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"But we can't increase production!" The senator's voice had been getting more desperate "The ice coral is already being mined faster than the organisms can naturally - "
The moff slammed his fist on the table to punctuate his thunderous reply. And on it went.
Cassian Andor disguised his headache with a feigned shiver and began fastening the double rows of buttons down his heavy woolen Imperial officer's coat. Lieutenant Joreth Sward's coat.
When they started discussing how much longer to make the workers' shifts, he couldn't help but glance at the door. Of all the officers who'd been assigned as aides to the inspection team, he wasn't standing too far along the wall. Then one of the governors raised his empty caf mug, and Cassian finally got his chance to step out into the hallway
Several palm access pads later, he finally entered Wing Aurek, the only section of the compound that was built on the outside of the ice cliffs He blinked at the sudden onslaught of neon blue sunlight and hurried down the much larger hallway toward the kitchens, trying to stay away from the elaborate walls of windows that were giving him an even bigger headache than the greedy moffs.
***
"Enter authorization code to reset Wing Cresh biometric signature" The soft computerized voice broke the silence and echoed down the dim hallway.
Jyn Erso hit her head on the ceiling and almost fell off the ornamental display cabinet she'd been standing on, but she used the computer spike to regain her balance. When nobody came to investigate the voice, she looked down, nodded at the twi'lek waiting with his hand on the access pad, and reached toward the small security panel again.
Her comm beeped.
"Lianna, I'm in."
"We need that code, Dart. Hurry!"
"Besh. Seven. Three. Grek. Xesh. Seven. Nine. Two. Zero. Zero. Zero."
Jyn entered the characters, and four meters below her, the pad hummed green under her accomplice's palm.
"Let's go!"
***
Cassian finished a third cup of caf, and leaned to fill the governor's mug.
That's when he noticed the surveillance camera in the corner had gone dark. (Is that something Joreth would have caught?)
The third time he passed a deactivated hallway camera on the way back to the conference room, he dropped the mug, pulled out his comm and broke into a run.
"Lt. Sward to security, reporting a breach in Wings Aurek through Cresh! The cameras are all -"
Up ahead, the carpet was askew, as if one of the display cabinets had been dragged around the next corner.
Before he could investigate, the lights abruptly went out.
****
"Alert! Alert!" This computerized voice wasn't so friendly. "Breach in the equipment storage rooms! All security personnel report to Wing Grek."
Jyn gave up struggling with the casing on the spare focusing array. She took a step back, fired a shot from her blaster, and reached to carefully lift out the large, shimmering prism.
Her comm beeped.
"Lianna..."
"I already said I'll meet you in the hangar! Just wait for me!"
"But the alarms!"
"It's not my fault the miner records took so long to wipe. How many of these prisms do you want me to --"
At the sound of footsteps, Jyn abruptly cut the comm off and held her breath. Her maintenance crew disguise would no longer give her a reasonable alibi.
The silhouette of an officer in a long coat appeared in the doorway. He paused, scanning the room. Could he see her from this angle? She thought her lungs would give out before he finally said "Room Grek-17 clear." ...and was gone!
Moments later, she was sprinting the opposite way, heading for the hangar in Wing Esk.
This access pad looked different from the others and buzzed red when she tried it. How had her teammates gotten through? Jyn was fumbling for her comm when a squad of guards rounded the corner.
Falling into line behind them wasn't going to work. Each put their hand on the pad before entering.
Jyn tensed for a fight.
She dragged her feet when it was her turn. Still no plan. Slowly, she reached out and pressed her palm onto the pad again.
"Wait."
It was the officer from Grek-17.
There was a predictable buzz and flash of red.
"Other hand." He leaned over, and when he slipped his own hand under hers, Jyn realized he'd turned so that the guards couldn't see.
The pad flashed green, and she didn't dare look back.