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Katel is witness to a strange event that gets him thinking...
Do you take sugar
one lump or two?
The next morning, Prax was in the magazine, overseeing the repairs. The place was unrecognizable. To replace everything that had been damaged, the station’s repair crew had to rip up most of the floor and temporarily remove the entire accelerator assembly. Katel poked his head into the room. “Prax, I’m going aboard the station for a few hours. Can you do without me?”
“Hm? Where are you going?”
“Anri invited me out for coffee. Care to join us?”
Prax laughed. “I don’t think I should. Besides, I have to watch these guys.”
“Alright. Call me if there are any emergencies.”
He lingered by the door, and Prax gave him a look. “Waiting for me to order you to stay?”
He walked off. “No!”
He walked through the halls, wringing his paws. He hadn’t had coffee with Anri since the robbery, but now it looked like there was no getting out of it. He shook his head. ‘It’s not like we get robbed every day…’
He walked past a computer room and stopped, poking his head inside. “Oh, Jolan! Your group is cleared for shore leave, what are you still doing here?”
Jolan had moved from reading on a data pad to reading on a proper monitor, which he quickly switched to a blank page. “Well, I might later. I’m just making use of the fast internet speeds here to get some information. If you need to use the computer here I can-”
“No, Pilot, that’ll be alright. I want you to take a break sometime today, though, that’s an order!”
“Yes, sir!”
Katel nodded, then left. Jolan turned back to the screen, bringing up an article. “Beryo’s Brain: Strong AI Policy in the Atriean Empire” was the title, and it contained some heavy philosophical and legal mumbo jumbo Jolan was only able to half-read. It was only confirming what he already believed anyway, so it was getting him nowhere. If he was to confirm his suspicions, he was going to have to look somewhere other than old case files and philosophy papers. He perked up slightly and closed the paper. “I know…”
He searched for and accessed a list of professors from a seminar he had attended eight years prior. He remembered the name of one of the presenters the moment he laid eyes on it. He sent the man an e-mail (Atrieans called them ‘digital snowflakes,’ but most translations to English changed this phrase to e-mail) to introduce himself. As Jolan had hoped, fifteen minutes later, he received a response, and an invitation to a video call. He accepted. A snowy rat squinted at him from the screen. “Good morning, Dr. Retf, my name is Jolan. I hope I’m not bothering you.” Jolan said.
He smiled good-naturedly. “Bothering me? Never! I always have time to talk to a fellow AASA member! Plus, your e-mail said it was urgent. Has something happened?”
Jolan scratched his head awkwardly. It was too late to second guess himself now, he had already made the call. “Well, sir, first I should say I attended your lecture eight years ago. At the AI symposium on Yera?”
“Oh, yes! It was on early Atriean AI experiments, and the concept of digital dread, yes?”
“Yes, that was it. Very impressive work… I need your help, as an AASA member.”
“My help? I can give you information, but I don’t see what help I can be from Atriea. Your e-mail indicated you were in Solar Federation space!”
“I think… I think there’s an artificial being here. In my fleet.”
Dr. Retf’s expression became serious. “What?! You have more authority to act on this than I!”
“I don’t know for certain if this person is a Strong AI! It could just be a very good Weak AI. That’s what everyone else believes.”
“But you do not?”
“If there’s anything I’ve learned from being in AASA, it’s how to spot a SAI. I just need… confirmation. Look, I’m sending you a mission report. It describes the actions of the individual I suspect. Please read it thoroughly.”
The man nodded. “I will. I’ll also get in contact with my detective friend and a few other members of AASA.”
“Don’t make too much noise, I might be wrong.”
“I know. Er, one more thing. What sparked all this suspicion? Something must have given you a hint that there was intelligence in this individual.”
“She said… she didn’t like leaving her ship. But it sounded so real, like I was talking to an Atriean. WAI don’t have preferences, I shouldn’t have to tell you that.”
Retf glanced at his computer. “Ah, I have the report… Well, if Cutie really does have feelings, we’ll find out. Use your position on your ship to find out as much as you can about Cutie. If you can get me a copy of her specs, we’d get to the bottom of this in a matter of hours, but right now all we can do is speculate. Expect further messages from me.”
“Alright, Professor. Goodbye.”
“Good luck, Jolan.”
Katel walked into the coffee shop and glanced around quickly. It seemed Anri hadn’t arrived yet. He ordered a black Colombian roast and a sweet French vanilla and sat at one of the corner tables. He wondered if he had enough time to give his winter coat a quick comb but was stopped by a voice before he could even reach into his pocket. “Sorry I’m late!”
He slid one of the cups across the table as Anri sat down. “It’s alright…”
She took a quick sip, then recoiled. “Ah! Too sweet! This is yours, Katel.”
He fumbled to switch the cups, then stared down at the froth on his coffee. “Sorry. How are the repairs coming?”
Anri sighed. “I’ve been dealing with this station’s crew for a whole day, I don’t want to talk about repairs anymore. Ugh, they nearly decompressed my lab! Can you believe that?!”
