Step 1: Intelligence
30 Mar 2018MMMMMalcolm
Personal Log: Commander Kay WantzThe Merriam Webster section of Galnet defines intelligence as the ability to learn or understand. It also says it’s the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment. Malcolm said our first goal in helping my father is to gather intelligence. We needed to learn if these attacks were intentional or coincidental.
I had the easy job. Lately, I’ve always had the easy jobs. I made a mental note to discuss that with Malcolm the next time I saw him. I hope he doesn’t think me some fragile flower that needs protecting? Anyway, I was accompanying my father to his office. My easy job was to check and see if there were any leaks in the organization. I sat next to my father in the back of his hover limo and calibrated the bug sniffing device I brought with me.
“What’s that?” my father asked.
“It’s a scanner. I’ll scan your offices for any unauthorized listening or transmitting devices that may be present. Someone knows about these shipments. If this scanner picks up anything, then we’ll know how they know what they know.” I punched a few keys on the laptop and then disconnected the scanner from the computer. My father rested his hand on one of mine.
“Your mother is very proud of you darlin’.”
I sighed and covered his hand with my free one. “She has a strange way of showing it.”
“People who are scared, they tend to do illogical things. She loves you very much. You are her first-born. When you rejected the notion of being her protégé, she was hurt. When you chose instead to become a bounty hunter, she was terrified. She can live with the notion of you not following in her footsteps. She can’t bare the notion of losing you completely.” I turned and stared out the window of the vehicle; seeing but not seeing the buildings and people blur by. A tear that dangled at the edge of each eye distorted the images even further.
“So what are her insults and verbal abuse? Is she pushing me away to get a leg up on how it feels?” Daddy gently squeezed my hand.
“No baby; she doesn’t know how to tell you. She’s such a proud woman; every bit the politician. You have to read between the lines. I’m telling you so you’ll know how to handle the situation.”
I willed the salt filled droplets back into their ducts before turning to face my father. He leaned over and kissed my forehead as the limo entered the private access to his building. When we stopped, a bear of a gentleman opened the limo door for us to get out. When I turned toward the open car door, all I saw was his tailored suit. He seemed to fill the entire doorway. One huge tanned hand rested on the open door while another extended toward me as an offering to help me out. His reach caused his black suit jacket to bulge and I caught a glimpse of a holstered weapon under his left arm. The man mountain addressed my father as he exited the vehicle.
“Good morning Mr. Wantz.”
“Good morning Walter. Have you met my daughter Kay?”
“Not in person sir, no. But I recognized her from the security dossier I keep on file. Pleased to meet you Ms. Wantz.” I shifted the scanner into my left hand so my right could be swallowed up in a handshake.
“Kay this is my head of security, Walter Ramsey.” I looked up into hazel eyes set deep into a round, clean shaven Caucasian face. They completely contrasted the dark brown hair he had pulled back into a pony tail behind his head. “He will escort you while you conduct your sweep. Walter, put the building on a level one lock down. Alert security without alarming the staff or visitors. Use the building cameras to discreetly scan anyone without an appointment. You are looking at everyone who knows there is a problem. I want it to remain that way until I say there’s no longer a problem.”
“Yes sir.” We replied in unison.
“Very well then, I’ll leave you to it.” He kissed my cheek before entering the private lift to his office. I turned toward the walking building.
“Walter, is it? Where is the main security center?”
“That would be level five. Follow me.” He led me to a separate lift and escorted me inside. Once inside he pushed the button indicating level five. I heard a click as if the lift doors were locking. Then, an electronic recording stated, “Authorization please.” “ Whiskey sierra zero five” Walter answered. “Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Ramsey.” After another click, the lift moved to level five. The doors opened to a hive of activity. The security center appeared to encompass the entire level. Screens flickered with images in and around the building. Guards were coming and going. A small group of security personnel, waiting to enter the lift we just left, stood a little straighter when they saw their superior. The air hummed with hushed voices as information was reported to guards throughout the complex. Walter pushed a near invisible communicator in his left ear.
“Attention,” he stated. The humming stopped. “This is a level one alert. I repeat, this is a level one alert. Until further notice, all unexpected visitors are to be searched and cleared before receiving access to public lifts.” After a brief moment of silence, the humming resumed. Every once in a while the words ‘level one’ floated out of the gibberish.
“Is there someplace a bit more private where we can talk?” I asked.
“My office is just down there; follow me please.”
We turned right and walked straight until we came to a corner of the level. To our right was a door. My impromptu partner grabbed the handle and paused. After a second a light next to the door shown green and a mechanism clicked granting us access.
“Welcome Mr. Ramsey,” an electronic female voice stated as we entered. “I am detecting you have a visitor.”
“You are correct Laura. Please secure this room.”
“Stand by. Room sound proofed. All communications in or out are disabled.”
“Please grant my visitor, Ms. Wantz, temporary level one priority security clearance. Authorization code whiskey sierra zero one alpha.”
“Stand by. Ms. Wantz please state your full name.”
“Kay Wantz.”
“Thank you Ms. Wantz. Please remain still for ten seconds. Scanning… Thank you Ms. Wantz. Clearance granted.” Walter moved behind his glass desk and motioned for me to sit in his black leather and chrome framed chair.
“The stage is yours Ms. Wantz.” I sat down in his chair. “Just tell Laura what you want and she will get it for you.”
“Laura, show me a listing of all shipments out of Haberlandt Survey over the last thirty days.”
