Shell game, p.3
Shell Game, page 3
part #15 of The Last Hunter Series
The layout of the DuPont system was peculiar, but from everything he’d read, its oddities could be easily explained by a rogue star passing through the system at some point in the past. That would’ve disrupted a lot of planetary orbits and potentially broken up the second world into the asteroid belt that is present today. One would’ve figured that there should have been other planets left behind, but the simplest explanation was most often the truth, and that’s what he’d go with.
Derek pursed his lips. “Since the Tardans can’t speak Confederation standard, that makes me wonder exactly what they’re doing. I suppose it’s possible they’re making sure that no weapons are being constructed, but that seems like it wouldn’t be the full story. Their goals in the Confederation are simple. They intend to take over and probably hope to make humans into hosts for themselves, though I don’t believe that will prove very effective. Regex has been clear that they wouldn’t be able to override a sentient host like they do with their current bodies, and the attempts of the first group in the cluster ended up failing. There must be more to the story, but it’s going to take some digging to figure it out.”
“We’ve been looking at what the Locust swarms are doing, and unfortunately, we haven’t been able to determine where they’re getting their orders from. It seems as if the vast majority of them are pursuing predetermined courses, so there’s not anything to dictate looking at any one area of the belt. There are a couple of Tardan warships that are sending commands, but we can’t assume that they use the master control codes. Based on what we’ve learned thus far, it’s probable they have more limited authority, and if we were to take over a ship with those codes, they could be overridden.”
Sadly, none of the information they’d been able to gather would make their job any easier. Lacking an easy target, they have to come up with a way of narrowing it down to just a few locations to look at more closely. If they’d had unlimited time, that wouldn’t be a problem, but they couldn’t wait forever.
“What about local intelligence sources?” he asked. “Maybe someone who has been here for a while would know more information than we do. All of you are from here, so you are the perfect people to ask if you know someone who would be safe to contact. McDonald, what about your family? Would they be easy to reach? If you got into contact with them, would they be willing to help?”
The other man nodded. “They’d be willing to help, but locating them might be a bit challenging. It’s been almost ten years since I’ve been here, and they were always changing the locations where they worked inside the belt. If there’s a big strike somewhere, they’ll move into that area to see if there are other things nearby worth prospecting. There are mechanisms that people here use to locate others within the system, but we’d be exposing ourselves a bit by using them.”
“What kind of mechanisms are we talking about?” he asked as he crossed his arms. “Some type of directory that keeps track of where ships are? I suppose that would be useful, but it seems like it would be a huge pain to maintain.”
“Something like that, sir. Every ship in the system is supposed to register the location that they’re going to be in and how long they expect to remain. If it’s being used during this occupation, it should be possible to query it and find out where my family is located. The trouble is that we have to make contact with the people that maintain it. They will want to know who we are, and I’m not sure that they’d accept our explanation of being a secret Confederation Navy spy ship.”
Derek chuckled. “Confederation Intelligence, Chief. We’re only passengers. That sounds more like something that Tina should be engaged with, and I vote we let her do that while we come up with a plan for what we will do once we have that information. What about the rest of you? Would contacting your families or friends be a good point for us to pursue? Any interesting contacts?”
One of the other Navy personnel hesitantly raised her hand. “I used to date someone who worked as a low-level manager in one of the manufacturing facilities. It obviously didn’t work out, but we parted on decent terms. It’s been six years, and he might be at the low end of middle management by now. He was a bright guy, so I’m not going to rule that out. If we’re looking for a way into one of those places, he might be the key.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Derek said with a nod. “Who are you again?”
“Able Spacer Diana Papadopoulos, sir.”
“Thank you for the suggestion. Does anyone else have any contacts that might be helpful?”
In their responses, it was made clear that the remaining folks did have people that they could speak to, but none of them were directly associated with areas that he might consider top-tier. Even so, the fact that they knew what was going on here would help guide them into not making any critical mistakes that would trip them up when the time came to establish contact. That was the purpose they’d been brought along for, and their advice would prove critical. Of that he had no doubt.
Once he dismissed them back to going over the scan data, he considered what he’d learned. There was no reason that they couldn’t combine meeting with this manager and querying the database to learn where McDonald’s family was currently located. Even so, he was hesitant to suggest that course of action. Meeting up with the prospectors in an isolated area of the belt would have a much lower chance of going bad than slipping into one of the major manufacturing facilities.
The hatch behind him slid open, and he turned to watch a Tardan in a Confederation Navy uniform step through. “Ensign Vassen. Your timing is impeccable.”
“I’m always pleased to assist where possible, Admiral. I wanted to see if I might be able to provide some assistance with some of the data that we’re getting. While I’m not from the Tardan military, it’s possible that I might provide some insight, but only if I’m available to do so.”