He chuckled a little but only managed to say “I guess.”
“You guess? Katel, is something the matter? You aren’t your usual conversational self.”
“Oh, sorry. I suppose I’m just in a slump this morning.”
“Up late?”
“Up early.”
She nodded sagely. “Ah, so I have Prax to blame for your mood, eh?”
“I guess.”
This answer did not satisfy Anri. “That’s not it, is it?”
“Quit prying.” Katel’s voice had an edge, but Anri knew he wasn’t trying to be mean.
“I’m sorry, it’s just you’re usually very open. I’ve never had to pry until now.”
Katel nodded and placed a paw over his eyes. “Alright… I think we should… scale back our friendship.”
“What?”
“I think, um, for someone in my position, it’s not appropriate.”
Anri was turning red but since Katel refused to look up from his coffee he didn’t notice. “That’s insect shit! Scale back… where did this come from, all of a sudden?!”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything-”
“No, we’re going to talk about this. Why wouldn’t our friendship be appropriate? I’m a civilian, and even if I wasn’t, there’s no rule against being friends with someone you serve with.”
“I-I know, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea… g-given recent events.”
Anri leaned back. Saying all this was clearly difficult for Katel, and for some reason, her too. “Oh… You’re saying… you’re afraid your objectivity might be compromised? By me?”
“Yeah. I-It’s been a problem with me before, I…”
She reached out and placed her paw on his, shaking his paw firmly. “But we got out! You kept your objectivity, we both survived and those bastards were caught!”
Katel pocketed both his paws. “I know! But I never told you how hard it was not to throw myself on that woman… If our friendship ever got deeper, I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself next time.”
The chatter of the crowd sounded like silence to the two. Anri was uncomfortable with silences. “I see. Katel, if-”
There was to be no more conversation, as a loud bang accompanied with a worrying amount of shaking suddenly swept through the station. Katel leaped to his feet, casting his gaze over the couple dozen officers on shore leave. He picked some out. “Bregman! Nemag! Banson! Come with me! The rest of you stay put!”
The three came forward, Bregman downing his coffee first. “Hey, sir-”
“No time for chit-chat, Bregman, that explosion sounded like it came from one of the airlocks! Follow me!”
The four ran out the door and were immediately met with a wall of smoke which was billowing through the halls. People dashed away from it, including a Human who barreled into Anri. “Oof!”
Anri nearly fell over, and the Human tried to dart away, but Katel grabbed him. “Hey! Let me go!”
“What’s going on?! What was that explosion!?”
“I don’t know! Wait… You’re Atriean, aren’t you!?”
“Yes, I-”
“Quick! Arrest me! Before they-”
“Halt!”
Five Solar Federation officers jogged through the smoke. The Commander among them brandished a stun pistol. She was a tall woman with her brown hair tied back, and Katel could tell her aim was impeccable just by how steadily she held her hands and how laser focused her fiery green speckled eyes were on the man who was now cowering behind him. “Ah, good morning, First Officer. I meant to say hi to your captain and crew yesterday but things have been busy, I’m sorry we’re meeting like this.”
“Likewise. Do you have business with this man?”
The Human tried to run again, but Katel yanked him back with surprising ease. The man wasn’t very strong. The Commander nodded. “We do. He was seen running from that explosion, we believe him to be responsible.”
Katel frowned. If this was a crime and not an accident, he didn’t want to get involved. “Very well.”
He brought the man forward, and has he handed him over to the Commander, he whispered hoarsely. “Help-”
“Thank you!” The Commander said, before turning swiftly and walking back through the rapidly thinning smoke.
“Wait! We’d like to know-”
The Commander called back without slowing down. “There’s no more danger, so please don’t trouble yourself!”
They disappeared into a staff only elevator. Katel frowned. “Hmm.”
“That was weird!” Anri said.
“Yeah, that Commander was obviously lying to us.”
Katel and Anri both turned to Bregman and spoke in unison. “How do you know?”
He laughed. “You saw how fast she left. She didn’t try to explain anything, or even invite you over for dinner.”
“It’s a busy station, Bregman, they don’t have time to throw a welcoming party for every Atriean Military vessel that docks here.”
“I bet you a hundred credits that we’re the only Atriean Military vessel that’s docked here in the past six months. She practically fled from us with that guy.”
“Hmm. For now, the situation seems to be contained. Dismissed.”
The officers wandered off, but Bregman remained. “Hey, I’m telling you there’s something weird-”
“Pilot, you’ve made your observations clear. I will speak to Prax about this, don’t worry.”
He grumbled, then walked off down the promenade. Anri had been so caught up in the excitement, she had forgotten what she and Katel were talking about. “I think Bregman might be onto something… That man looked terrified.”
Katel took out a data pad and flipped through it. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Anri, looks like coffee will have to wait. I’m going to investigate… but first I have to talk to Prax.”
