SKIP TRACE

PART 3: COMPLICATION

The Fatal Skip

The Guild headquarters on Luna gleamed in the harsh sunlight, its polished dome reflecting the Earth hanging in the black sky. Mack and Vex observed from a safe distance, using the crowded commercial district as cover.

"The security system has three layers," Mack explained, reviewing the schematics they'd obtained through one of his less reputable contacts. "Biometric scanners at all entrances, quantum-locked data centers in the core, and skip-dampening fields throughout the facility."

Vex studied the building with practiced eyes. "The skip-dampeners are the real problem. I can't use my partial skip inside, and you'll be limited to your standard daily minute."

"Which is why timing is everything," Mack replied. "I still have active credentials. I can get us into the outer security ring. After that, we'll need to reach the central database without being identified."

Their plan was simple but dangerous. Mack would use his Guild access to enter the facility under the pretense of filing a report. Once inside, Vex—disguised as a Guild administrative assistant—would access a terminal while Mack created a distraction. They'd locate the Möbius file, copy it, and exit before anyone realized what they'd taken.

Simple in theory. Far more complicated in execution.

"Remember," Mack said as they approached the main entrance, "if anything goes wrong—"

"Meet at the extraction point, no waiting," Vex finished. "I know the drill."

The first part went smoothly. Mack's credentials, while flagged for review, still granted them access to the main lobby. They separated as planned, Vex heading toward the administrative section while Mack proceeded to the debriefing rooms.

He was halfway to his destination when a security alert sounded.

"Attention all personnel. Unauthorized access detected in Sector 5. Lockdown protocols initiated."

Sector 5—where the administrative terminals were located. Vex had been discovered.

Mack changed direction immediately, heading toward the nearest emergency exit. The extraction plan was compromised; they needed to abort. As he rounded a corner, he nearly collided with a security team rushing in the opposite direction.

"Reeves?" The lead officer recognized him instantly. "You're supposed to be on Ceres. What are you doing here?"

"Filing a report," Mack answered smoothly. "What's the alert?"

The officer's expression hardened. "You know exactly what it is. We have orders to detain you—direct from Chronos."

Mack assessed his options quickly. Three officers, all armed. Narrow corridor, no cover. Fighting would be suicide.

"Look, there's been a misunderstanding," he began, backing up slowly.

"On your knees, Reeves. Now." The officer raised his weapon.

In that moment, Mack made his decision. He triggered his skip.

The world blurred around him, the familiar sensation of temporal displacement washing over him. When reality solidified again, he expected to find himself in an empty corridor, the security team a minute behind him—enough time to escape.

Instead, he found himself staring at his own body, sprawled face-down on the floor in a pool of blood.

Mack froze, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. It was unmistakably him—same clothes, same boots, same guild insignia on his jacket. But with a neat, cauterized hole through his chest where his heart should be.

He was looking at his own corpse.

The corridor was empty—no security team, no witnesses. Just Mack and his dead future self. He had sixty seconds before his skip ended and time caught up to whatever had killed him.

Fighting back panic, Mack knelt beside the body. The wound was precise, the work of a high-powered energy weapon designed for clean kills. His own weapon was still holstered, unused. Whatever had happened, he hadn't seen it coming.

Working quickly, he searched the body. In the inside pocket of his jacket, he found a data chip—small, unmarked, but obviously important enough that he'd been carrying it. He pocketed it, then checked the chronometer on his dead counterpart's wrist.

The time stamp showed less than four minutes from his current time. Whatever was going to kill him would happen almost immediately after his skip ended.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor—someone approaching. Mack looked around desperately for an escape route and spotted a maintenance hatch in the ceiling. With seconds to spare, he pulled himself up and sealed the hatch behind him, just as his skip ended and time resumed its normal flow.

From his hiding place, he watched through a small vent as a figure approached his future self's body. Not the security team he'd encountered before, but a lone individual in Guild formal uniform.

Juno Keyes knelt beside the body, checking for any signs of life before efficiently searching it, clearly looking for something specific. When she didn't find it, her expression hardened into cold fury.

"Where is it, Mack?" she muttered. "You must have hidden it somewhere."

She activated her communicator. "Target eliminated, but the data is missing. He must have passed it to Korba before I intercepted him. Continue the search for her."

