Crime and politics, part 4 (15/04/3304, updated)
16 Apr 2018Archived
Previously in James' LogbookJames gained enough trust of the San Tu State Network to be given some more delicate tasks. One of those was to haul a group of wanted people to several systems, the last stop being Bouch Survey in Nahundi, a military Federal outpost located on the furthest planet in the system. On the way one of his passengers made some very interesting comments that just called for further investigation...
Bouch Survey
Landing Pad 21
Nahundi System (Federation)
Last three days spent planet-side in Bouch Survey were a bizarre experience for Barrett. He struggled to socialise with a bunch of people he detested, trying to make sure that whenever they decided to leave the planet, they would choose his services again. In the beginning they were most dismissive and it required a lot of effort on James' part to just stay with them - he wasn't a kind of person who would knock on one's window after being pushed out of the door. After some time, however, they got used to his presence, even though they spent most of the time hanging out in the local cantina, clearly waiting for something to happen. When it did, they disappeared for several hours in the local HQ of Nahundi Public Exchange, on top floor of the outpost's highest tower. Barrett thought he'd lost them, but then Malik contacted him again, asking for an urgent transport for McKenzie Boyle and three other people to Al Mina system.
***
Deep Space
Puppis Sector DL-Y d109 (Uninhabited)
James checked the scanner and contacts tab. Empty. He grinned and set the throttle to idle.
"Victor, seal the door of the passenger cabin, disable the lock override from inside and arm escape pods 1 to 4".
"Affirmitive, commander"
Maybe 10 seconds later the intercomm crackled and an angry voice of the tall, tattooed leader of the group - who never introduced himself - could be heard:
"What the fuck is going on, Barrett? Where are we?"
"Hold on, sir, we have a bit of a problem here.."
"Problem? What problem? I am coming to the cockpit now... hey, unlock the door, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Hold on, sir, I'll be with you in a second" - Barrett closed the channel and then said:
"Victor, run full testing cycles of proximity warning system, onboard fire system and FSD malfunction alert"
"Affirmitive, commander". Split second later red warning lights flashed in the cockpit - and also in other parts of the ship, including the passengers quarters. James waited for full 10 seconds to let the tension build up before switching the internal channel open again.
"..ot in a mood for jokes, tell us NOW what the hell is going on!!" - did he notice a hint of panic in the big bully's voice?
"I am sorry, sir, trying to handle the situation now. It seems that our FSD didn't work as intended and dropped us too close to the star. We're having a multiple system emergency shutdown, cooling problems and power shortages"
"So do something with it, man!!!!"
"I'm trying to. Though for your own safety I would recommend entering the escape pods, the bay doors should be opening as we speak" - he flipped some switches- "please buckle up and turn on the radios and the beacons. I will pick you up as soon as I deal with the emergency".
James watched the control panel and noticed that four out of six business cabin pods have changed their status to "occupied" and then "sealed & ready". He grinned.
"Victor, please launch escape pods number 1, 2, 3 and 4 now".
"Affirmative, executing command."
A familiar 'clunk!' was heard four times in a row and moments later new white dots appeared on the scanner. Barrett lazily turned the 'Rose Tattoo III' around and positioned it in clear view of the visors of the people now haplessly floating in space. He deployed the hard points.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Enough of this charade. I will now ask you a few questions which you will nicely answer and all will be fine."
"You are a dead man, Barrett... You have just made a huge mistake!"
"Aye, that's cat. In case you don't tell me what I need to know I'll damage your pods. Which means that you will run out of oxygen after approximately 2 hours.. if you don't freeze to death by then. Oh, sorry, forgot you don't wear the flight suits. So freezing it is." - he paused for some time to let the message sink in.
"Scoop us now, you crazy bastard" - the same voice again - "or I swear that when somebody else does I won't stop until I get you."
"Aye, good luck with that. This system is visited by 8 ships per day. That means one per three hours. Now, out of these, statistically only 1 out of 10 will stop to check out the unidentified signal source. So, roughly a 30 hour wait. If you're lucky. Which you won't be, because there is no way to survive that long in a damaged pod. You have 10 seconds to decide what you want to do".
Silence.
"5 seconds".
"What do you want to know?" - woman's voice.
"Thank you, McKenzie. You always looked like a reasonable one".
"If you tell him anything, I will kill you! Do you understand? You're a dead woman!"- the leader again. James wished he had a way to tell which pod is which. The bully was getting on his nerves.
"So, lass, I want to know what is the deal between the Federation and the Dragons of San Tu."
"The two Federal groups in the system had their boards replaced a few months back. The new leadership started to closely work with the Dragons. Using official marked ships for transfer of illegal goods, slaves in diplomatic vessels, stolen gold and valuables, all that. On the other hand the Dragons have access to restricted Federal military hardware and ships. Both sides make a lot of money on that cooperation. I don't know who is involved in Sol but someone high enough to make sure that people that sneak around or know too much are permanently removed by the bounty hunters".
"Now we're getting somewhere. And what about the Bouch Survey? You said you own this place?"
"Yes, local governor and high ranking Federal Navy officer is completely in Dragons pocket. We... they hold his family hostage".
"Grand. Now all I need is evidence".
"I know they keep the records in the cloud, almost impossible to hack. But they also have encrypted hard copies stored on the planets in San Tu and nearby systems. In most cases those holding the data don't even know what is there. Dragons and the Feds check everything regularly by sending random commanders to perform standard planetary scan jobs. That is less likely to draw attention than regular patrols and such."
"Thank you lass. I knew you were more sensible than the others".
He set the San Tu as his destination and engaged the FSD.
***
Gernhardt Enterprise
San Tu System (Federal space)
James approached the Scientific Outpost ran by the San Tu State Network at full speed. He obtained the docking clearance and turned the 'Rose Tattoo' towards landing pad 01. He was hoping to be able to get his Eagle here and use the onboard systems to intercept some of the communications and gain some evidence against the Federal corporation.
As he was maybe 200 meters above the pad, Victor announced:
"Ship scan detected". Quick glance on the left panel told James there was nothing to worry about. He was clean.
"Commander James Barrett. Continue with the docking". Barrett exhaled with relief. But as soon as the clamps grasped the landing gear of the Cobra, another voice came through: "Commander, power down all the systems, lower the ramp and wait for Federal agents to arrive onboard. You are under arrest for treason, abduction, attempted murder and murder in space. Resistance is futile".
OOC
This is the last logbook for a week or two from James, but the storyline will be continued I hope in other stories - keep a close eye on what MMMMALCOLM, MATT HORNER and others might include in the days to come!