A King's Ship (Empire Rising Book 2)

by D. J. Holmes

  Frowning, Gupta answered him as she handed over a datapad with Innocence’s registration details and documents identifying her as the owner and captain, “Neysa Avvari.”

  “I see your ship has been to New Delhi a number of times before. Yet I don’t have any record of you having been here,” the inspector said with an air of disdain.

  “That’s right,” Gupta said, “I bought her a few months ago. My family owns a number of factories back on Earth that produce items for the Bharati Cooperation. I didn’t want to take a role on the firm’s board so I bought Innocence and set off to make my own fortune.”

  She had to hide a smile as the inspector’s demeanor changed. The Bharati Cooperation was one of the largest Indian manufacturing companies on Earth and they controlled a lot of the industrial operations on New Delhi along with those in the other Indian colonies. RSNI had worked up her cover carefully. Having family connections to the Bharati cooperation was obscure enough that no one would be surprised that they hadn’t heard of her or her father. Yet, at the same time it suggested she might have enough influence to make life difficult for anyone who caused her any trouble.

  With a bit more respect the inspector handed back her datapad and said, “Everything seems to be in order here. If you are ready we can begin the inspection.”

  “My crew are waiting for you, if you’ll follow me,” Gupta said as she turned and walked deeper into the freighter. With her back to the inspectors she let out the smile she had been restraining. I could get used to having connections, she thought to herself.

  *

  Forty five minutes later Gupta was at the docking hatch watching the inspectors leave. As far as she could tell they had completed their inspection in record time. Finally, it was time for the real mission to begin.

  Once they left the ship she keyed her COM unit, “Agent Bell, the inspectors have left, they have granted us permission to send trading teams to the surface. Our mission is a go.”

  “Affirmative,” Bell replied. “We’ll meet you at the docking hatch.”

  Gupta switched the channel on her COM unit, “Becket, I’m heading down to the surface with Agent Bell. You have command of Innocence. Make sure the crew aren’t too efficient at unloading our cargo; we might need an excuse to stay docked longer than necessary. Oh and see to it that no one else comes on board the freighter. Some traders might try to come here and make deals, just tell them you can’t authorize any trades without me present.”

  “Ok Commander,” Becket responded, “I’ll keep the freighter on standby in case we need to make a quick exit. Good luck down there.”

  “Thank you Lieutenant, see you when we get back,” Gupta said as she keyed off her COM.

  A few moments later Agent Bell and her team arrived. Five marines including Major Johnston accompanied her. Only two of them openly carried small side arms for protection. Heavy weapons were banned on New Delhi and they didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves. Gupta knew that each marine could easily take care of themselves in hand to hand combat and no doubt many of them had more than one concealed weapon of one type or another.

  “All ready?” Bell asked when she joined Gupta.

  “Yes, I’m good to go,” Gupta replied.

  “Good,” Bell responded as she gave Gupta a light punch on the shoulder. “This is going to be fun. You spacer types need to learn to spend a bit more time on solid ground.”

  “I’m not sure about your definition of fun,” Gupta said with a snort, “but it will be good to stretch my legs.”

  “Of course it will,” Johnston said gruffly, “I’ve spent more than enough time cooped up on this freighter for several life times. Let’s get this mission started. The sooner we find Chang the better.”

  “Agreed,” Gupta said in an understanding tone. She knew it couldn’t have been easy for the marines to spend so much time in so small a ship. “Thankfully the main shuttle hanger isn’t too far away so we will be on the surface soon.”

  Gupta brought out her datapad and opened up the schematics for the trading station. It wasn’t the largest in orbit around New Delhi but it was still impressive. With a diameter of over three kilometers it had docking stations for over fifty freighters. She had already checked and found that thirty six of the berths were taken by ships from the other naval powers. New Delhi was certainly attracting a lot of foreign trade, suggesting the colony was developing at an impressive rate.

  No doubt as a money making scheme, freighters docked at the station were not allowed to launch their own shuttles. The station’s regulations said it was to avoid any collisions with incoming freighters. In reality it was to ensure all the freighter crews had to pay for the station’s shuttles to take them to the colony if they wanted to enjoy some leave. Gupta wasn’t too concerned though, the Admiralty was footing the bill for all their expenses.

  With the schematics open in front of her she set off at what she thought was a brisk walk towards the main shuttle bay. Five minutes later they arrived and as Gupta paused to look around at the various shuttles and catch her breath Bell gave her a poke in the ribs. “I see we might have to factor slow walking naval officers into the timing of our plans for future missions,” she said in a whisper so none of the shuttle crews could overhear.

  Gupta stuck her tongue out at the intelligence agent and pointed at one of the smaller shuttles. “That should do us, we don’t want to book a flight with one of the larger shuttles and end up waiting around for it to fill up before departing.”

  “Very well,” Bell said, “I’ll do the haggling, and everyone else can get themselves on board.”