Mack felt like the floor had dropped out from under him. Juno—his handler, his friend—had killed him. Or would have killed him, if his skip hadn't accidentally placed him at the scene of his own murder moments before it happened.

He remained perfectly still until Juno left, calling in a cleanup team to remove the body. Only when the corridor was empty did he allow himself to breathe again.

Whatever was on this data chip, it was worth killing for.

Racing Against Time

The maintenance tunnels formed a labyrinth throughout the Guild headquarters, used by service droids and repair crews. Mack navigated them with the help of emergency schematics posted at junctions, making his way toward the exterior of the building.

His mind raced faster than his feet. Juno had been his handler for years, had saved his life more than once. What could possibly turn her against him so completely? The answer had to be on the data chip, but he needed a secure place to access it.

Reaching a ventilation shaft that led to the exterior, Mack used his toolkit to bypass the security sensors and emerged onto a maintenance platform. Luna's airless environment meant he couldn't stay long—the platform had only emergency atmosphere containment, enough for brief repairs but not extended exposure.

He checked his communicator, searching for Vex's signal. Nothing. Either she'd been captured or she'd already reached the extraction point.

Making his way to a public transportation hub, Mack kept his head down and his Guild insignia covered. News of his "death" wouldn't have spread yet, but his face might still trigger alerts.

The extraction point was a small workshop in the commercial district, owned by a former skip-tracer who'd retired to build custom ship components. Mack had saved her from a corporate hit squad years ago, earning a lifetime of loyalty.

"Tessa," he called softly as he entered through the rear door. "It's Reeves."

A grizzled woman with cybernetic arms emerged from behind a workbench, a weapon already in hand. When she saw Mack, she lowered it slightly—but not completely.

"You look like hell," she observed. "And according to my Guild alerts, you should be dead."

"That's the rumor," Mack replied. "Has Korba been here?"

Tessa's expression revealed nothing. "Why would she be?"

"Because she's my partner, and this is our extraction point."

After a moment's consideration, Tessa gestured toward a back room. "She arrived twenty minutes ago. Said you'd be right behind her, but then alarms started blaring across the district."

Relief washed over Mack as he found Vex in the small secure room, already working on a portable terminal. She looked up as he entered, her expression transitioning from tension to relief.

"You made it," she said. "When the alarms went off—"

"I almost didn't," Mack interrupted, showing her the data chip. "I skipped into a future where I'd been killed. Juno shot me."

Vex's eyes widened. "Juno? Your handler?"

"Former handler," Mack corrected grimly. "She was looking for this. Did you manage to find the Möbius file?"

Vex shook her head. "I didn't get that far. They detected me almost immediately—someone had upgraded the security protocols since your information was current. But I did find something else."

She turned her terminal toward him, displaying a personnel file. Mack recognized himself—but the status field read "TERMINATED" in bold red letters.

"This is dated yesterday," he noted, frowning.

"Exactly," Vex replied. "They marked you for elimination before we ever set foot in the Guild headquarters. This wasn't a reaction to our break-in—it was planned."

Mack inserted the data chip into the terminal. It contained a single encrypted file, requiring biometric authentication. He pressed his thumb against the scanner.

The file opened, revealing a video recording. It showed a laboratory with the Chronos logo prominently displayed. Scientists worked around a central apparatus—a complex device with what appeared to be the temporal core they'd stolen at its center.

"That's the Möbius project," Vex confirmed. "But why would this be on you when you died?"

The video continued, showing a test subject being prepared for some kind of procedure. As the camera angle changed, Mack felt his blood freeze.

The test subject was Juno.

They watched in silence as the scientists activated the device. Juno convulsed as energy coursed through her. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen—then, impossibly, a second Juno appeared beside the first. The duplicate existed for approximately three seconds before collapsing into a shower of particles.

"They've progressed further than I thought," Vex whispered. "That's not just a skip—that's temporal duplication."

The video continued, showing more tests, more subjects. Some survived the process, others didn't. Those who survived exhibited enhanced skip abilities—able to perform multiple, controlled skips in rapid succession.

"This is why the bounty on you is so high," Mack realized. "You didn't just steal components—you have proof of illegal human experimentation."

Vex nodded grimly. "Chronos isn't just building a device. They're modifying people to become temporal weapons. Imagine an assassin who could skip back repeatedly until they succeed in their mission. Or a corporate spy who could retry infiltrations until they found the perfect path."