“We’re hoping to avoid going around the Tardan military for right now, but it seems as if we will likely be making an appearance at one of the manufacturing centers, and the chances of running into Tardans there are higher. While I don’t have any questions about what we’re going to encounter, I am curious how you see us being able to leverage your presence to our advantage based on how things seem to be shaking out.”
The young officer stopped a few steps away and put his hands behind his back as he assumed a position of rest. “I believe the best method of utilizing my presence is if we need to get something where the Tardans are located. If I were to be inserted into an area of Tardan occupation, it is unlikely that I would receive any serious questioning so long as I could adequately disguise my origin and deter anyone from asking inopportune questions.”
Derek nodded. “You’re not wrong, but while it’s likely that we’ll need to use you once we know where the master control codes are located, it’s also possible that we could use you in scouting an area of interest. If you run into any Tardan military personnel, would you be able to lull them long enough to disassociate yourself?”
The slender alien shrugged. Derek knew that wasn’t a natural gesture for the Tardan people, so it was something he picked up in the Confederation and was utilized to help communicate more effectively with humans.
“I’m hesitant to say if I could do so completely because the proof is in the pudding, as someone once told me. I know what pudding is, but I’m uncertain how it’s used to prove anything. In any case, I believe my ability to fool anyone will be directly connected to how long I have to speak with them. If it is a brief interaction, I should be able to detach myself again. If it’s an in-depth conversation, things become much more difficult. I would recommend only utilizing me in such a manner when it’s absolutely necessary because the chances of things going wrong increase exponentially with the amount of time I have to spend in the presence of my former countrymen.”
“Understood. I’m not directly calling the shots on this operation, but I’ll make sure that Admiral Romanoff is aware of your feelings. No matter what we do, I can assure you that we will take every precaution to be certain that we don’t put you in unnecessary danger. That isn’t to say you aren’t going to be at risk, but we’ll try to manage it as well as we can. I wanted to thank you for volunteering to come along on this mission. Your presence might very well make the difference between success and failure.”
“It’s my duty, sir. In addition to that, I have unique perspectives to bring to this problem, and it would be wrong of me to deny you everything I can bring to the table. One way or the other, we will get those master control codes, sir. I’ll make certain to do my part to make that happen.”
“I’m sure you will. Thank you.”
The young officer inclined his head. “If you will excuse me, I believe I will get a bit of rest. The timing of when my presence might prove most efficacious is murky, and I should be as prepared as I can be.”
“Good idea. We’ll let you know as soon as we know anything.”
Once Vassen had left the bridge, Derek turned his attention to the passive sensors. Over the last several years, he’d grown more used to fighting than anything else, but this was a completely different kind of mission. He had no doubt that they would carry it off successfully because each of them was willing to give their lives to make that happen. Still, it wouldn’t be easy.
He could only hope that Lady Luck was willing to smile at them. There would be surprises, and they would have to be prepared to capitalize on them, but very often, the good was accompanied by the bad. If they caught a bad break, it might mean the end of the mission and stir up their enemy. They would do everything they could to avoid that, but without knowing what was coming, it was hard to guess whether an unexpected surprise would be a boon or lead to their deaths. Or both.
4
Patrick Tebbe stepped into the corridor leading away from the airlock and nodded at a couple of maintenance workers as he passed. They gave him strange looks because he probably shouldn’t be where he was, but he had a clipboard in his hand, which gave him enough official appearance to allow himself to pass without too much worry about being stopped and questioned.
He was dressed in a nondescript set of coveralls that would have fit in just about any particular set of circumstances, and he had a hat jauntily perched on top of his head that read “inspector.” There were circumstances under which he still would be questioned, but if he was unlucky enough to come across someone determined to find out who he was and what he was doing in this restricted area, he’d deal with it. And them.
The control panel in the lift offered a dozen different levels to go to, and they were thankfully all labeled. One of them indicated it went to a promenade, so that was likely a public area. The lift itself was probably restricted, but since he’d come in on the side that was supposed to be protected, he’d be fine.
Once he depressed the button leading to the promenade, he stepped back and considered his reflection in the polished metal of the control panel. An older man with laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. They weren’t even false because he found humor in quite a few things, though occasionally ones that weren’t particularly acceptable in society. He’d blend in just fine wherever he needed to go, and that was always pleasant for him.
He’d followed the two battleships from New Paris to DuPont, though he’d kept as large a distance as he could to try and minimize the opportunity for his supposed friends to detect his ship using whatever strange sensors they’d come up with. He’d been half inclined to doubt what Lisa had told him, but it wasn’t his nature to disregard a threat simply because he didn’t have proof.
His friend and now lover had a certain deviousness to her, but he wasn’t convinced she was lying. That meant it was best to believe her, and that meant quickly entering the system and losing himself amongst the debris of the shattered planet that made up the second orbital path around the giant star.
