Ghost Squad | Covert Oops

[Cdr Wyatt Cayne 0]

Ghost Squad: Covert Oops

Cayne, Shadow, Ghost Squad

 

Cdr Wyatt Cayne -> What brings you here NRG... oh that's good... Not my wit I presume

Shadow -> Unknown. Think rift.

Cdr Wyatt Cayne -> The explosion?

Shadow -> Children find. Children not afraid. Children young biologicals. Teach Shadow. Give name.

~Chat Log, 16 September 2016

 

 

In the less visited areas of the station, Commander Cayne, looking a bit older than usual, hobbled along as he nursed his ankle. He shifted from walking fine and wanting a railing to hold onto. They moved on silently as he got his bearings and took in the energy being's last words.

 

"Children..." the word lingered, not so much as a question, but a realization. "That 'gang' I met back there? You've been talking to them? Maybe that's why scanning of that area has been hit or miss. Hope they have not taught you things like petty theft." Cayne turned to the being.

 

Shadow gave him a curious look, and took a while to respond. He seemed to be thinking, though because of his semi-transparent form, it was difficult to tell. “Petty,” he said. “Small. Inconsequential. Theft. Take something without permission. Steal. How biologicals teach this Shadow?”

 

"I've met a lot of kids on a lot of worlds and many of them are little thieves. A large portion of them were out of necessity." He frowned as he shuffled. "I tried to help a few, but I'm only one man. Sounds like they did not pass on that wisdom to yourself. Guess you are their guardian angel." Cayne could press for more information, but this was no ordinary interrogation.

 

“You secondary The Cayne. Primary young biological The Jake. This one Shadow. The Jake not steal. Shadow not steal.” He extended his hand through the wall, then retracted it. “Shadow not hold. Not grasp. Not take.” Again, he gave Cayne a curious look. “The Cayne steal?”

 

Cayne laughed loudly. "Fair enough. When I was young, younger than Jake, I stole for a time, but it was a short-lived part of my life." He sighed. "Well, that's not quite all. In my job I've had to steal, but it was from bad people doing very bad things." Cayne found a railing as they rounded a corner and took it. "I guess possession of items would not matter to a being such as yourself."

 

Shadow seemed to consider that while watching Cayne lean. “The Cayne broken. The Jake fix.”

 

“Hey, Commander,” a young voice called from around the corner. “I hear ya talkin’. We got you somethin’ so you don’t have to walk.” A few seconds later, Jake rounded the corner followed by an entourage of equally ragged kids. They hauled several things, among them a pair of crutches, an old fashioned wheelchair with wheels that squeaked squeegee, squeegee, squeegee, like it needed oil, and a stretcher that must have been used during earth’s First World War. “So, Shadow’s takin’ care of you, Commander?”

 

The old soldier looked back. Two of them turned Cayne around. "What are those?" Before he could get an answer the wheelchair clipped him in the back and sent his butt into it. "Oof! Hey...," he went as he rolled his eyes. "How old do you all think I am?" They wheeled him along and his politeness saw no way out of it.

 

“Uh… sorry, Commander. Billy’s never had to do this before. In fact, you’re our first casualty.” The boy made it sound like it was a major accomplishment for their gang, like a step up on the covert ladder.

 

“Yeah,” said Billy, hanging his head as he continued to navigate the small corridor. “Sorry, Sir.”

 

"It's fine son. I'm sure the doctors would insist on even more precautions.

 

Jake took the lead, the rest following behind, whispers about a Starfleet Commander shooting back and forth. “What is he doing way down here?” “Are we in trouble?” “What’s that funny pin on his collar?” “What pin?” “The one with the bird wings around that tower thing and a 5 above it.” There was a moment of silence, followed by a stifled gasp. “Gol...that’s what the captain wears. You know, the creepy one that wears a black uniform and never smiles.” “Oh, no. That means he’s….” “Yeah. Same as her.” “Gees…. Yeah, we’re in big trouble.”

 

After several turns and twists, the corridor narrowed. The walls vibrated with the rhythmic pounding of machinery, and there was just enough space for the wheelchair to squeeze through. At the next turn, Jake stopped, looked back along the corridor, then knocked “shave and a haircut”, which was answered by “two bits” a few seconds later.