"And Juno is one of them," Mack concluded. "That explains how she knew exactly when and where to ambush me."

The terminal chimed with an alert. Tessa's voice came through the intercom.

"Guild security just landed outside. Six officers, heavy weapons. You've got about two minutes before they breach."

Mack quickly copied the data to a secure backup and pocketed both chips.

"We need to get off Luna," he said. "Tessa, is the emergency shuttle still operational?"

"Fueled and ready in the underground bay," Tessa confirmed. "But you'll never break through the orbital blockade they'll establish."

"We don't need to," Vex said, checking her skip-trigger. "I can manage one more partial skip today. If timed correctly, it might give us just enough of an advantage."

Mack looked at her with concern. "The physical toll—"

"Is better than being dead," she finished. "Like you almost were."

The sound of the main door being breached ended their discussion. They raced to the underground bay where a small, unmarked shuttle waited. The craft was built for speed, not comfort—barely enough room for two passengers and minimal life support.

"Head for the dark side of the moon," Tessa instructed as they boarded. "The radiation from the Farrell Mining operation plays havoc with tracking systems. You can lose them there before making a run for the outer colonies."

She handed Mack a small device. "This will mask your skip signatures. Experimental tech, but it should work long enough to get you clear."

"I owe you, Tessa."

She waved dismissively. "You saved my life once. Now we're even."

As they launched, alarms blared throughout the facility. Guild security forces stormed the bay, weapons firing at the departing shuttle. Several shots connected, damaging the rear stabilizers.

"We're losing altitude control," Mack warned, wrestling with the controls. "The automated defense grid will lock onto us in thirty seconds."

Vex strapped herself in tightly. "Can you get us past the main sensor array?"

"Maybe, but we'll be visible to the entire security fleet."

"That's all I need." She prepared her skip-trigger. "When I tell you, cut all power. Every system, even life support."

Mack looked at her incredulously. "We'll be a sitting target!"

"Trust me," she insisted. "This is our only chance."

The shuttle careened across the lunar surface, pursuit craft already launching from the Guild headquarters. The main sensor array loomed ahead—a massive installation that tracked all traffic in Luna's orbital space.

"Now!" Vex shouted.

Mack hit the emergency shutdown. The shuttle went dark, momentum carrying them forward on a ballistic trajectory. In the sudden silence, he could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Vex activated her skip-trigger. Instead of the standard blur of a temporal jump, the effect spread outward from her in a rippling wave, encompassing the entire shuttle. For a heart-stopping moment, reality seemed to fold in on itself.

Then they were through—still on the same trajectory, but the pursuit craft had vanished. The sensor array was behind them now, and ahead lay the dark side of the moon.

Mack quickly restarted the essential systems. "What did you just do?"

Vex slumped in her seat, blood trickling from her nose. "Skipped the shuttle. Not a full minute—just enough to phase us out of normal time while we passed the sensor array. As far as their instruments are concerned, we ceased to exist for approximately seven seconds."

"That's impossible," Mack said, even as he piloted the very real result of that impossible act.

"Difficult and extremely dangerous," Vex corrected, wiping the blood away. "But not impossible."

Once they reached the dark side, Mack set course for the asteroid belt. It would take days to reach at their current speed, but the damaged shuttle couldn't handle the stress of higher velocity.

While Vex rested, recovering from the strain of her enhanced skip, Mack examined the data more carefully. The video contained more than just footage of the experiments—it included names, dates, financial records. Everything needed to expose Chronos' illegal operations.

But one detail caught his attention more than others—a reference to "Phase Three," scheduled to begin in two days at the Chronos headquarters on Titan.

According to the notes, Phase Three would extend the Möbius effect to create not just duplications, but complete temporal loops. The ability to send consciousness back in time to change past events—to literally rewrite history.

The implications were staggering. With such technology, Chronos could erase competitors, assassinate opponents, or manipulate markets with perfect foreknowledge. They would have unprecedented power over reality itself.

Mack checked their fuel reserves. They could reach Titan in 48 hours if they pushed the engines to their limit. It would be risky with the damaged stabilizers, but not as risky as allowing Chronos to complete Phase Three.

As the shuttle disappeared into the vast darkness of space, Mack made his decision. They weren't running anymore. They were hunting.