She nodded slowly. “O-oh, alright. Um, Katel, we really need to talk about… this. Later.”
“Yes, we do. I’ll call you.”
Anri nodded, and he pocketed the data pad. He let his eyes linger on her face. ‘How would you ever safely be with this woman, Katel, if you can’t even bring yourself to walk away from her?’
He turned and walked away.
Bregman stormed along the promenade. “That damn Human! All he could say was “Arrest me?!” We can’t act on that!”
He spotted a repair crew cordoning off a section of the station. Bregman put on his most professional face, adjusted his name tag and approached. “Hey you!”
One of the repairmen looked up. “Uh, step back please. There was an accident.”
“An accident?”
The repairman nodded. “Yes, looks like a life support malfunction. Everything’s safe, we’re just making sure it stays that way. If you want to get through, you can go through the gift shop.”
“Oh, I see…”
Bregman grinned and stared at the Human. Taking this as some sort of cue to leave, the Human sidled away awkwardly. Bregman pulled out his S-Com, dialing. “Zia! What are you doing right now?!”
“Hmm? I’m relaxing, is what. It’s my day off!”
“Are you in your cabin?”
“Yes-”
“Pour me a drink, I’ve got a bombshell for you.”
Prax didn’t take much urging from Katel to call a meeting. He ordered Sella, Walf and Viks to join them in his office, where Katel explained in detail what he saw. Once he finished, Prax spoke. “This is hardly enough evidence to make any official inquiries, but it raises one too many questions. The first thing we need to do is gather some more information without violating any of the Solar Federation’s laws. Katel was a military investigator for three years, so I’m going to be putting him in charge of this. Katel?”
Katel nodded to Prax. “Right. As of this moment, all I have is suspicion. I don’t even have a crime to go on, so for now we’re going to probe into this as passively as possible. Sella, I want you to take a scan of the airlock where that explosion occurred. Don’t let any station personnel see you taking scans.”
Sella sat up. “Oh, you want me to find out what kind of explosion it was, right?”
“Precisely. The story the Commander gave us was that the Human might have planted a bomb. Verify that.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Walf, I want you to board the station as well. Walk around. Talk to people. Get a feel for the place. Don’t poke your nose anywhere a normal civilian wouldn’t. If you hear anything suspicious, report to me right away.”
“Easy enough, sir!”
“Viks, I want you to help Prax with something.”
“Oh, it would be my pleasure, Captain!”
Prax chuckled. “Don’t you want to hear what it is?”
“Well, yes.”
“There’s very little information about this station on our network, since it is Human. I’m going to contact the Intergovernmental Info Exchange and see if I can get something on this place.”
“Oh… Yes sir.”
“One last thing. I’m sorry for cutting your shore leave short, I’ll try and make it up to you.”
The crew glanced around at one another, and Viks answered. “We’re glad to help, sir.”
They left to their tasks. Katel lingered, sensing Prax had something to tell just him. Prax folded his paws together and took a serious tone with his friend. “I trust your instincts on this, but if you don’t find anything in a day, I can’t justify continuing this investigation. A Human in distress on a Terran station falls very far outside our jurisdiction… I’m only authorizing this because, like you told me, you believe that man was about to request asylum. I agree.”
“I understand.”
“Well, get to it.”
“Yes sir.”
Prax watched Katel leave, gathered a stack of data pads and left to join Viks.
Zia had made Bregman a drink with a mild Atriean spirit and a good amount of pacca juice. When he arrived, he gulped it down, then sat in Zia’s comfiest chair. “Zia, there’s something going on over there, on the station. Katel won’t investigate it, but I’m damn sure there’s-”
“Whoa! Bregman, I have no idea what you’re talking about! What’s this something?”
“Something sinister. The station Commander is definitely in on it, too.”
As Bregman recounted the incident, Zia’s face became less annoyed and skeptical and more intrigued. When Bregman finished, Zia tapped a claw to her chin and hummed. “Arrest me? That’s what he said?”
“Yeah. He was terrified.”
“And the repair guy said it was an accident, while the Commander said it was deliberate.”
“She said she suspected it was. You see what I mean, though, right?”
“Yes, and I’m a little surprised Katel isn’t investigating. He was a military investigator, you know.”
“No, I didn’t. He just said he was going to bring it up with Prax. Pff, we both know what that means.”
Zia shrugged, pouring herself some of the spirit. “Sure, but it’s not like we can do anything about it.”
“What do you mean?! Of course we’re going to do something about it!”
Zia forcefully put her cup down, obviously anticipating this. “No, you’re not!”
“No, we are!”
“Bregman!”
“What!? I’m trying to do my duty as a member of the military!”
“You made me a promise when you joined the military. One, your antics wouldn’t get me fired from my lab, and two, you’d completely and utterly quit the life you had before!”
“Well, you’ve already been kicked out of your lab, so-”
“Do not go there!”
“Sorry.”
