"You've got a left turn coming up," Naomi's voice guided them through Nathan's comm unit, carrying an almost playful tone that seemed out of place given their circumstances. "There's a lovely little maintenance crawlway that'll take you right past the security checkpoint without anyone noticing."
Nathan and Korven pressed themselves against the corridor wall as a patrol passed, their footsteps echoing in the distance before fading away entirely.
"Naomi," Nathan whispered into his comm, "this isn't a game. People's lives are at stake."
"Well of course it's not a game," came the reply, though her tone didn't change much. "It's just that from my perspective, watching you all scurry through the corridors like particularly clever mice is somewhat... entertaining."
"Come on Naomi, focus," Nathan said sharply.
"Sorry. It's just, humor is how I manage risk. Don't worry, turning serious now." Her voice shifted to something more professional. "The checkpoint ahead has three guards. Standard rotation suggests they'll be changing positions in about four minutes."
The soft chime of Jessikah's door announced Gabriel Santos's arrival with perfect punctuality. She activated the release, watching her father step into the apartment with the confident bearing of someone who owned everything he surveyed.
"Jessikah, darling," he said, his smile warm and paternal as he moved into the living space. "You look tired. Have you been working too hard again?"
"Oh you know, just the usual refugee processing. Nothing I can't handle." She gestured toward the seating area, "Could I maybe get you something to drink? Coffee? That Arcer tea you like?"
But Gabriel wasn't moving toward the chairs. Instead, he wandered slowly through the apartment, his gaze taking in details with the methodical attention of someone who missed very little.
"You know, I always forget how beautiful this space is," he said, running his hand along the back of an expensive chair. "Just the craftsmanship on this furniture alone..." He paused, looking directly at her. "It's a shame you don't invite me over more often."
Jessikah felt the familiar weight of parental guilt settling on her shoulders. "I've just been so busy with work, and I know how demanding your schedule is—"
"Nonsense. A father should make time for his daughter." His eyes continued their slow survey of the room. "And this carpet... deslumbrante, isn't it? Imported from Earth, if I remember correctly. Though it does track footprints rather badly."
The words hit Jessikah like ice water. She followed his gaze to the lush carpeting and felt her heart stop. There, clearly visible in the deep pile, were the impressions of multiple sets of feet, far more than could be explained by her presence alone.
Think, she told herself frantically. Redirect his attention. Now.
"You know, Dad. I've been meaning to ask about the new arrivals. The UNSC personnel. Their situation seems a bit more complex than the usual defectors we process."
"Alright, this is ridiculous," Riley whispered as she and Boomer crouched behind a bank of recycling units. A guard stood about ten meters away, his back to them as he checked readings on some kind of monitoring station.
Boomer studied the situation with professional interest. "Hey, you're military, right? Can't you just, I don't know, knock him out? Some kind of sleeper hold or something?"
Riley stared at him in disbelief. "That's not how this works. We're trying to avoid confrontation, not create unconscious bodies that someone will eventually find."
"But it would be so much simpler," Boomer said with the kind of logic that had probably gotten him into trouble many times before. "Bing, bang, boom, problem solved."
"So when his supervisor comes looking for him in an hour and finds him unconscious, what do you think happens then?"
Boomer considered this. "Good point. So we wait?"
"Yeah, we wait," Riley confirmed, though she couldn't help but appreciate his direct approach to problem-solving, even if it was completely inappropriate for their situation.
"Ah yes, the Meridian crew," Gabriel said, his attention still fixed on the carpet patterns. "Why don't you tell me about them. What'd you think of them?"
Jessikah forced herself to remain calm, though she could feel sweat beginning to form at the base of her neck. "Nothing crazy, standard UNSC defectors, really. Moral disagreements with their command structure, witnessed some operations that didn't align with their principles."
"How interesting." Gabriel moved closer to the area where the footprints were most obvious, and Jessikah felt panic rising in her chest. "And the interview recordings? I'd like to review them myself."
"About that, we had some… technical difficulties during the session. Database corruption, I think. It happens sometimes with sensitive files." The lie came more smoothly than she'd expected, though she could hear the slight tremor in her voice.
Gabriel paused in his examination of the carpet and looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite read. "Technical difficulties?"
"The recording system crashed about halfway through. I lost most of the session data." She met his gaze steadily, drawing on years of political training. "I'll need to reconstruct the records from backup systems, but it might take a few hours."
"Container storage coming up," Naomi reported to Nathan and Korven. "You could hide in one of the shipping crates until the guards pass."
Nathan immediately shook his head. "No. Too enclosed, too many variables. What if they decide to look in the containers? What if someone seals us in?"
"Oh come on! It would be perfectly safe," Naomi protested. "I can monitor the area and warn you if—"
"Listen, I am not hiding in a box." Nathan said firmly. "Korven, thoughts?"
The former UNSC officer studied the checkpoint ahead. "Distraction. Something to draw their attention away from our route."
Nathan nodded approvingly. "Yup, exactly what I was thinking."
Korven smiled slightly. "Once a military dog, always a military dog."
Nathan activated a small maintenance alarm further down the corridor, setting off a minor alert that would require the guards' attention. As they moved to investigate, Nathan and Korven slipped past their abandoned post like shadows.
"Not bad for improvised tactics," Korven murmured.
