Descent Page 4

  Jiang laughed again. “Hey, I don’t mind.” However, the moment of levity didn’t last. “Well, I’m going to have to get a look at what they’re hauling in their cargo holds,” she said, “and find out what they’re getting in return.”

  “You think this is the end of the line for them?” Alia asked.

  Jiang shrugged. “I don’t know. But I intend to find out.”

  4. A Lead

  Carla Casdan watched as Reece stirred in his bed, blinking once, then twice, then opening his eyes fully.

  “Kailis told me what happened down there,” he said, wincing as he sat up. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep so long.”

  “You were on the verge of death when we found you,” Carla said. “You needed sleep. And your body needed time for recovery and for your treatment to take effect.” She paused and hesitated before continuing. “I know you wish you could have been there for your friends but there’s nothing you could have done.”

  Reece shook his head. “They weren’t really my friends. I hardly knew most of them to tell you the truth. But...” His voice broke slightly. “No one deserves to die like that.”

  Carla put her hand on his arm. She waited a few moments before speaking. “There may be a chance that we can find the people who did this. The chief operator and his friends. And if we can, then I will do whatever I have to to bring them in to the proper authorities. Turn them over to the United Frontier.”

  “Or the Autonomous Levarc Territories,” Reece added.

  Carla nodded. “Yes, we could do that. Whichever’s closest when we find them, I suppose.”

  Reece looked at her doubtfully. “But do you really think you can find them? I have no idea where they came from or where they planned to go next.”

  “Didn’t the pilot of that shifter tell you where he took the shipments you guys were mining?”

  “The ‘shifter’?”

  “Your cargo ship,” Carla explained. “Sorry. My communications officer’s been calling it that. I guess it’s caught on.”

  “Oh, well,” Reece said. “I don’t know what the proper name for it is either. No, the pilot never told me. In fact, he didn’t know either.”

  “But he flew it,” Carla said. “How could he fly the ship and not know where he was flying it to?” Then she let out a sigh. “The course headings were kept secret from him, were they?”

  Reece nodded. “He’d get the ship off the landing platform and into orbit. Then someone else would plot a course and kick it into gear. Then he’d land it at the other end.”

  “And he didn’t recognize the world?”

  “He always landed in the hangar of a space station,” Reece said. “Always the same station. Always the same hangar.”

  “Well, that’s something,” Carla said. “It’s still something.”

  “It’s not much, though. Ten to one it was just another transfer point. Not everything’s a lead. And you’re not a law enforcement officer. What can you do with the resources you’ve got here?”

  Carla smiled. “Maybe nothing. Maybe more than you think. But I’m certain there’s a trail and I’m fairly confident we can pick up the end of it.”

  “How?”

  “We got that shifter of yours off the planet before that facility went up in smoke.”

  Reece was impressed. “How did you get it off the ground?”

  “My communications officer I told you about - he flew it. Now, we did notice that although they couldn’t get the ship off the ground, the chief operator and his gang tried to fry the navigation computer. And it is inaccessible through the ship’s controls. However, my communications officer believes he can salvage it and he’s working on it right now.”

  “Your communications officer sounds like a jack of all trades,” Reece said.

  Carla considered this. “He may well be.”

  “And you think this navigation computer might have logged the coordinates the shifter was jumping to all that time?”

  “If it didn’t have any information of value,” Carla said, “then there’d be no reason for them to fry it. No, I’m certain there was something of value on it.”

  Reece nodded. “So the only real question is whether it’s intact.”

  “Yes,” Carla said. She stood up. “Now, do you need anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

  “Not really,” Reece said, his gaze flicking down.

  Carla gave him a smile. “Have something. I’ll show you to the mess and get you some soup. Then maybe, you might have enough of an appetite to eat a bit more.”

  Reece smiled back and eased himself off the bunk. “All right. I’ll give it a try.”

  Once Carla had seen that Reece had eaten well enough and had helped him back to his bed, she went to the Lantern’s docking tube, which - for the moment - was latched onto Eroim’s ‘shifter’, with the ochre moon A29-M1 below.

  She crossed over, taking care to close the seals behind her and headed up to the shifter’s bridge. Eroim was alone in the gloom of muted lights.

  “Kind of dark in here, isn’t it?” she said.

  “Oh, I find it peaceful working like this,” the old man replied. He gestured at the viewscreen which was currently displaying the dorsal view of the moon. “And it’s nice watching a world from orbit.”

  “Or a moon,” Carla said.

  Eroim nodded, smiling as he pried a panel off the navigation computer. “Or a moon.”

  “So how’s it going?” Carla asked. “It seems as though you’ve been in here for two days.”

  Eroim got out a pad and connected it to the computer through a socket he had just found. “Hm. I guess it has been two days.”

  Carla frowned. “You didn’t come back to the Lantern last night? You can’t go two days without sleeping.”

  “Oh, I slept,” Eroim said. “I found a bunk up the hall. Slept like a baby.”

  Carla sat down across from him, resting her elbow on what appeared to be a radar screen. “You don’t find the air close in here? There’s a funny smell.”

