The Serpent’s Iris
Without hesitation, Xion headed to the same door and yanked it open.
He slipped through it with care into a narrow service hallway.
The faint echo of retreating footsteps was a clue, guiding him towards her path.
He turned to the left in pursuit, his stride muffled by the plush carpeting beneath him.
The cushioned carpeting soon disappeared, leading onto parquet wood.
He caught up to her and her stunning bareback and photogenic ass. It swung in front of him, making him suck his teeth as the nonstop desire he had for her coursed through him.
The ballroom bustle faded behind them as Katya quickened her pace. Her heels clicked against the polished floor as she weaved through the labyrinthine passages of the opulent venue.
The soles of his boots were designed with lightweight noise-cancelling EVA outsoles and ultra-performance meta-infused fabrics, which produced zero sound as he strode after her.
She paused at one point and glanced back.
He slid into the shadows, his high-speed metanoids hiding him from view in milliseconds.
She swivelled her head once, twice, then ploughed on.
While walking, Katya turned on her wrist tab and tapped it with haste.
She whispered to someone, but he missed the words. He only caught the tone, urgent, frantic.
Down a set of steps that led to the rear of The Grande.
He realised where she was going, just as Hanias had predicted.
In the direction of the hotel's storage rooms.
Turning a corner, the Iccythrian beauty paused at the top of a flight of stairs.
He leaned away from the light, eyes locked on her.
He didn't have long to wait.
Footsteps sounded from the level below approaching her.
Three men appeared, walking up the steps towards her.
Recognising them as the bristling guards from the day before, Xion sent a ghost-like cloud of noids their way and braced for the worst until he caught Katya's following words.
‘You fokkers, where were you? Or Hanias?' she cried, flinging up her hands in an impatient gesture.
‘Fokk off, Katya. You don't get to ask questions around here.'
‘We need him,' the woman implored.
‘Hanias is not on duty today,' came the rumbled reply. ‘He won't answer our calls. Worse, given the crowds upstairs, his replacement had us making extra rounds tonight. That's why we're delayed.'
Xion's muscles tensed as he listened to the conversation hidden in the shadows.
Who were these kinais, and why did they appear to have the upper hand over Katya?
When Katya's brother, Korin, was incarcerated in a Falasian prison a year ago, he'd made friends with the crooked technician who set up the electronic security at the Grande Hotel in Enia.
Who, bit by bit, supplied him with details of its security framework.
Now, that information was coming to roost.
Her swiped code, Korin's knowledge of the system, and infiltration of the security setup were paying off in spades.
However, Hanias was MIA, Katya sighed. He'd been the stooge meant to guide them through the labyrinth of corridors to their desired location and fend off any unwanted curiosity and interest in their movements.
They'd planned for him to wait outside the ballroom to lead her and her brothers to the secure room.
Unable to delay longer, she'd used the back entrance and guessed where her siblings were.
‘Fat load of good Hanias turned out to be,' Katya complained.
Her youngest brother, K'Zito, shrugged. ‘No clue where he is, but complaining won't get us what we want.'
‘But is the rube where we want it?' Katya demanded, her voice throaty with urgency.
Korin checked his wrist tab. ‘System says it's still safe and sound in the strong room.'
Katya's jaw clenched at her words, unsatisfied with the response. ‘A strong room we're going to have to locate on our own in this crazy labyrinth with little time on our side,' she insisted, her tone brooking no argument. ‘We need to move. I have the code I swiped from Isabella Annan D'Ransi, the Rhesian art dealer. It's valid for another couple of hours. We also have the hotel's security layout from Hanias. Let's hope it's enough for us to go on without him. We've got a tight window before the platform is raised to the auction floor, so let's hurry this along.'
The quartet took off, moving fast, taking furtive looks around them.
Xion flitted behind the foursome, soundless, unseen, like a whisper of air.
He used the shadows and his noids to mask his heat signature.
Melding into the gloom of the winding hallway, he gave chase as the ensemble ahead took a route that doubled back toward the ballroom in a maze built into the level beneath the grand space.
The network of corridors was made of dark stone interior, marred with cracks and scratches. Small inbuilt lamps flickered, casting eerie outlines and illuminating the way forward.
