They arrived on the edge of Commercial Solar Systems the next morning, overlooking the magnificent solar farm from the top of the hill they’d hidden their car behind. Maphira took a long sip of her soft drink to finish it, crushed the can and tossed it down the hill, promising that she would put it back in the car when they returned. She was no litterbug like her sister.
Maphira turned back to Vai, who was looking over the facility and farm with a fancy pair of binoculars. “Hundred bucks says the Mechanists are planning to destroy this place because they don’t like solar power.”
Pursing her lips, Vai said, “Yeah, I’ll take that bet. My money is on them using this place to power all their machines in the utopia. Anything else is a draw.”
“Should we go see what this Commercial Solar Systems business is all about, then?”
Vai nodded, leading the way down the hill. They cut a hole in the barbed wire and snuck into the power farm, making their way across, toward the massive facility hundreds of metres away.
Once there, the detectives crept toward a side entrance. Finding a spot to hide, they waited for a scientist to approach. He stood at the door, and when a robotic voice asked for a password, said, “Solar lease agreement.”
Vai moved forward, surveying the area for anybody else approaching, then waved her partner forward. Maphira stood before the door and repeated, “Solar lease agreement.”
The door to the solar power facility opened before them, and they stepped inside. They came into a small room with several lab coats and a sign reading ‘Don’t forget your safety equipment!’
“Convenient,” said Vai. “They even provided disguises for us.”
“Oh yeah, I can’t see any way for this to go wrong.”
Vai smirked. “Didn’t you learn anything from Space Battles? What do you do when presented with a trap?”
Maphira couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Spring the trap.”
The woman winked back at her. “Exactly.”