  Eroim smiled. “That’s the workings of the ship, Captain. The wires. The grease that keeps all the moving parts in working order. This is a ship in its purest state. Nothing to separate the crew from the machinery that keeps them alive.”

  Carla looked surprised. “I’ve never really thought about ships in that way.”

  “As the things that keep you alive?” Eroim asked. “Well, that’s what they do. Right now, this old girl is all that’s protecting us from a very cold and unpleasant end.”

  Carla smiled. “I think you’ve been cooped up in here too long, Eroim.”

  Eroim laughed. “You’re probably right.”

  “You know,” Carla said, “there’s no reason why you can’t bring that computer over to the Lantern. You’ve uncoupled it from the shipboard systems, haven’t you?”

  “Yeah... but I’m nearly done here.”

  “You are?”

  Eroim started tapping at his pad. “I am. In fact, your timing is pretty much spot on.”

  Carla sat up. “Really? You’ve found the records?”

  “Oh yeah,” Eroim said. “I’ve got stopovers going back to before the Levarc War here. This thing’s never been wiped.” He glanced over his shoulder at a mess of melted wires and shattered screens. “And the dimwits who did that obviously didn’t have a clue how to do it.”

  “Good for us,” Carla said

  “Yes,” Eroim agreed, scrolling through the locations he had found. “Good for us because it looks like we have our lead. For the past few months, the only place this ship’s been apart from that moon there is... Felkar.” He leaned back in his seat and stroked his chin, frowning.

  “Are you all right?” Carla asked.

  “Yeah. I’m all right, Captain,” Eroim replied - a little quickly, Carla thought. “I was just thinking of something.” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”

  “If you say so,” Carla told him. “So, any idea where Felkar is?”

  �
��A little far,” Eroim replied. “It’s one of those systems that lie outside the Frontier in limbo. I’ve downloaded the coordinates to my pad.”

  Carla nodded. “All right. I’ll run them through the Lantern’s computer when we get back.”

  Eroim’s gaze drifted over the bridge. “What about this girl? Are we just going to leave her here in the middle of nowhere? It doesn’t seem right.”

  “I could think of worse places,” Carla said. “She’ll have a whole system to herself here. Besides, we don’t really have the time or equipment to reconnect that computer to the rest of the ship systems and repair the navigation station.”

  Eroim sighed. “No, I suppose not.”

  Carla smiled and stood up. “Come on. Let’s get this stuff packed up and head on back to the Lantern. And, if you want, you can keep the navigation computer as a souvenir.”

  Lord Erama entered the officer’s bar in the Kerali naval headquarters on Phalamki. It was quiet at that time of day and the late morning sunlight streamed through the large windows. The only other occupants of the room, aside from the barkeeper were his adopted daughter Maia and her husband Zak.

  “Good morning,” he said, smiling.

  They said good morning in kind and, after buying some cool drinks from the bar, they sat by the windows to exchange their news.

  “You look as though you’ve both had some proper sleep planetside,” Lord Erama said to his children.

  “We have, yes,” Maia said. “It’s always refreshing.”

  “You should get it when you can, believe me,” her father told her. “Now, how’s everything going with the assignment of our new personnel?”

  “Everything’s going fairly smoothly,” Zak replied. “But there are some officers we’re still thinking about. They’re interested in some of our joint Koratav and Narvashae units.”

  Lord Erama frowned. “Why don’t you assign them then? They’re qualified and we definitely could use the extra numbers in those units.”

  Maia and Zak exchanged glances. “Well,” Maia said, taking over, “they are qualified technically speaking but Zak and I believe that working in these joint units requires additional sets of skills that our regular officers may not necessarily have. So we’re trying to devise a test to determine whether or not new officers have them. Most likely, these ones will be fine but it’s good to be certain.”

  “Are you two making this test?” Lord Erama asked.

  “Some of our people who are already in these joint units are writing it,” Maia said. “They understand the skills we need to test better than we do. Also, the request for this type of test came from them in the first place.”

  Lord Erama nodded. “Fair enough. Now, is there anything else we need to discuss as far as work is concerned?”

  Zak shook his head. “Not really. Unless you want to fill us in more on this Imraec Tarc business.”

  Lord Erama smiled. “Have you been talking to Selina and Asten?”

  Zak smiled back. “They’ve filled us in somewhat. However, we’ve been keeping an eye on the current developments regarding the system. And we have another source of information too.”

  Lord Erama raised his eyebrows and then smiled at Zak and Maia. “Yes. I thought that would be a prudent arrangement. However, just so you know, for the sake of security, I haven’t mentioned anything to Asten and Selina about it. In case...” He trailed off and his gaze flicked down for a moment. Then he pulled himself together with a little smile. “But I shouldn’t think like that. Everything should be fine. Now, have you taken some time to acquaint yourselves with the situation regarding Imraec Tarc?”

  “I think we know most of the relevant details,” Maia said.

  “Good,” her father replied. “Imraec Tarc’s hardly newsworthy so finding information on the situation there can be a little bit of work. Most people on the Frontier have never heard of the place, as I think I mentioned to Asten and Selina. And many of the parties involved in the discussions on what to do about it seem to think it’s a minor nuisance.”

