by M. D. Cooper
She knew it was incongruous. There were definitely two Jessicas. Even though her parents and friends back in Athabasca barely recognized her, she still related to them and appreciated their way of life. She also wanted to taste the high-octane life and see what was beyond regular humanity.
If it was represented by what was displayed around her, then perhaps the final destination was not a place she wanted to see.
Then again, there must be the promise of transcendence, of humanity becoming something more.
Wasn’t that the promise that all this technology was supposed to bring?
Her musings were interrupted by her internal nav informing her that she had arrived at the ship’s berth.
Cruithne berths were archaic to say the least. In newer stations and rings, ships passed through ES shielding and essentially landed on the station. Here they still docked a cargo hatch to the station and grapples held the ship in place.
There was even a line on the station’s deck plate denoting where the ship’s domain began.
The ship she was looking for was named the Arimanthe and its domain was guarded by a thing that was decidedly more mech than human. Jessica couldn’t even determine its gender.
“Jessica Keller. I’m with the TBI and I need to speak to your captain,” she addressed the hulk with authority, though she didn’t expect to get anywhere.
“Captain doesn’t want to talk to you,” came the impassive response.
“We’re not going to reach an agreement, are we?” Jessica asked.
“Not unless you agree to go away,” the hulk smirked—at least Jessica thought it was a smirk.
She checked the status of the warrant she had applied for, something she had decided to hide from Captain Clyde, and found that it had been signed by a district AI judge moments before.
“I have a warrant to view your manifests and logs, I will be entering your vessel now.”
“You and what army?” The hulk asked.
“This army.”
Jessica turned, surprised to see Angharad approaching with two security drones.
“I didn’t think you wanted to get involved with this,” Jessica said.
Angharad’s steely visage showed no emotion. “I don’t, but orders are orders. I guess someone cares enough about getting this Myrrdan guy to risk ruffling a few feathers over here.”
The hulk gave the AI and security drones a long, considering look before acquiescing and calling the bridge.
“Captain’ll see you.”
The ship turned out to be a lot larger than Jessica expected, the two-hundred-meter walk to the bridge took the pair of TBI agents past hold after hold of cargo, most of it likely black market.
The ship itself was in decent shape. The captain appeared to care for his ship and made sure the crew did, too. Jessica assembled a mental map of the ship and where possible escape routes would be should the encounter turn ugly.
The hulk led them to the captain’s office, just aft of the bridge, before returning to its post at the dock.
The portal slid open and Jessica entered, noting that Angharad entered behind her and remained there. Her attention was quickly consumed by the captain. The man was massive. Jessica estimated him at over two hundred kilograms.
A walk-in clinic could solve his weight issue in a day, which meant he actually wanted to be as large as he was. Jessica couldn’t figure out what that said about him, but it certainly was well outside of normal.
“Hello, I’m agent Keller and this is Agent Angharad,” Jessica offered both introductions and her hand.
The man leaned back and folded his arms behind his head.
“What can I do for the TBI today?”
Jessica smiled, the man wanted to do the information dance. She was more than happy to oblige him. In her experience, suspects gave away more than they held back when they tried to be evasive.
“We just thought perhaps you were lonely and wanted some company. Cruithne is sometimes an unwelcoming station,” she replied.
“Lonely on Cruithne?” The captain laughed and Jessica had to force herself not to stare at how his flesh rippled. “There is more company here than anywhere in Sol. I don’t think I’d need to stoop to the TBI for that.”
“What about in the black? What sort of company do you keep then?” Jessica asked.
“The crew and I play a lot of cards; I’m sure you have played a hand of poker around a commissary table in your day.”
“I imagine you take passengers from time to time, I noticed you have more berths than it would take to crew this ship. I imagine they must entertain as well.” Jessica filed away his use of the word commissary. Civilians usually called them mess halls or break rooms.
“We have,” the captain nodded. “It’s a nice bonus for the crew to fleece a few passengers in a game.”
“Did you take any crew this past trip? I see you came in from High Terra just a day ago.”
The captain’s face fell, lined with sadness. “Unfortunately we did not. I wish we had as the cargo didn’t earn us quite what we’d hoped.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t mind showing me your manifests so that I may verify this and note it in my report.”
Now they were getting to it, this is where excuses would be made and the warrant would have to be used. His reactions would likely tell her everything she needed to know.
“Now, Agent Keller, that is not something I like to give out to authorities. A lot of my customers prefer discretion, it’s why they ship with me.”
“I can imagine. Based on the dock master’s records, you have hardly unloaded any cargo and none of your crew have gone on-station yet.”
The captain nodded as she spoke.
Jessica continued. “Yet, when I walked through your cargo holds I couldn’t help but notice a lot of fresh scuff-marks from crates and other cargo. A cleaning servitor was also exiting a berth that appeared to be unused. It would seem to me that you have not reported all of your activities. Now provide me with your full manifests.”
