A dead end, maybe?
08 Dec 2020Sheronimo
As we are jumping to Prism, Jeff tells me the story of his ancestor, getting his butt pasted at the first battle of the forming of the Empire, some 1000 years ago, Admiral Richard Morgan. "The Great Battle of Liberation" it is called. He recalls some of his family being, almost embarrassed by the history, when it is told publicly. Probably not good to have a famous Admiral in the family who is remembered as a bully, but, at least he has a family history. Too many times in this life, I have seen people slip through the cracks, entire families disappear, with nothing left behind. Space is truly, a dangerous place. We arrive in the system 9 jumps later, and proceed to the planet where the coordinates said to go. 280,000 LS away from the star, on the surface, opposite side as Hugh Reformatory. We keep the station on the back side of the planetoid and approach the surface. I use a monitor, and zoom in on the coordinates. There is nothing there, just a large crater in the ground. Coordinates are dead center of the hole. I feel dread in my chest, dead end, damn! I don't say anything, just let Jeff see it as we approach. He looks at me, and I can see he feels the same, damn! "Let's land on the edge and take a look around," I say, "I mean, we are here, so, might as well look, right?" We touch down on the south end of the crater. Along the edge, you can see small bits of what was some ground base/house/installation, or whatever was here. Debris, roads and trails leading away, and even a small path, like it was the garden entrance. Inside the crater, dirt, rocks, and..... glass. Glass is formed when a meteor, or something similar, strikes a surface, but, at high speed and even higher temps. This was either a weapon of mass destruction, or, a natural event. I get into an SRV, leaving the guards, and Jeff, at the ship, and head down into the crater for a closer look.As I drive down the outer edge of the crater, my wavescanner picks up man-made objects, just inside scanner range. I keep the SRV pointed towards it and I go for about 10 minutes. Now the wavescanner is almost yelling that I am right on top of it. I clear one more hill, and there it is. A makeshift shelter, made from, well, just about everything. I see SRV parts, ship parts, settlement sections, and, even a small dome for what looks like a Hydroponics building. "Well, I'll be, maybe it's not a dead end after all," said Jeff, who is monitoring remotely. I stop the SRV about 100 meters from the settlement and turn on my lights. Nothing, no sound, no lights, no, nothing. "Jeff, keep an eye out, I'll circle the place." I start moving to my right, and slowly start circling this little, uh, home, maybe? As I round the first building, a bit of movement gets my attention, I stop, back up, and turn towards the movement, and there, I see, uh, someone. They are walking towards the SRV, limping, dragging a leg, and the suit looks huge on the person, the helmet blocks their face. I open the comm system, "HALT!, do not approach the SRV. Identify yourself!" "I hear a comm open, and a gritty voice says one word, "code." What, Code is their name? Do they want a code, or, do they need a code. Huh, wait, on the key, it had entry codes to this, uh, hole in the ground. I think I remember reading...... Loren one. "Loren one," I say in the comm. The person stops, drops down to their knees, and motions for me to approach. Very interesting indeed. As I crawl the SRV up on them, an explosion near breaks the silence. Debris flies everywhere, one piece hitting the mystery person. More explosions, I hear Jeff on the comms, "Bounty collectors have arrived, they are leveling the place, we have to go, NOW!" I can't just leave this person here, they obviously know something. I drop the cargo scoop, and say, "Jump into the cargo scoop, HURRY!" I see them limp quickly towards me, and fall into the scoop, the SRV mechanism sucks them inside and give me the sound of a successful cargo scoop. I turn the SRV and floor it, full power. "I'm on the move Jeff, enroute back to the ship." He answers, "I'll be ready, HURRY!" I fly back towards the ship, climbing the side of the crater rapidly, I hit the edge so fast, the SRV launches into the air and we fly right over the ship. As I hit the ground, weapon fires erupts all around the SRV, some hitting the shields, I turn hard and get under the ship so the shields will protect me. As the SRV docks in, I feel the ship lift off and boost 90 degrees straight up. The bandits continue to fire at us as we climb, I can't even get out of the SRV due to the G forces. Finally, after I hear the shields fail, we jump into supercruise. Just then, "WANTED" pops up on the right display.
Way too close for comfort, way too close. I'm an idiot, this is going to get us killed. I'm not even sure we should head back to the carrier. I have visions of 25 bounty hunters circling it. This was someone's home alright, but, it was no secret home filled with riches. This persons location was important to them, that is for sure. I shout up to Jeff, "Head for Sawait, let's get some bounties cleaned up before we return to base." "I'll try, but, these hunters aren't going to stop. The bounty must be huge," said Jeff. "Then maybe I should just kill you both," says a voice from behind me. Someone has walked up on me while I am crawling out of the SRV. I slowly turn to see it's our cargo mystery person, still in the helmet, with a rifle to my head. "Is this how you repay a rescue?" "WHY ARE YOU HERE" he shouts at me. "Don't you even want to know who we are?" "NO!" "Ok, well, do you know the last name Loren?" "Yes, its my last name," he offers. "Ok, well, it was the last name of dead people I found in the Coalsack. We are investigating their death." "And the code you gave me came from where?" "From their database, thanks to their servant, who has been assisting us after he was rescued." "He hesitates for a few seconds, lowers the weapon, offers the butt of the rifle to me, then proceeds to remove his helmet. He is an old man, very old, and obviously in pain. "You need help, let me take a look at you." He sits down on a ledge next to the SRV bay. I grab a handheld and scan him. Multiple broken bones, internal bleeding, alarm rings on the handheld, vitals dropping slowly. "I need to get you to a medical facility, right now." "NO, It's too late for me, listen carefully," he says, choking and coughing. He reaches in his pocket, hands me another data key. "That key has some data on it, my family history, and my day to day log of my own investigation into where John came from, and where he was taken illegally." He chokes and coughs again. " He is the key, find his history, and you will find the kidnappers." "I got close, and came here to hide after they threatened my family." "I failed him, but, now, maybe, I can change that, help...... him." The man slumps, and falls to the floor. My handheld shows flatline, with a steady tone. I shut it off, place it back in the med bag. I turn away from the old man, wipe tears from my face, and reflect. John, kidnapped, so, he is an illegal, just like we are trying to stop. Thats how the Lorens got involved, they bought an illegal, but, on purpose, or, by accident? More questions, maybe this key will have more answers. Just then, the sound of an interdiction tunnel appears, and the ship starts to lurch.