”But it would be our allegation against theirs.”
Conan objected vehemently.
”I think we have an additional responsibility when it comes to spiritual matters. Our reputation increased considerably after the handling of the successful COSCON conference here at 'Limbo'.”
”I, myself, would like to maintain that prestige. But our space station is a sanctuary, and, thus, we must stay neutral. If we take sides in an ambiguous case, it will corrupt the entire foundation of our work on the base.”
The security officer had expected a statement to that effect, but he had to try one last time, in spite of that.
”Dorrit and her companions discovered that Kilkabaran is heading towards Taurus X.”
”The Prison Planet?”
”Precisely.”
”How could they know? As far as I know, they don’t speak that language?”
”The representative from the Seventh Sky has a translation box that can translate from the language they speak, Bastytjak.”
”Hmm….. Of course, sending innocent souls to Taurus X would be serious. But we can track their course and see if it continues in that direction.”
”You know as well as I, my dear Dimitrius, that that would only work until they make the first hyper jump in space. Then we lose track of them.”
”I understand your concern, my dear Conan, but unfortunately, I can’t help you. We must try to pursue the matter, but can’t withhold Kilkabaran on such uncertain grounds.”
”Well, at least I have at least put the case before you.”
”You have, Conan, and shouldn’t receive any flack for doing so. In fact, I’m glad you informed me. I also think it could be a serious matter.”
Paragon had gone to change, and he and Anders waited near the gangway to see if Dorrit would manage to get back to Kilkabaran before the cruise ship would leave the quay and continue its journey. That, apparently, could last long. Anders sighed.
”Refueling is nearing completion. They’re taking the hoses away now.”
”And the staff on shore leave was only to leave the ship for a few hours. They seem to have come back, already.”
”Except Dorrit.”
”The important thing is whether she has been able to alert the authorities to our problem.”
”We may never find out.”
”Now they are closing the gate.”
”No, they’ve interrupted that procedure.”
”You're right. Something must have happened.”
”They've probably forgotten something.”
”Not likely. I think there’s something unexpected going on”.
Two people came up the gangway and were approached by the guard. They didn’t belong on the ship.
”I wish we could hear what they’re saying.”
”One of them is an interpreter. They’re probably using an interstellar ‘Lingua Franca’ for communication.”
Paragon lit up with a brilliant idea.
”Come on, let’s sneak over to the depot room.”
”Why? I'd like to see what is going on.”
”The important thing’s not going to happen here, Anders. Come on.”
Anders and Paragon had to wait a little before they could get into the depot. They hid behind a corner in the hallway near the room. The door was open and there were sounds coming from inside. Paragon turned on his transmutator, but set it on low volume.
Some members of the personnel were wondering.
”Where’s the coat?”
”It’s probably in the cleaning basket.”
”I would remember putting it there.”
”It's probably wasn’t you, but Blarym, or one of the other hygiene fanatics.”
”Yes, that must be what happened.”
”Someone had also moved an officer's uniform from the navigation space. Surely Blarym couldn’t stand seeing something lying around that she believed should be washed.”
”We should ask her.”
”No, please don’t. It doesn’t matter. It might not be her. She’d look askance at you and confirm that she is defending more cleanliness than we are. She’d nurture that position for a long time to convince herself of her own excellence. You know her. She’s unbearable enough already.”
”You’re right. I don’t want to make it worse, either.”
The two cleaning persons left the depot room. Shortly after, Anders and Paragon sneaked in and listened at the crack to the navigation room. There were no sounds coming from inside, so they ventured further and pushed the wall to the side so the console on the other side rolled away and they could get through the hole. There was no one else in there.
Over on the other side, the sliding door was closed and Paragon opened it slightly. Fortunately, it made no squeaking sound.
Meanwhile, they could hear the two guests being brought into the control room.
”Are you The Captain?”
The companion translated and Paragon could see that the display on the transmutator box switched from 'Bastytjak' and showed a new name, 'Rumanol'.
”Yes. My name is Gondwan and I come from Cassiopeia. Who are you?”
”My name Stratham. I'm head of security at this space station 'Limbo'.”
”I see. I want you to know we’re grateful to be able to refuel here.”
”Yes, there probably aren’t many places in this part of The Universe having Litvol Xtra in stock.”
”That’s true.”
”I would imagine that for such large distances vessels would be equipped with fusion engines.”
”That’s the most common, but we are not going quite that far.”
”I see? Where does your journey go from here?”
”I have no authority to disclose that information.”
”No? All cruise ships tend otherwise to willingly disclose their route plans. It may be a safety issue. If there were to be some unforeseen matters and the ship doesn’t arrive at its destination, a search can be initiated. Examples of several hundred passengers having been rescued because others were made aware of the flight schedule. Exactly how many souls are you responsible for?”
”Souls?”
