“Flip the second switch,” Ildefanso said. “I’ve got a hunch. Midas, how are we lining up right now?”
“Nova’s showing you almost directly underneath the residence. The kitchens, according to Daleyza’s drawings.”
“Copy. Moving forward.”
About five feet before they would move into the darkness of the walkway, another twenty feet of hallway lit up.
“There are sensors picking up traffic. The next section is lit up.”
“Then I bet once you move out of your current section, the ones behind you will go out.”
They both turned around, and sure enough, Midas was correct.
“The first switch turns on the first bank of lights. The second turns on the sensors.”
“Noted.”
“I’m watching to see if there’s a notification for movement in the walkway, but I don’t see anything. They must be running only when the visual trips the system.”
They continued down the hallway cautiously but with purpose until they approached a door about halfway down the walkway. It was large enough to fit one of the theorized golf carts through. “Midas, we’ve got something here that looks like a bank vault.”
“Can you see how it might open?”
“There’s a keypad on the wall to the right, and a wheel on the door itself to the left.”
“You got your skimmer with you?”
“Does the pope wear a funny hat?”
Midas muttered over the comm again about people stealing his lines.
“Get over yourself. It’s not exactly an original line.”
“Whatever. Attach the skimmer to the panel. Let me know when your plagiarizing ass is done.”
Steel slid his pack off his back and set it on the floor. After unbuckling the top, he reached into the bottom of the pack and pulled out what looked like a thin picture frame without glass on the front. He handed it to her, then closed his pack and hefted it onto his back.
When he held out his hand, she handed the item back to him.
He began to pull the top and bottom pieces, then the sides, to the correct size to fit the panel. He snapped it in place, then hit a tiny button in the top right corner.
“Skimmer attached.”
“Okay, skimming the code.”
They stood, waiting, then on the numeric panel, a whirling of red lights lit up in the rectangular window. After a minute, there was a beep, and a number appeared. This continued for several minutes until, one by one, the passcode appeared.
“Code is accurate,” Midas told them. “Hang on while I hide that the door is opening.” A few more clicks of the keyboard. “Entry secure.”
There was a click, and then Steel reached for the wheel, spinning it so they could open the door. He was gentle when he pulled, and the door didn’t budge.
Daleyza touched his forearm. “It’s a vault. Maybe it’s hermetically sealed. Pull a little harder.”
Following her instruction, he put a stronger effort into it. When the gap formed between the door and the doorjamb, there was a hiss. He opened the door wider, but they couldn’t see much further, other than some shrouded shapes in the immediate vicinity.
“Look for a switch,” he said.
She tipped her head inside the doorway, and as soon as it broke the plane, the lights went on. “Just like the hallway.”