They fell into an awkward silence, until Bregman continued in a softer voice. “It’s not like I’m actually slipping. I was serious about that promise! I just feel, as a member of the military, that I would be neglecting my duty if I ignored that Human’s plea.”
Zia stood, walking over to Bregman and, pulling him to his feet, yelled: “Not slipping, huh?! Then what’s this?!”
She thrust a familiar necklace in his face, and Bregman nearly had a heart attack. He tried to snatch it away, but Zia was faster. “That’s mine! Give it back!”
“Yours?! You stole this!”
Bregman growled. “You did too. From me! When did you even have a chance to nab it?!”
“Oh, you think I’ve lost my touch just because I spent the last eight years doing something worthwhile? I took it from your cabin last night.”
“Not fair…”
Zia dropped the necklace in her pocket and jabbed a claw at Bregman’s face. He recoiled. “You got a fix, so now you want more. Stealing jewelry, and now I’m guessing you want to break into a secure area of the station? The brig maybe?”
“I’m going aboard the ship whose airlock got attacked. That way I can find out if it really was an accident, then bring it to Prax! Come with me, Zia! It’ll be just like that blue freighter we salvaged near Sern, remember?”
Zia looked away from Bregman. He had the uncanny ability to make a terrible idea sound like a good one, especially to her. She recalled the incident in question, remembering the desolate halls of the freighter and how excited she had been when they found a whole undamaged package of Jof aeropowder. Her mouth almost formed into a smile, until she shook herself from the nostalgic mindset. Yes, it was fun, but her and Bregman’s relationship had been a lot different back then, and she didn’t want to make the mistake of returning to that relationship. “I’m not going. I’ll keep my mouth shut for now, but if I ever catch you doing something like this again, I’ll send you to prison myself.”
Bregman sighed, nodding slowly. “If it means that much to you. Heh, I could never say no to you…”
“Don’t push it.”
“Sorry. Can I have that necklace-”
“No.”
“Alright! Hehe… thanks for the drink.”
“You’re welcome.”
He stood up, nodded to her, then left. Zia slumped in her chair, taking the bottle of spirits and pouring herself a glass.
Jolan had completely forgotten what Katel had told him earlier, and so, hours later, he found himself still in the computer room, reading up on how to transfer data from androids remotely. Apparently, it was far outside his skill range, but that didn’t stop him from reading about it. Prax and Viks strolled in, forcing Jolan to switch to a screen on microelectronics. Even though his cause was a just one, he didn’t want his goals to get out to the rest of the crew, even Carril. Prax looked somewhat shocked that the room was occupied. “Jolan! I haven’t seen you around the station, have you taken shore leave yet?”
“No sir, and I wish people would stop asking… no offence.”
Viks laughed as Prax waved his paw. “No worries, Pilot. We will be needing this room, though, so maybe now would be a good time to check out the Cafe, eh?”
Jolan nodded, copying the info he wanted onto his data pad and closing down the computer he was using. “Yes, sir. Thanks.”
The two didn’t wait, Prax logging into the computer and setting up a link to the massive, securely self-contained network owned and operated by the Solar Federation, the Atriean Empire, and Yera. “Alright, let’s see if my clearance is still high enough to get into the upper-level stuff…”
Commander Lee was probably one of the more dangerous women in the Solar Federation Military, but she wasn’t in the best favor with Earth, so she had been assigned as the commander of a civilian commerce center. It housed over two hundred permanent and temporary workers and saw countless ships a day. Despite this, Lee’s staff was a measly twenty-five soldiers. Obviously, nobody back home thought there needed to be any more than twenty-six military officers aboard, and for the most part, they were right. The Commander found the post boring. She had only fired the station’s weapon platforms once in her year of command, and it was to redirect a hunk of rock. However, she had found more profitable things to do with her time, under the nose of those that had stuck her out here.
She was of a different breed than most of the soldiers she’d served with, and indeed most of the members of her own race she had met. She let avarice, rather than ideals, rule her actions as she pursued a life-long goal seldom seen in Human society since the short-lived prewar years of the 21st century. Of course, she told no one this.
That day she was knee deep in reports from that morning’s “accident.” She cursed her shortsightedness as she wrote the cause of the accident as a ruptured O2 canister that caught fire. She just hoped those Atrieans kept their unusually long noses out of her business. Her door chimed, and in stepped Second Officer Laurence. “Commander, we’ve loaded the cargo. The blues are taking him aboard now.”
“Good work, S.O. Put a watch on the Exile’s airlock just to be safe.”
“I know the perfect man, sir.”
“Good! Civilian clothes. Don’t even bring a weapon.”
“I know the drill, ma’am.”
“That you do.”
Laurence went to leave, but hesitated briefly. “Oh, and the blues told me they already forwarded the usual fee. Did you get it?”
“Yes, yes I did. Tell them, next time, that a more efficient method of corralling cargo is to sell your locks and buy bomb collars.”
The man gulped. “Yes, sir.”
