered, revealing the bright neon lights of the city below.
Cad stood on the opening platform as it lowered, straight and ready.
Edward looked at him as Aphelion pressed a screen to her left, turning it green.
"Good luck," Edward told him, unsure of what else to say.
The robot simply nodded.
"All right, security disruption in five, four, three, two..." Aphelion waved her hand, and the robot obliged, falling backwards out of the jumpship in an almost nonchalant backwards roll, and then he was gone.
On one of the screens, a crude moving diagram showed a green blip - Cad - falling along the length of the building at an incredible pace. He dropped and dropped and dropped, and then suddenly levelled out inexplicably, shooting forward and merging with the line that represented the tower.
"He's in," Aphelion said, calmly.
"Spectacular," Harry said, turning his chair back to the front of the ship, "next security ping is incoming, I'm taking us out of the hot zone."
The ship lifted upwards and Edward's stomach was left behind. The comm-link dropped the connection with Theo and Artem with a flashing red light on one of Aphelion's screens.
The ship kept lifting and then turned sharply to the left, the engines breaking their vow of silence momentarily with a quiet whirr.
When the ship settled, Aphelion set to work re-establishing the uplink. Before she did, however, her face became distracted and her brow furrowed.
"What?" Edward asked, "what's wrong?"
Instead of answering, she switched her terminals to play the audio externally, and Edward realised why she was distressed.
"Who are you? Who are you here with?" Came a voice, a deep brutish voice with an accent that Edward couldn't place.
"That is a very complex question, and if you'll be so kind as to allow me a moment to explain..." Zakarias' cheerful tones played from the speakers.
The brute sighed and then there came a noise like a hammer tenderising meat that made Edward wince.
"I'll ask you again," the man said, his voice more firm, "who are you and what are you doing here?"
Again, Zakarias replied with carefully practiced precision to lead the man on, only to receive another vicious beating.
"That's from Zakarias' comm-link," Aphelion said, "they have him in the security cells below the building."
Edward realised that they had been fools to think that they would just allow Zakarias to leave, they must have been tipped off, but the cocky young thief was adamant that he would be able to find his own way out. As another gross thud came from the speakers, Edward doubted his assertions.
"Shit, we can't go down there just for him, they'll see us," Harry said firmly, his voice cold.
"We're not leaving him," Edward said tersely. He'd been abandoned before, he wasn't going to do the same to Zakarias. He knew what it could do to a man, because he'd lived it.
"We had a plan, we can't divert for him," Harry said, "he knows what he's doing."
Another thump and a gasp.
"We're not leaving him," Edward reaffirmed.
Aphelion watched the two men face off and then said quietly, "I'm already inside the second security layer. I could get us access to the basement level."
Harry's lip twitched.
"Well, I need to stay with the ship, and you need to stay on Artem and Theo..." Harry said. Edward knew what he was thinking.
"I'll go," he said.
Harry raised his eyebrow.
"You?" Harry replied, "but you're..."
"Old, Harry, I'm not dead," Edward told him.
Harry growled and exchanged glances with Aphelion, who surrounded herself with the screens around her.
"Aphelion said we have access to the basement levels, she can tell me where to go and where not go," Edward said, "I'll find him, let him out of wherever they're keeping him and we'll be out before they know I was there."
Harry still didn't look sure and Edward knew why - he was already too close to the job, Harry wanted him locked far away where he couldn't screw the whole thing up.
At the very least, he wanted him in the jumpship, and sending him down into the belly of the beast was everything he didn't want.
For a moment, he expected Harry to protest, but when the man realised that Edward would never back down on the matter, he simply turned his chair round and swiped at the flight interface.
"I'll take us down after the next security ping," he growled, "Aphelion, find us an in."
Aphelion mumbled a quiet "OK," and threw Edward a concerned look. He kept his face confident and smiled at her, even though inside he was terrified of what he'd just gotten himself into.
There was another sound like a melon smashing and Zakarias cried out. Edward swallowed the fear and clutched his cane closer to his body.