  Five minutes later Gupta stared out of the shuttle window at the approaching planet, deep in thought. The planet looked beautiful. Over ninety percent of the planet’s surface was water and the cloud cover was much thicker than on Earth where she had grown up. There was obviously a storm passing over the capital city of Bhopal as there was a maelstrom of swirling and twisting clouds. Through the occasional breaks in the clouds she could see the deep blue of the sea and the thin green of the peninsula Bhopal was built on. Despite the storm the city looked peaceful and tranquil and not at all what Gupta had expected.

  Her grandparents had left New Delhi over seventy years ago. Her grandfather had been a shop assistant for a small equipment shop that supplied a number of rural mining operations on one of the south continents. They had spent years eking out a living and saving enough for one-way tickets back to Earth. They had been seeking to escape the dreaded caste system that had been exported from India to her colonies.

  Her family was from the Sudra caste and her grandparent’s grandparents had been forcibly moved from India to New Delhi. There they had made up just two of the hundreds of thousands of migrants the Indian government had thrown onto the planet to help jump start its economy. Of course, being from the Sudra caste they hadn’t been allowed to use the many opportunities a new colony presented to colonists to make their fortune. Instead they had been forced into mind-numbing menial jobs.

  When her grandparents had finally managed to escape and return to Earth they had stayed well clear of India. Instead Britain had offered them all they wanted, freedom from the caste system and an opportunity to better themselves through their own merit. Thanks to the hard work of her grandparents and parents, Gupta had been able to afford the education that had led her to the naval academy and space.

  Now she was at New Delhi and though her grandparents were dead she knew her parents wouldn’t be pleased to hear she had visited the colony. Despite everything she had heard about the colony she still had to admit that it was beautiful. It was no wonder the Indian government had managed to convince so many people to move away from the slums of India to such a pristine world a few generations ago. Even the city was something to behold, Gupta thought as the shuttle broke through the clouds. Surrounded by ocean on three sides and sprawling the entire length of the peninsula that reached back to the main continent, it almost conjured images of the los
t city of Atlantis. Its largest spires were also impressive; some reached up almost two kilometers into the sky and were beautifully matched by their reflections in the glistening ocean.

  However, once they got down into the midst of the city the beauty began to wear off. It looked just like one of the many cities Gupta had visited before. Here and there were obvious signs that some sectors of the city were less cared for. Half demolished buildings stood beside others that looked like they had been abandoned years before. Such sites plagued almost all of the human colonies. With space no longer at a premium it was far cheaper to just build on new land than spend the time and effort to demolish and clean up an old building before erecting another.

  When the shuttle set down and kicked up a large dust cloud within a poorly kept landing platform the allure of New Delhi had already worn off. Gupta was ready to get the mission completed and get off the planet that had haunted her nightmares as a child.

  After disembarking the shuttle, Bell took the lead. She had been to New Delhi before and had a basic working knowledge of its layout. She was also the only one who knew the contact they were going to meet so all Gupta had to do was look like a freighter captain on the hunt for a good trade opportunity.

  Thirty minutes and two maglev trains later they arrived at their destination, a downscale looking restaurant. “You six go in and order yourself some food, I’m going to have a drink at the bar,” Bell said.

  Without any further explanation she walked on into the restaurant, leaving Gupta to assume that Bell had already arranged to meet the contact at the bar.

  For any civilian the meal that followed would have been less than appetizing but for five marines and a naval officer used to naval meals it wasn’t the worst they had ever had. The ordeal was made worse however by the stares her companions got from the locals. Gupta fit in with her Indian complexion but in this part of the city foreigners stood out like a sore thumb and everyone who entered the restaurant took a few moments to stare at them. Thankfully at least, no one sat too close to their table. If they had, their interest might have been pricked even more for each of the marines simply sat in silence as they ate, constantly checking their surroundings. Even Major Johnston, someone she knew from her time as the First Lieutenant of Drake, didn’t try to strike up a conversation with her.

  Just when Gupta was reaching the end of her patience she saw a young man enter the restaurant, walk over to Bell and take a seat beside her at the bar. After briefly trying to start up a conversation with her he got up and moved further down the bar, looking upset at having his advances rebuffed. Gupta had been studying the exchange closely to see if their contact had passed off anything to Bell. Either he had nothing for them or his field craft was very good for Gupta had seen nothing. She guessed he was a highly trained British operative permanently based here. Something like what Bell had been doing at Wi Li when Gupta had first met her during the Void War. He certainly had the Indian complexion to fit in.

  Despite the quick exchange Bell must have got what she wanted for she soon stood up and made her way out of the restaurant. As she paused to wait for the automatic door Gupta could have sworn she looked back and gave her a quick wink.

  As she made to get up and follow after Bell, Johnston’s hand reached out for hers, “hold on a minute Captain, its best we aren’t seen leaving together. Give it a few minutes and we can pay the bill and make our way out.