The dead ends and loops were frustrating, evidenced by the quartet's curses each time they encountered one.
Xion stealthed in and out of meta mode to evade being seen by Katya's gang as they navigated the underground labyrinth. Walls shifted and came to sudden dead ends as they charged through the twisting passageways hidden beneath the elegant chaos of the ballroom above.
Finally, they came to a stop before an incongruous doorway.
A pair of burly security guards stood on either side of the door.
The trio of fake sentries approached them.
‘How's it going?' one of Katya's crew asked.
The real guards at the door aimed an irritated look at the threesome, peering at the mysterious woman behind them. ‘Do I know any of you? Haven't seen your faces around here? Now get the fokk away. No unauthorised persons, including sec staff, are meant to be in this vicinity, especially now.'
The eldest of Katya's mates pasted a sloppy grin on his face and kept coming. ‘Or what?' he challenged.
The two real guards flicked glances of confusion at the incoming threesome, hands going to their belts where their firearms sat.
The trio rushed in without warning, pulling lasers from their waists.
Xion's meta-vision made a speedy assessment. The guns were set to stun, not kill.
So he hung back.
Two of the heist crew aimed their guns at the pair of guards.
The high-pitched whine of the lasers reverberated through the corridor.
An extraordinary amount of laser charge exploded, and the air crackled with static as they fired.
The bona fide wardens convulsed as the intense beams hit them, their bodies contorting before collapsing to the ground in a heap.
The first gang member rushed in and bound their arms, taped off their mouths and rolled them out of the way.
Xion observed once more from the shadows, arms crossed over his chest.
He had no intention of rushing in like an outraged superhero because he was biding his time, waiting for Katya and her crew to reveal the big Whig behind this entire farce. It had to be some massive player, and observing how Katya's plan unfolded was a better use of his time to ensure an even more solid result.
He'd have intervened if the real guards had been in grave danger. For now, he held his nerve.
The thugs and Katya exchanged wary glances before the elder of the three men gestured for her to follow.
They approached the alloy door, its surface gleaming under the harsh fluorescent lights of the hallway.
Korin swiped his wrist comm on the keypad and unlocked the heavy door with a loud click. The metal groaned as it swung open, revealing a gloomy, lit room lined with rows of secure deposit boxes.
Xion's meta body shimmered in behind the unwitting trio.
At the centre of the room was a velvet-lined crystal pedestal that mirrored the one now at the hub of the grand ballroom. On it sat a crimson jewel protected by a cross-section of energised just-visible infrared beams.
‘The Serpent's Iris,' Katya whispered. ‘The most coveted red ruby in all of Pegasi that has stirred such frenzy among the elite guests upstairs.'
She approached the gem with reverence, reaching her hands towards it but not quite touching the lasers. The intense scarlet hues pulsed with an otherworldly glow, casting a mesmerising spell over the room.
‘There's a pressure pad under it, so the next few steps must go with precision lest we set off the alarms.'
She retrieved a sleek black device from her clutch. With deft fingers, she punched a series of numbers into it, aiming it at the ruby's dais, her eyes fixed on the gem before her.
With a final keystroke, a soft click resonated through the room. The pressure pad disengaged, and the energised laser field fell away.
With care, Katya lifted the Serpent's Iris from its pedestal.
The jewel glowed brighter in her grasp, its energy pulsating against her skin. She raised it into the air, turning it so its facets radiated with a captivating brilliance even in the murky room.
After admiring its facets for a beat, she slipped the ruby into her right lapel, hiding it within a pocket in the oversized, moulded shoulder pads.
She then retrieved an identical-looking jewel from her left lapel.
Her fellow gangsters stared as Katya replaced the real gem with the decoy.
Using the same ebony device, she reversed the security process.
The pressure pad re-engaged, and the laser field rose once again.
Katya's lips curled as she patted the authentic Serpent's Iris, hidden against the curvature of her dress's stiff folds.
‘This one's for me, boys. I'll keep it safe,' she stated with coldness, her voice laced with warning.
The trio of kinais hesitated for a moment before nodding, exchanging furtive glances that Katya missed.
Xion caught the tension between the quartet and sucked his teeth.
It appeared Katya had more than just the heist of a gem to contend with.
‘Let's go,' she said.
