Chapter 5: Cargo

Aaron stopped before the gates of the Cargo hold. Looking at the size of the massive metal gates, they couldn't hope to budge them. Selena was baffled but she had no time to get frustrated. She needed to get in to investigate what was inside.

"Is there any way we can get in?" Selena asked Aaron.

"There should be a secret door here somewhere!" Aaron suggested.

Selena ordered her group to look for the secret door. The rust and the dust around the surroundings made the search difficult. 

Every nook and cranny they searched and every corner and crevice they tried to find. 

"Nothing's here!" Selena concluded.

She rallied everyone in her group and tried to look in a different direction. Everyone was there except for one, and that was Luca. 

"Has anyone seen Luca?" Selena asked.

The group looked around and said they did not see him. Selena was troubled and asked them to look for him. Moments later, Luca suddenly appeared with a broken hand wheel. 

"I found this somewhere..." Luca said to Selena.

"Where?" Selena asked.

Luca leads Selena and the group to where he found the hand wheel and located a rusty door. Covered with rust but looked tough. Selena inspected the door and saw dents in it. 

"We could use a hammer or some sort." She suggested. 

"Or clobber the door until it gives up? I don't know!" Aaron replied.

Luca, seeing how fragile the door was looking decided to break it. He went ten paces from the door and then mustered his strength. Inhaled, he ran as fast as he could and dropkicked the door. Upon hitting the door, a loud clang sounded and creaked as the door dropped to the other side. 

Selena went out to see if Luca was alright. She also inspected the door and found that the hinges were rusty and therefore broke upon impact. Luca stood up and dusted himself off with his hands. 

"Are you alright?" Selena asked Luca.

"I'm fine," Luca replied.

Selena ordered the strong-looking men in the group to remove the door. After removing it, a tight passageway appeared before them, and decided to go first. Aaron told her that he should since he knew the place better. 

"Okay, you go first!" Selena agreed.

The passageway was narrow and could only fit one person. Aaron and the rest navigated through the tight passageway that led them inside the Cargo Hold. After several minutes of walking Selena realized that the temperature dropped. She felt cold as they exited the narrow passageway. 

"We are already inside the Cargo Hold ma'am!" Aaron said. 

Selena and her fellow Europan soldiers started to investigate the cargo. She also told the others to wait and serve as a lookout. If someone comes they were to call her attention.

Crate upon crate they investigated and looked for any peculiar items. Selena sighed in disappointment after seeing no irregularities with the cargo. She gathered her men and asked for a place where they hadn't investigated yet. One soldier pointed out of a corner near the huge metal doors. 

Selena decided to investigate there along with five soldiers. The other five were to serve as lookouts. As she got nearer the temperature dropped and made her shiver. The other soldiers also felt the same. She suddenly signaled her men to halt after seeing silhouettes of people.

Selena was certain she saw something and told one soldier to take point. She signaled the others to disperse and take cover. As the soldier closed in towards the area where Selena saw the silhouette the soldier saw nothing and signaled her.

Selena let out a sigh of relief and then went out of hiding. She and four other soldiers rushed in and went to investigate the crate. Before she and her soldiers could open a crate, three mysterious people appeared. 

"I advise you not to do that!" A blond-haired man warned Selena.

The soldiers covered Selena and one of them asked who the three were. The blond-haired man introduced himself and said, "No need to panic. I am with your side! Allow me to introduce myself. We are from the Bureau." The blond man revealed his crest that was donned on his jacket. 

He continued to speak, "My name is Reagan Knoxx, this is Freya Windsor, and lastly Alistair Graham." Reagan referred to his companions: A black-haired female dressed in a tight jacket that defined her curves and wore skinny trousers and black boots. The other one was a skinny male wearing long robes.

"What's your business here?" Selena asked the three.

"The Bureau has been investigating illegal movement of dangerous contraband. For months we have been tracking the trade that led us here. Worse, traded to our enemy who could use it against us." Reagan explained.

"What do you mean?" Selena was confused.

"The contraband we are talking about is thedomite. We all know that due to its unstable properties, it could be used as a weapon!." Reagan answered.

Selena could not believe what she heard. She looked at her fellow soldiers. Reagan spoke, "You don't need to worry. We informed the Bureau about what we found here! What we need to do is smoke this place. The Umayar must not get a hold of such Cargo!" 

Selena nodded and agreed. She asked Reagan what time to dispose of the illegal cargo. Reagan replied to her and said, "We need to shorten out or spoil the cargo and I need people to do it!" 

"What do you mean by spoiling it?" Selena asked again.

"We need to destroy these cargo manually!" Reagan said.

Selena ordered one of her soldiers to call the others. The soldier rushed to inform the others in their group. After that, Reagan spoke again to Selena, "You seem to look too young to be an officer. Where's your superior?" 

Selena replied, "He... he's on the bridge with the captain of the land wagon and the others. Right now, I could not contact him."

"I apologize for asking," Reagan said.

After their talk, the others arrived at the scene. Selena gathered them and decided to brief them on what to do. Reagan and his group listened to Selena attentively as she laid out her plan.