Missing Signal
The girl moved slightly, making room for her companion, who grabbed the mouse and began clicking here and there on the screen, typing a series of commands on the keyboard.
"Mmh... Lay?" she interrupted after nearly a minute's silence, demanding to know what her partner was doing, fearing he was wasting too much time.
Just after those words, the images of the two cameras scattered on the three monitors suddenly disappeared and were replaced by two large red writings.
*_MISSING_SIGNAL_*
"Hey! What did you do? Did you turn them off?!" she asked, acknowledging that Layton had just made a very swaggering gesture.
"Yes, of course I turned them off. I actually set a timer that will reactivate them tomorrow morning at 10:00. Near the control cabin, in the part of the ship closest to the rooms of the Captain and his generals, there is a large video surveillance office that collects all the multimedia material coming from the cameras of the various sectors of Voyager. With this method, since no one will be able to enter here to check if there has been a breakdown, they will lose tonight's recording files, from now until tomorrow morning and we can move without fear of getting caught" Layton replied, who within seconds tried to explain in the simplest possible way what he had done to Faith.
"But... but... you're a genius, Lay! Haha! I would never have got that, very good!" she exclaimed, smiling and resting a hand on her interlocutor's head as if she wanted to caress a puppy's back.
Layton, who did not expect such a gesture, strangely did not move from his position and pretending to be continuing to use the computer, let Faith take her hand off on her own will.
Finally, after so many months spent in total solitude, during which his only friends apart from the old Sam were the characters of the books he read and reread continuously, now the young janitor felt part of something, of a group formed by himself and the young Faith, to whom he was slowly and unintentionally fond, only a few hours after their first meeting.
"Well. Now we can go" he said again, interrupting the silence and moving away from the computer, making sure to turn off all three monitors and eliminate their tracks in that room.
Trying not to make too much noise, the two companions approached the door of the video surveillance office and Layton turned off the light completely.
"If the door to the doctor's office is open, we will get in... otherwise we will turn backward and go back in here, without making the slightest noise... did you get it right?" he asked again, wanting to make sure Faith had the plan clear in her mind.
"Let's go out, I'm ready" she answered.
Layton pressed the opening button on the sensor inside the room and the door opened, emitting the classic 'beep' sound and sliding quickly without making any other noises.
The sound of the door, which was inevitable, was somehow not heard by the guards, who, being on the other side of the corridor, were intent on talking to each other about the affair and did not pay attention to what was happening in the rest of the sector.
"Go, go!" Layton whispered with a thread of a voice, making sure there was no one behind and in front of them down the corridor and suggesting Faith to proceed in front of him.
The girl, knowing that it was not the right time to hesitate, quickly walked forward, skirting the wall of the corridor with all the doors of the various offices.
When she arrived at the large C-sector front door, she slowed down her movements by pointing her gaze at the two cameras next to it.
The small red lights indicating their activation were off and she sighed with relief, while Layton put his hand over her shoulder.
"What, didn't you trust me?" he asked, being self-ironic about his computer skills and exploiting his friend's constant fear.
"Of course I trust you, but... I don't trust technology, it's always better to give one last check" she smiled, starting to walk quickly again.
After those words, Faith continued to advance down the corridor, paying attention to every noise in addition to the confused voices of guards on the other side of sector C.
...
"So? What are we waiting for to come in? You said Dr. Tyler would only take a few minutes!" Lucius exclaimed, the commander of the security men.
"Yes, Commander, that's what he told us!"
"I guess his visit is taking longer than he imagined..."
"Yes, Dr. Klein's situation must have worsened compared to the past few days, which is why he recommended that we only a few of us could enter with him the doctor's room, or better, a few at a time."
"How many men have gone with him?" Lucius asked again, referring to one of the guards who had just spoken to him.
"Only three of us, sir. He preferred to be flanked by armed men because he thought it may be dangerous."
...
Continuing to eavesdropping those words, Layton and Faith arrived in front of a different door than the others, equipped with a traditional metal handle and a key-shaped lock.
Neon yellow ribbons were attached vertically to it, forming a large 'X', which along with the words "investigation area – no access", suggested anyone around it not to enter the room.
A metal tag similar to the one that flanked each office hung on the side of the door.
*DR. PHILLIP KLEIN – Surgeon expert in infectious diseases and alien biology*
"Here we go, Lay... it's time for truth" Faith said in a low voice, taking a step back and waiting for her partner to try to open the door, hoping her hypothesis was true.
Layton, who was trying to keep a cool head as the voices of the guards got closer and closer, grabbed a rag from his belt and wrapped it around his hand, which was soon resting on the door handle.