We had to wait ten minutes until Yasha finally woke up. He looked surprised and seemed like he was ready to scream into oblivion, but Sebastian silenced him.
- We mean no harm - he said, after which he whispered - Unless you're evil.
- Where am I? What is this? - Yasha was confused.
- We're the ones asking the questions here, not you - Amber started fiercely - First of all, who are you?
I just stood there, not really knowing what to do. Then, Yasha's answer came.
- I'm Yasha Dorofei, a 14-year-old recruit at the Russian Moon Base. I work here as a programmer dedicated to mechanical and AI research. Why was I kidnapped? - He said anxiously.
- What were you doing near the American Moon Base? We saw you tampering with the mining rigs near the outpost, "Amber asked.
- The Faustini crater is a zone divided between America and Russia. The eastern part is ours, so YOU were trespassing. Why was that? - Yasha asked.
- You're not asking questions, you're answering them - Claudius noted.
- I'll go out and make sure that nobody comes in here. - Dawn and her unit left the room.
- We suspect that you were trying to sabotage the American Moon Base. What were you doing with those mining rigs? - Amber continued, visibly annoyed.
- Why are you asking me out? You have no right to kidnap a random person and question them, even if they were guilty! - Yasha was furious.
- You went beyond the eastern part of the crater, so you trespassed - I recalled the time I saw him from the rover - We're tasked with protecting the American Moon Base, which is why we're questioning you - I lied.
- Fine, I'll show you. Follow me - Yasha stood up, but was stopped by Amber.
- Where are you planning to take us? A trap? - She asked.
- I'll show you the log of activity near the mining rigs to prove my innocence - The suspect sighed.
- Leave him alone. This is important - Sebastian stepped in.
We followed Yasha, and he led us into a small, grey room with five TV-sized screens on the front wall, accompanied by a tiny keyboard and an old chair. The suspect sat down in the chair and logged in. Claudius and I were observing his actions as Amber and Sebastian barricaded the door.
We saw green lines of code flash before us on the black screen. Yasha stopped scrolling and pointed at a certain line.
- I was supposed to check one of the Russian mining rigs, but accidentally went a bit too far and checked an American one instead. That was a mistake on my behalf, sorry for that - Yasha explained. The log supported his claims. It said that at 10:38, so about twenty minutes ago, he inspected the American mining rig LMA-1 (Large Mining Apparatus) and then backed up to inspect a Russian one with its name written in Cyrillic.
- I guess this proves his innocence - I told the others.
- Are you sure that those logs aren't fabricated? If he's a programmer, he should be able to fake it - Amber raised her eyebrow, which annoyed Yasha.
- Why would I do that, as an innocent person? - He asked. I saw the pressure building up in Amber, so I stepped in before a major argument began.
- The logs line up with the events we saw from the rovers. I say "we", as Jeff was also there. I think we should leave Yasha alone - I said with confidence.
- I agree, but there is something strange that I noticed - Claudius said and turned to Yasha - Could you show me the last row, at the bottom?
Yasha complied and scrolled down. It showed a supposed interference with one of the Russian mining rigs from someone labelled as "18". Suddenly, we heard a horrifyingly loud bang.
- What was that? - Sebastian exclaimed.
- I don't know, let's find out! - Yasha ran out of the room, and we followed him, equally shocked and curious.
We saw a dozen people, including the emotionless man from earlier, staring through the window. One of the mining rigs was now a smoking crater. Someone blew it up. We all froze, trying to process what just happened.
- What the hell was that?! - The previously emotionless man exclaimed in Russian. Everyone was still frozen, unable to give an answer. Besides Yasha.
- I think I might know something - he started - I was looking through the logs and I saw an interaction with that mining rig a minute ago. If we look through the ID numbers, we can find out who blew it up.
A few minutes later, everyone was lined up in a queue in front of the five-screen computer from earlier. Yasha and an unknown adult were inspecting everyone. When my turn came, I was anxious. I didn't know what they were checking. Yasha wrote some code on the keyboard, and a number came out. As it turned out, my fake ID's number was 15. So I was clean. The others were also inspected, but nobody's number matched the one in the logs.
- Whoever it was escaped - Yasha told the unknown man. The man hissed at him, but we couldn't make out his words.
- Wait - Claudius started - What were your ID numbers?
- 15 - I replied instantly.
- 12 - Sebastian said.
- Mine is 13 - Claudius said - Where's Amber?
Amber came back at that moment. She seemed concerned.
- I found something none of us will like - She said. We followed her and saw Jeff, Vincent and Mini-Dawn lying on the ground, unconscious. Tranquilliser darts were sticking out of them. Yikes.
We came back to Yasha, and Amber notified him about the finding, as she was the only one of us who knew Russian and spoke fluently in that language. Yasha and the unknown man came over to the crime scene and checked their ID numbers. They were 16, 17 and 19, respectively. We also found out that Amber's ID number was 14.
- Oh no... - Sebastian was clearly worried, and so were the others. For no reason in particular, I looked out the window and saw the Lunar Express.
- Wait, who's in there? - I asked, pointing at the train. Amber grabbed a pair of binoculars and examined the vehicle before turning to us.
- It's Dawn. She's in the cabin of the train - She said and turned to Yasha, telling him something in Russian. She presumably explained the situation to him.
- Is Dawn evil? - I asked in shock.
- I have no doubts. If those from our unit have ID numbers that come after each other, and 18 is the one missing from Dawn's unit, along with Dawn herself, it's obvious. She is the mole - She explained.
- We must notify Einstein and Nigel, so that they know about this! - Claudius exclaimed. Sebastian called Einstein through the walkie-talkie.
- Hello, Edward? Can you hear me? - He asked.
- Yes, Sebastian, what's going on? - Einstein replied. He seemed to be in a rush, so Sebastian explained the situation as quickly as he could.
- After doing some investigating, we found out that Dawn was the mole all along. I don't have time to explain the deduction process, but she blew up a mining rig and is currently fleeing through the Lunar Express. Could you notify some field agents so that they can stop the train? - Sebastian said that on a single breath.
- Oh wow, that's horrible. I'll notify the others. As for you, chase her down while we bring in reinforcements! Thank you for the info! - Einstein sounded even more stressed than before, but we had no time to waste. Sebastian ended the call and ordered us to put on our spacesuits. Yasha followed us out of curiosity.
We speedily got dressed and left the Russian Moon Base. Our unit found an L (light)-class rover and hopped in. Sebastian sat in the driver's seat, Claudius in the passenger's seat, while Amber and I stood in the back of the vehicle. Yasha joined us, opting to help us bring down the mole who threatened his nation, too.
We quickly set off after the train as the chase began.
ns216.73.216.13da2
and then Add to home screen.