”Yes, I am sorry, but you also use that name on individuals in our language.”
”I see.”
”I could imagine that there must be hundreds, maybe thousands of passengers on board?”
”Tha... That’s correct.”
”That must surely be the case. Otherwise, it wouldn't be worth wasting transportation over such long distances.”
”As I said, we are not going that far.”
Conan Stratham was not Security Chief for nothing. He was used to speaking with hostile opponents, and it didn’t impress him that he happened to be here facing a captain of an interstellar cruise ship. If in fact, it was such a ship, of which he was not quite sure.
”Then, its cargo obviously can’t be passengers from Cassiopeia. If so, they would be wealthy customers. And not so many wealthy persons would dare risk being gathered together with thousands of others, on a single vessel, for such a long journey,…. security or not.”
”As I said, I can’t disclose the timetable.”
”But let me help you then. You are heading for Taurus X, right?”
”How…?”
”It doesn’t matter how I found out. We have our sources of information in the Security Service. You are well aware of what Taurus X is, right?”
”Uh...”
”No? Then let me tell you that Taurus X is a notorious prison planet. Let me go so far as to say that Taurus X is THE notorious prison planet. They don’t come worse anywhere else in The Universe, as far as I know.”
”I see...”
”You didn’t know that? Now you know. At Taurus X, they deal with guarding some of the most dangerous prisoners in this sector of The Universe. Actually it’s the only thing they do,…. but they are good at it. So good in fact, that prisoners are sent there from the widest distances
of any prisons, to prevent any possibilityy of them escaping.”
”Interesting.”
”I think so, too. So, if you have many passengers destined for that place, then your mission must be mainly mass transport of prisoners. But, for whatever reason, that isn’t the official purpose of your trip, and you don’t seem to know anything about that. Something mysterious is going on, whether you are aware of it or not.”
”I... I appreciate your informing me of your concerns.”
”Do you really? If you already had known everything, I’ve told you, I would be rather annoyed. But I can’t quite decide how to react. However, there are so many mysterious circumstances, I might be tempted to detain the ship so further investigation can be made.”
”You can’t do that! You would need to provide irrefutable evidence for any such accusations, which I have not been shown.”
”Can I talk to some of the passengers?”
”No.”
”Just one of them?”
”No.”
”I must say that you seem like an overly uncooperative character, Mr. Captain, and that annoys the hell out of me. It also makes me even more suspicious.”
”Then let me ask you something, Mr. Security Chief. From where did you get the information that the ship is on its way to Taurus X?”
”That... unfortunately I can’t tell you, either.”
“Most unfortunate. If you don’t want to play with open cards, I don’t feel compelled to do so, either. If you want the vessel detained, you will have to provide substantial evidence to substantiate your claims. If you can’t meet that requirement, I must ask you to leave Kilkabaran. We stand before our departure from here.”
Captain Gondwan was right. Conan Stratham had no ability to commit to a detainment. His initiative, based only on a vague statement from an unstable, misshapen soul from Earth, was not enough to justify holding the ship. He had a strong intuition, telling him that he was onto something peculiar. However, it would take time to prove it. And, he didn’t have that time... at least not now, when it was needed most.
Anders whispered to Paragon, who turned the transmutator off.
”What if we made ourselves known?”
Paragon shook his head.
”That wouldn’t help. We would support Dorrit’s explanation. But that wouldn’t change the situation. And then we’d lose touch with the souls and what happens to them. And we’d also miss out on the opportunity to find out what might have already have happened with all the soul journeys made earlier. We’ll just have to string along and bide our time, and later decide whether or not there is something we can do.”
Anders sighed.
”You're probably right.”
Anders and Paragon went back the same way they had come, reaching the gangway at the same time as Conan Stratham and the interpreter left Kilkabaran. Before the entrance door slammed shut, they got a glimpse of Dorrit, who was waiting down on the quay. She raised her hand, apparently waving to them.
Chapter 21
TAURUS X
Captain Gondwan was content and also grateful. He was well aware it was a fluke that he had avoided detainment on 'Limbo'. They might have found some excuse, so that management would have insisted on searching through the spaceship and talking with passengers. In that case, it would have been clear that he had captured souls as passengers on board.
This caution was probably a reflection of the space station wanting to be on good terms with all shipping companies in The Universe. In any event, as long as they didn’t openly violate the rules, he could do nothing. That must be why he had avoided a more restrictive treatment; but maybe he would not be so lucky next time.
It was not his responsibility to inform Gondwan (Should this name be “Conan Stratham” here?-it seems to be Gondwan informing Gondwan) about the possibility of his soul transport carrying out illegal actions. He was only the captain of a vessel that had been hired for the specific job of taking the spaceship to its destination and back. He could easily defend himself by saying he didn’t know who was behind the transport.
