AGU SCI 1: The Star Brotherhood (18 page)

Vyx reached into a pocket and removed a small pouch containing a data wafer. Tossing it onto Captain McCoy's desk, Vyx said, "Captain, would you play the file on that wafer?"

McCoy took the wafer from the pouch and placed it on her keyboard's data spindle, then activated the large wall monitor. Reuter and Vyx swung their chairs around to see the screen.

The high resolution image showed an approach to a Denubbewa mother ship in slow motion. As the mother ship was passed, the image changed to show three warships emerging from a large orifice.

"Captain McCoy, please pause the playback," Reuter said. "Where did you get this footage, Vyx? I haven't seen it before."

"The Denubbewa never left this part of space, sir. This footage was shot by my ship six weeks ago."

"Six weeks? While you were on your way to this rendezvous?"

"Yes, sir. My DeTect system reported that we had passed a large object exhibiting a considerable power signature, so I turned around to see what it was. I suspected it might be the
Marcoussa.
It wasn't."

Reuter took a deep breath and released it. "Why did you wait until now to report this?"

"I didn't understand the reason for this rendezvous. It's highly unusual and wasn't explained. If the face-to-face meeting was owed to the enemy breaking the normal SCI encryption codes, I wanted to ensure they didn't know their presence had been reported to Space Command. I didn't realize you would be on board, sir, but I believed Captain McCoy would have a way to securely pass the information to Quesann."

Reuter stood and walked to the monitor, studied the image closely for a full minute, then returned to his seat. "Captain, continue the playback, please."

The three officers watched the rest of the sequence in silence.

"That was a close call, Trader," McCoy said.

"If not for the slight edge we have in speed, I wouldn't be here now."

"I have to report this to Quesann immediately," Reuter said. "We had no idea there was a mother ship operating in this region. After Admiral Carver defeated the five mother ships in Region Two, she ordered her forces to seek out and destroy all the warships they could locate, but we have no idea if the number that eluded us at the battle numbered in the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands.

"When the Admiral returned to Quesann, she ordered a plan put into motion that would see the entire fleet of Scout-Destroyers upgraded with the new weapons systems, but production limitations in the fabrication and shipment of the necessary armament components from Region One has delayed that effort. The previously equipped ships have been out searching for the Denubbewa warships that escaped the battle zone, but so far, we've only found and destroyed one warship."

"Just one?" Vyx said incredulously. "In all this time?"

"We believe they're lying doggo, waiting for new mother ships to arrive. Our fleet of Dakinium-sheathed ships is simply inadequate to cover the region as effectively as we must. It would take a fleet fifty times as large as the Second Fleet to find spaceships that aren't on the move and don't want to be found. We can't even ask the Territorial Guard to assist because their ships have neither the speed advantage of the SDs nor weapons that can destroy a Denubbewa warship if they were to locate one. Of course they will report any sightings or rumors of sightings."

"The
Scorpion
isn't Dakinium-sheathed either," Vyx said. "We'd love to assist in the effort, but we barely escaped with our skins in the encounter you just viewed."

"Yes, we realize that. Your new assignment would have provided us with information showing that the Denubbewa ships were making their way into Region Three, if that was the case. We never expected you to actually confront any enemy ships. We envisioned you talking to freight haulers and listening to conversations to determine if they knew anything. It seems you've already provided more information than we ever expected to acquire this early in the investigation. I wish I could dispute your data, but that's impossible. The Denubbewa are definitely here."

"And have been here for at least fourteen years. So the
Scorpion
returns to Bleadalto and we carry on the counterfeiting investigation?"

"Yes."

"And what of Rolando? Do we drop her off on Bleadalto?"

"For the time being I'm assigning her to your team. She'll work with you to discover who's counterfeiting GA Credits."

"So she
is
SCI?"

"Yes. You didn't know?"

"No. We never revealed our true identities and she never revealed hers."

"That's as it should be. When you reported that you found her aboard that derelict, we thought you might recognize one another since you were both at NHSA during the same time."