New Alliance

The journey to Titan was tense and uncomfortable. The shuttle's life support system operated at minimal capacity, keeping the temperature just above freezing to conserve power. Repairs to the stabilizers required three spacewalks, with Mack tethered to the hull as he worked in the vacuum.

Vex spent much of the time unconscious, her body struggling to recover from the massive neurological strain of skipping an entire shuttle. When awake, she helped with navigation and repairs, but Mack could see the toll the enhanced skip had taken on her.

"Why didn't you tell me you were developing the technology you stole?" he asked during one of her lucid periods.

Vex adjusted their course slightly, compensating for the damaged port thruster. "Would you have believed me? A thief claiming to be a lead scientist on a classified project?"

"Fair point," Mack conceded. "But now I need to know everything. How did you develop the partial skip? Why didn't it kill you like the others in the video?"

She was silent for a long moment. "I wasn't always Vex Korba. My real name is Dr. Elissa Vane. I was the original architect of the Möbius Project."

The revelation wasn't entirely surprising given what they'd discovered, but hearing her admit it still sent a jolt through Mack.

"I designed the temporal core as a theoretical exercise," she continued. "A way to understand the fundamental nature of time and consciousness. Chronos funded my research, promising it would revolutionize everything from medicine to space travel."

"But that wasn't their real plan," Mack guessed.

"No. They wanted a weapon. When I discovered they were conducting human trials without ethical oversight, I tried to shut down the project." Her expression hardened. "They responded by making me the next test subject."

"How did you escape?"

"The first partial skip," she explained. "During the procedure, I managed to alter the parameters. Instead of duplicating my timeline, I fractured it. Created a momentary divergence that allowed me to skip just far enough to escape the restraints. In the chaos that followed, I destroyed as much of my research as I could and fled with a prototype core."

"And became Vex Korba," Mack finished.

She nodded. "A new identity for a new purpose—stopping what I'd helped create."

The shuttle's proximity alarm interrupted them, warning of an approaching vessel. Mack checked the sensors.

"Mining freighter," he reported. "Heavily modified. Doesn't match any Guild or corporate registry I recognize."

"Pirates?" Vex suggested.

"Possibly. Or smugglers." Mack considered their options. The damaged shuttle wouldn't survive a confrontation, and they couldn't afford to be captured or delayed.

The comm system crackled to life. "Unidentified shuttle, this is Captain Reza of the independent vessel Persephone. You're venting oxygen from your aft section. Do you require assistance?"

Mack glanced at Vex, who shrugged. "Not like we have many options."

He activated the comm. "Persephone, this is... Trace. We've sustained damage and our life support is failing. Assistance would be appreciated, but we're on a tight schedule."

"Understood, Trace. Prepare for docking. We'll get you patched up and on your way quickly."

The Persephone was indeed a mining vessel, but clearly one that dealt in more than legitimate ore extraction. Its cargo bays were filled with unlabeled containers, and the crew wore no corporate insignia. They were efficient, however, quickly bringing the shuttle into a pressurized hangar and beginning repairs.

Captain Reza turned out to be a tall, dark-skinned woman with intricate circuitry implants visible along her temples. She greeted them in the hangar with a pragmatic handshake and minimal questions.

"My engineer says your stabilizers are beyond repair," she informed them. "We can rig a temporary solution, but you'll need a complete replacement to make it past Saturn's gravitational field."

"We don't have time for a detour," Mack replied.

Reza studied them with shrewd eyes. "You're in an awful hurry to reach the outer planets in a damaged shuttle with minimal life support. Running to something, or from something?"

"Both," Vex admitted. "And time is a factor."

The captain nodded thoughtfully. "I make it a policy not to ask too many questions. But I also make it a policy to know what kind of trouble I might be inviting aboard my ship."

Mack made a quick decision. "We're carrying evidence of illegal experiments conducted by Chronos Industries. Experiments involving time manipulation that could threaten everyone in the system if they succeed."

He expected skepticism, but Reza's expression grew serious instead.

"The temporal anomalies in the belt," she said. "We've encountered three in the past month. Areas where time doesn't flow correctly—ships going missing, only to reappear days later with crews insisting only minutes had passed."

"Side effects of the Möbius Project," Vex confirmed. "And they're getting worse."

