MY NAME IS Brian. I serve as a commander aboard a vessel known as Ship. It is one of the last remaining Baglogi Star Cruisers. Our mission includes peacekeeping and dealing with space pirates.

We were en route to a place known as the trading post. I had been there once before when I worked on a freighter, and my former captain warned us about the place. He said it was dangerous, especially if you are visiting on your own. Unfortunately, pirates destroyed the freighter soon after visiting the trading post and all but two crew were lost.

It was my belief that someone from the trading post informed the pirates about the freighter. They provided the information needed so that the pirates could intercept the freighter. Space is huge, and you can’t just find a vessel by accident. They had to have the knowledge of the flight path or they would never have succeeded. That was why we were going back there, to track down whoever was working with the pirates. They were jointly responsible for the deaths of my former crewmates and possibly many others. This was both justice for those who died and also to stop it from happening again.

I was worried that a lot of time had passed since the freighter, the Opolu Naa, had visited the trading post. My calculations had it around 130 Ori days since then. I hoped the trail had not gone cold. It is possible the being or beings responsible had gotten the news that the pirates were destroyed, and they had fled the trading post by now. If that were the case, this might be just the first step in a longer journey.

About a day into our travel, Jem called a meeting. Koluna and I joined her in the main bridge. We sat down and looked to our captain.

“I called us together to plan out our next mission. We are going to visit the trading post. Since I am the only one who has not been there before I would like a briefing on what it is. Koluna?”

“It is a huge space station located in the middle of nowhere. The primary purpose is for beings from different space-faring races to trade goods. Various traders built it over centuries, and I am unclear who runs it. It works on barter,” replied Koluna.

“The Opolu Naa stopped there about twelve days before being attacked by pirates. It is my belief that someone from there informed the pirates,” I added.

“So, we will have to meet with the administrators of this space station and get their consent to conduct our investigation. We have no jurisdiction there, and we need them on our side. Once we have the go ahead, we have to track down who was collaborating with the pirates,” summed up Jem.

“There are a lot of unknowns. My former captain said it was a dangerous place. I’d like to work with Ship to prepare some counter measures,” I said.

“Agreed. Koluna?”

“I will check with our archives for any additional background information,” said Koluna.

“Sounds good. Keep me informed of progress,” said Jem. We then split up.

On my last visit to the trading post I was a new crewmate on my first voyage. It was a dangerous place, and I was scared. I depended on my captain’s advice to get out alive. Now I had committed us to going back in there to track down and deal with a pirate collaborator, a bold move that the old me would never have considered. But I owed it to captain Jegho and the rest of my former crewmates. My life had changed so much. I had to keep going, if I stopped to think about it, I would not survive.

I went to somewhere quiet to discuss details with Ship. This was a large enough vessel that you could get lost. I liked to spend time alone with Ship.

“Ship, I’m going to need your help with this mission. Let’s go over some possible scenarios and figure out what we need,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

For the next several hours we discussed possible scenarios and counter measures. Ship made some helpful suggestions. By the time I was too tired to continue, we had come up with a number of new protocols and items for Ship to fabricate.

I returned to our cabin, ready to collapse into the bed and let sleep take me. Jem and Koluna were there and had other plans.

“Brian, how long have you been working?” asked Jem.

“I’m not sure. There was a lot to do,” I mumbled.

“Have you eaten?” asked Koluna. I shook my head. I was eyeing the bed where I wanted to be.

“You really need to pace yourself. You neglected us again, and you have not eaten. Let’s get something to eat before you rest,” said Jem looking concerned.

I sat down at the dining table. I did not have energy to argue. Koluna handled the food dispenser and brought plates to the table. I hardly recalled what I was eating, but it was soon gone and then we all turned in for the night.

I slept the sleep of the dead. I had overdone it. I did not want to be caught out in a hostile environment because I had missed something that could have been avoided. They might not understand or appreciate my way of working, but I took my role seriously. Failure was not an option for me.

When I awoke Jem and Koluna were elsewhere. I figured (and Ship confirmed) I had been asleep for a long time. I got up and did my usual morning activities, then I checked in with Ship.

“How are we doing Ship?” I asked.

“I have the probes completed and ready to deploy on arrival. The suits are ready for testing per your specifications. I have prepared your other items,” replied Ship.

“Excellent! Now I have a few more ideas, let’s go over them and see what we can do,” I said. We spent a couple more hours in discussion. Mostly I was trying to come up with a response to any threat. Ship would tell me what was reasonable and what was impossible.

After a couple of hours I knew it was time to take a break and check in with Jem and Koluna. Ship informed me they were up on the main bridge. I got myself a beverage when I arrived and sat down with them.

“How nice to see you awake. How are you today?” asked Jem.

“I am sorry about the other day. I pushed myself too far. There are too many unknowns and dangers, I was trying to cover them all,” I said.

“I appreciate you are thorough and you don’t want us to fail,” said Jem, smiling. I sipped on my beverage and smiled back. I smiled more often these days. I grew up among emotionally cold beings, and now I shared a life with beings who cared about me. I did not want to lose them on this mission.

“So are you ready to see some of what Ship and I have come up with?” I asked.

“Sure commander,” replied Jem with a grin. I got up and picked up the items I’d left just out of view from them. I put them on the table and selected the first one. It looked like the device that is used for implanting an ID chip in your arm.

“This first item falls under the get home safely category. This device will implant a second chip which when dormant will appear no different from an ID chip. It should pass any security scans,” I pointed the device to a location and pressed the trigger. The pain was brief.

“Now, if I quickly tap my finger and thumb together five times, it triggers a distress call. Another five taps will shut it off. Ship tells me that the signal can be detected within the same system,” I approached Jem and she held out her arm. I quickly implanted the chip, and then did the same for Koluna.

“That is cool! Thank you Bri-an,” said Koluna.

“Yes, great idea. What’s next?” asked Jem.

I picked up a one-piece jump suit and handed it to Jem.

“This is a revised away team uniform. It has a special mesh in the fabric that absorbs most energy based weapons fire including stun guns. It redirects the energy down to the deck plate. It has a built-in hood with a face mask and gloves that should not be too obvious. They look like a padded collar and cuffs. In the event of decompression, cover up as quickly as you can. The suit should have about fifteen minutes of air to keep you alive.”

“Wow, you have outdone yourself! This was why you were so exhausted,” said Jem. Both Jem and Koluna looked over the suit with a keen interest.

“I recommend we test out these before we arrive. I am keen to make sure we can cover up quickly enough. Ship can organize a partial decompression in the shuttle bay. Also the thermal insulation properties are limited, so going outside should be avoided,” I said.

“Agreed. Good work Brian. What’s next?” asked Jem.

I picked up a small bag with a shoulder strap and handed it over to Koluna this time.

“This is a modified away team field medical kit. I added some devices including a stun gun and some lock picking tools. They are difficult to tell they are not medical devices. We might come up with some other things to add,” I said.

“Good. Because if we were invited aboard the station, it would be best not to appear armed. We don’t want to provoke a negative reaction,” said Koluna.

“Yes. I have been researching for similar such missions in our history. This station is their sovereign territory. We have no authority or jurisdiction unless the authorities invite us on. We can’t go in with weapons drawn,” added Jem.

“So you will have to convince them it is important for the safety and security of all traders that we proceed,” said Koluna. Jem smiled and nodded.

“That’s all I have for you so far. I still have time to come up with something more though,” I said. I hoped it would be enough.

The next day we had our scheduled testing of the new away team uniforms. Ship had fabricated one in each of our sizes. We put them on and moved to the shuttle bay.

“First let’s try without a partial decompression. The boots are sealed, so we only need to cover up our hands and heads. I think it is best to get your head covered first and then your hands. Press the tab on the right side of your collar and quickly unroll it. It should be self-sealing,” I said. We all tried this, and it did not take long before we had it figured out. They looked like hoods, but with a clear face mask covering the opening.

“That worked out well,” I said, “now try the cuffs in the same manner.”

“You had comms included in the hoods?” asked Jem.

“That was a suggestion from Ship,” I said.

“Confirmed,” said Ship, “the comms are short range and include between crew and with me.”

“Outstanding,” said Jem.

“Can we proceed with the cuffs? The suit cannot pressurize until they are on,” I said. We had gloves on in no time.

“Last thing, press the logo on your chest. It pressurizes the suit,” I said. Each of us pressed the logo and our suits inflated slightly. We were now on our own independent air.

