Chapter 24. Just Before the Storm
12 Mar 2021Black Llama
March 11, 3307Patterson Enterprise, Sirius system
Two people were sitting down in a patio bar table in one of the station's lounge areas. One of them, a tall woman in Wanderer jacket and trousers; the other, a slim, extremely pale man in a featureless Federal uniform. A waiter placed two drinks on the table and left. The woman spoke: "Well, here's that drink we owed ourselves, Zhang. Are you ok?"
The other shifted his chair so that his entire body was inside the shadow of the table's umbrella. "It's fine, Skinner. A bit too bright for my usual tastes."
Skinner took a sip from her glass. "I had a feeling I would run into you, what with half the Galaxy's personalities crowded in here. Are you with Hudson's security crew?"
Zhang shook his head. "Nah. Winters." Skinner raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask", the man continued. "Internal Agency things that I'd rather not share."
"So, you got to see Halsey? What's she like now?"
Zhang nodded, and took a long sip of his drink before answering. "She's different, that I can tell you. Winters treats her like she's some sort of living saint." After another pause: "She seems more dignified now than when she was President. I haven't heard her say any crazy or mystical things, but sometimes she goes silent, staring into the distance, like she's in a trance or something." He waved his hand as if to erase that thought, then changed the subject: "I hope that data I got for you was worth it. I'm curious to know if it helped your boss at all."
Skinner finished her drink, placed the glass on the table and motioned the waiter for another one. "He's been on and off on the trail of the Flammarion's ever since. He has identified a few possible relatives. The main reason we're pledged to Sirius is to keep good relations with them and use the data they have on Marlinist immigrants."
"Marlinists?" Zhang frowned. "What do they have to do with it?"
"The woman was from Nahuatl. You know that system was a hotbed of Marlinist activity and the source of many of the refugees. It was a guess: perhaps her disappearance had something to do with suspicions of disloyalty. We're not sure yet."
"But who's your boss after? The mother or the daughter?"
"Ah, the daughter, clearly. They have history together, you know. Grew up together in a farm somewhere." Skinner paused as the waiter placed a fresh drink on the table; Zhang dismissed her with a gesture. When the waiter was out of earshot, Skinner went on: "I saw them together for a couple of weeks. The guy is completely in love, he never said it but it's obvious. The woman, well, I think she just used him and probably not for the first time. She said she's looking for her mother, whom she thought dead." She's actually after something her mother found, Skinner thought, but decided to keep that out of the conversation. "The cap'n wants to track down the mother in the hopes of finding the daughter along the way."
Zhang leaned forward on the table, hands clasped. "This 'Maggie' character, she used to run with an Imperial group. And you got attacked by an Imperial task force. Do you think it's possible she was a Marlinist agent?"
Hell yeah, Skinner thought, but shrugged and said: "Lots of things are possible."
"And your boss?"
"What about him?" Skinner straightened up in her chair. "Know something I don't?"
"Calm down," Zhang said, raising his hands. "Of course I did a little digging, I like to know the people I do business with, and in his case I didn't find as much as I would like. In fact, he seems to pop into existence in 3303, with no past records that I could identify. He does have some sort of engineering background, and could be former military. Ever since he got his pilot's license he has been a textbook freelancer slash mercenary, all over the place. One time he's pledged to Aisling Duval, next week he's with Hudson running supplies for the new Marlinist colonies. He, well, confuses me."
"I know enough about the guy to tell you he isn't a terrorist, or a terrorist supporter."
"Ok ok, you have to understand that if I'm ever found to have been receiving money from a Marlinist supporter, I would be in deep trouble", Zhang said with a smile. "You were a pilot, not an agent, but I think you too know something about what happens if you trust too much. Anyway, I - sorry", Zhang interrupted himself and reached down for his mobile. As he looked at the screen, his expression changed from mild surprise to shock. He stood up: "I'm afraid I have to go."
"What?" Skinner asked, then noticed that people in the other tables getting up, with looks of alarm in their faces. Down in the concourse a squad of Sirius Security personnel was running, shouting and gesturing for the crowd to make way. Skinner stood up and turned to look at Zhang, but he was already walking hurriedly towards the exit. Skinner's mobile rang: the screen said 'The Commander'. She picked up the call: "Cap'n."
"Mila, get your ass back to the hangar pronto. We may have to leave this system any minute."
"What happened?"
"It's the NMLA", Black Llama replied. "They've hit several systems big time. The summit is canceled."