Needles in Haystacks
27 Mar 2021Elkyri
Grant Enterprise, LTT 20993307.03.25
The more I mulled over my brief conversation with Carlos the more convinced I became he had been in direct contact with NMLA. Not on his own, I'm guessing, but on behalf of Whyte which is what makes Whyte's public statements concerning. I'm now wishing I had not been so quick to hand the tablet back to Carlos that day. It was the message coming in just after that which had him clam up and rush off.
I left MacKenzie with the idea I could track Carlos down and somehow get enough out of him to sort out if he was getting in over his head. I was only a few minutes in when I laughed at myself for thinking it would be so easy. Finding him would be the easy part. Getting him into a conversation where I might learn anything useful was an entirely different matter. It's not like we're still just a couple of classmates. Nope -- I'm just a freight hauler and he's now a somebody, or at least an up-and-comer in the fledgling government of the Marlinist colonies.
I decided to go anyway and plotted a course toward The Colonies. I easily fell back into my routine of scanning each system and updating the cartographic database as I made the trip. It slows things down quite a bit but finding systems within civilized space in need of updated scans is like finding free money so well worth the time. I was about sixty light-years outside The Colonies when the scan picked up an anomalous return from the planet nearest the star. Moving closer for the detailed scan revealed it to be a vessel on the surface. There was no distress signal I could detect -- in fact, there was no clear transmission at all which is what decided me to move in for a closer look.
What I found literally rocked me back on my heels. It was a wrecked Anaconda, but not just any wrecked Anaconda -- it was one that had been involved in trying to track down the terrorists behind the Nine Martyrs bombing. I could see extensive battle damage along the hull so clearly the wreck wasn't the result of an accident. Downloading the last logs from the ship's datacore removed any doubt on that count, revealing they likely had been lured into ambush. There were a few cargo racks containing some high grade raw materials scattered around but no escape pods -- none at all. Curious.
Finding nothing else nearby I plotted a course to the nearest populated system to report the discovery only to learn it was already old news. The Pilots' Federation had issued a call for help in finding the vessel but it didn't come in over my comms until I got in-system. That's the way it is -- until we find a way for faster-than-light comms the quickest means of communication is moving the data around on ships. Pilots aren't getting real-time updates while flying around in the black. It's not until they get within comms range of a station or beacon that the onboard comms system is able to get tapped in and synched up, and then they will only get the latest data that's been delivered to the system by other ships.
The Search and Rescue authorities at Grant weren't able to tell me anything I hadn't already learned from the ship's logs so I retired to Yalena and put her in station-keeping mode while I used the comms connection to get on the 'net and do a little poking around. The revelation by the author of the ship's logs, Captain Seutoni, that the NMLA cell she discovered was being supported by Delacroix is interesting but trying to find out anything about him beyond his supposed allegiance to the Empire came up blank. But I think it's pretty clear he's not a Marlinist. I think it's more likely his "support for replacing the Duvals" is more about changing the names of the ruling families than it is about changing the Empire's system of government. Yeah, I know I'm repeating myself here but I suspect there are factions within the Empire that don't want the NMLA shut down.
I wasn't getting anywhere poking around in the pablum available to us mere freight haulers so when the cat interrupted to beg feeding I shut it all down and turned in for the night. Maybe a wasted effort but I'll make my way to The Colonies tomorrow.