 

Part of the corridor wall opened and they wheeled him into a fairly large room that looked like an empty storage area. To the left, a piece of castoff packing paper stuck awkwardly to the wall. The wall next to that looked like it was covered with graffiti, but close examination showed it was a rough plan of the of the station. Several areas were colored green, some were yellow, and some were red. An assortment of youngsters ranging from about 9 to 14 stared at Cayne like he was some kind of weird new species, their eyes darting uneasily from him to each other before they settled down. Their faces were dirty, their hair unkempt, and their clothes beyond the well-used stage. Some had shoes, but most were barefoot.

 

“Hey, guys. This is Commander Cayne,” said Jake. “Commander, meet the Ghost Squad: Bean, Mouse, Gopher, Jimbo, Juice, and Angle. The one behind you, pushing the wheelchair is Billy, my XO.” At that point, Shadow came through the far wall to hover just above the floor. “Oh, and Shadow. He’s kind of our helper.”

 

"This is like a band of multiple Korjata daughters. Motley crew, no offense." The commander started to get up, but some strange sharp pain in his lower back sat him back down. At least no one called him Candy Cayne, like kids did when he was their age. "Do any of you know an Annisha or her friend?"

 

The group exchanged glances, then shook their heads. “Guess not, Commander,” Jake answered. “She must be an Above kid, and we never go there.” He shrugged. “‘Cept for Juice. He’s our Intel guy.” He pointed to a skinny boy who stood off to the side, a pair of semi-broken glasses hanging off his nose. The boy shrank into a corner, embarrassed.

 

"Seems you have your squad all mapped out." He laughed. "I think Annisha is more a sneaky villain type. I should introduce you...wait, perhaps I should not." He looked over the kids, wondering something. "One big question, where are all your parents?"

 

Jake stared a minute, then shifted uneasily. “They… uh.” He tried to look calm and casual. “They live around. You know, wherever they can find a safe place… away from traffickers and dealers. They make do.”

 

"Right, so I should be able to find them in our database, you know, to let them know you are alright and being watched by energy beings." He started to mock-scribble into his hand.

 

Jake’s mouth dropped open. “Huh?”

 

"I mean, it seems unlikely I'd really find your parents. I've seen this before, just not on a station as new as this." He sighed. "You kids could be in all kinds of danger and not even know it. Shadow there may be unaware." He contemplated their needs.

 

“Danger?” said one, stepping forward, his chin thrust out, posturing. “Us?” piped up another, coming to stand alongside. “We’re the ones who protect ‘em all,” said Billy, moving to stand next to Jake. “Us and Shadow. You can’t do that. We live here. This is our turf.”

 

“Hey, Billy. Chill.” Jake stepped between the offended triad and Cayne. Shadow materialized next to him. “He’s not gonna take us away. Right, Commander? Even you said you’d probably never find our parents. And they need us.”

 

Shadow hovered. “The Jake angry. The Billy angry. The Jimbo angry. Negative energy. Must not.”

 

Jake eyed Shadow, then turned back to Cayne. “Commander, we take care of our own. We’re stayin’ right here.”

 

"I'm not going to put anyone away. That solves nothing. Think of your schooling. There are people willing to help you here on Aegis." He looked them all over again. "This is no way to live in this universe."

 

“Heck, Commander, we’ll never fit in up there. If you wanna do something to help, then get us food and clothes. And we got schooling. Probably better than they have Above.” Jake sighed, agitated. “My mom and dad, they’re….”

 

“Jake! Shut up!” Billy stepped forward to cut him off, his eyes wide in alarm.

 

Cayne thought about it for a moment. "They are what? And I can arrange for certain items to be delivered, but what is there in it for me?" He found his gloves tucked away in a shirt pocket and put them on, still talking. "What kind of services can you all offer for my silence? I should report you all, frankly, but willing to cut you all a break." He did this all of the time on missions far and wide. Perhaps it worked just as well on the relative security of a Federation station.

 

Jake and Billy exchanged glances. One in the group breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, for starters, we know the station better than anyone,” he said. “We can help you find things and catch the bad guys. You see that chart up there? It’s a map of Below. Down here. We know where everyone is and what they do. We can get you information about….” Jake stopped and glanced again at Billy. “...about stuff.”

 

"Not exactly standard procedure, but at this point," the commander put out his now gloved hand. "I think this is an arrangement we can build upon." He shook Jake's hand and displayed that same smile he used a thousand times before to solidify a deal. "I'll see what I can get by without arousing suspicion from the supply officers. Now don't go selling any of this stuff, cause we can track that." Cayne flexed his hands then pulled off his gloves again, turning them inside out and placing them back in his pocket. With a zip close he added. "Expect something by the end of the week. You'll know it when you see it."