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February 11, 2051
Topaz and Janet descended the stairs to the Moon Station’s second level, the familiar hum of engines reaching them from the left as their boots touched the floor. In front of them stretched the walkway to the cell block.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs as Colton approached. Topaz nodded a greeting, then turned right, heading for the station guards’ quarters. Stewart waited at the entrance. He’d asked the operators to send one of the pilots to guard the Galaxy Explorer in his place so he could meet them there. He held a protective suit over one arm.
As they approached, Topaz signed to him, I asked Engineer Close to join us since he knows those suits better than we do.
Stewart nodded and passed it to him, signing back, I figured you’d want to look at Fitch’s suit out of ear and eyeshot of the prisoners.
Why here instead of the general’s office? Topaz asked.
I didn’t want to risk something happening to it in transit, particularly since we already tagged it as evidence. I thought we could search it quickly, then put it back. We forgot to search it yesterday before I locked it up, but I don’t think anyone could have tampered with it after that. My partner and I made a new passcode for the locker we put it in.
Janet smiled and signed, Smart move.
Colton went over the suit itself, then pulled back the flap that covered its small screen and keyboard. He typed, and different images appeared on the screen as he navigated to the suit’s logs.
They showed Fitch had sent a message to his CID.
A sequence of numbers? Janet signed. Looks like a passcode.
Yes. Colton studied the screen. It seems familiar, but I can’t place it.
Topaz felt her jaw tighten. I don’t recognize it either. We better find out if it belongs to Dr. Hampton’s office or maybe the general’s. They’d have to find out whether it belonged to Major Barr too, but she didn’t want to say it with Colton there. She’d ask the general if he could check for them.
It isn’t the doctor’s, unless she changed it recently. Colton typed again. Here is a message to Webb, telling him to turn off the gravity.
Topaz grinned. Around the time you and Alex interrupted his welding.
Yes—and here’s a record of an installation on this device, but no clear description of what it was.
That was odd.
Is it all right if I return to engineering while you find out about the passcodes? Colton asked.
Topaz nodded. Be careful.
I will. Thank you. Colton handed the suit back to Stewart and looked between him and the operators. You be careful. He headed for the stairs.
Stewart signed, I will put the suit back and then go with you both to Dr. Hampton’s office.
Several minutes later, the three entered the medical bay. Off to their right, Henry appeared to be inventorying the cabinets while Bugguffin supervised him—or tried to trip him. The way the feline twisted herself around his boots, Topaz couldn’t tell which it was.
She caught Henry’s eye and nodded a greeting as she led the way to Autumn’s office. He nodded back.
Topaz knocked on the division head’s door, then waited.
Henry and Autumn had spent most of the day in their section, even eating breakfast there so they could try to monitor the medical bay and the personnel coming and going. As a result, Topaz hadn’t seen them other than in the general’s office.
She’d missed hanging out with them in the rec area, and after what had happened the day before, she was also more worried about them.
She wished there were time to ask how they were doing.
Autumn opened the door and invited them in. “What’s happened?”
Janet quickly recapped their search of Fitch’s suit and told Autumn the sequence of numbers. “Is that your passcode?”
Autumn frowned. “No, and it is not the temporary station head’s either—or Major Barr’s. I don’t recognize it at all…But you should probably know our codes for future reference.” She signed one sequence. “Mine.” She signed another. “The general’s.” She signed one more. “Barr’s.”
“Thank you.”
“If I think of what the numbers might go to, I’ll message you.”
“Thanks.” Topaz glanced at Janet. “We better update the general in person, then get back to the operators’ section.”
“Yeah.”
The three of them left, Stewart heading to his quarters for a quick bathroom break while the other two continued through the corridor.
A few moments later, it clicked in Topaz’s mind. “Janet. The numbers Fitch sent are the general’s passcode backwards.”
“What?”
“He welded the general’s door closed. If his suit’s device had the code for the SQL injection, which somehow masked itself so we couldn’t tell that was what he installed—”
“—he could have used it on the general’s keypad.”
“And then someone could have taken Fitch’s CID and gotten the code from it.”
They sprinted through the corridor, Janet typing on her CID as they ran. She hit send and put her device away just as they reached the general’s office. Topaz knocked on the door. No answer. She exchanged a look with the other operator, then tried to open it.
Unlocked, she mouthed to Janet as she drew her pistol.
Janet drew hers, whispering, “Whoever’s in there knows we’re here.”
“If the general’s in there too, we better move now.”
Janet nodded and grabbed the door handle. “Ready?”
“Go.”
Janet pushed the door open and Topaz leaped inside, sweeping her aim across the room. Open folders covered the general’s unoccupied desk. She turned, and her weapon sighted on an engineer just as he slammed the door closed on Janet and ducked. The prongs of her weapon stabbed the air where his torso had been, and the door’s lock clicked.
She pivoted as he crashed into her, sending her backward into the general’s desk.
He snatched a chair from in front of the wall and jammed the door handle with it. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”
“That’s ‘you and I.’” Topaz sprang forward and pulled the trigger again.
Thank you for reading “Firewalls” (Part 4). The next part of this episode drops next week.
The previous installment in this series is “Firewalls” (Part 3). Read it here.
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Copyright © 2026 Li Mitchell All Rights Reserved
Note: Everything I write is written without AI—even if I do use a lot of em dashes (and some semicolons).
Ahhh! Get him, Topaz! 😱
Also, engineering has a serious problem. 😒 I'm beginning to be tempted to describe it as "everyone but Colton and a few specific recent arrivals." 🤨
This was super exciting to read! Loved the badass line at the end before Topaz pulled the trigger.