Deakins crouched behind some empty crates in the sprawling corridor. He checked the power pack on his under-powered pocket blaster; satisfied that it was at full power, he slowly rose to his feet and walked silently toward his target: the control room.

There were no guards around – Deakins was thankful for this, because he wasn’t exactly ready for a fire-fight. He could hold his own, but he really could have used his partner. Unfortunately, Walker was laid up after they ran into some not-so-understanding authorities on their last job.

Deakins hurried into the doorway of the control room, and removed a small data pad from his leather jacket pocket. He quickly inserted a download cable into the main computer, and navigated his way through the file system. He didn’t usually take jobs involving computer work, but he needed the money this time.

As soon as he found the personnel files, he initiated the download. As he did so, he heard footsteps outside in the corridor. “Shit,” he said as primed his blaster.