“This is neat,” said Koluna.

“Now the reverse. Press the logo again to depressurize, then remove the gloves and hood quickly to avoid asphyxiation,” I said. Koluna turned to me with a worried expression. But we all managed that feat and were breathing Ship’s air again.

“What else do we need to know,” asked Koluna.

“Your air supply is limited, about fifteen minutes. It will be less if you are exerting yourself. The suit will give you a warning if you are running out, or if there is a leak. The suit will also broadcast to other crew and Ship if there is such a problem,” I said.

“In case you are already unconscious and we can help you,” guessed Jem with a smile.

“Precisely. And before you ask, the pocket on your right knee contains a leak repair kit,” I smiled back.

“Now what?” asked Jem.

“We need to help each other to roll down the collars. It is too difficult to do it without some help or without taking the suit off,” I said. We took turns in restoring the collars and cuffs.

“We could wear these suits when we were in battle and in danger of a decompression,” said Koluna.

“We could, but for two reasons,” I replied. “One — in battle you are more likely to have an explosive decompression, and that won’t give you time to cover up. Two — I have planned everything until now so that Ship does not have to go into battle. We can’t afford to lose any of us. I would rather send an unmanned probe into danger.”

“That makes sense,” said Koluna.

“Thank you Brian for caring about our welfare,” said Jem.

“It was Ship too. Ever since you initiated the self-improvement protocol, Ship has been contributing more, to the benefit of all of us,” I said.

“Thank you Ship,” said Jem.

I almost expected Ship to say “You’re welcome” but it did not. I will have to see what I can do about that later. It could be amusing.

“Ship, time to test with a partial depressurization. Give us a three second audible countdown and then drop the pressure to two-thirds normal,” I said.

“Confirmed. Alert depressurization in three, two, one,” said Ship. The air pressure dropped rapidly. My ears popped and I felt light-headed, but I kept to the plan, got my hood on, gloves on and pressed the logo to pressurize my suit.

I looked around. Jem was fully suited up. Koluna was sat on the deck, struggling with her hood. I immediately moved and helped with her hood. Jem worked on the gloves. Soon we had her suit pressurized, and she was feeling better.

“Wow! That took me by surprise,” said Koluna.

“Are you ok?” asked Jem, looking concerned.

“Yes, it is harder to concentrate when the air drops like that,” replied Koluna.

“This highlights another point. It is best we stay together on an away mission. If Koluna was alone, she would be dead. But with us together the chances of survival are that much better,” I said. They both nodded.

I had one more test to do. “Keep your suit on. I want to check for leaks at low pressure. Ship, drop the pressure to one quarter normal,” I said.

“Confirmed,” said Ship. Inside the suit I felt normal. It was like being inside a balloon. The metallic mesh in the fabric stopped the suit from stretching and having a structural failure. It was all good. Also there were no alarms going off, so the other two suits were holding up. I was even dreaming up a couple more enhancements to the suits.

“Ship, gradually restore normal pressure over the next minute or two please,” I said.

“Confirmed,” said Ship. I did not want to cause problems with raising the pressure too quickly, although our suits should protect us from any bad effects.

“Air pressure is now normal,” informed Ship. We took off the hoods and gloves and helped each other to roll them up again.

“Ship, standing order, no one is to test these suits in here alone. At least two and preferably three of us are to be here together. Any violation, and you are to refuse to comply with testing,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” said Ship. It made sense,

“Good job Brian, Koluna. Let’s go get some rest. We can practice this again tomorrow,” said Jem. We all left the shuttle bay and returned to our cabin.

AFTER EIGHTEEN DAYS of travel from the Baglogi system in the blackness of space we were nearing our destination. The hyper drive went offline and Ship decelerated to sub-light speed as we approached the Trading Post. I felt so different from the last time I visited here. Last time I was a junior officer aboard a freighter. I was prey. Now I was quite different.

We sat in the main bridge watching the huge station getting larger on the tactical display. It was built by traders long ago and had grown to become a huge space station at the intersection of several trading routes.

“Attention. Probe deployment complete,” said Ship.

“Thank you Ship,” I said.

“What was that?” asked Jem.

“Another precaution. We deployed cloaked probes to surround the station, to monitor vessels that arrive or depart,” I said. On the tactical display I could see some dots moving into position around the station representing the probes.

“Good idea,” said Jem. We were now within communication range, and it was good protocol to announce your arrival and your business.

“Ship open a channel to the station,” said Jem.

“Attention The Trading Post, this is the Baglogi vessel known as Ship. We seek an audience with the administration of this station to discuss a matter of security,” Jem said in Ori, and with an authoritative tone of voice. We had used Ori aboard Ship for so long now it had become our default language even though we had learned a reasonable amount of Baglogi from our recent mission. But out here it would be unlikely they know Baglogi. Ori was fairly common among traders.

A moment later the response came back in Ori “Message acknowledged. Please proceed to docking port twelve.”

Ship deftly maneuvered around to the indicated docking port, and we were soon attached to the station.

“Attention, docking complete,” said Ship. We left the main bridge and went and changed into our new away team uniforms. We each took standard wrist communicators and Koluna carried the special medical kit. We then proceeded to the airlock.

At the airlock we had to wait for some time, although it was unclear why. After the delay we were able to enter the station. It felt weird leaving Ship behind.

On the station side of the airlock was a large dimly lit docking bay. It would allow freighters to load and offload cargo. At present the bay was empty. It looked grim compared to the brightly lit interior of Ship. The air was not as clean and fresh as the air on Ship.

Four large guards in body armour greeted us with weapons at the ready. I can’t fault them for being cautious.

One of the guards looked us up and down, perhaps assessing if we were a threat or not. We were unarmed and we made no threatening motions. He then pulled out some kind of handheld scanner and proceeded to scan us. After a moment or two the scan was completed and they appeared satisfied.

The guard then spoke to us in Ori. “Welcome to The Trading Post. We will escort you to the administration hub.”

We then left the airlock area with our escort and moved along corridors deeper into the station. It felt strange leaving ship after so long. I felt extremely vulnerable and I hoped our preparation would be enough. I tried to make a mental note of the way back to Ship. It could be too easy to get lost in a big place like this.

Since this station was built from various modules, there were airlock doors between each module we had to go through. If any one module suffered decompression, the airlocks would confine the issue to the damaged module. It made sense, but it also made for slow progress.

Throughout our journey no one made any small talk. The guards were probably just following protocol. The station looked sad and grey, and I was keen to move along to our destination. There was nothing to discuss here.

Our escort brought us to the administration hub of The Trading Post. It was a reasonably large room, a bit more brightly lit than the rest of the station I had seen so far. On one wall was a large tactical display showing the surrounding area, the station and all docked vessels. Another display showed details of various cargoes offered for trade. I noticed Koluna studying this one more carefully. I was more interested to notice that our cloaked probes were not visible on their tactical display.

There were several beings of different species busily working here on who knows what tasks. I did not know what was needed to run a large station like this. We weren’t here to evaluate their way of operating. We were here to find a collaborator.

The escorting guards had us wait to the side while one of them walked over and talked to the being who was obviously in charge. He appeared to be of the same species as the guards. After a few moments they came back over to us.

“My name is Tobis. I serve as administrator here. Please come with me,” he said as he gestured toward a side room. We moved into the room, which contained a large table and chairs. The escort waited outside.

“I am captain Jem. These are my officers commander Brian and lieutenant Koluna,” said Jem. Since when did Koluna get a rank?

“I am pleased to meet you. I have not met Baglogi before although I recognize your lieutenant as being Ori. What is this matter of security you wish to discuss?” asked Tobis.

“We are investigating a case of piracy. According to our records, about one hundred and thirty days ago there was a freighter known as the Opolu Naa that visited this station. About twelve days after leaving here, the freighter was attacked by pirates and ultimately destroyed,” said Jem.

“That is serious. Pirate activity in this area of space threatens all trade. What evidence do you have to support this?” asked Tobis.

“We rescued two survivors of the attack and recovered various evidence from the site of the attack. Further examination of the wreckage led us to a nearby system where the pirates were based. They had been involved in piracy for some time before we located them,” said Jem.

“I see. And the pirates…?” asked Tobis.

“They are all dead. Their vessels and base were destroyed,” replied Jem.

His eyes widened for a moment then he smiled. “And what do you need of us?”

