The Pegasai Saga Part IV
04 Aug 2016Jellicoe
Working directly for Cor Darrin wasn't as bad as I'd feared, most of our time was spent patrolling the mining zones where he no doubt hoped we'd be killed and I was happy to disappoint him. The work was uneventful, few miners would risk an anarchy system and such was the Black Omega's reputation that even fewer raiders would risk attacking their territory but at least it kept us out in space and away from Darrin and his friends. It also gave us time to think about this whole affair and it was making me extremely uneasy."Still no contact from the navy?" I asked Claude across the bridge.
"Nothing at all."
"Doesn't make sense, a navy asset commandeered by intelligence while in the field and nothing at all from the navy."
"It always was a deniable black op and given how he's put his foot in it Craddock's probably keeping a very low profile right now, if he's not been sacked." Claude replied grimly.
"That's something else that doesn't stack up, Craddock's job is handling delicate missions for the Auxiliary and organizing Hudson's privateers, he works in the presidents office but we're expected to believe he's ordered a mission in clean contravention of presidential orders?"
"You saw Hogan's data stick."
"Yeah and it's on the level, I just can't help thinking there's things going on here that we don't know about."
"Craddock's up to something? A power struggle between intelligence and the navy? Whatever it is if it's dodgey and goes that high up do we really want to be sticking our noses into it?"
"Probably not."
"But you're going to." Claude said with a grimace.
"Of course." I grinned, I was quite prepared to risk my ship and even my life for the Federation but I expected to know why and not be sucked into someone else's murky dealings. The two of us were alone on the Warspite's bridge and talking freely. "Check every resource you've got, find out if Craddock's been fired or transferred." The former net runner smiled. "and make sure you don't get caught."
Claude looked affronted. "This is me you're talking to skipper." I laughed, when it came to hacking Claude was very good, the only thing that worried me was that he wasn't quite as good as he thought he was.
"If you can track him down try and get me a line to him, but only if it's untraceable and all but undetectable." Claude grinned and disappeared to the highly customised, very expensive and not entirely legal computer terminal in his quarters while I steered a course back to Claire Dock where Darrin had demanded our presence.
"You back to being our delivery boy now." Darrin crowed. "Got a shipment of coffee needs taking to Nuen, think you can manage it?" We were in the upstairs room of the dingy bar that Darrin worked from, fortunately soundproofed from the incessant techno music that blasted endlessly from downstairs. Hogan was sitting in a large armchair to the side of Darrin's desk drinking gin and enjoying my discomfort enormously while one of Darrin's heavies stood by the door ostentatiously playing with his knife in the way men do when they want to appear tougher than they actually are.
"I'm sure we'll cope." I replied. "Sure it's just coffee?" I will scan it."
"Just coffee pet fed." He used an insult he knew would rile me.
"No problem, I'll leave as soon as it's loaded." I replied deadpan. "How's your nose by the way? Looks to be healing rather well." Darrin began to colour at that.
"Piss off now Jellicoe." Hogan interrupted seeing his associates short temper approaching its limit. "The pods will be delivered to your hangar within the hour."
"And don't fuck it up." Darrin shouted as I stepped through the door.
We loaded the cargo and took off, so far as I could tell the coffee was indeed just coffee. I didn't trust Darrin one bit but Hogan at least as a Federal Agent shouldn't double cross me though the more I saw of him the less sure about his true loyalties I became, of course that was his job and most likely it just showed he was good at it. I left the flight to the second watch and went to find Claude who was still working away in his quarters.
"Got anything?" I asked as Claude continued, seemingly oblivious to my presence.
"Yes." He answered thoughtfully without taking his eyes from the display.
"Would you care to share it with me?" I asked after another lengthy silence, Claude though remained completely immersed in his display for several more minutes before turning to me.
"Admiral Craddock's not been sacked or transferred but he has gone to ground. He's on an inspection tour of Auxiliary and privateer units but there's no itinerary been logged and he's not been seen since he left Nanorum, which was a day after we arrived here."
"Can you track him down?"
"No. Contrary to popular opinion it is quite possible to vanish off the grid completely if you have the resources. Tracking Craddock down now would have to be done the old fashioned way and even then there'd be no guarantees."
