Profits from Prophets, Part 13
30 Jun 2016Michael Wolfe
“Well Matty, you sure know how to pick ‘em.”
The HIP 4005 system was a completely different place than it had been a week prior. The trade routes were swarming with either emergency convoys and their Authority escorts, or being raided by numerous Utopian Enforcers. Every public and emergency band was either begging us to stay away, or to lend a hand in restoring order. Every station and installation was in the process of being forcefully overthrown by Utopian agitators.
I looked around, my jaw dropping at the staggering number of contacts on the scope. “It sure as hell wasn’t like this last time. If these reports are true, the system ain’t going to last a week. Authority can’t be everywhere at once.”
Kyndi shook her head and scowled. “And this is where we have to go? In the middle of more cultists who want us dead?”
I brought up Chebyshev Dock and locked onto it. “That’s where we need to go. Both authority and the Utopians are too busy killing each other to stop us from getting through. My contact works in the comm array. It’s important for the Utopians to control it to get their message out. If she’s alive, that’s where she’ll be.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And probably surrounded by like-minded friends. You’re talking us right back into their clutches.”
My face tightened, the reminder an unpleasant one. “It’s a risk I think we can take. We’ve got something that she’ll value, and I think it’ll work as a bargaining chip.”
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