The captain grumbled and leaned over his desk. He began assembling the data on a sheet of plas. Jessica expected it to be entirely falsified. When the captain completed the document, she sat across from him to examine it.
“This seems to back up what you’re telling me, Mr. Swenson, but it doesn’t match the facts at hand.” Jessica locked eyes with the man and saw worry creep into his.
She wasn’t surprised. From what she could gather about the way things ran on Cruithne, the law didn’t dig any deeper than it had to. If a manifest was needed, it was provided and accepted. So long as all the right people were suitably compensated.
From the way Angharad shifted behind her, Jessica wondered if she was one of the compensatees.
“You see, I know how much fuel you took on before you left High Terra and your vector and boost are on record. I also know what your fuel situation was like when you arrived on Cruithne. This manifest,” she waved the plas in front of him, “doesn’t match up.”
“Your calculations are off. Maybe you need a lesson in space travel.” The captain was blustering now, unprepared to have to defend himself further. She saw his eyes dart to Angharad expectantly.
Jessica’s voice rose in volume as she spoke and by the end she was standing with hands on the captain’s desk. She leaned over, her face inches from his.
“I do not need a lesson, certainly not from you. You forget that High Terra makes its mass compensation data available to the TBI. We know how much your ship weighed when you left, and I was able to request the tether load data when you docked here. I know what your ship weighed when you arrived. I also got the mass compensation data for right now and I know you transferred more cargo than you have on this manifest.
“Now give me the real manifest!” she yelled.
There was a moment of silence. The captain’s face reflected shock, but just for a moment. His puffy features took on a smug expression, and Jessica felt a hand on her shoulder.
&nb
sp; “Agent Keller, it is time for us to leave; you have what you came for,” Angharad said quietly.
Jessica turned to the TBI AI.
“Why am I not surprised? I figured you for dirty from the get-go. I have a warrant and I intend to execute it. I will search this ship’s computers until I find out precisely who was here and what they brought onboard.”
The AI’s face was impassive. “You will not. You will leave this ship with me now and file your report with the manifest you have.” The security drones shifted to either side of her, flanking Jessica. “If you do not, you will find yourself returned to High Terra in a most unconventional manner.”
Jessica looked back at the smiling captain and snatched the plas from his desk. “Very well, let’s go.”
Jessica’s mind raced as she tried to think of a way to stop Angharad. She tried Net access only to find it was blocked; a call for help would go nowhere—not that Jessica thought anyone would answer. The AI and her drones would be hardened to EMP and a pulse rifle would not disable them quickly enough. Her options were decidedly limited.
Her mind raced and she took a deep breath to calm herself. There had to be a way out of this. If she didn’t get the real manifest from this captain, she would have to go back to High Terra empty handed.
It was no easy task. Even without her two security drones, Angharad would be nearly impossible to defeat. The small voice of rationality in Jessica’s mind screamed that she was a fool to consider confrontation with the AI.
She thought through the route back to the station. There was a narrow hatch where they would have to file through one at a time. Jessica decided to make her move there.
As they approached the hatch, one of the drones moved ahead of Jessica and passed through first. She followed it through and in a swift motion dove to the right of the corridor and swatted the drone into the bulkhead. Her armor’s power assist gave her the strength to seriously damage the drone and embed it into the side of the corridor.
The next drone was racing through the hatch as Jessica dropped to the deck and fired three shots from her ballistic sidearm into the drone. It fell in a shower of sparks and Jessica pointed her weapon at the portal.
Angharad was there with a pulse rifle drawn. Jessica and the AI stared at each other in silence before Jessica spoke.
“I’d lower that if you know what is good for you.”
“That is good advice,” Angharad replied. “Your handgun can’t stop me like it did those drones.”
“And your pulse rifle isn’t going to get through my armor any time soon.”
“The crew will be here any second. Surrender.”
Jessica didn’t move for a moment, but then lowered her weapon.
“Very well, we’ll do this your way.”
Angharad gestured with her rifle and Jessica began to rise. She twisted to get an arm underneath herself and quickly kicked out a leg. A hidden compartment on her shin slid open and a plasma wand shot out.
The wand flew through the air and caught a startled Angharad under the chin, embedding itself to the hilt. Jessica reached for her sidearm and fired several shots into the AI’s head—blowing it off in a shower of sparks.
AI didn’t keep their brains in their heads, so it was not a fatal wound, but it did cause the construct to topple over. Jessica grabbed Angharad’s pulse rifle and fired several shots into her exposed neck. The AI’s body convulsed for a moment before falling still.
Jessica scanned the corridor. The sound of footsteps came from the ship’s entrance, likely the hulk coming to finish what Angharad had failed to do.