However, it was a lucrative business. It was not the first time he had brought a cargo of souls to Taurus X, but it was the first time someone had asked uncomfortable questions. Maybe there was still something fishy about this kind of shipping. I would remove this last sentence. That point has been made earlier, and makes no sense here.
The Kilkabaran had now completed the hyper jumps necessary to reach the long journey’s destination. If someone had tried to follow their route, they would have lost track after the first jump in hyperspace. So far so good.
Something else, of course, was that the chief of The Port Authorities of 'Limbo' evidently somehow had intercepted the information that the ship was headed for Taurus X, and it troubled him that he didn’t know how that could have happened. This destination was top secret, with only a few people informed about it. It was a concern that bothered him greatly.
If he had admitted that Taurus X was the destination, it would have been clear that the voyage’s purpose was not a luxury cruise. He was aware that everyone knew that Taurus X was a horrible prison planet, and no wealthy person would go there.
Of course, these were just wild rumors. Taurus X was the most secured planet known, and it was almost impossible to escape from there. The few times it might have happened, precautions were taken to keep it a secret, with its reputation for safe prisoner custody kept intact. The escapees were always recaptured soon after an escape, on those few occasions.
The Kilkabaran docked at the port of call quay at Taurus X as with previous transports. There was even more control and waiting here than at ‘Limbo’. And there had even been more security checks the first time The Kilkabaran had docked at Taurus X.
The surroundings here were also different. 'Limbo' was fairly clean and tidy. Both officials and ordinary workers would put forth the best image of the organization, and welcoming relationship with the many different kinds of visitors they got from all parts of the universe. No one should frown and drive potential customers away to use another spaceport next time they’d be in the neighborhood.
At Taurus X, no one had that kind of ambition. Here you only arrived if allowed, and there were no alternatives. In a way, the unpleasant, ravaged and tough appearance also reflected the image they would like to maintain. Here, there was nothing nice and welcoming that could make visitors feel comfortable. The raw and rough surroundings fit right in with the clientele guarded. If you didn’t realize it at first, this alone, would signal the conditions prevailing on the planet.
On Taurus X management was also wondering what this visit was about. Being asked to provide temporary capacity for the accommodation of a large group of souls wasn’t a normal occurrence. Usually criminals got there in small groups, and the storage period was usually indefinitely.
The cases of prisoners executed were few. That decision was usually made in advance. And, if they were to die, there was no need to transport the condemned creatures far away. Then they could simply take the lives of those convicted near their place of apprehension. That was significantly cheaper, especially because expensive transport was avoided.
The majority of the inmates were prisoners for life, or placed on indefinite sentences. When one came here under these conditions, he knew that the game was over. No one kept an eye on the situation, respecting only a certain few minimum requirements placed on the living conditions. There was no control, and everyone knew it. Here one only survived if he could stake out a niche he could defend and force the other prisoners to respect.
Dealing with these souls in transit was quite different. They had to reckon with all the temporary storage procedures. Some authority had paid in advance to rent space there. One might therefore presume that the plan provided that the gathered souls, at one point, would eventually be transported onwards, to a different location. Otherwise, they would have asked and received a much lower monthly price for long-term stays, as it was strictl
y a commercial matter.
In such business transactions, there was a modest profit for the Planet’s leadership, and agreements followed rules of the Regional Planets’ Prison Union, accepted by every planet in that sector of The Universe. (Best if you give a name to that unnamed sector of The Universe, which has already been introduced, earlier in this story.) Actually, such agreements were made for a reasonable amount, with customers, who had gratitude and appreciation for them helping get rid of their rogue elements, and provide long-term storage for them, in a place where no one asked critical questions about living conditions.
The Kilkabaran docked at a small pier, close to a special closed annex, which had always been separated from the large prison, which surrounded it. The agreement had been finalized only because the annex had suddenly become empty around the time they received the query about storing souls.
Taurus X had this annex free because they had previously accommodated a large number of non-military conflict prisoners, who, because of their unique status, fell through the cracks of the International Pacification Agreement Rules. Someplace in a galaxy nearby, a government had fought a war and in the battle some fighters were captured. They were neither considered soldiers, nor prisoners of war and it was not acceptable calling them freedom fighters. And they certainly weren’t terrorists. They were interested parties, who had fought voluntarily for ideological reasons. They didn’t belong to the groups that had previously ruled in that area. They had traveled there to participate in the resistance, a struggle that failed. The winning power was then forced to deal with them according to the rules and regulations covering combatants. These volunteers didn’t fit the descriptions of ‘interested combatants' , so, they fit into the category of ’non-military conflict people’, and thus, were not covered by the governing rules. Therefore, the victors could treat them as they wished, not risking awkward litigation that would otherwise inevitably cast a negative light on the way they had led the war.
Paragon- Ghost Hunters Page 17