Kline climbed out of the subterranean chamber and disengaged his grappling hook. The Green Team knelt around the open hatch in combat-ready positions. One noted that the room was secure as Kline got his bearings. Their entry point was a narrow, rectangular room. Two floor-to-ceiling glass windows served as opposing walls. One of glass windows revealed a stark gray chamber—a virtual reality compartment. Union engineers used it to build three-dimensional renderings of the Exodus ship. Once uploaded, concept sketches became virtual pieces that could be tested for size and fit in three-dimensional virtual space prior to installing them in actual production.
The Green Team’s leader checked her datapad and scowled. “Either our intel is off or we built the tunnel in the wrong place. We’re seventy-three feet west of where we’re supposed to be.”
Kline moved to the opposite window and looked out at the Exodus Project’s main assembly room. Vast and sprawling, the assembly room was an engineering feat unto itself. Its length stretched for more than a quarter mile while its height neared half that. But resting within its walls was the true marvel—the massive, octagonal ship whose fuselage filled most of the available space. The Union’s breathtaking attempt to solve overpopulation’s problematic equation. A traveling city whose mission was exploration and colonization. The Exodus.
Kline tore his eyes away. He didn’t have time to admire what would soon cease to exist. He stepped over one of the three engineers who had been subdued by the Green Team’s grenades and approached their leader, who held up her datapad for him to see.
“The central information hub is four rooms down,” she pointed. “Intel’s mistake gives you a head start, but it puts my team behind. We need to move.”
“Tread lightly. As soon as they figure out we’re inside the walls it’ll be chaos.”
She nodded and motioned to her troops. They instantly dropped back into strategic positions. Kline jogged to the opposite door and checked his own datapad to ensure it had synced appropriately. When he had determined that it had, he was about to continue on into the next room, but something made him hesitate. The concentrated frown on his lips deepened. Suddenly, without him touching its control panel, the door slid open.
“Hey, what was that nois–”
A fourth engineer. Fear flashed across his pupils as they locked onto Kline. Before the engineer could clamp his mouth shut, Kline’s silenced pistol went off. Kline stepped over the engineer’s body and slipped through the doorway and into the middle of a long corridor. One direction led to an upper floor. The other led to the adjacent engineering center. Both were clearly marked. Kline verified that there was only one way for him to reach his objective. He grimaced and headed for the stairs. His path to the power core would lead him right through the Exodus Project’s security center.