Her words came just in time as a hum sounded, and the lever to the vault floor began to move.
‘Fokk,' one of her three men growled. ‘Just in time.'
The foursome plus one rushed for the doors, darting through while the platform inside lifted and vanished.
‘Lock up, and let's head out like we were never here,' Katya instructed her companions. ‘Also, untie the guards, throw some of this over them and leave the bottle by their side.'
From the folds of her impossible gown, she produced a crystal goblet filled with alcohol, no doubt and handed it to one of her brothers.
With a press of her lips and ice in her countenance, Katya turned on her heel. She headed towards the stairs and freedom, her steps echoing against the cold metal floor.
Xion stepped out of the shadows, his gaze fixed on her retreating figure, his curiosity more than piqued.
Tracking the motley band on their way back through the maze-like passages of The Grande, Xion's mind raced.
Why switch out the Iris? Purely as a heist, or was there more to the game these kinais were playing? What was Katya's endgame in all of this?
At the emergency exit door to the dance hall, Katya nodded to her crew and slipped back inside.
Xion swivelled his eyes to see the three men rush through the darkened staff corridors, disappearing.
He let them go, sure his metanoids would keep track of them wherever they went.
With an inhale, he reentered into the ballroom, back on the chase.
He stepped into auction chaos.
The bidding was in full swing.
He observed Katya slip back into the crowd, her expression unreadable as she mingled with the guests.
Her posture was relaxed, her smile charming, but Xion could sense an undercurrent of tension beneath her facade.
An auctioneer stood on a platform, hammer in the air.
With aplomb, he announced the principal item for the night's bidding.
Below him waiting were the wealthy elite, draped in designer labels and dripping with opulence, eager to possess a piece of history at any cost.
The auctioneer's voice boomed through the opulent ballroom, the chandeliers casting a glittering light over the well-dressed crowd. ‘Folks, I have it on good authority that we've raised six million schills for charity this evening in our silent auctions. And now the premiere, the marquee event. The Serpent's Iris comes under the hammer, and this rare gem begs for a single-owner collection. Get your paddles ready and prepare to make an offer on this exquisite piece that has adorned the necks of royalty and celebrities alike. Let the bidding war begin!'
The audience murmured with anticipation, excitement and greed, swirling like a noxious perfume.
As the auctioneer continued his melodramatic preamble, Xion scanned the room, noting the faces bathed in the artificial glow of the auction house lights.
He widened his meta irises in search until he found her again, on the edge of the action, looking in with a sad smile on her face.
Even after she'd swiped the real gem, with her counterfeit one now up for auction, she was not crowing nor celebrating her heist.
Her lip trembled as she took one last look at the heaving event space, the fake gemstone on the hovering dais above the spectators, and left.
As the auctioneer's voice boomed over the crowd, extolling the virtues of the next coveted item up for bid, Xion exited the crowded ballroom and loped towards Katya.
She was headed to the hotel bar, swaying in her heels as if she'd no care in the world.
Yet on her right shoulder was a ruby worth millions of schills.
Just then, a ping came through his neural node, and he slowed his roll along the lobby, his eyes fixed on Katya.
Mirage, what gives? he asked with no preamble.
I found out the location where Katya's nanite-infused gems that infiltrated our system were sending the data. It's a site in the Iccythrian Archipelago.
Xion huffed. Not surprising as this op is Ccyth-led given the number of jewels freakin' sprinkled across every juncture, Xion replied. Is Kainan apprised?
‘Nada, I thought I'd lead with you first.
Sante. Please update him and Zane on the situation. As for the position marker, please keep it on and send a hack back through it to try to ID the kinais behind it and their exact position. It'll be interesting to knock and see who's on the other side.
You got it, khan, Mirage said.
Xion rang off, then made a second holo link, this time to a discreet number in Rhesia.
One very few individuals had in their contacts.
His call was picked up in seconds, given his priority status, and he was patched for the person he asked for with swift efficiency.
He spoke fast and was granted the green light he needed.
‘You've carte blanche Rider,' the voice on the other line said.
‘Sante, you won't regret this.'
‘I certainly hope not.'
He turned his meta eyes back to the bar where an alluring woman sat, sucked his teeth and strode towards her.