Katel is witness to a strange event that gets him thinking...
Do you take sugar
one lump or two?
The next morning, Prax was in the magazine, overseeing the repairs. The place was unrecognizable. To replace everything that had been damaged, the station’s repair crew had to rip up most of the floor and temporarily remove the entire accelerator assembly. Katel poked his head into the room. “Prax, I’m going aboard the station for a few hours. Can you do without me?”
“Hm? Where are you going?”
“Anri invited me out for coffee. Care to join us?”
Prax laughed. “I don’t think I should. Besides, I have to watch these guys.”
“Alright. Call me if there are any emergencies.”
He lingered by the door, and Prax gave him a look. “Waiting for me to order you to stay?”
He walked off. “No!”
He walked through the halls, wringing his paws. He hadn’t had coffee with Anri since the robbery, but now it looked like there was no getting out of it. He shook his head. ‘It’s not like we get robbed every day…’
He walked past a computer room and stopped, poking his head inside. “Oh, Jolan! Your group is cleared for shore leave, what are you still doing here?”
Jolan had moved from reading on a data pad to reading on a proper monitor, which he quickly switched to a blank page. “Well, I might later. I’m just making use of the fast internet speeds here to get some information. If you need to use the computer here I can-”
“No, Pilot, that’ll be alright. I want you to take a break sometime today, though, that’s an order!”
“Yes, sir!”
Katel nodded, then left. Jolan turned back to the screen, bringing up an article. “Beryo’s Brain: Strong AI Policy in the Atriean Empire” was the title, and it contained some heavy philosophical and legal mumbo jumbo Jolan was only able to half-read. It was only confirming what he already believed anyway, so it was getting him nowhere. If he was to confirm his suspicions, he was going to have to look somewhere other than old case files and philosophy papers. He perked up slightly and closed the paper. “I know…”
He searched for and accessed a list of professors from a seminar he had attended eight years prior. He remembered the name of one of the presenters the moment he laid eyes on it. He sent the man an e-mail (Atrieans called them ‘digital snowflakes,’ but most translations to English changed this phrase to e-mail) to introduce himself. As Jolan had hoped, fifteen minutes later, he received a response, and an invitation to a video call. He accepted. A snowy rat squinted at him from the screen. “Good morning, Dr. Retf, my name is Jolan. I hope I’m not bothering you.” Jolan said.
He smiled good-naturedly. “Bothering me? Never! I always have time to talk to a fellow AASA member! Plus, your e-mail said it was urgent. Has something happened?”
Jolan scratched his head awkwardly. It was too late to second guess himself now, he had already made the call. “Well, sir, first I should say I attended your lecture eight years ago. At the AI symposium on Yera?”
“Oh, yes! It was on early Atriean AI experiments, and the concept of digital dread, yes?”
“Yes, that was it. Very impressive work… I need your help, as an AASA member.”
“My help? I can give you information, but I don’t see what help I can be from Atriea. Your e-mail indicated you were in Solar Federation space!”
“I think… I think there’s an artificial being here. In my fleet.”
Dr. Retf’s expression became serious. “What?! You have more authority to act on this than I!”
“I don’t know for certain if this person is a Strong AI! It could just be a very good Weak AI. That’s what everyone else believes.”
“But you do not?”
“If there’s anything I’ve learned from being in AASA, it’s how to spot a SAI. I just need… confirmation. Look, I’m sending you a mission report. It describes the actions of the individual I suspect. Please read it thoroughly.”
The man nodded. “I will. I’ll also get in contact with my detective friend and a few other members of AASA.”
“Don’t make too much noise, I might be wrong.”
“I know. Er, one more thing. What sparked all this suspicion? Something must have given you a hint that there was intelligence in this individual.”
“She said… she didn’t like leaving her ship. But it sounded so real, like I was talking to an Atriean. WAI don’t have preferences, I shouldn’t have to tell you that.”
Retf glanced at his computer. “Ah, I have the report… Well, if Cutie really does have feelings, we’ll find out. Use your position on your ship to find out as much as you can about Cutie. If you can get me a copy of her specs, we’d get to the bottom of this in a matter of hours, but right now all we can do is speculate. Expect further messages from me.”
“Alright, Professor. Goodbye.”
“Good luck, Jolan.”
Katel walked into the coffee shop and glanced around quickly. It seemed Anri hadn’t arrived yet. He ordered a black Colombian roast and a sweet French vanilla and sat at one of the corner tables. He wondered if he had enough time to give his winter coat a quick comb but was stopped by a voice before he could even reach into his pocket. “Sorry I’m late!”
He slid one of the cups across the table as Anri sat down. “It’s alright…”
She took a quick sip, then recoiled. “Ah! Too sweet! This is yours, Katel.”
He fumbled to switch the cups, then stared down at the froth on his coffee. “Sorry. How are the repairs coming?”
Anri sighed. “I’ve been dealing with this station’s crew for a whole day, I don’t want to talk about repairs anymore. Ugh, they nearly decompressed my lab! Can you believe that?!”