“The point of intercept suggests that the pirates knew the flight path of the Opolu Naa. Since the last stop of the freighter was here, it is possible that someone aboard this station had leaked information to the pirates. We request your permission and your cooperation to interview your staff and check communications logs. If such a person is aboard, they could represent a threat to other vessels. They may be in contact with other groups of pirates,” said Jem. Koluna and I sat there with a straight face. We wanted to convey the seriousness of the problem, and that helping us would be in his best interest.

Tobis sat for a moment. “I did some checking on the Baglogi. I understand this is your business, but I have never seen one of your vessels visit our station before. On this station you have no authority. However we have a common interest, as pirates are bad for trade. You approached me and asked for my permission, and I am inclined to grant it.”

He pressed a button on a wrist communicator and summoned an assistant. She was a short humanoid being with tanned skin and dark curly hair. They talked for a moment in a language I could not decipher.

“This is Laine, she is your liaison for the duration of your visit. All requests for access to personnel and information will go through Laine. You can expect our full cooperation, and no reasonable request will be denied.

“I have also assigned the guards to escort you for our protection and yours. All guests are to be escorted while aboard the station. I hope this meets with your satisfaction, and I look forward to a conclusion to your investigation,” Tobis said, smiling. With that, he left the room to attend to other business.

“Pleased to meet you Laine,” said Jem, “I am Jem. This is Brian, and this is Koluna,” said Jem. We each smiled and nodded.

“I’m excited to be working with you on this investigation,” said Laine.

“Great, do you have any prior experience with criminal investigations,” asked Jem.

“Not really, but I will leave that part up to you. I can help with access to personnel and information as the administrator directed,” replied Laine. I sighed. It looked like Tobis assigned his most junior staff to us. I thought he said piracy was serious.

Laine picked up on my reaction and turned to look right in to my face. She almost looked angry with me. “So how do you want to get started?” she asked.

“Please reference the logs from around the time the Opolu Naa visited the station. We estimate about one hundred and thirty days ago,” I said, keeping my face full Tian mode, which meant no emotion shown.

Laine turned back to the table and pulled out a keyboard and typed in some commands. The display on the wall showed various details. Koluna looked at the records of the various goods we exchanged. I remembered loading and unloading crates. Times were simpler back then.

“This was before my time. I recently got transferred here,” said Laine.

“Well, we can cross you off our list for interviews then,” Jem smiled. “Can you pull up a list of staff on duty around that time, and also any long distance communications logs for that period?”

Laine typed for a few moments and more data showed up on the display.

“Can you tell me if everything that goes out gets logged?” I asked Laine.

“Of course. It’s all by the book here,” replied Laine.

I got up and walked to the display to examine it more. “The logs show the departure of the Opolu Naa at 17:40 station time. But the communication logs have a gap of about ten minutes just after that. Is that normal?”

“No, there should at least be entries for our beacons. They broadcast a signal every two minutes. You can see earlier in the log, they look like this,” replied Laine as she scrolled back the log and pointed out some entries.

“It looks like someone has erased a portion of the communications logs to cover their tracks,” added Koluna.

“I don’t understand, that shouldn’t be possible,” Laine said, staring frantically at the display.

“It looks like we have found something. My guess is that whoever was communicating with the pirates did so during that time window,” said Koluna.

“I have a bad feeling that if someone can erase a portion of the communications logs, we can’t fully trust other records. For example, the list of staff on duty,” I said.

“Laine, can we get a copy of the data we found so far for our report?” asked Jem.

“Sure, I can have it transferred to your vessel. It already provided me with the relevant communication details,” replied Laine. She typed a few more commands. “There, sent.”

“Thank you. You are a big help,” said Jem. Laine smiled at her and then glanced at me. I did not want another crazy female to deal with. My mother was more than enough for a lifetime. So I kept my Tian face on.

“You are welcome. I am fairly new here. So far the work has been rather dull until you arrived.”

“So, what is our next move?” asked Koluna.

“We have a most likely span of time when someone sent out a message. We need to work out a short list of staff who were aboard the station and who could send a long-range communications message. Then we can schedule some interviews,” said Jem. Laine punched in some more keys and a list of staff showed up.

“These are the staff who were aboard during the time period,” said Laine.

“Excellent. Now can we reduce the list some way?” asked Jem.

“I can eliminate beings like staff who were assigned to remote locations and those who do not have access to the long range communications equipment,” more typing. The list reduced to about a third.

“Laine, please can you contact each one on the list and arrange times for interviews,” said Jem.

“On it,” she said as she typed out on the keyboard.

Jem turned to me “What if we talk to these beings, and they all deny having sent a message?”

“We should expect whoever is guilty to deny it. We need more evidence than just testimony,” I replied.

“But we should interview them just the same. Look for corroborating testimony, alibis and answers that don’t match,” added Koluna.

“Agreed Koluna,” said Jem.

Laine interrupted “I have got responses from all on the list but one. I can have them meet you here shortly.”

“Thank you Laine,” said Jem.

Something triggered my paranoia. “Wait, who is the one who did not respond? Are they on duty right now?” I asked.

Click, click. “Marwin, communications officer. No he is not yet on duty.”

“Is there any reasonable explanation why officer Marwin would not respond? Can your system confirm his location,” I asked.

“I don’t know. He is off duty, he could be asleep. Records show he is in his cabin,” replied Laine.

“Is he due to check in soon?” I asked.

“Actually he is due on shift in about four minutes,” replied Laine.

“And he is more than four minutes away from the hub. I think we need to pay him a visit,” I said.

After updating administrator Tobis, we left the meeting room in the administration hub and proceeded with our escorting guards to find officer Marwin.

We walked along several corridors towards the accommodation module. It held all the cabins for staff working aboard the station. When we arrived at his cabin, the guards asked us to hold back while they checked the situation was safe. They went in first and soon came out. One of them spoke on a communicator while another invited us in.

Inside the small cabin space was a single bed, a table and two chairs. Slumped over in one chair was the dead body of officer Marwin. He had been shot in the head. The weapon was in his right hand on the table.

Laine put her hand on his neck. “He’s still warm, this happened recently.”

“If we had been quicker, we might have stopped him in time,” said Koluna.

“Does this constitute an admission of guilt?” Jem asked me.

“I don’t think we can decide that yet,” I replied, “can we confirm if he shot himself or if someone else shot him and put the weapon in his hand to make us think he shot himself?”

“We have no one trained in forensic analysis,” said Laine. In the relatively small cabin we were in each other’s space, and Laine was looking up at me because of our differences in height.

“I think we can help with that. Koluna, please could you open your medical kit and pass me the scanner,” I said. Koluna took out the scanner and passed it over. This scanner had been enhanced by Ship. I asked them all to give me some room, and I activated the scanner and scanned the body of the late officer Marwin. I also scanned the weapon.

“This is the weapon that killed him,” I said, “but the angle of entry is wrong.” I showed them a holo projection of the angle that the weapon had to be to match the damage to his head.

“That is an impressive scanner,” said Laine excitedly. Koluna formed her right hand with the pointing finger to look like a weapon and tried to aim it at her own head just like in the holo projection.

“He would have to twist his head around seriously to kill himself like that. But then he would have fallen forwards in a different position,” said Koluna.

“Laine could you ask the guards if they moved the body before we entered the room?” asked Jem.

Laine talked to a guard briefly. “No, they did not.”

“Then I think we can be confident that he was killed by someone else,” said Jem.

“I would also say the timing of this makes his death suspicious. We only just arrived at the station and suddenly he dies?” I said.

“Agreed,” said Jem. She turned to Laine. “I expect you will need to report to Tobis. There has been a murder committed on this station.”

“Yes,” Laine moved out into the corridor and spoke into her wrist communicator.

Jem looked at me. “Brian, what more do we need from this room? I expect we will be summoned back to the administration hub soon.”

I scanned the room with the scanner. Nothing interesting came up. I handed the scanner back to Koluna. “I think we’re done here.”

We exited the cabin. The guards sealed the door and we proceeded back towards the administration hub. I had a bad feeling about this.

WE RETURNED TO the meeting room in the administration hub. The guards once again waited outside. Soon after, administrator Tobis joined us.

“I understand there have been developments in your investigation captain?” he said with his familiar confident smile.

“Yes, as you have been updated by Laine. Communications officer Marwin was found dead in his cabin. We believe his death was murder that was made to look like a suicide,” said Jem. His eyes seemed to widen a little for a moment.

“My guards had informed me it was a suicide. Are you sure? Was there any evidence that others had been in his cabin?” asked Tobis.