Reza checked a display on her wrist. "We're scheduled to make a delivery to Titan in eighteen hours. Chronos isn't expecting us for another two days—routine supply run for their research station."

"You work for Chronos?" Mack tensed.

"I work for whoever pays," Reza corrected. "But I don't work for anyone who threatens my crew or my ship. These anomalies have already cost me two good people who aged thirty years in what felt like seconds to them."

She made a decision. "We'll take you to Titan. Your shuttle can be hidden in our cargo bay. We have legitimate access to the Chronos docking facilities—you'll get much closer to their headquarters than you would in that damaged craft."

"Why help us?" Vex asked.

"Self-preservation," Reza replied simply. "Whatever Chronos is doing with time, it's affecting everyone in the belt. I want it stopped."

With the decision made, they transferred to the Persephone. The larger vessel offered proper quarters, hot food, and medical facilities where Vex could recover her strength. The crew, a diverse group of twelve individuals from across the solar system, asked no questions about their new passengers.

In the ship's secure briefing room, Mack, Vex, and Reza planned their approach to Titan.

"The research facility is isolated from the main colony," Reza explained, displaying a holographic map. "Heavily secured, with dedicated landing pads for authorized personnel only. We'll dock at the supply station here, which gives you access to this maintenance tunnel."

"What about internal security?" Mack asked.

"Standard corporate pattern—automated systems, guard rotations, biometric checkpoints. But there's also this." She highlighted a dome-shaped structure at the center of the facility. "Energy readings off the charts, and triple the security of any other section. Whatever they're protecting is in there."

"The Möbius Chamber," Vex said. "That's where Phase Three will be initiated."

"According to the data we have, that happens in approximately thirty hours," Mack added. "We need to infiltrate, obtain evidence of their illegal activities, and sabotage the project before they can complete it."

"Two people against a corporate fortress," Reza observed. "Those are terrible odds."

"Three people," came a voice from the doorway. A young woman with bright blue hair and a cybernetic eye stood there, arms crossed. "I'm going with them."

"Zel," Reza warned, "this isn't your fight."

"Those anomalies took my brother," Zel replied firmly. "He went out on a routine repair and came back with gray hair and no memory of the past twenty years of his life. If Chronos is responsible, it absolutely is my fight."

Zel turned out to be the Persephone's systems expert, with a talent for bypassing security protocols and a personal grudge against temporal manipulation. Her addition to the team improved their chances significantly.

As they finalized their plan, Mack found himself in the ship's observation deck, staring at the distant rings of Saturn growing larger on the viewscreen. Vex joined him, looking stronger than she had since their escape from Luna.

"Thinking about your own death?" she asked quietly.

Mack nodded. "It's a strange feeling, knowing exactly how and when you're supposed to die."

"Temporal foreknowledge is dangerous," Vex said. "It creates paradoxes, branches in reality that shouldn't exist."

"Like me standing here when I should be lying dead on a Guild headquarters floor?"

"Exactly like that." She studied him thoughtfully. "By skipping into the moment of your death, you created a divergence. A new timeline where you survived. But time doesn't like inconsistencies."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning the timeline will try to correct itself," Vex explained. "The closer we get to the source of the temporal distortions, the more pressure there will be to resolve the paradox you represent."

Mack considered this. "You're saying I might still die the same way, just in a different place and time?"

"It's possible," she admitted. "Unless we can shut down the Möbius Project completely. That might stabilize the divergence, make your survival permanent."

"No pressure, then," Mack said with grim humor. "Just save the timeline and myself at the same time."

"About that," Vex hesitated. "There's something else you should know about the Möbius Project."

"More bad news?"

"Potentially." She took a deep breath. "The project wasn't just about creating temporal weapons. The ultimate goal was to develop a system that could detect significant divergence points in time—moments where reality branched into multiple possibilities."

"Like when I skipped into my own death?"

"Exactly like that. If they succeed with Phase Three, they could potentially detect the paradox you created. And attempt to correct it."

The implication hung in the air between them. If Chronos completed their project, they might be able to erase Mack's survival—to restore the timeline where Juno had successfully assassinated him.

"Then we'd better make sure they don't succeed," Mack said firmly. "One way or another, this ends at Titan."

As the Persephone continued its approach to Saturn's largest moon, the three unlikely allies prepared for their infiltration. The stakes had never been higher—not just for Mack's survival, but for the stability of time itself.