"Only for one year, and we didn't socialize."

"So you did recognize her?"

"Not at first. She recognized me and I remembered her only after she called me by my real name."

"She slipped up?"

"It was immediately after coming out of stasis. In fact, she was still in the bed. It takes a short time to get your bearings after you awaken. She saw a familiar face right away and called me by my real name. I denied the identification and she dropped it. We didn't speak of it again."

Reuter just nodded without saying anything for a several seconds. He seemed to be deep in thought before breaking the silence. "It's strange that with so many ship disappearances, only one derelict has been discovered."

"Perhaps they recycle the ships they capture."

"You mean rebuild them for their own use?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of melting them down to salvage the raw materials and then build new ships in the style that has been so effective."

"Where do you think their shipyard might be located?"

"My guess would be that it's located inside the mother ship. At Stewart SCB, there's a docking area where damaged ships can be repaired. These mother ships must enclose far more usable space than Stewart, so why not keep everything inside? Then, when they move, their operations move with them."

Reuter nodded slowly. "It makes sense, but why leave one damaged ship untouched?"

"Perhaps as bait? The
Marcoussa
stopped to investigate, as did we. A sensor buoy positioned in the area would tell them if someone was checking out the ship."

"But they didn't attack you there."

"They might have had their attention focused elsewhere at the time. They sure seemed ready to greet us when we came across the mother ship. Or perhaps they're simply not infallible and lost track of the
Aloriedeks
. I kinda like that idea best because this enemy's military might is formidable. I doubt if there's anyone in this part of space other than Space Command that can stand up to them, or even evade them."

"We haven't intercepted any distress calls recently that originated in this part of space."

"They might attack so fast that they’re able to jam the bands before a signal for help is sent. We know they never issue any warnings before attacking and never respond to hails. Other than Space Command ships, the
Scorpion
is probably the only ship in this part of space that has the speed capability to escape the Denubbewa."

"Yes, if you didn't have the new FTL drive, we might not even know they're operating here. I wish we could surface the
Scorpion
with Dakinium. Having that speed available would add a tremendous dimension to your effectiveness."

"It doesn't seem like it should be that difficult to accomplish. The ship isn't that large."

"No, it's definitely possible. It's just that every ounce we currently produce is already promised for either new military shipbuilding or some other defense equipment purpose. And now, with the need to outfit all SDs as bombers, all Dakinium production at the Region One foundry at Jupiter for the next ten years has already been committed."

"With the Denubbewa now operating in this region, it seems even more important that a small amount be freed up for other purposes."

"There are new foundry and shipbuilding operations being created in Region Two near Quesann. That naturally includes Dakinium manufacturing. Perhaps, as production ramps up at the new foundry, SCI can convince the Admiralty Board to allow us a share of that production. I'm sure Admiral Kanes has requested it. You're dismissed, Commander."

"Aye, sir," Vyx said, "I have a couple of requests, though. We had to use our spare FTL drive after the first was destroyed. I covered that in my report. If the
Stuttgart
has a spare drive unit for a Scout-Destroyer aboard, we could really use it now that our back-up is gone."

"Do you have a spare SD drive unit aboard, Captain McCoy?" Reuter asked.

"I'll have my chief engineer check. If we do, it's yours, Commander."

"Thank you, ma'am. And if you could spare some provisions, we'd appreciate it. This voyage has turned out to be considerably longer than we planned."

"Of course, Commander. Do you have a list?"

Reaching into a pocket, Vyx pulled out a small vid unit. "Right here, ma'am."

McCoy touched her space Command ring and said, "Commander Harder." A second later she said, "Commander, Captain Vyx will be returning to his vessel now, but before he leaves he needs some supplies. See that he gets everything he requires. McCoy out." To Vyx, McCoy said, "Harder is on the bridge. Just give him your list. I'll take care of the drive unit request."

"Thank you, Captain. Good day."

As the doors closed behind Vyx, McCoy said, "He seems very capable— but he didn't salute before leaving. He acts more like a civilian freighter captain than a Lt. Commander in Space Command."