“We examined the angle of entry of the shot in his head. It could not have been made while holding the weapon in his right hand. And the other thing that makes his death suspicious is the timing. We arrived and soon after he dies,” replied Jem.

“I see. So you are suggesting we have a murderer on this station?” He continued to look directly at Jem, ignoring the rest of us. It was beginning to bother me.

“Yes. At this point we cannot confirm his guilt or innocence regarding communicating with the pirates. He was perhaps working with another being, who then murdered him to shut him up, or he was killed to leave a false trail. We need to investigate further to find out,” said Jem.

Tobis thought for a moment. “Captain, the death of one of my staff concerns me. Please continue your investigation and please continue to have Laine keep me informed of your progress.” With that he left the room.

“Are your investigations usually like this?” asked Laine.

“No. Usually they are far more dangerous,” replied Jem with a smile.

“So we have a person of interest, the late communications officer Marwin. We need to investigate his background and activities around the time period when the message was most likely sent to the pirates. Was he the one who sent the message, or was he innocent?” said Jem.

“And we have an unknown killer of communications officer Marwin. The killer had to have access to his cabin, soon after we arrived. Perhaps there are logs or video feeds that show someone visited his cabin,” said Koluna.

“Laine, is that corridor the only way to reach his cabin from here?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied. She typed on her keyboard. On the display on the wall appeared a map of the station. “This is his cabin, and this is the administration hub,” she highlighted the two locations on the map. I nodded. It was clear there was just one path between the two.

Laine typed some more and the display now showed Marwin’s career history aboard the station.

“I see nothing significant here. How about you?” asked Laine.

“It looks like he kept out of trouble but did not go beyond meets expectations,” I said.

Next on the display appeared a list of his movements around the station. Everywhere that he went that was logged was on this list. It was a chronological list of locations. He won’t be going any further now.

“He was not on duty around the time. But he was out of his cabin. What is this designation?” I asked.

“It is storage room 47-A,” said Laine.

“Could you put up a map of the station and highlight storage room 47-A, also the cabin of officer Marwin,” said Jem. A moment later a map was on the display.

“I wonder what he was doing there, it is some distance from his cabin,” said Jem.

“The logs show he visited that room several times since,” Koluna pointed out. Laine typed for a bit and the entries for his visits to that room were highlighted.

“I’d like to see what is so important in that room,” said Jem.

“What about the unknown killer?” asked Koluna.

“Laine, could you arrange it so that Koluna could review logs and video feeds around the time officer Marwin was killed?” asked Jem.

“Of course.” She tapped on her keyboard some more. Some windows popped up on the display. “Here are access logs for that area of the station for that period. And here are feeds for the various cameras we have near his cabin. You can scroll forwards and backwards like this.”

“Thank you Laine,” said Koluna.

“While you look for clues here, Brian, Laine and myself will check out that room,” said Jem.

“Here take this, in case you need to use the scanner,” Koluna handed me the medical kit.

“Thanks,” I said.

Koluna remained in the meeting room with two guards outside and we left with the other two guards.

We walked along several corridors in a different direction this time. The station was so large it could use some kind of transportation system. I assume that they avoided moving cargo around by having a vessel drop off in the same location that another vessel would later collect it from.

Laine consulted a handheld device that showed our location and where we were headed. She seemed satisfied we were going in the right direction. Because this station was built over time with modules from various sources, the corridors and airlock doors were different as we went along. Some were visibly much older than others, including the section we were in when we finally arrived at our destination.

This module was old, and from the dust on the floor I figured few people had been here recently. There was a sign on the door that said “47-A”. The latch was a manual one, not needing some kind of security scan. One guard reached out to open the door as my sense of paranoia spiked.

“Hold on a moment,” I said loudly. The guard paused and looked at me and then at Laine.

“What is it Brian?” asked Jem. I pointed one finger upwards to indicate hold on a moment. I then pulled out the scanner from my medical kit and scanned the door to confirm my hunch.

“So the logs showed that officer Marwin was here multiple times, is that correct?”

“That is correct. We saw that back at the administration hub,” replied Laine.

“But there is no scanner built into this door. How could it get into the log he was here?” I asked. Jem and Laine looked at the door, and then at the readout on my scanner.

I carried on. “If he had been here, there would be no log entries. If he had been here as many times as the log suggested, there would be footprints in the dust by the doorway.”

“You’re right. I missed that,” said Laine. She turned to the two guards and spoke to them in the language they used. I was on my way to full panic mode by now. We were in some old module where nobody would come looking for us. This did not seem right.

At that point the guards dropped their neutral expressions and sneered at us. They both drew their weapons. One guard barked instructions to Laine.

“He said we are to get inside,” said Laine.

“Does that include you?” I asked.

“Yes, all three of us. I had nothing to do with this. I swear! I don’t understand what is going on,” replied Laine. I looked at the weapon in the guard’s hand. It appeared to be an energy based weapon. I knew I should be ok if he didn’t shoot me in the head. I moved around Laine and got between her and the guards. So far he was pointing it at my torso. I slowly replaced the scanner in my medical kit and reached for the stun gun, it looked like a medical probe. I hid it in my palm and brought my hand out.

I kept my tone calm and kept my eyes on the closest guard with a weapon. “Jem, see if you can open that door.”

The guard had not seen my stun gun, and he barked more instructions to Laine. That was when I brought up my hand and shot him. At the same time he fired back at me. The charge dissipated over my suit and down to the deck plate. He fell backwards, and I quickly turned to cover the second guard.

The second guard was shocked to see his fellow falling backwards and did not see me aim and fire at him. This time he did not get a shot off and he crumpled to the deck beside the first guard.

I quickly relieved the two guards of their weapons. Then I turned to check with Jem and Laine.

“Are you ok?” I asked them both.

“I am fine. How did the suit work out?” asked Jem.

“I didn’t feel a thing,” I said. I gave Jem a weapon.

“How long before the stun wears off?”

“Not long, we better get them inside the room,” I replied. Jem opened the door, and I dragged one guard into the empty storage room. There was nothing in here.

I went back and dragged the other guard into the room.

“Brian, there is no lock on this door,” said Jem.

“I got it,” I said. I closed the door, and with the weapon on a low setting I fired at the edge of the door to spot-weld it shut. “They should be ok for a while. We can send someone back to fetch them.” Personally I did not care if we did, but perhaps they had information we could extract.

Laine was still in a state of shock. “Why would they want to kill us?”

“I think one of them killed officer Marwin. I also think there are others caught up in this. We need to get back to the administration hub and find out who else is involved. Can you guide us back there?” said Jem.

“I can, yes,” said Laine. We quickly left the module and proceeded back the way we came.

We walked briskly along the corridor. I was keen to get back to the administration hub and to Koluna. We should not have left her alone.

Laine asked me “How come he shot you and it did not even injure you?”

“This is a special uniform, the cloth dissipates the energy from a weapon. It went down my legs and into the deck,” I replied.

“So that is why you pushed in front of me?”

“Yes. That weapon would have killed you if he fired it at you. I had to put myself in front so he could not do that,” I said.

“We could not tell you about the properties of our clothing without alerting the guards. They could have shot us in the heads in that case,” said Jem. Laine was quiet for a moment as we walked through another air lock between modules.

“I thank you for risking your life to protect mine,” Laine said to me.

“You are welcome,” I said. Not another life debt!

At this point my wrist communicator went off, “Alert, something of interest is happening outside the station,” said Ship.

We had been out of touch with Ship for too long. I pressed the button on my wrist communicator. “Ship, this is Brian. Jem is with me. Please report.”

“Commander, there are three vessels leaving the station,” replied Ship. Crap!

“Ship, scan all of them for Koluna’s life signs. Ping her chip and work out which vessel she is on if you can,” I said.

“Confirmed, I have located her aboard one of the three vessels,” replied Ship.

“Can you intercept that vessel? Or can you track where they are going?”

“I cannot reach them before they enter hyperspace. I will have a probe calculate their destination. Commander I have additional information. The main reactor aboard the station is building up energy. I suspect an overload is imminent.”

“Thank you Ship. Be ready to leave as soon as we are aboard. Out,” I said. Jem had heard my conversation.

“Laine, we need to get back to our vessel fast. This station will explode soon. You are welcome to come with us. Can you find us a more direct route?” asked Jem.

