Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 72: Hoodwink

As Trevers pulled the trigger he frowned as there was difficulty, like the trigger would not pull. With his full attention on the pistol he looked at it and realized the safety was set. But he definitely had it turned to the lethal setting.

Before he got a chance to contemplate it, Salem was pulling the pistol out of his hand and elbowing him in the face. Trevers fell to the ground unconscious as Salem turned her full attention to this platform that Lord Hoodwink was operating.

"Bravo bravo! That was splendid work! You did not even flinch, that was truly magnificent but what will you do now?" Lord Hoodwink asked nonchalantly.

Salem raised her gun and fired several shots into the joints of the platform. Preventing it from movement. She stepped forward and pulled out a knife. She began removing a faceplate from the side of the platform and when it was removed she groaned when she saw the timer. It was counting down and had an hour and thirty-one minutes left. Seems this Lord Hoodwink was simply distracting them.

"Shit." Salem simply cursed as she tried to use her wrist communicator but it was jammed again.

"Ah, you found my little secret." Lord Hoodwink chuckled, "I was hoping to destroy all evidence of my little test. But it seems you realized something was wrong."

"Sergeant Wintry! What is-" Captain Cornwall walked up flinching at the sight of the hologram. "I am guessing you are the one that sent the saboteurs aboard my ship?" Racing up were a few of the security officers as they surrounded the hologram platform and a few put cuffs on Trevers accepting the laser pistol from Salem.

"Answers later, this thing is jamming communications. I need to get a message out so I can figure out how to defuse this bomb. Do any of you know what a jammer looks like?" Salem asked at a loss.

Captain Cornwall quickly walked up while the others backed away at the word 'bomb'. Cornwall looked at the portion that was removed and frowned for a moment. Then he reached in and tore out a small black device. "Jammer removed. It was not hooked up to any of the hologram equipment of the bomb. Try it now."

Salem tried to send out a signal and it worked this time, "Jace, Taylor, are you two there?"

"Yes." "Still stuck fixing the engines."

"I have a bomb here. How do I defuse it?" Salem asked, getting a chuckle from Jace while Taylor groaned.

"We need as many pictures as you can send us. Not all bombs are the same." Jace answered.

Cornwall took out a small metal box and it started generating clicking noises. Then he nodded, "I just sent you pictures of part of it. Hey you lot, stop being scared. Disable the legs and then start removing metal panels." Captain Cornwall yelled at the security officers who were still acting scared.

Kalil stepped forward putting multiple shots into joints of one of the legs that started moving. Then he kneeled down and used his arm to pull off a panel.

"Hmm… this was not in my calculations. You military types of the Vexical Empire truly work to impress. I suppose with your lack of mecha it only makes sense. Interestingly enough it was also the reason I picked this country." Lord Hoodwink stated. "But even with some help you won't be able to-

"Oh this is easy to defuse." Jace's voice interrupted Lord Hoodwink.

"So easy, what happened here, did an idiot make this?" Taylor was likely confirming what Jace already found. But it was satisfying to see Lord Hoodwink's figure almost deflate.

"What no it's not? This is the perfect bomb, there is no way to defuse it." Lord Hoodwink sounded insulted while Salem suddenly received directions on defusing the bomb.

"There you go, I just sent directions to defuse the bomb." Jace told them before he hung up.

Salem leaned forward and switched some wires around then the countdown suddenly went up. "What Jace failed to mention is that you should move that bomb far away before it detonates. We just delayed the detonation. But you should first take plenty of pictures for engineering."

"Understood, thank you for your help." Captain Cornwall nodded to Captain Tory. "Get this far from all populated locations. Kalil, record and photograph everything before it is taken away." Captain Cornwell turned his attention to the hologram of Lord Hoodwink. "Now who the Hella are you?"

"Hmm… someone who underestimated the Vexical military for the last time. Goodbye for now Captain Cornwall." The hologram of Lord Hoodwink disappeared suddenly after giving an ominous claim.

"He called himself Lord Hoodwink. It seems he has some connection to Lieutenant Trevers father. But he likely already killed the man and he was the one that had the 'Screechers' as he called them smuggled aboard and then targeted our ship." Salem stood and saluted then she pulled a device out of her pocket, "I recorded the entire interaction sir."

"Good job Sergeant," Captain Cornwall nodded in appreciation, "now about Admiral Jakobs-"

"Innocent of the sabotage he was unaware of it and was acting on orders from Crystoph Federation Fleet Command who told him our ship was disabled and completely vulnerable to an attack." Salem saluted the captain as she gave her report.

Captain Cornwall sighed for a moment before nodding, "very well. We are done here. Captain Tory, please send the people on the list I gave you to our Osprey. We might as well take them with us while we are here."

Captain Tory frowned but saluted, "yes sir." Then she stormed off, her thoughts filled with anger at her second in command for doing something so stupid. Captain Tory was from a knighted family, which meant she was not necessarily nobility. But her father was knighted and before his death when they lost the title she learned what it meant to be a true noble. So she held her people's lives over her own desires. But having her second in command be a smuggler would put a dent in her already fragile reputation that she built among the nobility.

"Come along Sergeant Wintry, I would like you to give me more details about this Lord Hoodwink that you noticed while interacting with him." Captain Cornwall led Salem away towards the hangar where their Osprey was located.

They talked along the way while Salem loosely browsed the minds around them. Looking for anyone else suspicious. Then once they got to the Osprey Captain Cornwall asked about her system and how far along she was. He could have just looked it up but she appreciated the privacy.

[Name: Salem Wintry

Chronological Age: 17

Biological Age: 21

Compatibility Rating: A

Talent: Telepathy

Strength: 65

Agility: 75

Speed: 75

Health: 70

Intelligence: 75

First Ability: Unit Management: Option 1: Be able to look at and read other people's system records or the equivalent in non-system users. Option 2: The system will give a summary of an individual's history as far as an insight through telepathy can tell.

Second Ability: Machine Reading: Option 1: Able to read the subconscious thoughts of AI. Option 2: Able to read the conscious thoughts of AI.

Third Ability: Telekinesis: Option 1: Able to manipulate objects in range. Option 2: Able to manipulate the body of a target in range.]

"I actually used telekinesis to switch Lieutenant Trevers' gun from the lethal setting to the safety setting which would prevent him from firing." Salem told the Captain as they waited in the Osprey for the other people that would be joining Salem on this classified cruise.

It was bothering her that they would be gathering a large group of soldiers who only just finished their Cadet terms in one place. Usually they would be sent out to fill spots in other ships and build up experience. Or they would go to a known location for training.

Salem knew that they were all going to get some sort of special forces training but as far as she knew the special forces squads would pick and choose their candidates before training them. But this group she was going to be a part of would be trained on mass. She wishes she could delve into Jace's mind but he had only gotten better at keeping her out of his mind when he did not want her in there.

Salem had tried a few times to enter his mind uninvited but each time she just felt an electric shock. Like she was getting a shock from static electricity. She wanted to ask Jace about it but considering how much he warned her not to delve too deep into her mind she figured it might be a side effect of one of his abilities that he did not realize was occurring.

As she waited in the pilot seat she saw ten others board the Osprey. They all appeared to be the same age as her and were going to the same classified destination as she would be going. The soldiers were all just as confused about what was waiting for them.

Captain Cornwall appeared to be the only one that knew something but she could not draw out the thought to figure it out. All she managed to get was that only two people knew the location. Captain Cornwall and his ship's navigational officer.