  Zak pursed his lips. “Well, to the nations of the United Frontier, it would probably be fair to say it’s not even that. But for the people on Katara...” He trailed off as there was no need to finish.

  “Yes,” Lord Erama said, taking a sip of his drink. “That’s the way I see it. And with the United Frontier as it is at the present - strong, well resourced and with no external threats to worry about - I’d argue that there is a moral imperative to act. However, we can’t do anything until Asten and Selina do whatever they’re planning to do to bring our missing field operative back. Then, successful or otherwise, we’ll see what the most prudent course of action is.”

  “I wonder why you didn’t ask us to handle the job,” Zak said, indicating Maia and himself.

  Lord Erama gave him a smile. “Well it’s like this, I suppose. These little matters related to defense force administration... they may be mundane and, on the surface, they probably don’t seem particularly important. But they are important, and you two are better able to manage them. And Asten and Selina aren’t without their resources. They can handle this.”

  “Yes, I think they’re gathering some of their resources here right now,” Maia said.

  She caught her father off-guard.

  “They’re here on Phalamki?” he asked.

  “They arrived last night,” Maia told him. “You were at a conference.”

  “What are they up to?” Lord Erama asked.

  “They’re just getting a few specialist items manufactured for the trip,” Maia replied. “They’ve talked to Drackson as you recommended. However, I don’t think they’ll be staying for long.”

  “In that case,” Lord Erama said, “I might go to the landing platforms before they really head off and wish them good luck again.”

  After Lord Erama left Zak and Maia to enjoy some well earned time planetside, he took the elevator to the ground floor of the building and walked through the foyer. A few meters from the exit, he saw a lone Hie’shi waiting by a lounge. An individual he recognized from recent discussions on the Hie’shi homeworld.

  “Senator Ereis,” he said, walking over to shake his visitor’s hand. “This is something of a surprise.”

  “Yes,” the Hie’shi senator replied. “I wasn’t sure if you would be here or not so I do apologize for coming here unannounced.”

  Lord Erama smiled. “No need to apologize, Senator. Is this an official visit?”

  Senator Ereis shook his head. “No. No. I wanted to consult with you in private on this... this Imraec Tarc business.”

  Lord Erama laughed lightly. “Senator Ereis. I’d swear you were obsessed with the place.” He gestured for the Hie’shi to accompany him. “Why don’t you come with me into that conference room over there and we’ll discuss it? No one’s using it.”

  “Thank you,” Senator Ereis said, following him. “However, I should tell you that you’re not exactly wrong in suggesting I may have something of an obsession when it comes to this world. I have been giving Imraec Tarc rather more than a little thought.”

  They entered the conference room, a small attachment to the foyer, and Lord Erama closed the door. “You’re concerned about Katara, I take it.”

  “Obviously, that’s a part of it,” Senator Ereis replied. He took the seat that Lord Erama offered. “Ah, thank you.”

  “Yes,” he continued. “It is high time and then some that something is done for Katara. But I have some more private concerns as well.”

  “Concerning our rogue field agent?” Lord Erama asked him.

  “Well, yes.”

  “As I recall,” Lord Erama said, “you were quite vocal in your efforts to persuade me to send someone after him.”

  “I was,” the senator said. “And I still am. If he can be captured, he should be brought in. However, I wonder, between you and I, whether we should begin preparations for a full-scale military intervention now.”

  Lord Erama frowned. “To the best
of my recollection, in our various discussions on Imraec Tarc, you were part of the camp that argued that we should wait until an attempt to bring back Deramar Ardeis had been made before undertaking any such preparations.”

  Senator Ereis waved his avian-like hand in a gesture of appeasement. “And we still should. I am not advocating any hasty actions here or suggesting that we should act recklessly. However, while overzealousness is one thing, preparation is an entirely different matter.”

  The senator leaned forward. “The Hie’shi authorities have sources of their own. And it’s recently come to our attention that rumors are circulating regarding your missing field agent.”

  “What rumors?”

  “That your man is quite well,” Senator Ereis replied.

  “Too well?” Lord Erama asked, noting what the Hie’shi didn’t say.

  The senator waved his hand once more, this time in a dismissive gesture. “They’re rumors, Lord Erama. Not facts. At least not proven as such at this point in time. However, should there be any truth in them, then Deramar Ardeis has become quite close with the leaders of Imraec Tarc.”

  Lord Erama’s eyes narrowed. “And who’s spreading these rumors?”

  “I don’t know for certain, Lord Erama,” Senator Ereis replied. “But I’ve heard that they originated with the pirates and mercenaries who are busily undermining the effectiveness of our sanctions. And honest men and women who come into contact with them through no fault of their own. And by various means, our sources have comes across them as well.”

  Lord Erama was quiet for a moment. He leaned back, three of his four arms crossed against his chest while he stroked his chin with his remaining free hand.

  “I wonder,” he said, “whether you could satisfy me on a point of curiosity. To the best of my knowledge, while there are plenty of scumbags from the fringe who smuggle weapons and supplies to Imraec Tarc, they seem to deal mainly with the large group of humans and other familiar species that live on the world.”

  Senator Ereis shrugged. “What of it?”