She quickly stood and tore open the side of the drone embedded in the wall. Sure enough there were several small concussive stun grenades in a launcher. She grabbed two and lobbed them down the corridor as the man came into view.
The grenades worked as advertised and he went down in a heap. Jessica turned and raced back toward the captain’s quarters, reloading her sidearm on the way.
The expression on the captain’s face was priceless as she used another of the grenades to disable his door-lock before crashing through.
“Now, where were we?” Jessica asked.
The captain’s bluster was gone and within minutes she had the real manifests. There was a veritable treasure-trove of illegal cargo, but no Myrrdan—not even cargo that could have concealed Myrrdan.
Cruithne was a dead-end.
She had the captain order the crew to quarters and walked him to the dock, half as a prisoner, half as a human shield.
Captain Clyde was waiting for her.
“You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that,” the captain said with a hint of a smile on her face. “Folks don’t usually ruffle feathers like this on their first day.”
“What can I say?” Jessica said. “I didn’t like the way he looked at my breasts.”
A ghost of a smile played at the edges of Clyde’s mouth. “Hand him over to us, and a copy of whatever evidence you have. We’ll see that he’s dealt with.”
Jessica wondered if he’d be dealt with for his crimes or his failure to keep control.
“What’s left of Angharad is also on the ship. You’ll want to clean that up and send her back to High Terra.”
Clyde’s eyes widened. “Really? She’s one tough customer, but it means your time on Cruithne is over.”
Jessica had suspected as much. Angharad had to be connected at the highest levels. Whoever she reported to would not be happy and would be quite unwelcoming. Clyde must be beholden to someone else—or maybe really be an honest cop on Cruithne.
“No problem. Any ships headed to Mars?”
THE CHO
STELLAR DATE: 3227241 / 10.15.4123 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: District 4A1, Ring 4, Callisto Orbital Habitat (Cho)
REGION: Jovian Combine, Sol Space Federation
Trist cautiously slipped down the service corridor, her silsuit a matte grey that matched the bulkheads around her. She was looking for a good place to hide so that she could look over her find in private. A vertical stack of environmental tubes filled part of the passage ahead, and she crouched down in the gloom they created.
The find was a bundle of plas sheets. Rare to see such a manifest printed out, but some people did like the tactile sensation. She flipped through the multilayer holoplas with care, making certain to focus on each layer of each page in its entirety. It took several minutes to scan the sheets into memory and transcribe them. Once it was in her memory she assimilated it as data and the information was in the forefront of her mind, filtered into a relational structure.
Slipping a small EM charge from a hidden pocket she fried the sheets and dropped them down a crack between the conduit and the deck. Someone would find them eventually, but it would be too late to do anything—even if the information on them could be recovered.
Sue, Trist’s AI, was running through the lists of equipment and storage locations in the data and pulled out several choice items, flashing them over Trist’s vision.
Trist rose and left the narrow service passage, taking a few convoluted turns before ending up on a larger concourse. As she walked, the corridors transitioned from deserted to being packed with people and maglev carriers. The utilitarian halls had also given way to the wider boulevards, their walls covered in tarnished filigree—though it was nearly impossible to spot behind all of the holo advertisements that wrapped them.
She looked down at the form-fitting grey outfit and
decided it just wouldn’t do. A thought changed its color to a mixture of black and pink, raised the heel on the boots and added a short skirt. The neckline plunged and the fabric ruffled, creating a second layer that formed a jacket.
“Mod freak.”
She almost didn’t catch the muttered words from a man who walked by. He was already past, but she made a rude gesture anyway. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t get the pretty mods and that her left eye was a mass of lenses and actuators. Not to mention what her right hand looked like—it got the job done.
Putting his comment from her mind she adopted a carefree expression and walked down the corridor toward the main sweep of Ring 4. Her eyes slid past the ancient décor in this part of the ring to light upon the inhabitants. It was important to always know who was around you and what they were up to. In Trist’s experience life didn’t offer a lot of forgiveness to the unwary.
After a few bends, the boulevard opened up to a balcony overlooking the main sweep. Lanes of flying transports choked the air before her and below she could catch glimpses of parks and lakes.
Once, when the Callisto Orbital Habitat—known to its inhabitants as the Cho—was new, this was the upper level of an exclusive world, the most beautiful and advanced orbital habitat ever created. The Cho still was the most advanced and beautiful orbital habitat mankind had ever constructed, but with the number of rings now totaling over one hundred, R4 was little more than a relic—much of it demoted to life support and waste-management.
Despite that, the main sweep could still take your breath away. It was nearly a kilometer wide and ran the entire circumference of the ring. If you followed it around the ring, you’d find yourself in some very nice neighborhoods from time to time, but most would prompt you to keep a hand on your weapon of choice.
Trist tried to contact Jesse on the Link, but received no response. That could mean anything from complete and utter drunkenness to simply not caring enough to answer, or a host of possibilities in between.