He chuckled a little but only managed to say “I guess.”
“You guess? Katel, is something the matter? You aren’t your usual conversational self.”
“Oh, sorry. I suppose I’m just in a slump this morning.”
“Up late?”
“Up early.”
She nodded sagely. “Ah, so I have Prax to blame for your mood, eh?”
“I guess.”
This answer did not satisfy Anri. “That’s not it, is it?”
“Quit prying.” Katel’s voice had an edge, but Anri knew he wasn’t trying to be mean.
“I’m sorry, it’s just you’re usually very open. I’ve never had to pry until now.”
Katel nodded and placed a paw over his eyes. “Alright… I think we should… scale back our friendship.”
“What?”
“I think, um, for someone in my position, it’s not appropriate.”
Anri was turning red but since Katel refused to look up from his coffee he didn’t notice. “That’s insect shit! Scale back… where did this come from, all of a sudden?!”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything-”
“No, we’re going to talk about this. Why wouldn’t our friendship be appropriate? I’m a civilian, and even if I wasn’t, there’s no rule against being friends with someone you serve with.”
“I-I know, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea… g-given recent events.”
Anri leaned back. Saying all this was clearly difficult for Katel, and for some reason, her too. “Oh… You’re saying… you’re afraid your objectivity might be compromised? By me?”
“Yeah. I-It’s been a problem with me before, I…”
She reached out and placed her paw on his, shaking his paw firmly. “But we got out! You kept your objectivity, we both survived and those bastards were caught!”
Katel pocketed both his paws. “I know! But I never told you how hard it was not to throw myself on that woman… If our friendship ever got deeper, I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself next time.”
The chatter of the crowd sounded like silence to the two. Anri was uncomfortable with silences. “I see. Katel, if-”
There was to be no more conversation, as a loud bang accompanied with a worrying amount of shaking suddenly swept through the station. Katel leaped to his feet, casting his gaze over the couple dozen officers on shore leave. He picked some out. “Bregman! Nemag! Banson! Come with me! The rest of you stay put!”
The three came forward, Bregman downing his coffee first. “Hey, sir-”
“No time for chit-chat, Bregman, that explosion sounded like it came from one of the airlocks! Follow me!”
The four ran out the door and were immediately met with a wall of smoke which was billowing through the halls. People dashed away from it, including a Human who barreled into Anri. “Oof!”
Anri nearly fell over, and the Human tried to dart away, but Katel grabbed him. “Hey! Let me go!”
“What’s going on?! What was that explosion!?”
“I don’t know! Wait… You’re Atriean, aren’t you!?”
“Yes, I-”
“Quick! Arrest me! Before they-”
“Halt!”
Five Solar Federation officers jogged through the smoke. The Commander among them brandished a stun pistol. She was a tall woman with her brown hair tied back, and Katel could tell her aim was impeccable just by how steadily she held her hands and how laser focused her fiery green speckled eyes were on the man who was now cowering behind him. “Ah, good morning, First Officer. I meant to say hi to your captain and crew yesterday but things have been busy, I’m sorry we’re meeting like this.”
“Likewise. Do you have business with this man?”
The Human tried to run again, but Katel yanked him back with surprising ease. The man wasn’t very strong. The Commander nodded. “We do. He was seen running from that explosion, we believe him to be responsible.”
Katel frowned. If this was a crime and not an accident, he didn’t want to get involved. “Very well.”
He brought the man forward, and has he handed him over to the Commander, he whispered hoarsely. “Help-”
“Thank you!” The Commander said, before turning swiftly and walking back through the rapidly thinning smoke.
“Wait! We’d like to know-”
The Commander called back without slowing down. “There’s no more danger, so please don’t trouble yourself!”
They disappeared into a staff only elevator. Katel frowned. “Hmm.”
“That was weird!” Anri said.
“Yeah, that Commander was obviously lying to us.”
Katel and Anri both turned to Bregman and spoke in unison. “How do you know?”
He laughed. “You saw how fast she left. She didn’t try to explain anything, or even invite you over for dinner.”
“It’s a busy station, Bregman, they don’t have time to throw a welcoming party for every Atriean Military vessel that docks here.”
“I bet you a hundred credits that we’re the only Atriean Military vessel that’s docked here in the past six months. She practically fled from us with that guy.”
“Hmm. For now, the situation seems to be contained. Dismissed.”
The officers wandered off, but Bregman remained. “Hey, I’m telling you there’s something weird-”
“Pilot, you’ve made your observations clear. I will speak to Prax about this, don’t worry.”
He grumbled, then walked off down the promenade. Anri had been so caught up in the excitement, she had forgotten what she and Katel were talking about. “I think Bregman might be onto something… That man looked terrified.”
Katel took out a data pad and flipped through it. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Anri, looks like coffee will have to wait. I’m going to investigate… but first I have to talk to Prax.”