"So we're screwed?"
"Not quite, I did say I'd got something. Craddock doesn't want to be found that doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't want to be contacted, there are ways while still making his location all but untraceable."
"Can we get hold of him?" I asked having little time for technical details I barely understood.
"That remains to be seen. I've found his coms signal but I'm having to hide ours which makes it a lot weaker but if a senior presidential aide has gone into hiding then it's from someone very powerful and we really don't want them knowing we're looking for him so I'm having to be extremely careful but I've been hailing him for the last hour, and before you even ask, no, I'm not prepared to take any more risks than that, not even for you." I waited as Claude feverishly worked in complete silence, he had spent much of his life accessing information, not always on the right side of the law which was the main reason he'd joined up with me. "Got him." he said with satisfaction about twenty minutes later. "Now we'll see if he wants to talk to us. Excellent, he does, it'll be audio only though holo coms need too big a signal to bide.
"Stannis, I've been hoping to hear from you." Admiral Craddock's usually jovial voice sounded tired and strained.
"You're a hard man to track down Admiral." I replied. "Now would you mind telling me just what you've got me mixed up in?"
"I'm truly sorry for dragging you into this m'boy, but I need people I can trust and whose loyalty to the Federation is beyond question."
"That's very flattering sir but why was I sent on a mission in direct contravention of presidential policy?"
"Because we need to smoke out the intelligence chief in the Pegasai, and it sounds like you've done just that." The admiral sounded a little like his old self.
"Weasely little chap called Hogan? Yes I've met him." I said with distaste. "Why's he so important?"
"He isn't particularly, it's what he's part of that is. There are dark forces at work and intelligence is riddled with them, and the civil service, even the navy's not immune and they go right to the top, this Hogan, though that won't be his real name is the only one we've been able to identify who's junior and exposed enough to move against, it's not him that's important though it's what he may know, there's a lot of money and information being funnelled through the Pegasai, where it's ending up we don't know but if you can find some other links in the chain the better chance we have of breaking it open, and believe me there is more at stake than you can imagine."
"Try me."
Craddock sighed. "The Federation and Empire are being pushed into open war, I don't know why and I don't know who's behind it but this is part of it. I'm asking you to help try and stop a galactic catastrophe, now this Hogan will die before he talks but search his home, bug him and pray he has files or something to give us a lead. You will also have kill him, if they know we're on to them they'll disappear and our only solid lead will be gone."
"Understood."
"When you have anything give it me and find somewhere quiet to lie low a long way from the Federation." I felt an almost physical shock at those words as, for the first time I fully realised just what I had got us mixed up in. Why did I trust Craddock? Because in all the time I'd known him he had never given me reason to doubt him, because what he said matched almost exactly what I was seeing myself but most of all because it nearly duplicated the warnings that Tasigny and Lady Salome had given about dark, shadowy forces being at work. "Find somewhere quiet and don't draw attention to yourself. I'll contact you when I can. If I can." he corrected himself. "Good luck Rear Admiral."
"To us all sir." I replied. "Might I suggest making contact with Tasigny? He gave me a very similar warning when I spoke to him in Cubeo."
"I should have guessed that wily old devil would have twigged something was up. Well you're best placed to speak to him on my behalf but do it discreetly."
"Yes sir, now could you tell me what this is all about?"
"No. Mainly because I don't know anything like the full picture myself, and however secure this line is nothing's ever completely safe but it's big, bigger than the Federation, the Empire or the Alliance and it threatens us all so watch your back and trust no one. Now we've been on here quite long enough, out." The link cut and I looked at Claude who had gone white.
"Always knew you'd get me killed one day." he murmured, not knowing what to say I clapped my hand on his shoulder.
"We're not dead yet." I said eventually. "and we have work to do."
I went back to the bridge and took the helm for our final approach to Sladek, it was every bit as straightforward as a delivery of coffee should be, which made me feel a little more at ease, and as Sladek was slightly more pleasant than Claire Dock and as it was away from Darrin I gave the crew twenty four hours shore leave and went to do some thinking and get some sleep.