“Yes I can,” Laine updated her handheld device, and it now had docking port twelve as our destination. We ran along the corridors, not knowing how much time we had remaining.

I had another thought, so I called Ship again. “Ship, are there other vessels docked at the station? Please warn them the main reactor will overload and advise them to move clear.”

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. We kept running.

As we ran, I heard a distant explosion. As sound does not travel in space, it had to be from aboard the station. Laine’s handheld device showed we were almost there, so we kept on running.

We saw no other beings as we ran. Perhaps they all evacuated in those three vessels that left recently. We did not have time to find out.

Then the lights went out. It is hard enough running along poorly lit corridors in a space station on the verge of destruction. Laine stumbled but I grabbed her arm and stopped her from falling over.

“Thanks,” said Laine. I could barely see her face. She looked worried. There was just some faint light from our equipment. I will have to ask Ship to add a flashlight to our suits if we make it back.

“We have to keep moving,” said Jem. We moved on again, just a bit more cautiously so as not to run into a wall.

We reached a doorway that did not have power to open. I wasted no time and worked on the manual override.

“The docking port is the other side of this doorway,” said Laine.

In the event of a power failure, most doors have a way of opening manually. I’d got the panel off and was turning a crank. The door was slowly moving.

Jem was trying to pull the door open. “I think I can see the airlock!”

I kept cranking in the dark. I needed more space for me to get through as the largest person in our group.

Jem squeezed through the gap, followed by Laine. I needed just a little more.

At that point the artificial gravity went out. My feet floated slowly off the deck. Crap!

I decided that I had done all the cranking I could. I was still holding on to the crank handle. When there is no gravity you need to hold on to something. I put my feet on the wall and as I let go, I kicked myself toward the door and poked my head through the gap.

“Jem, Laine?” I yelled.

“The gravity has gone out in this area,” replied Jem.

“Yes, I know. I am coming through,” I said. It was a tight squeeze, but I wriggled my way through. I held on to the edge of the door and looked across to the airlock.

“Jem, Laine, hold on to me and put your feet on the door frame. We need to kick off to get to the airlock,” I said. They held on and put their feet on the door.

“Look up, see where we are headed. On the count of three we kick off. One, two, three…”

We floated across the docking bay toward the airlock. I pressed my communicator. “Ship, we are in the docking bay. Can you get power to the airlock door on this side and open it now?”

“Confirmed,” said Ship. I looked up toward the airlock as we drifted along. We were still on course. Thankfully there was no junk in the way. Without gravity, things like tables and chairs would just float around and become obstacles to our progress.

I looked up toward the airlock. I saw lights come on around the air lock, and the door slowly opened. We were about fifty meters away and closing.

“Brian, I just had a bad thought. With the power out, we lost lighting and doors and then gravity. I think the last to go would be air pressure,” said Jem.

“You are right. I think it time we unroll our collars and cuffs. Keep holding on to me tight Laine. If the air pressure drops, breathe out slowly,” I said.

We had to be careful, or else we could knock each other off course. I rolled up my hood and got the faceplate installed. Then I did my cuffs and pressed the button to pressurize. Jem did the same while somehow holding on to me with one hand. Laine looked on at us amazed.

We got to about twenty meters from the airlock when the air pressure dropped. I looked at Laine; she had a look of panic on her face. With one hand I held on to her wrist. If she became unconscious, she could not hold on. I hoped holding her wrist would give her confidence. She only needed just a couple of more minutes…

“Ship, get ready to close the airlock door and pressurize. We are almost in,” I said over the suit comms.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

“Jem, grab for the opening when we get close, and pull us in,” I said. We drifted to the airlock. Jem grabbed and pulled me in. I pulled Laine in with me.

“Ship, close the airlock and pressurize now!” I shouted. The door closed and I could hear air hissing in. Soon we had gravity again, and we gently came to rest on the deck.

I quickly pulled open my hood and moved to check on Laine. For a moment she was not breathing, with her eyes closed. I was not sure of her anatomy and did not know what to do for resuscitation. With the different races and their physiologies, you could just as easily kill them rather than revive.

I was on my knees leaning over her and then she suddenly gasped in a huge breath and opened her eyes. She looked up at me, smiled and before I reacted, she put her arms around my neck and pulled me down and kissed me. I tried to pull back, but she was surprisingly strong.

“Thank you again Brian!” she said. Sigh!

“You are welcome. We have to move quickly. We are not safe here. Can you get up?” I pulled back, and she sat up. Jem was standing by now and she gave us both a hand up.

We quickly moved out of the airlock and back into Ship. As soon as we were in, Ship detached from the station and moved us away from the station.

WE DID NOT waste time to get changed out of our suits. With Jem leading and Laine following, we moved quickly to the main bridge. On the tactical display we could see images of the trading post. Parts of it had broken off. There were no lights to be seen.

“Ship, any life signs remaining aboard the station?” asked Jem.

“Negative,” replied Ship. I expected as much. I certainly lost no tears for the two guards we left behind.

“And you know where Koluna was taken?”

“Confirmed. Based on their direction before they entered hyperspace, they are headed for an unoccupied system about six days travel from here. I took the liberty of directing a cloaked probe to attach itself to the hull of their vessel.”

“Wow! Good thinking,” said Jem.

“The safe return of the crew is a priority protocol. The commander ordered me to use all available resources to enable her recovery,” replied Ship.

“This unoccupied system, is it likely to be another pirate base? Will they have an ambush prepared for us?” I asked.

“Good point. Ship, take us to this system, but plan to overshoot and exit hyperspace on the far side of the system. When we arrive, engage cloak and enter the system in stealth mode,” ordered Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. Soon, the hyperdrive came online, and we left the remains of the trading post behind us.

Jem turned to Laine. “Laine, I am sorry for the loss of your crewmates, at least some of them. We checked and there were no remaining life signs aboard the station. Our priority now is to rescue Koluna.”

“Thank you. I understand,” said Laine.

“Your work aboard the trading post is over. Our investigation is not. You have been helpful to us and I would like to swear you in as crew, at least for the duration of this investigation. It upgrades your status aboard this vessel, with additional rights and responsibilities. You may resign after the investigation is concluded. And one other thing, as crew, you no longer report to Tobis — if he still lives. If you will accept my leadership as captain, please indicate in the affirmative.”

“Captain, I accept your leadership. I will work with you to get Koluna back and bring those responsible to justice. They will answer for the murder of officer Marwin and the destruction of the station. Many space-faring races used the trading post,” said Laine.

“Excellent! Welcome to the crew. Ship, please log the time and upgrade the status of Laine to that of crew. Assign her crew quarters and whatever else is due,” said Jem.

“Confirmed. Welcome to the crew Laine. Crew quarters are on level six, your name is on the door of your cabin.” Said Ship.

“Thank you,” said Laine.

“You’re welcome Laine,” said Ship. Jem looked at me surprised. I had to chuckle at that one, it had been a long time coming.

Ship reminded us, “Attention, you three need to visit decontamination.”

We had been aboard the Trading Post and could have picked up various things such as viruses and parasites. Also Laine was new to our vessel. We left the main bridge and went directly to the decontamination area.

“If you like I can wait for you to finish,” I offered.

Jem and Laine both turned to look at me. “You don’t have to. I am not shy,” said Laine. I knew on space vessels, there is little modesty.

“Yes, join us commander. I need your help,” said Jem. She had a strange look on her face I could not work out. I could not tell if it was an invitation or a command either. So we all went in together.

We had to remove our clothing, which was a little harder for Jem and I. The away team suits had an airtight kind of zip that opened from the neck to about the waist. Jem helped me and I helped her peel her suit off. I was glad for these suits; they saved me twice so far.

Laine watched us disrobing briefly then hurried to catch up with us.

Next we entered the shower area, and we thoroughly washed while the built in scanners identified and eliminated any contamination. I made a point of not looking too much at Laine. I did not understand the social rules among females of different races, so my common sense leaned toward caution over curiosity. Also I was feeling tired. We had got no rest since we first boarded the Trading Post.

Laine had no problem being physically close and right in our faces. I might have to discuss the concept of personal space with her. On Tian Prime we all kept our distance. While under the showers she asked “How many more crew are there?”

“There were three. Once we find and rescue Koluna there will be four including you,” said Jem.

“Oh? I thought there were more. This is a large vessel for just three beings,” Laine commented.

“Once there were many Baglogi. That time is past. We didn’t advertise our numbers when we were on the station. But I am glad you joined us,” replied Jem.