She nodded slowly. “O-oh, alright. Um, Katel, we really need to talk about… this. Later.”
“Yes, we do. I’ll call you.”
Anri nodded, and he pocketed the data pad. He let his eyes linger on her face. ‘How would you ever safely be with this woman, Katel, if you can’t even bring yourself to walk away from her?’
He turned and walked away.
Bregman stormed along the promenade. “That damn Human! All he could say was “Arrest me?!” We can’t act on that!”
He spotted a repair crew cordoning off a section of the station. Bregman put on his most professional face, adjusted his name tag and approached. “Hey you!”
One of the repairmen looked up. “Uh, step back please. There was an accident.”
“An accident?”
The repairman nodded. “Yes, looks like a life support malfunction. Everything’s safe, we’re just making sure it stays that way. If you want to get through, you can go through the gift shop.”
“Oh, I see…”
Bregman grinned and stared at the Human. Taking this as some sort of cue to leave, the Human sidled away awkwardly. Bregman pulled out his S-Com, dialing. “Zia! What are you doing right now?!”
“Hmm? I’m relaxing, is what. It’s my day off!”
“Are you in your cabin?”
“Yes-”
“Pour me a drink, I’ve got a bombshell for you.”
Prax didn’t take much urging from Katel to call a meeting. He ordered Sella, Walf and Viks to join them in his office, where Katel explained in detail what he saw. Once he finished, Prax spoke. “This is hardly enough evidence to make any official inquiries, but it raises one too many questions. The first thing we need to do is gather some more information without violating any of the Solar Federation’s laws. Katel was a military investigator for three years, so I’m going to be putting him in charge of this. Katel?”
Katel nodded to Prax. “Right. As of this moment, all I have is suspicion. I don’t even have a crime to go on, so for now we’re going to probe into this as passively as possible. Sella, I want you to take a scan of the airlock where that explosion occurred. Don’t let any station personnel see you taking scans.”
Sella sat up. “Oh, you want me to find out what kind of explosion it was, right?”
“Precisely. The story the Commander gave us was that the Human might have planted a bomb. Verify that.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Walf, I want you to board the station as well. Walk around. Talk to people. Get a feel for the place. Don’t poke your nose anywhere a normal civilian wouldn’t. If you hear anything suspicious, report to me right away.”
“Easy enough, sir!”
“Viks, I want you to help Prax with something.”
“Oh, it would be my pleasure, Captain!”
Prax chuckled. “Don’t you want to hear what it is?”
“Well, yes.”
“There’s very little information about this station on our network, since it is Human. I’m going to contact the Intergovernmental Info Exchange and see if I can get something on this place.”
“Oh… Yes sir.”
“One last thing. I’m sorry for cutting your shore leave short, I’ll try and make it up to you.”
The crew glanced around at one another, and Viks answered. “We’re glad to help, sir.”
They left to their tasks. Katel lingered, sensing Prax had something to tell just him. Prax folded his paws together and took a serious tone with his friend. “I trust your instincts on this, but if you don’t find anything in a day, I can’t justify continuing this investigation. A Human in distress on a Terran station falls very far outside our jurisdiction… I’m only authorizing this because, like you told me, you believe that man was about to request asylum. I agree.”
“I understand.”
“Well, get to it.”
“Yes sir.”
Prax watched Katel leave, gathered a stack of data pads and left to join Viks.
Zia had made Bregman a drink with a mild Atriean spirit and a good amount of pacca juice. When he arrived, he gulped it down, then sat in Zia’s comfiest chair. “Zia, there’s something going on over there, on the station. Katel won’t investigate it, but I’m damn sure there’s-”
“Whoa! Bregman, I have no idea what you’re talking about! What’s this something?”
“Something sinister. The station Commander is definitely in on it, too.”
As Bregman recounted the incident, Zia’s face became less annoyed and skeptical and more intrigued. When Bregman finished, Zia tapped a claw to her chin and hummed. “Arrest me? That’s what he said?”
“Yeah. He was terrified.”
“And the repair guy said it was an accident, while the Commander said it was deliberate.”
“She said she suspected it was. You see what I mean, though, right?”
“Yes, and I’m a little surprised Katel isn’t investigating. He was a military investigator, you know.”
“No, I didn’t. He just said he was going to bring it up with Prax. Pff, we both know what that means.”
Zia shrugged, pouring herself some of the spirit. “Sure, but it’s not like we can do anything about it.”
“What do you mean?! Of course we’re going to do something about it!”
Zia forcefully put her cup down, obviously anticipating this. “No, you’re not!”
“No, we are!”
“Bregman!”
“What!? I’m trying to do my duty as a member of the military!”
“You made me a promise when you joined the military. One, your antics wouldn’t get me fired from my lab, and two, you’d completely and utterly quit the life you had before!”
“Well, you’ve already been kicked out of your lab, so-”
“Do not go there!”
“Sorry.”