"He has to maintain his cover persona at all times so he doesn't slip up when it counts. Mistakes can be fatal."

"Ah, yes, I understand."

When Vyx entered the small shuttle for the return trip to the
Scorpion
, he saw that Ursula Rolando was already seated there. She looked up with a smile and said, "Hello, boss."

"You've been briefed, I see."

"Yep. I'm proud to serve on your team, sir. I knew the dedicated 'firstie' I knew at the Academy would never leave Space Command to become a freight hauler. And I knew you were Victor Gregorian."

"First rule— forget that name. I'm Trader Vyx."

"Yes, sir."

"Second rule— take it easy with the 'sirs.' We're just a civilian freighter team. I'm in command, but we keep it very informal."

"Gotcha, boss. Anything else?"

"Yeah," he said with a grin, "one last thing. Welcome to the team."

The rest of the team was waiting by the airlock as the shuttle linked up and established a pressurized connection. Their faces mirrored surprise when Rolando followed Vyx into the ship. All had expected that she would remain aboard the
Stuttgart
and be ferried to some destination where she could find employment aboard another freighter.

"Allow me to introduce Ursula Rolando, the newest member of our team."

"I knew it," Byers said with a wide smile. "I knew she was SCI."

"You were right, Albert. Ursula is SCI and was on that freighter working an investigation into counterfeiting."

"And Russel?" Nelligen asked.

"He wasn't SCI, if that's what you mean," Ursula said. "He was just my work partner aboard the freighter. We were the only two Terrans aboard ship, so we always got paired up for work assignments. He wasn't very bright and had the worst luck of anyone I've ever met."

"The
Stuttgart
is sending over a quarter-container with food and supplies," Vyx said, "so let's open the maintenance bay airlock to begin accepting the shipment. Since our cargo bay is already filled, we don't have room to bring the container inside. We'll have to empty it outside the ship and drag it inside piecemeal, then stow it. After that we'll be free to head for Bleadalto. So Nels and Albert, let's get into our EVA gear."

"What's our new assignment?" Brenda asked.

"I'll brief everyone after the work is done and we're underway."

By the time the team was suited up and ready to handle the cargo, the quarter-container had been delivered to the
Scorpion
. Knowing that the delivered items would be subjected to the cold of space, the goods had been protected in insulated containers. It took several hours for Vyx, Albert, and Nels to fill the airlock, then empty the airlock and prepare it for another load while Kathryn, Brenda, and Ursula unpacked the insulated containers so they could be returned to the Stuttgart. The gravity in the maintenance bay had been reduced to one-sixth to make the unloading chores substantially easier.

"I can't believe they actually gave you fifty cases of ale," Nelligen said as the team settled into the lounge after the ship was underway.

"They didn't even argue," Vyx said. "I just gave them the list and they filled it. The only item they couldn't provide was the fresh parsley Albert wanted. They said they were out."

"I've still got the dried stuff for cooking."

"Okay," Brenda said, "we've unloaded the cargo container and left it for the
Stuttgart
to retrieve, we've stowed all the supplies in the storage lockers, and we're underway for Bleadalto. Are you going to tell us why we had to meet this Space Command destroyer here?"

"There was an SCI captain aboard the
Stuttgart
. It was he who briefed me. I'm not sure why he wanted a face-to-face. Perhaps there was something about a new assignment that became moot after I showed them the image file of our encounter with the Denubbewa. The new assignment, by the way, was to learn if anyone was reporting sightings of the Denubbewa. It seems there's been a lot of unexplained ship disappearances in this part of space. Providing proof of where at least some of those ships might have gone answered the questions about the Denubbewa. Perhaps some of the other ships fell victim to friends of the freighter after delivering their cargo, as almost happened to us. I'd still like to know if that was orchestrated by the freighter captain or by someone aboard the freighter who was working a separate deal."

"My money is on the broker," Kathryn said. "I never have trusted Wolkerrons. They spend all their time wheeling and dealing with the worst scum in the galaxy."