“I am glad to be here too,” said Laine.

We moved out of the shower and dried off and put on some fresh clothing. I could feel two sets of eyes on me. It didn’t bother me. I was used to being studied my entire life on Tian Prime.

“I need to rest. We all do,” I finally said. “Perhaps we can plan to meet up for breakfast after we are rested.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” smiled Jem. Laine smiled too.

I left the decontamination area and went off towards our cabin on level six. Jem and Laine followed. My mind was still thinking about Koluna. As we passed Laine’s cabin we bid her goodnight. Jem and I were out like a light as soon as we got into bed.

After a good night’s sleep we were awoke by Ship. Day and night lose their meaning in space, but most beings depend on a day/night cycle for health. Ship adjusted the lighting to morning intensity. Jem and I got up and did our usual routines. Soon after, Laine arrived at our cabin to join us for breakfast.

“Good morning Laine. Come in and take a seat,” said Jem. We all looked rested. We had been through a tough experience and you don’t know how drained you are until afterwards.

“Ship, you have scanned Laine’s ID chip by now. Is she safe to sample some Earth food?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed. Most Earth cuisine is compatible,” replied Ship.

“What is Earth cuisine?” asked Laine.

I turned to Laine, “Earth is a planet my parents originated from, but I have never been there. I suspect Jem is trying to introduce me to their cuisine.”

Jem was at the food dispenser, “Ship, three orders of bacon and eggs breakfast with toast and coffee.” She then carried plates of hot food and cups of steaming beverage to the table.

“I found this Earth dish recently in our data banks and I wanted to try it,” said Jem.

“Thank you,” I smiled. I was not so keen on anything from Earth but I did not want to offend her for taking the effort.

Laine took a sip of her beverage, “mmm, this is good. What do you call this?”

“It is called coffee. It has a mild stimulant effect,” replied Jem. I took a sip of mine. It was ok, but I could take it or leave it.

Jem took a bite of a piece of bacon. It was synthesized proteins and fat molecules that replicated a piece of bacon to be more accurate, but who were we to care. She smiled and then tried some for the fried egg. I had no memories of food like this, so it was alien to me. I quietly ate and watched them eat.

“This toast it reminds me of something from my home world. It is a bit dry though,” said Laine.

“Perhaps if you mix it with the eggs, it will be more to your liking,” offered Jem. Laine tried that. In the back of my memories, the word ‘sandwich’ came to mind, but I could not remember what it was. I soon dismissed the thought. It seemed wrong to be happily eating breakfast with Koluna gone.

“Brian?” said Jem. Somehow she had moved and was facing me.

“Huh? What?” I responded.

“You were unresponsive. I was talking to you,” said Jem.

“I’m sorry. I was distracted. What did you say?”

“I was asking you about something. When we were on the station, you asked Ship to ping Koluna’s chip. What did you mean?” asked Jem.

“Ship, please ping Jem’s chip,” I said.

“Confirmed,” said Ship. Jem’s arm had several involuntary twitches.

“Ohh! So Ship can send a signal to our chip?” asked Jem.

“Yes, it works both ways. You can send and receive. And Ship can trace your location within a certain range,” I said.

“What is that?” asked Laine.

“It’s something Brian came up with to help locate lost crew,” said Jem.

“We each have a chip in our arm, like an ID chip. Most scanners will see it as an ID chip. It allows us to track down lost crew. I’ll provide you with yours after breakfast,” I added.

“Thank you,” said Laine, smiling. She was in a good mood this morning.

We resumed eating our breakfast.

After breakfast we cleaned up and moved to the main bridge. I fetched the device for implanting the chip and showed it to Laine.

“This device will install the chip we talked about. The intention is that this will help increase the chances of your rescue, should you get separated from Ship,” I said. She held out her arm and it was soon installed. Laine rubbed her arm where I had installed it.

“If you quickly tap your finger and thumb together five times, it triggers a distress call,” I said.

“Like this?” she said as she tapped.

“Attention. Distress signal received,” said Ship.

“Yes, like that. It has a limited range. When we arrive in a few days, Ship should be able to confirm if Koluna is there,” I said.

“Ship,” said Jem, “do you have a suit ready for Laine?”

“Confirmed. I have an away team uniform to her specifications prepared,” said Ship.

“Excellent. We have about five days. Brian I assume you need to work on some surprises ready for the next system?” asked Jem.

“I do,” I replied. I did not want to mess up with Koluna’s life at stake.

“Good, then you go off to wherever you go. Laine and I need to talk,” said Jem. I realized I had been dismissed. I got up and left the main bridge.

As usual, I went to a quiet place to work out some details with Ship. I had grown up on a world with little social contact and I felt more comfortable interacting with an AI than with other beings. I suspect that Jem understood this and tolerated my absence. Or perhaps it was because I came up with inventions that had got us out of some tough scrapes.

“Ship, please tell me about the vessel we are pursuing,” I said.

“The vessel is a light cruiser, capable of travel at a similar speed to us. My scans did not show significant armament,” replied Ship.

“Is the vessel similar to any that we have encountered before?” I asked.

“Confirmed. It is of a similar design to one of the pirate vessels we destroyed,” replied Ship. Aha!

“Please make a note of that. It is not conclusive evidence, but it could be important later. So how can we disable such a vessel once we catch up to it?” I asked.

“The nano-bots would be effective against such a vessel,” replied Ship.

“I need to rephrase the question. How can we disable the vessel without allowing Koluna to be injured?”

“We could use the threat of superior firepower to force a surrender.”

“They would be more likely to injure Koluna. How about a data port?”

“Sensors located a data port on the vessel. However their protocols are unknown. With the foe vessels I was able to examine the computer cores to reverse engineer the correct protocols to inject.”

This wasn’t going too well. “What can you tell me about the origin of the vessel? I mean what species are they? What is their home star system?”

“The vessel had no recognizable markings. In the brief time before they left, I was unable to scan the inside to recognize the beings in control of the vessel.”

“Please begin fabrication of cloaked probes that can deploy nano-bots. Also fabricate a cloaked probe that can deploy data port probes, together with some data port probes. I know you are unfamiliar with their protocols, but I would like these data port probes to be adaptive. Use the ones we did for the foe as a starting point, but they should try all sorts of possible exploits to find one of them that works. Can you do that?” I asked.

“Confirmed. I will have them all completed before arrival in our next destination,” said Ship.

“Thank you ship,” I said. Then I had a thought. “Ship, you said a cloaked probe is attached to the hull of the vessel?”

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

“So, when you detected Koluna, could you tell what location aboard the vessel she was being held? And what location on the hull of the vessel is the cloaked probe attached?” I asked. We did not have a tactical display here, but the display on the nearby food dispenser made do. It showed a wire frame of the vessel with two locations highlighted.

“This has possibility. Ship, if we were in the same system as the vessel, you could send new instructions to the probe? For example you could tell it to explode or do something disruptive. There is perhaps enough separation from Koluna that she would be safe,” I suggested.

“It may be possible. I will give it some thought,” replied Ship.

“Thank you again,” I said.

“The safe return of the crew is a priority protocol,” replied Ship.

“Big picture, I want us to capture that vessel, rescue Koluna unharmed, and if possible detain those responsible for questioning. Think about possible non-lethal ways to knock out the occupants of the vessel.”

“Confirmed. Would you like some probes with fake dreadnought capability as well? I have enough resources for about two,” offered Ship.

“That would be outstanding Ship. I appreciate your help,” I said.

We talked about some ideas for a while before I decided I had been away long enough.

I met up with Jem and Laine. We had dinner together in our cabin again. Jem and Laine were getting along well. They spent a lot of time talking about various nothings. I came from a culture where talking aloud for no purpose was an anomaly. Beings that behaved like they did on Tian Prime would earn themselves some mandatory counselling therapy. I was proud that I never needed counselling. I was a good Tian.

“Brian how was your day? You spent a long time away from us,” said Jem.

“It was productive. Ship and I discussed recent events. The vessel we are pursuing is of a similar design to some of the pirate ships we destroyed before,” I said.

“That is interesting. So you think the occupants of the vessel except Koluna are pirates or collaborators?” asked Jem.

“That is a reasonable conclusion. Now consider pirates don’t normally take prisoners…” I said.

“They took her as a hostage, in case we catch them,” said Laine, trying to join our discussion. I looked at her. She worked for them, but now she is trying to help us.