  “Of course,” Gupta said, scolding herself for being so naive. Obviously she had a lot to learn about this spy business.

  Once out on the street again there was no sign of Bell. Johnston didn’t look concerned and, shrugging his shoulders to the rest of the team, he led them off in a seemingly random direction. Sure enough it didn’t take Bell long to fall in beside them.

  “Did you get everything we need?” Gupta asked as soon as she could.

  “I hope so, we’ll not know until we get somewhere more private to look over the data file he gave me,” Bell answered.

  “Back to the freighter then?” Gupta continued.

  “No, I think it would be better if we looked for some rooms in a hotel nearby. There we can look over the data and make a plan of action for tomorrow. If this data confirms our suspicions we’ll be making a visit to the Varun shipping company’s headquarters here in Bhopal. There’s no point going back to the freighter. We can all enjoy a more luxurious night’s sleep,” Bell answered with a smile.

  “You can’t do all this spy work without a good night’s rest after all,” she added with a wink for Gupta.

  Chapter 5 – Mr. Banik

  Once the interstellar trade companies and corporations were just small competing entities. It would take many hundreds of years for them to come to dominate our society and large swaths of the galaxy in the way they do now.

  - Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD

  16th March 2466, Bhopal, New Delhi

  The next morning Gupta woke early and got dressed in her best civilian uniform. She was going to an important meeting and she needed to look her part. Bell was already waiting for her. The rest of the marines would be following behind them as at this meeting they would have to keep their distance.

  Instead of riding the maglev trains around the city they opted for an air taxi to take them to the headquarters of the Varun Shipping Company. Their RSNI contact in Bhopal had come through for them. He had tracked the payments from one of Chang’s shell companies to the Varun Shipping Sompany and one of the mid-level managers based in Bhopal. The data strongly suggested Chang had bribed a division within the Varun Company to smuggle him out of Chinese space and provide him with a safe place to hide. The financial trail led to a certain Rahul Banik. He was only a mid-level bureaucrat and Bell believed he was taking orders from higher up. Their current plan was to rattle Rahul and see where it led them.

  When they arrived at the headquarters they had to go through a security check before they were allowed in. Once through they approached the reception desk.

  “May I help you,” a young Indian woman asked politely.

  “Yes,” Gupta said stepping forward. “My name is Neysa Avvari, I would like to request a meeting with Rahul Banik, I believe he is a shipping coordinator here.”

  The Indian receptionist took a moment to look over Gupta’s attire. Without a company insignia on her uniform she obviously came to the conclusion that she didn’t work for any of the other big shipping companies. “I’m sorry but none of our coordinators take meetings that haven’t been arranged in advance. If you are looking for a shipping contract we have many listed on the planet’s data net you would be welcome to apply for,” she said.

  “I’m afraid I have other business with Mr. Banik,” Gupta began, hoping the receptionist would be able to read between the lines. “If you can tell him I’m carrying cargo from the Chinese colonies that one of his clients requested be transported out of China then I think he will make an exception.”

  There was no way the receptionist knew of Chang but if she guessed Gupta had been hired to transport something illegal for Varun then she would likely contact Banik directly, the Chinese connection would do the rest.

  “Ok,” the receptionist said, “if you would have a seat in our waiting area I will contact Mr. Banik and get back to you.”

  “Thank you very much,” Gupta said with a half bow before turning around and heading towards the seats they had been directed to.

  Barely a couple of minutes passed before a security guard appeared in the reception area and approached them. Gupta felt a shiver of disappointment pass through her as she saw him walking directly for them but to her surprise instead of asking them to leave he said, “If you ladies will follow me, Mr. Banik will see you now.”

  After following the guard to one of the top levels of the building they were ushered into a large room. In front of them an ageing, slightly overweight Indian sat in an oversized chair. “Come in,” he said nervously. “This wasn’t a meeting I was expecting. Do you mind telling me who
you are exactly? I don’t have time to be wasting on unnecessary meetings.”

  “Of course Mr. Banik,” Gupta said in a conciliatory tone. “We won’t take up much of your time. My name is Neysa Avvari, I have to apologize though. I’m afraid I wasn’t the one who wanted this meeting with you. I’m simply an independent trader, it is Ms. Qu-Shin who hired me.”

  With that Gupta stood back and Bell stepped forward. “I must apologize too Mr. Banik. I’m sorry for the deception but I didn’t want my name on any official record of our meeting. Qu-shin is just a cover; my real name is Li Bai, formally of Chinese Naval Intelligence.

  “I believe we have a mutual friend. Before he left China he tasked me with gathering a number of his prized possessions and transporting them into Indian space. He gave me your name as his contact so I’m here presenting myself to you. Ms. Avvari has a freighter in orbit awaiting your directions. We’re ready to take the cargo to our mutual friend on your say so.”

  As she had been speaking she had been watching Banik’s face closely. At the mention of a ‘mutual friend’ his face had flattened into an emotionless disinterested stare. She knew she had the right man.