Kala stood there with her arms crossed behind her back as she watched and listened to the comm traffic being passed up to them about the operation going on.   Most of it didn’t much interest her honestly.  Though the vid they received did show Ashana in her gown.  Jealousy was something the girl was used to, and she definitely felt jealous that that woman could look so beautiful in a dress like that.  She knew that she herself would never look at good in a dress like that.<br/><br/>Of course she also felt embarrassed after a moment when she realized how much she was watching Ashana through the vids as much as she was, and she was glad the vid changed so she had something else to focus on.  And all the trouble that started was definitely good, especially the warning that someone had broken into some database.  It wasn’t the two dipshits that were so easily caught.  This time it was someone who knew what they were doing.  By the sounds of everything, this was the first time he had been detected.<br/><br/><span style="color: Sienna">“That should not have been possible with the security I saw there…”</span>she mumbled to herself watching the events unfurl with what video they received.  When the security seemed to be completely over-ridden that statement over-rode anything on her mind as it began working furiously to figure out how that had happened.<span style="color: Sienna">“… not possible that fast…”</span><br/><br/>……………………………………….<br/><br/>Darion waited patiently, something a marine could do easily, in the ambush position to wait for the target in the unloading bay on that floor.  Watching a closed elevator door, waiting for it to open.<br/><br/>He didn’t know anything was wrong until suddenly the comms started to become busy again.  The hub stating that the target had opened an access door in the maintenance shaft.<span style="color: SeaGreen">“What the fuck?!”</span>he cursed loudly at all the chatter and updates, before moving from cover towards the elevator.  He had no reason to doubt the reports from the other security guys who had been pushing the target down toward him.  He wasn’t going to wait for the order; he had to get up there to the 89th floor.  He pressed the needed button and climbed into the elevator.<br/><br/><span style="color: SeaGreen">“You have got to be kidding me.  Damnit.  Guys get your buts over here.  We are going up.”</span>Darion said to the guys he had been with in the failed ambush, waving them in with his open hand, keeping the rifle he had been carrying in the door to keep it open for them all.  As they were climbing in the order came for them all to go up to try coming behind the target.  He pressed the pad, dialing in 89 to the pad at the word of the correct floor.<span style="color: SeaGreen">“Already on it sir. On our way up.”</span><br/><br/>At least there wasn’t the completely lame elevator music in a maintenance elevator.  He hated listening to those every time he had to ride in an elevator.   They were annoying as hell.  But the bad thing was that all he did have to listen to was the radio chatter from all the security teams, and the hub itself.  Not exactly good news there either by the way it sounded that like they were completely outsmarted.  Though from Darions perspective, it wouldn’t be hard, he was just a Marine afterall.<br/><br/>He was watching the floor indicator, it showed 75 before it started to slow and then stop.  Almost immediately the door slid open, the door only half clear, and the damn female VI voice spoke up.<span style="color: MediumTurquoise">“Please remain calm. The elevators have been disabled due to a security emergency. Please exit and wait for designated security personnel. Thank you for your patience.”</span>And as soon as it did, Darion growled out a curse.  He was starting to really hate whoever this assassin/thief was.<span style="color: SeaGreen">“Hub?  What the hell is going on?”</span>he asked after he was done cursing.<br/><br/>An answer wasn’t really necessary as he wasn’t the only one cursing.<span style="color: SeaGreen">“Alright, you boys heard the order.  We got to get up there… where is the nearest maintenance access ladder… they still build things like those in don’t they?”</span>Darion asked as he pushed himself through the gap on the 75th floor and into the hallway there.  He was hating his idea of getting up to where the target is already before even finding a ladder.  14 floors climbing strait up.  It would be just as bad if it were stairs.  The problem would be finding access.  If they weren’t all locked down like every door he was seeing.  All the red lights.<br/><br/><span style="color: SeaGreen">“Malcom.  This is Darion.  I am on level 75.  Are the maintenance access ladders locked down?”</span>he was hoping those at least wouldn’t lock down with a simple security alarm like that voice had said.<span style="color: SeaGreen">“If they are, I am stuck here.”</span>He cursed, trying to remember where he had seen them in relation to the rest of the tower.<br/><br/>………………………………………………………<br/><br/>Kala looked up from the video feed when the whole thing became kind of useless.  It was hard to miss both the Captain and Falkris staring at her.  The gaze made her squirm a bit nervously while her arms behind her back gripped each other a little tighter.  It was a relief when their attention moved over to Sorv instead.  She hated having them both glaring at her.  It always felt like their eyes were burning holes through her faster than any weapon could.<br/><br/>Though at the mention of the hacking, and her previous failed attempt, she just blushed a little.<span style="color: Sienna">“I never said me trying to hack your ship was my smartest idea…”</span>she mumbled a bit to herself before raising her voice to answer the actual question.<span style="color: Sienna">“Yeah.  we may have failed at getting into the ship.  But from what I saw of their security system that I was messing with last night before bed, it should be possible.  I only did some probes to see what system it had though.”</span><br/><br/>She moved over to the indicated active console.  In an instant her omnitool on her left arm lite up bright orange, and she began syncing it with the system so she could use some of the programs she had on her own toolset on the omnitool.  She looked over at Sorv as they began looking at the possible ways how to get into the system.<span style="color: Sienna">“Hey Sorv, what is your best guess as to how this guy is doing all this?  I have never heard of anyone this good at hacking.  It shouldn’t have been possible for him to take control of the system as fast as he did.”</span>She turned back to her work, her fingers moving across the holographic keys, following the tunnel built by the ship, and then following the openings that her sniffer programs probed and found.<span style="color: Sienna">“I think he might have had help, or someone who wrote him some tools just for this job.  Just for the security of this building.”</span><br/><br/>As she worked at the defenses of the security of the tower she was trying to think of ways to stop this guy.  She had one or two in mind.<span style="color: Sienna">“Can someone go down to the crew quarters and dig into my toolbox there.  There will be a small black case with a few datachips in it…”</span>she paused and blushed a little with what she was about to ask.<span style="color: Sienna">“… I need  the one with the yellow smiley-face label… and the one with the bright pink hearts on it… if anyone comments on that, I will bash them with something heavy.”</span>Yay for functional gag gifts from friends on the last ship she was on.  But what she wanted those for was a couple of the viruses she had written on there.  If she could get some data on the thief’s omnitool, she could use one or more of them to shut him down.<br/><br/><span style="color: Sienna">“Anyway, Sorv, I found a way into the system, the building power control network has a path to the main network that isn’t completely locked down.  I have opened a small door.  See if you can get your friends a path to the target.  I’ll work on getting their security control again.”</span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>