“Yes. Which means?…”

“It means they won’t kill her as long as they fear we could destroy them,” replied Laine.

“And if we confront them in the next system?…”

“They will tell us to back off or she dies.”

“Correct. So we need to catch them soon and we need to catch them unawares,” I said. Jem nodded.

“How can we do that?” asked Laine.

“Laine, we had not mentioned it yet, but Ship has cloaking. It enables us to approach undetected by their sensors,” said Jem.

“And we may have to board their vessel and incapacitate the crew before they realize. Before they have time to put a weapon to Koluna’s head,” I said.

“A firefight aboard an enemy vessel with a hostage is a high risk activity,” said Jem.

“Which is why I have an alternative plan. But I don’t have certainty of success. Ship is manufacturing more cloaked data port probes. We don’t know the pirate computer cores or what protocols they run. We can try an adaptive version which will try all different exploits trying to find one that works,” I said.

“Perhaps I can help with that,” said Laine. “I have skills with computers. Do you have details on the vessel?” said Laine. Ship put up the images of the vessel on the tactical display. We explained how the data port probe would latch on to the external port on the vessel and attempt to interface with the main computer.

Laine pulled out her handheld device. “Ship, can you interface with this? Check out the folder on station protocols.”

“Confirmed. Analysis of station protocols complete. Yes, this should be helpful. Updating data port probes,” said Ship.

“Thank you Laine,” said Jem, “with your help we have improved our chances of success. So if this breaks in, what next?”

“Incapacitate the crew. Protect Koluna. Ship, can you work something out?” I asked.

“Confirmed. Disable engines, weapons. Seal doors. Identify locations of hostiles and Koluna via internal sensors. Disable internal control panels. Adjust environmental and life-support to incapacitate,” replied Ship.

“Good job everyone! We have a plan. I think it is time to get some rest,” said Jem. I felt a lot better. Koluna’s life was at stake, but now I had hope we could get her back.

ABOUT SIX DAYS after we left the trading post Ship alerted us. “Attention coming out of hyperspace.”

The hyperspace engines cut out, and we appeared on the far side of the system. I could not fault Ship’s navigation skills. Ship engaged the cloaking and turned us about facing into the system.

Normally when a vessel travels to a system, it stops a little short to arrive just on the edge of the system in the direction from where they came. This is exactly what the foe vessels did previously when they arrived in the Baglogi system. We knew where they would arrive and we were prepared for them.

In this system we arrived on the far side of the system. It was a good thing we did. On the side towards the direction of the trading post was a fleet of several mean looking pirate vessels. They looked like they were ready to ambush whoever arrived there.

“Ship, passive scans of the system only. Give a ping for Koluna once to determine her location. Take us in,” ordered Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Ship, can you tell if any of the planets in the system inhabited?” I asked.

“Negative. No signs of inhabited planets in this system. They are unsuitable for sustaining life in their current form. Any terraforming or other technology would be detectable,” replied Ship.

“Can you zoom in the display on the pirate vessels?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. Although we were still some distance off they filled our display. We were glued to the tactical display as we studied the vessels.

“Wow! They can’t tell we are behind them??” Said Laine. Her eyes were wide and she had a worried look about her.

“No. We are hidden from their view. Some of those vessels look familiar,” said Jem.

“Attention, I have located Koluna aboard the same vessel we followed here. After I pinged her chip, she has activated it herself. This confirms she is alive and conscious,” said Ship. I gave an audible sigh of relief. Lane looked at me briefly before turning back to the view on the tactical display.

“Ship, can you pick up their communications?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed. I have audio, putting it on the speaker for your listening,” said Ship. We heard more of the language I remembered hearing on the station from the guards.

“Laine can you translate?” asked Jem. We listened for a moment.

“They are discussing what they will do to the occupants of this vessel when they catch us. It seems you have a price on your heads,” said Laine. Jem smiled.

“We have a price on OUR heads. You are one of us now,” corrected Jem.

“Ship, please deploy nano-bots for all vessels except the one with Koluna in,” I said. I looked at Jem and she nodded. “For that one, please deploy data port probes. Keep us at a safe distance and be ready in case something goes wrong.”

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

We watched the tactical display as cloaked probes approached the pirate fleet. It would take a while for them to cross the system and reach their respective targets.

“Ship, could you please highlight the vessel with Koluna aboard,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. One of the red dots changed to yellow.

“Is there enough of a safe distance from the other vessels to deploy nano-bots?” I asked.

“Confirmed. I am monitoring carefully,” replied Ship. We were still closing on the pirate vessels. So far they showed no sign they detected us. They were pointed in the other direction, expecting us to arrive and fall into their trap. We continued to monitor their communications.

“The voice from the vessel with Koluna aboard, it sounds like Tobis,” said Laine.

“It makes sense. The others all took orders from him. He probably ordered the death of communications officer Marwin. He had someone alter the logs, and he also ordered the guards to eliminate us,” I said.

“He is directing the other ships too, so he must be high in their command hierarchy,” added Laine.

“Laine, what is this language they are using? And what race is Tobis?” asked Jem.

“The answer to both is Lagaid. Tobis and several other staff aboard the station were from the Lagaid system. I’m originally from the Quard system, and Lagaid is not too far from us,” replied Laine.

“I have an idea. Ship, is your probe still attached to the enemy vessel? Do you understand Lagaid?” I asked. Jem and Laine both looked at me.

“Confirmed. The probe is still attached. I have a rudimentary understanding of the language,” replied Ship.

“Good, and can you remotely control the probe without giving away our position? Oh, and can you re-configure the probe to transmit on the pirate communications frequencies?”

“Confirmed. In stealth mode I would send extremely short bursts on minimal power. I can relay via the other cloaked probes randomly, so it would be hard to distinguish from background radiation. The probe can be configured to transmit on the pirate communications frequencies.”

“Finally, you are recording their communications. Can you identify names and designations of either vessels or individuals on those vessels?” I asked.

“Actually, I can help you with that,” said Laine, “they have mentioned several captains by name.”

“Awesome. I think we are ready for some fun. Laine I want you to imagine you are Tobis and say a terrible insult to one of the other captains,” I said.

Laine said a phrase in Lagaid that only she and Ship could understand.

“Ship I assume you got that. Please re-modulate the audio to match the voice print of Tobis and play it back.”

“Confirmed,” said Ship. A moment later we heard the same phrase in Lagaid, only in the deeper tone that resembled Tobis.

“Oh wow! That sounded just like Tobis,” exclaimed Laine.

“I think I know what you are up to now,” said Jem with a smile.

“Step two. Ship, in your own time. Re-configure your probe on the enemy vessel. When there is a pause in their communication, have it broadcast that phrase on the pirate communications frequencies. It will appear to the other vessels it came from Tobis,” I said.

“Confirmed,” said Ship. Soon after we heard the same phrase as if it came from Tobis himself. I did not understand the responses, but communication increased in volume and the tone suggested someone was upset.

Laine laughed. “We really confused them. Tobis denies he said anything. They insisted they clearly heard him.”

“This is working better than I hoped. Laine, would you like to record more insults?” I said.

“Sure! That was fun,” said Laine. She then recorded more phrases in Lagaid. I was glad I did not understand the language. It sounded awful.

Ship did his magic and after a few moments we heard Tobis’s voice insulting another captain again.

“Perfect. Ship, don’t overdo it. Vary the duration between insults. We don’t want them to find the probe,” I said.

“Tobis will know something is up though,” said Jem.

“But his authority over the other vessels has been impaired. They can’t see any other vessels, and the signal is definitely coming from Tobis’s vessel. This is merely a distraction,” I said.

I could see on the tactical display that the nano-bots probe was close to the fleet of pirate vessels. For a while now the pirates were arguing on their communications frequencies, but they had not moved from their location.

“Attention, nano-bots deployment commencing now,” said Ship. The probe sprayed out a faint cloud of tiny nano-bots towards the unsuspecting vessels. They were too small for the sensors on the pirate vessels, no larger than space dust and widely dispersed so it was impossible to avoid them.

“Brian, what are these nano-bots?” asked Laine.

“Imagine something so small, you cannot see it. They do not show up on sensors either. If you look on the tactical display, they are drifting slowly towards the pirate vessels,” I said.

“But how can something that small harm a large vessel?” asked Laine.

“Once the tiny nano-bots land on the hulls of the vessels they will consume tiny amounts of the hull to create more nano-bots. The new nano-bots will then consume more hull to replicate themselves. The growth rate is exponential,” I said.