They fell into an awkward silence, until Bregman continued in a softer voice. “It’s not like I’m actually slipping. I was serious about that promise! I just feel, as a member of the military, that I would be neglecting my duty if I ignored that Human’s plea.”
Zia stood, walking over to Bregman and, pulling him to his feet, yelled: “Not slipping, huh?! Then what’s this?!”
She thrust a familiar necklace in his face, and Bregman nearly had a heart attack. He tried to snatch it away, but Zia was faster. “That’s mine! Give it back!”
“Yours?! You stole this!”
Bregman growled. “You did too. From me! When did you even have a chance to nab it?!”
“Oh, you think I’ve lost my touch just because I spent the last eight years doing something worthwhile? I took it from your cabin last night.”
“Not fair…”
Zia dropped the necklace in her pocket and jabbed a claw at Bregman’s face. He recoiled. “You got a fix, so now you want more. Stealing jewelry, and now I’m guessing you want to break into a secure area of the station? The brig maybe?”
“I’m going aboard the ship whose airlock got attacked. That way I can find out if it really was an accident, then bring it to Prax! Come with me, Zia! It’ll be just like that blue freighter we salvaged near Sern, remember?”
Zia looked away from Bregman. He had the uncanny ability to make a terrible idea sound like a good one, especially to her. She recalled the incident in question, remembering the desolate halls of the freighter and how excited she had been when they found a whole undamaged package of Jof aeropowder. Her mouth almost formed into a smile, until she shook herself from the nostalgic mindset. Yes, it was fun, but her and Bregman’s relationship had been a lot different back then, and she didn’t want to make the mistake of returning to that relationship. “I’m not going. I’ll keep my mouth shut for now, but if I ever catch you doing something like this again, I’ll send you to prison myself.”
Bregman sighed, nodding slowly. “If it means that much to you. Heh, I could never say no to you…”
“Don’t push it.”
“Sorry. Can I have that necklace-”
“No.”
“Alright! Hehe… thanks for the drink.”
“You’re welcome.”
He stood up, nodded to her, then left. Zia slumped in her chair, taking the bottle of spirits and pouring herself a glass.
Jolan had completely forgotten what Katel had told him earlier, and so, hours later, he found himself still in the computer room, reading up on how to transfer data from androids remotely. Apparently, it was far outside his skill range, but that didn’t stop him from reading about it. Prax and Viks strolled in, forcing Jolan to switch to a screen on microelectronics. Even though his cause was a just one, he didn’t want his goals to get out to the rest of the crew, even Carril. Prax looked somewhat shocked that the room was occupied. “Jolan! I haven’t seen you around the station, have you taken shore leave yet?”
“No sir, and I wish people would stop asking… no offence.”
Viks laughed as Prax waved his paw. “No worries, Pilot. We will be needing this room, though, so maybe now would be a good time to check out the Cafe, eh?”
Jolan nodded, copying the info he wanted onto his data pad and closing down the computer he was using. “Yes, sir. Thanks.”
The two didn’t wait, Prax logging into the computer and setting up a link to the massive, securely self-contained network owned and operated by the Solar Federation, the Atriean Empire, and Yera. “Alright, let’s see if my clearance is still high enough to get into the upper-level stuff…”
Commander Lee was probably one of the more dangerous women in the Solar Federation Military, but she wasn’t in the best favor with Earth, so she had been assigned as the commander of a civilian commerce center. It housed over two hundred permanent and temporary workers and saw countless ships a day. Despite this, Lee’s staff was a measly twenty-five soldiers. Obviously, nobody back home thought there needed to be any more than twenty-six military officers aboard, and for the most part, they were right. The Commander found the post boring. She had only fired the station’s weapon platforms once in her year of command, and it was to redirect a hunk of rock. However, she had found more profitable things to do with her time, under the nose of those that had stuck her out here.
She was of a different breed than most of the soldiers she’d served with, and indeed most of the members of her own race she had met. She let avarice, rather than ideals, rule her actions as she pursued a life-long goal seldom seen in Human society since the short-lived prewar years of the 21st century. Of course, she told no one this.
That day she was knee deep in reports from that morning’s “accident.” She cursed her shortsightedness as she wrote the cause of the accident as a ruptured O2 canister that caught fire. She just hoped those Atrieans kept their unusually long noses out of her business. Her door chimed, and in stepped Second Officer Laurence. “Commander, we’ve loaded the cargo. The blues are taking him aboard now.”
“Good work, S.O. Put a watch on the Exile’s airlock just to be safe.”
“I know the perfect man, sir.”
“Good! Civilian clothes. Don’t even bring a weapon.”
“I know the drill, ma’am.”
“That you do.”
Laurence went to leave, but hesitated briefly. “Oh, and the blues told me they already forwarded the usual fee. Did you get it?”
“Yes, yes I did. Tell them, next time, that a more efficient method of corralling cargo is to sell your locks and buy bomb collars.”
The man gulped. “Yes, sir.”
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 119px
File Size 23 kB
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