No one had detected his approach to the belt, and he’d parked his ship safely in a massive crater on a rocky asteroid that wouldn’t be of interest to anyone. That done, he’d used his cutter to come to one of the nearby areas that were heavily occupied by humans. There were civilian stations and a massive refinery and manufacturing complex.
He’d avoided the latter because it might be more protected, and there were Tardan warships fairly close by. The civilian areas were not being watched so closely, and that allowed him to park his cutter on the underside of the civilian station in an area that didn’t look like it received any traffic. In the shadows, as it was, its dark hull would not stand out.
A short jaunt in one of the Confederation spacesuits he had on hand got him into the station through one of the maintenance airlocks, and now he was well on his way to being in an area of the station where no one would pay him the slightest mind. So long as one looked like they belonged, questions would be minimal. He’d learned that lesson over centuries of doing exactly this kind of work, and while it had failed on occasion, it had succeeded much more often.
The lift doors opened, and he stepped out onto a promenade in truth. It was a raised area overlooking what had to be a central shopping area because there were stores selling all manner of goods. What did the people here in the Confederation call that kind of place again? A mall? That was the word. It was amazing how normal things looked. One almost wouldn’t expect the area to have been invaded by aliens.
A glance back at the lift revealed that it did have a key card access lock, so he’d been correct in his assumption that the maintenance areas sat right behind the regular operational sections of the station. Space was always at a premium, so he wasn’t shocked.
He took off his hat and secured it to the clipboard. Now, it wouldn’t stand out nearly as much, and he could get on with his business. It wouldn’t be very long before Lisa and her friends began probing the system, and he wanted to do his part to help ensure they found all the information they needed.
The fact that some of his former countrymen had attached themselves to this invasion meant that the Confederation was going to clash with the Kingdom of Kastelara at some point, which was unfortunate. Even with the distance between the two galactic polities, there would be war. The only way he could help this particular situation and the people trying to save this group of humans that he found himself so attached to was to try to minimize the time it took fighting the Poseidon Group and the Tardan military.
Lisa and her associates would no doubt be trying to figure out where the Tardan military officers kept the codes that controlled the locusts. He wasn’t going to involve himself in that as they were more than capable of accomplishing that portion of their goals. He would focus on the Poseidon Group, though he would certainly pass along any information about the Tardans that he got.
That made him smile a bit as he walked down the promenade. They almost certainly didn’t expect him to be here, and his presence would shock them. Well, probably not Lisa. She knew him better than anyone else, and he was coming to appreciate her as well. She might not be precisely a kindred soul, but she was certainly someone that he could work with, and the attraction was undeniable. She was a very beautiful woman and someone worthy of his attention and courtship.
Time would tell if she shared that particular view of him.
He took an opportunity to stop at a clothier and purchase civilian clothing that blended more effectively aboard the station. Once he had changed, the hat and clipboard went into one of the bags with his old coveralls. Now, he was just another shopper making his way through the large mall, and he wouldn’t stand out in the slightest.
With his new disguise complete, he needed a location from which to work. While it would be possible for him to hack his way into the computer systems and locate some out-of-the-way spot, he preferred working and living with a bit more luxury than that. Fortunately, he had a lot of experience in doing that kind of thing, and locating a rental office that could set him up wouldn’t be a problem at all. After a few minutes consulting a directory, he was quickly on his way to one of the offices that could provide him exactly what he needed.
The trip took him from the common shopping area to a more office-style environment, and he found the particular set of rooms he was looking for and entered. The sign next to the hatch indicated this was Meridian Realty and Office Space. The directory had indicated it was a group that could rent both personal living spaces and offices, which were scattered throughout this facility and in other areas of the belt through collaborations with similar companies.
He stepped inside and took a moment to glance over the office itself. It was a well-done commercial space that wasn’t overly luxurious but did have enough touches to make it look upscale. It was a delicate balance, yet this company managed it well. He nodded his approval and stepped over to the desk at the other end of the compartment.
The young man seated there was wearing a headset but not engaged in a conversation. He smiled up at Patrick. “Welcome to Meridian Realty and Office Space. How may I assist you today?”
“I’m looking to find an office with adequate data connections and a temporary living space. If I could get the two together, that would be preferable. Something relatively spacey would be more to my taste, and I understand that it will cost more, but it will be worth the price. Quick access to good eateries and other entertainment would be appreciated as well.”
“We can certainly help you with that, Mister…”
“Nash. Patrick Nash.”
“Of course, Mister Nash. If you would care to take a seat for a moment, I’ll see if one of our specialists is prepared to assist you. Might I get you some coffee while you wait?”
Patrick considered that for a moment and then nodded. “I believe that would be good. I hope you have a decent blend.”