"Not bad for a couple of dogs either," Nathan replied.
Gabriel was quiet for a long moment, processing Jessikah's explanation. When he spoke again, his voice carried a different quality, something that reminded Jessikah of conversations from years past.
"You know, mija, you remind me so much of your mother sometimes."
The words hit her like a physical blow. Jessikah felt something cold settle in her stomach, but she forced herself to remain composed.
"She had the same kind heart, the same instinct to help people." Gabriel's expression grew distant, almost nostalgic. "Your mother would see someone in need and she'd drop everything to help them, even when it wasn't wise. Even when it might get her in trouble. She used to say that some things mattered more than being safe, more than being smart. She'd help strangers, take in strays, fight for causes that couldn't possibly win. It used to worry me terribly, that tendency of hers to put other people's welfare ahead of her own safety. She never could resist helping someone who needed it, even if it meant putting herself at risk. I always wondered if that generous heart of hers would be her downfall someday."
He let the words hang in the air, their implication clear without being stated directly. Jessikah felt her composure threatening to crack under the weight of his subtle accusation.
"Mom was a wonderful person," Jessikah managed, her voice barely steady.
"She was. And she would be so proud of you, mija. So proud of the woman you've become." Gabriel's smile was warm, paternal, and somehow more threatening than any direct accusation could have been. "You're just like her. Honorable, kind, and always willing to help others... even if it hurts you."
"You're on final approach," Naomi announced as the various teams neared Docking Bay 7. "Good news, no patrols in the immediate area. You're clear to enter the Meridian."
Nathan and Korven reached the docking bay first, followed shortly by Kessler and Vel, then Ilson and Slade. Riley and Boomer arrived last, both looking slightly frazzled from their close encounter with the guard.
"Everyone accounted for," Nathan reported quietly into his comm. "We're secure aboard the Meridian."
"Awesome," Naomi replied. "Now we wait for Jessikah to finish with her father."
Inside the ship, the eight fugitives gathered in the main corridor, finally able to speak freely.
"That was more excitement than I usually like in my sneaking around," Boomer said, shaking his head. "Though I still think knocking out that guard would have been simpler."
"And I still think you're goddamned insane," Riley replied, but her tone was more amused than critical.
Nathan looked around at the group, feeling something like satisfaction at how smoothly their improvised operation had gone. "Could have been worse, I guess."
"Not bad at all," Korven agreed. "Though I'm more worried about Jessikah right now. Her father's not stupid, and if he's suspicious..."
"You know, I've never been very good with technology," Gabriel said with a self-deprecating laugh that seemed to accept Jessikah's story. "These database corruptions and system crashes, Carajo, they're beyond my understanding. I'll leave the technical recovery to you, Mija."
Jessikah felt a wave of relief wash over her. "Of course, Father. I'll have the reconstructed files ready for you by tomorrow morning."
"Wonderful." Gabriel moved toward the door, then paused as if remembering something. "Oh, and Jessikah? Do take care of yourself. These are dangerous times, and it would be such a tragedy if anything happened to you."
The words were spoken with perfect paternal concern, but something in his tone made them sound more like a warning than an expression of care.
"I will… Dad. Thank you for your concern."
Gabriel smiled that warm, political smile and stepped through the door. "Give my regards to your guests when you see them again."
The door sealed behind him with a soft hiss, leaving Jessikah alone in her luxurious apartment with the sudden, terrible certainty that her father knew far more than he'd revealed.
For several minutes, she stood motionless in the center of the room, listening for any sound that might indicate he was still nearby. Only when she was certain he was truly gone did she allow herself to collapse into one of the expensive chairs, her hands shaking as the full implications of the conversation settled over her.
He knew. Maybe not everything, but enough. The comment about her guests, the way he'd examined the footprints, the careful probing about the interview recordings, all of it added up to a father who suspected his daughter was working against him.
Worse, the way he'd invoked her mother's memory... emotional manipulation, a warning. A reminder of what happened to people who helped others at their own expense.
"Naomi?" she called out to the empty apartment, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm here," came the immediate reply through the apartment's speakers. "I've been monitoring. Are you alright? Your stress indicators spiked dramatically during that conversation."
Jessikah felt a wave of relief at the familiar voice. "He knows something. I don't know how much, but he saw the footprints in the carpet, asked about the interview recordings, and..." She swallowed hard. "He made a point of mentioning my mother. About how she helped people even when it could hurt her."
"Now that sounds like a threat disguised as sentiment," Naomi said, her voice carrying genuine concern.
"He told me to give his regards to my guests when I see them again." Jessikah's voice was barely steady. "He knows, Naomi. Maybe not the specifics, but he knows I'm helping people he doesn't want helped."
There was a pause. "I'm analyzing his movement patterns and communication logs. You're right to be concerned. His security detail has already been increased, and he's scheduled an emergency meeting with his senior staff in two hours."
"What do we do?" Jessikah asked, feeling the weight of discovery settling over their plans.
"I guess we accelerate our timeline," Naomi replied grimly. "If Gabriel Santos is moving against us, we need to move first. I'm going to contact the others now."
Gabriel Santos knew something. And despite his gentle words and faux paternal concern, Jessikah had no illusions about what he would do with that knowledge when he decided the time was right to act.
It seemed as though the revolution had been discovered and now it was a race to see who would strike first.