“Stand by.” A second later a large holo projection displayed a spreadsheet listing the data I asked for on Walter’s desk.
“Show only the shipments that were lost over the same time period.”
“Stand by.” Only three shipments remained displayed on the desk.
“All three shipments were going to Carey Station.” Walter observed. “Laura, were there any other shipments from Sol Worker’s Party holdings lost recently?”
“Stand by. I found a total of ten since the beginning of 3304.”
“How many of those were going to Corey Station?”
“Seven; the three previously listed plus four more, during a three week span prior. A shipment of silver and a shipment of titanium from the refinery on Burnell Station, a shipment of limpets from Mars High, and a shipment of non-lethal weapons from Haberlandt Survey.”
“Are there any other similarities concerning these losses?”
“Stand by. Each loss occurs in the Guangul system; a medium security system right next to LHS 3549.”
“This doesn’t look like random pirate attacks. Someone is robbing my father’s business. The question is who and how do they know which shipments to hit?”
“Laura, who authorized these shipments?” Walter asked.
“Stand by. The manifests were filed by Ms. Kristina Wantz. Final authorization was made by Mr. Wantz.”
My mouth dropped. “It can’t be Tina,” I said. “She’s not that crazy.”
“I doubt Mr. Wantz is stealing from his own company. It’s not like he needs the credits.”
“Laura,” I said. “Are there any unusual communications from Ms. Wantz’s desk; including calls, messages, or transmissions?”
“Stand by. Negative.”
“Did she initiate any unusual communication from anywhere in this building; include Mr. Wantz in the same inquiry?”
“Stand by. There were ten messages coded in the manifests of each lost shipment. These messages automatically sent themselves to an unknown location after the manifests were approved by Mr. Wantz and confirmed by the receiving station dock manager. These messages originated from Mr. Wantz’s terminal.” My mouth dropped again.
“I stand corrected. Mr. Wantz is stealing from his own company.”
“On the contrary Mr. Ramsey,” Laura stated. “Based on you and Ms. Wantz’s line of questioning, I took the liberty of scanning the scanner she brought into your office and incorporated its configuration into my sensors. I am detecting an unauthorized low powered device beside Mr. Wantz’s terminal.”
“Laura, neutralize that device,” Walter barked.
“Stand by.”
“Laura, hold on that order!” I countered.
“Neutralization halted.”
“Walter can we store these findings?”
“Sure, but why didn’t you neutralize the threat?”
“I want to capture the thieves, not just cut them off. Let’s pay a visit to my father.”
“Laura,” Walter stated. “Encrypt and archive this data. Require two part verification for decryption. Decryption key ‘KayWantzWalterRamsey’ and voice recognition of Ms. Wantz and myself.”
“Stand by. Encryption is complete. Data archived.”
“Stay here,” Walter ordered. “We don’t know how else that device communicates. I’ll go get Mr. Wantz and bring him here.”
“Bring my sister as well, Mr. Ramsey.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Moments later the three of them returned to Walter’s office. Kristina was bare foot with little pieces of cotton between her toes. I was still seated behind Walter’s desk. Kristina and my father sat in chairs in front of me. Walter stood silent beside me.
“Laura,” I stated before addressing my family. “Is the room still secure?”
“Stand by. Room sound proofed. All communications in or out are disabled.”
“That explains why the big gorilla dragged me from my desk instead of calling me on the holo-com.” Kristina complained.
“Hush Tina!” Daddy ordered. “Kay, did you find out who’s been attacking my convoys?” I studied my father a second before answering. I didn’t notice any deception but I could’ve been biased by my affection.
“Yes daddy; it’s you.” The room fell silent. Walter broke it.
“We traced back some compromised manifests to your terminal sir. Laura detected an unauthorized device that has been secretly leaking shipping data to an unknown location.”
“Why have you brought us here?” my father asked. “Neutralize the threat before any more damage is done.”
“We could do that, but then the thieves get away.” I said. “Or, we could use their own device against them to set a trap and ensure they don’t set up shop elsewhere.” My father nodded in agreement. “Now think, have you received any strange items in the mail lately?” He shook his head. “What about gifts; anyone give you anything; a partner or a client maybe?”
“No, nothing like that. Father’s day is still a couple months away and my birthday isn’t until July.” Kristina got real quiet. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but in her chair at that moment; and not just so she could finish painting her toes.
“Is there something you want to say Ms. Wantz?” Walter asked. My sister hesitated and then answered.
“Daddy I gave you that small model of a Type-9 hauler a couple months back. It’s sitting on your desk.”
“Where did you get it from?” I asked my sister.
“My boyfriend. He gave it to me a week after we got together. He said you might like it daddy. I thought it was strange since I didn’t remember telling him you were in the shipping business, but then I figured I must have at some point. I didn’t give it a second thought until now.”
“What’s your boyfriend’s name? What does he do? Where does he live? How often do you see him?”
“His name is Asher. He’s a pilot like you so I don’t see him very often; maybe once or twice a week. He told me he was a hauler and that he lived on his ship; an Adder I think. At least that’s what he said it was the one time I… visited it about a month ago.” I sighed and shook my head. Of all the selfish, rebellious, stupid things my little sister has done in just the short time I’ve been back in the bubble, this was probably the dumbest. “I’m sorry daddy, I didn’t know.”
“It’s alright baby girl. None of us did.”
“Well we know now,” I stated. “I’ll contact Malcolm and let him know. In the meantime, if Asher contacts you, act... however you act that he considers normal. I don’t want you tipping him off and he slips away.”