Designation: Nero

Serua,
Capital of Erishum's Territories

They were nearing their destination. Hidden behind the walls of one of Serua's prisons was the target. Designation: Nero. There was an abandoned landing pad a few miles west of the prison, nobody would suspect a thing. "Bring us down there Tiye," Merin ordered. She was dressed in sleek black clothing, perfect for going undercover. Tiye was her alien companion, he brought back one of his tentacles holding the thrust control lever as the ship began it's descent. "A clean quiet landing. That's why I can rely on you Tiye."
Tiye didn't have a mouth, rather he communicated through a distinct type of extra terrestrial purring. He made a cheery sound, different from his usual misery. The shuttle opened up, a ramp loudly dropped to the ground and Merin made her way down. Serua had a tendency of being wet, the rain that started tonight would last a week. Merin sometimes jokingly speculated that the bad weather was the reason Erishum wanted to conquer the galaxy. As she started to walk towards the prison she brought her communications dial to her mouth. Tuning the frequency to her contact Lagoras, a Cretan crime lord, his voice was rough and scratchy. Something that wasn't helped by the patchy signal of the communicator. "I've arrived."

"Good," Lagoras replied. "My man on the inside has deactivated a series of security systems that will lead you right to the guy. There is some service tunnels that you can use to get to him, the job should be easy, if you don't upset anyone." The rain was making the signal worse, Lagoras was communicating with her from the planet's orbit.

"What should I do if I do upset someone?"

"Then you run. If that happens I'll have to hire someone more capable to get Nero out." Lagoras sounded irritated. She closed the communications channel and continued forwards, the wet ground splashing under every footstep. Soon the first hatch lay before her, with the security systems disabled she could pull an emergency switch and open the hatch easily. Inside it was dark with cobwebs strung across the service tunnels. It was ultimately too dark. Merin pulled out a flare from her utility belt and ignited it, a vast red glow appeared around her. She could see again.

The communications dial buzzed, Lagoras again. "What is it?" Merin whispered to the device.

"Are you in the tunnels?" the reception was worse here. She could barely make out what the Cretan was saying. "I asked you are you in the tunnels?"

"Yes, listen I'll contact you when I have met up with the target. There's no use using the communications dial down here. Over and out," quickly she pocketed the communications device. There it was, the end of the service tunnels another hatch taking her right into the prison. All of this felt almost too easy. She opened the hatch and crawled out into a long corridor, there was numerous cells. Mainly containing prisoners of war and enemies of the state. Cell XI was where Nero was meant to have been kept, the only one with a guard stationed outside. They obviously didn't want this target getting out. Merin had to act, quickly she went back to her utility belt, picking up a decoy. The decoy was a small silver ball that let out an electronic whine when activated. She flicked the switch and tossed it down the hall, the whine was loud but not loud enough to alert the whole prison.

"Will you shut up!" the guard roared as he followed the sound of the decoy down the hall, just out of the way long enough for Merin to make her next move. She quietly approached the cell and began to pick the electronic lock system.

Rearranging a sequence of symbols on a small screen into the correct order to unlock the door. Blip blip - a success, she was in. The door slid open, inside a man in an orange jumpsuit stood cuffed facing the wall. "Designation: Nero. I'm here to get you out of here. I'm Merin." The man turned around he had been beaten, he had white hair and was older than she expected. "You are Nero?"

"What are you doing here?" Nero asked. "If they find us you'll never get out of here!"

"Lagoras sent me."

"Lagoras?"

"You don't know him?" Merin asked, the man shook his head to say no. "Well, either way I'm getting you out of here. Come on." Merin grabbed the man by his restrained wrists and started the escape. First into the service tunnels, then through the rain, all towards the ship. "You'll be safe here Nero, I'm sure Lagoras will have some way of getting these cuffs off you."

"I still don't know who this Lagoras is," Nero insisted.

"Look we both must have connections to the underworld, I'm not some agent. You don't have to play dumb with me," Merin explained.

"I swear to you lady, I don't know anything," the man continued to insist he had no clue. Merin wanted answers, a lot of answers.

To Be Continued...