Reunion
03 Aug 2019Prochaska
After more than a year of doing mainly transport services for UC, Zoe complained about the monotonous tasks, and Reedings began looking for an alternative. Starting on the 1st of October in 3304, she finally engaged D.V. Rodriguez and his Void Stalkers to do the routine transport jobs.And even later, on the 14th of December 3304, when the alien creature on Weyn Dock was neutralized, Zoe was stranded on the station and called in for transport back to Bluford Orbital, and since Montgomery was occupied, a Void Stalker flight of the two Federal Dropships Scimitar 2 and 4 was assigned for the job.
Weyn Dock had been the place where it all came together. Janos had been searching for Zoe since he had left his job on Mars. Then he finally came across the news of the incident on Weyn Dock, and her name appeared in it. She had already left the station at the time, but Janos investigation revealed that she had left Weyn aboard a Federal Dropship. Although it took Janos till February 3305, he finally managed to locate Scimitar 4, it usually operated in the area between Bluford Orbital, LHS 3447 and Rennie City in MCC 858. Since the ship was currently in dock on Rennie City, he spent his last money on the flight there. There he used modified AutoHacks to gain access to Scimitar 4 when he suddenly heard someone behind him, saying "kinda impressive"; he was still wheeling around when it got dark around him.
He woke up restrained, eyes blindfolded and with a headache. Someone was with him, and he seemed to be talking to his superior via a Communicator. “We have his ID, and the forensic team has scoured through his belongings, well, he's broke, no weapons, but they found some details on his Com. He is obviously looking for Commander Prochaska...” and after a pause: „He studied Astrodynamics on Mars, that might be the connection. We also found out that he has been involved in drug trafficking in Sol back then, but the lucky bastard has evaded apprehension by the FSS”. Again, there was a longer pause, and then he continued. "According to the team, he has modified the autonomous hacks himself with his Com, that much is clear, probably he has acquired the knowledge of the FDS during his work on Mars, with a FSS or Navy FDS the crack would have been successful, his bad luck that we do not use anything off the shelf.” Then, there was silence again. He resumed: „I have been ordered to space him if he causes any trouble on board, the rest is up to you, Major.” That much was clear, these were no ordinary Cops, Janos thought...
Zoe had just been in flight from Colonia to Sagittarius A*, when a priority message popped up in her cockpit. It came from Reedings, titled “consultation required”. She started to read, and stared in disbelief when the name Janos Sikorski appeared in the message. When the disbelief had dispersed, her reaction was defiance. Even being more than 20000 light-years away, she nonetheless felt crushed by his perseverance. She filed a report in which she admitted his talents in computer sciences and her former relationship, but delighted in pointing out his overall uselessness and his drug abuse. In her final note, she made clear that she did not care about him and left the decision about his fate to Reedings. She smiled in triumph when the report was sent, having freed herself of the felt pressure. But Reedings' answer dissolved her comfort zone: “Ok, then we will hand him over to The Shield of Resolve in G 203-51 for final disposal”. At that point, Zoe knew she had to reconsider her decision.
Back in December 3304, and also on Weyn Dock, there had been another stranger that had taken an interest in the two Federal Dropships. If someone would have searched his room very closely, he might have found a Com unit of the IIS hidden among his belongings. When Zoe was brought aboard one of the Dropships, the stranger had also been there, observing the scene. He identified Zoe as a close associate of the Void Stalkers, and immediately filed a report and sent it to his superiors.