//------------------------------// // Three // Story: The Good, The Bad and the Princess // by BorealStargazer //------------------------------// “Gimme a layout!” Lash snapped, waving off the offered coffee. “And would somepony kindly cut the buck off those blasted wailers?” Luna curiously observed the control panels. They were at the mine's sanctum sanctorum, the administrative section. Maneframe racks towered everywhere around them, their displays and sensor screens dimly glowing. The air was filled with quiet humming of cooling systems and fans in the air ducts, a sound barely audible yet omnipresent. “Better go grab a pillow, Princess,” the captain turned his attention to her. “We will deal with this regrettable incident.” “You must be kidding,” Luna chuckled. “The day just got interesting.” “Curses. Fine, stay if you want but stay aside. The job's mine to do. I've asked for the layout dammit!” “Maneframe has just finished rebooting the kernel modules,” a technician responded apologetically, nervously tapping his hoof on the end of the console. “Will get it now.” “Analysis here,” another one added, a blue-coated mare with a bright mane wearing engineer's clothes. “Let's take a look... No viruses detected. No sign of tampering with the encrypted data either. Kernel is fine. All systems running smoothly.” The table flared with an image that quickly rose to gain volume. They've never been to most of the branches but still, looking at the tiny surface structures Luna recognized the place. No need for reading labels. They were looking at the spatial plan of the Yurga-2 mine. “Gonna tell me there's no misplaced tech, too?” chief of security maliciously inquired. “Check out the prisoners' tags.” “Already did,” the blue pony echoed. “Indications confirm your manual headcount. All safely inside the isolation.” Her hooves deftly moved through the controls, displays flashing with labels and menus, then going dark again. The plan blinked and got covered in ruby dots, all of them to the side of the main shaft. At the place where the princess guessed a cellblock and service quarters to be. “What of the private miners?” the captain quickly demanded. “The same,” a flash again, and the plan was now specked with yellow dots instead of red. Those were not limited to one place though. Instead they were scattered here and there away from the cellblock. Hired workers have more freedom of movement, the princess deduced, remembering all the facility descriptions she was absent-mindedly listening to earlier. A couple of cafes, a diner, a VG arcade room... did she miss anything? “Security?” chief interrupted her line of thoughts, reluctance in his voice. Reluctance, she quickly realized, in no small measure caused by some unauthorized ponies being in the admin section. Meaning Serenity and herself. She noticed Lash to let out a sigh of relief after the blue pony shook her head (the plan flashing with green dots accordingly). “Then who...” “That leaves us.” “You?” Lash frowned. “Maintenance,” the pony explained. “Serviceponies, engineers, operators, cooks...” “Do it. Also, why still no report on where that CRV is?” “Cuz nopony knows where it is,” the pony replied giving her mane a shake. “One thing's for sure. Either its comms are offline... or it is outside.” “Outside?” the chief snorted. “In this sandstorm? Nonsense.” “That's strange,“ the engineer pony's eyes narrowed. “Cuz right here it says there is a standing authorization for one CRV to leave the base. Outer data cable repairs. Signed this morning.” “Who signed the sanction?” the captain drew forward. “You did.” “Bunk,” Lash shook his head and hurried to join her. “Show me.” Minutes stretched as the chief of security seemingly had read the digital doc over and over again. The doc the system stated was personally signed by him this morning. At long last engineer mare's display flashed with another message, and AI announced the scan was complete. “Who?” he blurted. “One pony missing,” stated the AI in a slightly crackling voice. “Occupation, tech maintenance. Name, Celekh, undefined. Profile...” “Stuff your profile,” the captain broke her off. “What does ‘missing’ mean?” “One pony missing. Personal tracker deactivated or out of scanning range.” “Celekh,” the captain murmured. “Buckity. I should have guessed.” He turned to the blue-coated pony. ”Rosie, we'll be making the rounds. Detect the protection breach,” his next words were addressed to everyone. “Question the whole tech maintenance crew. Make a full section sweep. I want Celekh found! Report any news to my intercom asap.” As soon as the chief turned away the technician mare wrinkled in disgust. He wasn't paying her any attention, though. It was all on Luna. Lash hesitated, then grimly made his mind. “Princess? You offered to help me.” A few minutes later they were standing at the locked door in the passage. The only difference this door had from its neighbors was a “C” letter printed on a plate. Name, Celekh, undefined, echoed Luna. “Don't tell me you have no unicorns in the mine, captain,” she cast the chief of security a sidelong glance, watching his reaction. “Why me?” Captain Lash stood straight but avoided looking at her. His eyes were drilling the door instead. “There's a huge difference between a common unicorn servicepony and a princess. Your experience and Your magic could enable us to notice something the others would surely miss.” He sweeped the card on the reader, and the door rolled grinding into the wall. “Please stay here for now, Princess. We don't know why wasn't Celekh found. If there are any surprises inside it'd better be us dealing with them.” He made a sharp hoof movement, and two fully armored and armed guards slipped inside. Not risking to turn on the lights just yet, they waved their headtorches around, scanning the walls and watching the indications on their detectors. One of them checked behind the narrow door across the room that separated it from what looked like a small storage room. Luna followed their actions with some interest. Something was telling her, however, that they will find nothing. “All clear, chief,” one of them said. “You may enter.” “The lights,“ quickly said Lash, the ceiling flashing up with built-in lamps. After waiting for a while