Crime and politics part 1 (06/04/3404)
07 Apr 2018Archived
Previously in James' LogbookAfter saying goodbye to Namita and dropping Prof. Goldstein off in Freeport at his temporary lab, James immediately took off to V374 Pegasi in order to pick up a new ship he ordered on his way back to the bubble - an Imperial Eagle he planned to use for his investigation into the death of Cmdr Blasius Hajdu...
***
Hangar under Docking Bay 33
MacKellar Hub
V374 Pegasi System(Federation)
“Betty, run the systems checks”
“All systems nominal. Hull integrity at 100%. Fuel at 100%. Ammunition at 100%. No malfunctions detected.”
“Grand” - James adjusted himself in the pilot’s seat and grinned, looking around the cockpit. He didn’t like the Empire and the imperial way of living, but one thing he admired was the design of their ships. Ever since he started flying his dream was to own an Imperial Eagle. And now, finally, he got one.
It’s not that he really needed it. He has figured, however, that it was perfect for the task ahead. First of all, it was much more inconspicuous than the Chieftain - the last thing James needed in San Tu was attracting too much attention. Secondly, it was small and nimble, and that is exactly what was needed for the investigation- after all, he would mostly haul data. Data which he will then hack and read in hope of finding any traces of Blasius’ killer. It was a long shot, but the only other option that came to his mind was accessing Hajdu’s military dossier. And this was classified and held in Sol system.
“Betty, play Admiral File 04 and 05, please”.
“Admiral File 04 now playing”
James leaned back and took a sip of Eranin Pearl Whisky he got from Namita Pear. Blasius’ voice was filling the tiny cockpit of the ‘White Wolf’.
“I wonder who sent them after me and why... was it because the undercover mission with the Empire I did for the Navy that someone misjudged and dubbed me a traitor? Or perhaps is it because of what I discovered with the Dragons of San Tu? And the quiet involvement of some Federal forces connected to someone high in Hudson’s administration and millions of dirty credits he is making there? Maybe my report about it was intercepted or snatched by somebody?”
Feds making dirty money in an anarchy system ran by a bunch of criminals. That did sound familiar... didn’t Cmdr DevilOnTheWall report something similar taking place in Arbuda a few months back? Of course it wasn’t surprising, the cooperation of gangsters and politicians existed for millennia. But here, it must have been something bigger. In his last transmission, Blasius was suggesting involvement of someone close to president Hudson... so James should focus his investigation not only on the Dragons themselves, but also on local Federal organisations operating in San Tu system.
He finished the whisky and plotted the course. 5 jumps. Not bad. Before leaving, he typed a short message to Matthew Horner, Hajdu’s only living relative.
James Barrett>>> PRIORITY MESSAGE >>>
Matt,
I am back in the bubble, going to start an investigation into the death of your uncle. It seems to me we have two ways to proceed - either to check with the Dragons of San Tu or getting to the Federal Navy archives, which are situated in Sol. In any case I think we should talk.
JNB
With that he took off.
***
Chomsky Terminal
San Tu System (Independent)
San Tu Bulletin Center in fact was a large hangar divided into several open space offices for all the local organisations offering jobs for the independent commanders. It was a sacred ground where no personal weapons were allowed and all kinds of offers could be made without any interference by the local authorities. Dragons of San Tu soldiers, wearing red tactical vests with white logos on their backs, patrolled the area but were not allowed into any of the compounds without a clear invitation.
James visited the terminals of the Dragons and all the Federal groups present in the system, picking up intel delivery missions. San Tu State Network wanted three batches of internal security data delivered to different systems, there was also an encrypted message from the Dragons themselves. He took all of them asking for the details to be transferred directly to ‘White Wolf’s’ computer and then slowly walked back to his ship.
***
Deep Space
LHS 295 System (Federation)
The data scanner beeped, signalling that it has finished its work. James watched parts of a debris lazily spinning around his Eagle and checked the intel downloaded from the private beacon - all that was left of an Orca. Just as he was about to leave, a single blip appeared on the scanner - Fer-de-Lance, registered with the LHS 295 Gold Council. The comms went live a few seconds later. He heard a women’s voice.
“Carrying anything interesting?”
“Sure, lass. Cmdr James Barrett. I’m sure you”d find me to be most interesting”.
“Very funny, punk. Drop any cargo you might carry and I will spare your life”,
“Cargo? Don’t make me laugh, on this ship?”
She fell silent for a moment. The big fighter hovered in space, hardpoints deployed, for several seconds, before turning around and away from James.
“It’s your lucky day, punk. Can’t say that about those people who ejected from this Orca here, though...”
He reacted instinctively. A dormant feeling, burning hatred suddenly erupted from deep within. He deployed his hardpoints and hit the pirate ship with his Rail Gun at point blank range. Then again. And again.
“Guess it is not your lucky day after all, punk! Now you die!”
A deadly dance has began. Using superior maneuveurability and speed of the ‘White Wolf’ James managed to stay behind the larger vessel, slowly chewing through its shields and then the armour, with the help of two fragmentation cannons installed under his Eagle’s belly.
“I give up! I give up! Stop it, you mad man!”
He remained silent, watching as chunks of hull detached from Fer-de-Lance. A moment later it started to spin out of control - immobilised after a direct hit to the drives. He paid no heed to the now panicked screams over the comms.
“If there is one thing I hate it’s slavers, lass. Guess it was not your lucky day”.
He watched the pirate ship explode in a brief, orange fireball. Then he stared at the debris floating around for a good minute or two before retracting the hardpoints and engaging his FSD.
***
Deep Space
Al Mina System (Federation)
James dropped out of supercruise far from his destination and disabled most of the onboard systems. Happy with the results and the safety it provided - a vessel of this size almost completely powered down would remain invisible for those traveling at speed faster than light - he uploaded the carried data to onboard computer. He paid quite a lot for its upgrade in hope that it will help him crack the security codes on the messages.
“Betty, commence decipher sequence on the data blocks 1,2 and 3”
“Commencing. Etimated time - 43 minutes. Should I play some music as you wait?”
“Aye, please do” - he fished out another bag of Eranin Pearl Whisky and closed his eyes.
44 minutes later the process was complete.
“Put the results on screen” - said James, moving closer to the display. He skimmed through the text and cursed.
(to be continued)