he stepped inside. “Careful. We don't know what we may expect here.” “His room?” wondered Luna just in case, examining the closet she stood in. The small room barely had place for the four of them, notwithstanding the fact that the folding bed was raised and fixed to the wall. “Her room,” the captain corrected. “Celekh is a mare. One of the civilian workers from the tech maintenance crew.” “Do they handle the mechs?” “Among other things. Yurga's excavations belong to the initial mine workings...” “I remember the tour,” Luna nodded. “‘Initial’ is an euphemism for ‘ancient’. Meaning mechanics always have work to do.” “The Princess has a sharp mind,” Lash bowed. “Does that also mean mechanics sleep in the hangar bay?” “Surely not,” the captain hurriedly rejoined. “We have regulations to adhere to.” “She hasn't tidy the place up for quite a time, then,” the princess observed, drawing a trail in the dust with her armored boot. “Civilian techs do not conform to military policies,” Lash said, gloomy and apparently embarrassed. “Obviously we do interfere in case of emergencies. But generally members of the service staff make their own decisions about how to keep their quarters up.” Luna inspected the room once more. Bare walls. Bare floor. No lamp decorations either. A lonely bedside table, no lock. And dust, dust everywhere. Is it really somepony's home? Looking more closely now, she noticed the dust was somewhat thinner in center of the room and near the door. The table corner closest to the bed was also slightly more tidy. Yes. Somepony lived in here. But it was a strange way of living. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She saw the place, what she needed now was to feel it as well. Things bore the imprint of their owner but it was rather weak. Weak and... unusual. Darkness and... clouds of smoke? Still, something else. Something very familiar... She shuddered weakly and abruptly inhaled, flinging her eyes open. “What can you tell me about Celekh?” she asked, not caring to turn. “Not much,” Lash reluctantly replied. “Reserved. Canny. Didn't have any real friends. A wiz with machinery... obviously, otherwise she would never be able to do something like that. Why the question?” “I have no idea why would she want to disappear all of a sudden,“ the princess candidly divulged. Captain snorted. “I have a dozen o' reasons on my mind, fit for any taste. I expected the search to point us to the true one. She could prepare an escape for a convict. She could be spying for the marauders. She could even...” A buzzer of his intercom interrupted him mid-sentence. The princess moved her lips, and the glowing of her horn had a slight change. “Yes?” the chief said with displeasure, pressing the comm device fixed on his foreleg, just above the hoof, to his ear. “The airlock guard station just reported in, captain,” the voice was that of a blue-coated pony from the administrative section. “I thought you've found her,” captain replied, his irritation audible. “Think we never will, sir. The station confirms one CRV has left the facility. The time seems roughly fitting...” “Impossible...” Lash muttered. ”Who was driving the vehicle?” “The guards are unsure of that, sir. They had no visuals.” “Are you taking me for a fool, Rose? What are they, blind?” “In a sense, sir,” the sarcasm in pony's voice was barely noticeable. Luna stifled a smile. “Sokolka had her windshield polarized. They could only recognize there was one pony figure inside. She introduced herself as Celekh. They say the voice has been similar to hers.” “Get them to my office,“ Lash growled. “I will personally conduct the interrogation.” When he addressed Luna there was regret in his voice. “Princess, I have to leave. We will sort this out soon, I assure you. Autumn Leaf will accompany you to the quarters.” “Thank you, captain,“ Luna turned to him and gave him her most charming smile. “Very amiable of you.” She was tempted to use his hospitality. Get away from this place, away from the shadows that made her blood freeze. Instead she inspected the room once more, opened the bedside table with her muzzle and peeked inside. “Your Highness?” the pony asked, a chestnut-coated stallion in security uniform. Looked like the young guard felt uneasy in her presence. Serenity standing close behind him didn't make him feel any better. “Princess? Shouldn't we be going?” “I am positive the captain won't mind if I decide to look through the place once more. I doubt your colleagues have missed anything, but still...” Bedside table gave her no surprises. No books, no photos, not even a coffee mug. “And what can you tell me about Celekh, Autumn Leaf?” “I'm afraid nothing more than the captain, Your Highness. She commanded the crew responsible for vehicle and mining machinery maintenance.” “She was in charge?” Luna closed the table and looked at him, confused. The guard awkwardly picked at the floor with his hoof under her gaze. “It may seem odd. Captain didn't feel like putting her in charge but she was good. No friends, that one's true, but she was well respected by the service folk. In would be real funny to have somepony else manage them.” Alicorn took a quick glance at the narrow built-in closet. Inside were some old working overalls stinking of artificial disinfectants and rags on the floor, worn beyond recognition. That left the tiny storage behind the door she saw earlier. It seems tech manager and captain were not exactly on the best terms, the princess thought. Asking this out loud was probably not the wisest of choices. “Did you like her?” “Did I?” Autumn Leaf seemed to be both confused and embarrassed. “We didn't socialize that much. Security is even in a separate wing, away from maintenance. Fixed my intercom real good once. She can give ponies the creeps all right but she never did me no bad, eh?” A tiny room she dubbed storage at first turned out to be a toilet. And a bathroom as well, though one could get a shower here only when rearing on the hind legs. It had some more signs of the pony inhabiting the place. A slick soap stub, a toothbrush covered in stains and streaks of paste. A mirror with a cobweb of sharp cracks covering it. The smashed mirror was only barely holding in its frame. “Was there ever any reason to?”