“So they destroy the vessels before the pirates even know what is going on!” exclaimed Laine.

“Yes, that is about how it works. There will be hull breaches and explosive decompression for all vessels that are afflicted,” I said.

“Wow! That is wicked,” said Laine with excitement.

“I agree,” said Jem, her face reflecting a note of seriousness. “That is why we do not use them if we can avoid it. It is a death sentence for anyone aboard those vessels.”

“Ship, what is the progress of the data port probe?” I asked.

“It will arrive at the enemy vessel in a few moments. It will then locate the data port and begin adaptive injection protocols,” replied Ship.

“Thank you Ship. Laine, I have a message for you to record. I’d like you to say the equivalent of ‘You fools! I have killed you all’,” I said.

“Sure,” said Laine. She translated into Lagaid what I had said.

“Ship, please do your magic and have Tobis’s vessel broadcast it,” I said. I figured the pirate vessels will soon experience problems, and I wanted them to know who to blame for it.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

A moment later we heard the message go out on their communications frequencies. There followed lots of screaming and yelling from the other vessels. I had no doubt that the effects of the nano-bots were becoming noticeable.

“Attention, explosive decompression detected,” said Ship. We could see on the visual that one of the pirate vessels was in serious trouble. Atmosphere and debris were ejected out of the breached hull. Soon after, the lights on that vessel all went out.

“One down…” said Jem. Before she could say any more two more vessels exploded. One of the remaining pirate vessels powered up engines to turn toward Tobis’s vessel, likely to exact revenge for the perceived attack. Before it could complete the turn, it suffered a catastrophic failure and explosive decompression. One by one the remaining pirate vessels exploded.

Tobis’s vessel also powered up engines trying to move away from the unfortunate pirate vessels.

I was getting anxious about Koluna.

“Ship, what is the progress of the data port probe?” I asked.

“The probe is attached to the data port. It is attempting to gain entry to their systems,” replied Ship.

I was getting worried. Tobis’s vessel was picking up speed. I did not want it to leave the system with Koluna aboard.

“Captain, if the data port probe fails we need to board that vessel, before it leaves the system,” I said to Jem.

“Yes, let’s suit up and meet in the shuttle bay. Ship, take us on an intercept course. Be prepared to block their path, drop cloak and raise energy shields on my order,” said Jem.

“Attention, vessel de-cloaking ahead,” said Ship. What???

We all turned to the tactical display. Directly ahead of Tobis’s vessel there appeared a huge vessel, larger than a dreadnought class. Tobis’s vessel was already putting on reverse thrusters to avoid a collision. Ship was bringing us to a stop, just behind Tobis’s vessel.

On the same communications frequencies used by the pirates, we heard a loud message in Lagaid from the huge vessel.

“Laine, what did it say?” asked Jem.

“It ordered the vessel ahead of us to surrender or be destroyed like the other pirates,” replied Laine.

“Captain, if I may explain. I created a dreadnought probe, similar to the ones we used in the foe system. I upgraded it based upon information from Laine and deployed it earlier,” said Ship.

“Wow!” said Jem, almost speechless.

“The safe return of the crew is a priority protocol. The commander ordered me to use all available resources to enable her recovery,” replied Ship.

“This dreadnought is larger than the previous ones?” I asked. I was curious.

“Confirmed, about fifty percent larger. Attention, The enemy vessel has indicated their surrender,” said Ship.

“Brian, what is a dreadnought probe??” asked Laine. I forgot she had not seen one before.

“It isn’t real. Ship has a probe that can create the illusion of a huge warship using holograms and false sensor readings. It can’t do anything except sit there and look menacing. But our enemies don’t know that,” I said.

“I bet Tobis needs a clean pair of trousers right now,” said Laine. I grinned.

“We don’t have time to discuss this now. Ship, de-cloak us and keep weapons locked on their engines. Can you have the dreadnought order them to prepare to be boarded. All beings aboard to be unarmed when we get there,” ordered Jem.

“Confirmed,” said Ship. We heard more communications in Lagaid go back and forth.

“They said they will be ready,” said Laine.

“Attention, the data port probe reports it has finally gained access to the computer cores and is taking control of the enemy vessel,” said Ship. Woohoo, my lucky day!

“Captain, this solves a problem of how to transport our prisoners. Ship can remotely pilot their vessel and keep their crew locked up in their quarters. I suggest we fetch Koluna and Tobis over here though,” I said.

“Agreed. Ship, can you take care of that. We will take a shuttle over,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” said Ship.

“Might I suggest you remain aboard Ship? I can take Laine with me in the shuttle. If they play any tricks I’d like to know you are here safe and able to arrange a rescue or avenge our deaths,” I said.

Jem was about to argue with me when we were interrupted by ship, “Attention, incoming video communication.”

“Put it on the display,” replied Jem. We were greeted with Koluna’s face. She’s alive!

“Lieutenant, it is good to see you safe and well,” said Jem.

“Thank you Captain, I could say the same to you. I was informed that you had died aboard the trading post,” replied Koluna. In the background we could hear orders in Lagaid.

“The crew are being ordered to their quarters,” explained Laine.

“Lieutenant, we will send a shuttle over to extract you and Tobis. All other crew are to remain in their quarters,” said Jem.

“Understood. We will be ready. Out,” said Koluna before the display ended.

“Brian, please go fetch Koluna and Tobis. Laine, you and I have to prepare the brig,” said Jem.

“Yes captain,” I left to suit up and head to the shuttle bay.

I wasted no time in doing my pre-flight checks in the shuttle, and soon I left the shuttle bay and traveled the short distance to the enemy vessel. I was wearing my away team suit, and I was armed with a stun gun.

“Ship, can you confirm the locations of the hostiles? Will I have any problems with them?” I asked.

“All enemy crew except Tobis are secured in their quarters. I am monitoring them via the internal sensors. Tobis and Koluna are waiting for you at the airlock,” replied Ship.

“It seems too easy. How come these ruthless criminals complied?” I asked. It did not seem right. But then I was always suspicious.

“I suspect that witnessing the destruction of their fleet of vessels in a matter of minutes, combined with the appearance of the huge dreadnought was quite convincing. Any remaining resistance went away once I took over their computer cores. I assured them that non-compliance would result in termination of life-support,” said Ship.

“Yes, that would do it,” I said. I piloted the shuttle alongside the docking port and docked with the enemy vessel.

“Ship, can you patch in a view from their internal sensors of the area on their side of the airlock?”

“Confirmed.” On the display in the shuttle I saw that Koluna and Tobis were waiting for me. Koluna was still wearing her suit.

I had my stun gun in one hand and I approached the airlock.

“Ship, please tell Koluna and Tobis to enter the airlock,” I did not want to go aboard their ship if I did not need to.

“Confirmed.” On the display I could see them open the airlock door and step in. The door then closed.

“Ship, scan them both for weapons,” I ordered.

“No weapons detected,” replied Ship.

“Ok, open the airlock and let them in,” I said. The door opened and Tobis stepped in cautiously, followed by Koluna. Koluna looked like she wanted to jump into my arms, but she thought better of it. I directed Tobis to take a seat. He said nothing and sat down where I indicated.

“Koluna, it is good to see you again. Did they treat you well?”

She gave me a smile. “They did not harm me. I think they knew not to do anything stupid.” I felt relieved to see her before me. I turned to Tobis.

“Tobis, the only reason you aren’t already dead is Koluna,” I said. He did not reply. It looked like the fight was gone from him.

“Ok, take a seat Koluna. Keep an eye on our guest for me. I sat in the cockpit and undocked us from the vessel. I then piloted the shuttle back to Ship.

Once we were back aboard Ship, I escorted our guest to decontamination and then to the brig. Ship directed Koluna to a separate decontamination area. I was glad she did not have to shower anywhere near that creep.

After securing our guest, I cleaned up and went to the main bridge. Jem, Koluna and Laine were there, sitting and drinking hot beverages. I walked over to the food dispenser and got myself a cup.

Koluna put down her cup and gave me a big hug. She held me tight for a long while, like she was catching up on lost time or expressing her gratitude. I remained quiet and let her work through it. After nearly a week I had missed her too.

Looking over Koluna’s shoulder, I could see Jem and Laine looking at us. I smiled. We worked well together to effect a rescue, and we succeeded. Ship was taking more initiative, and his (or her, I did not know if you can apply gender to an AI) contribution multiplied our efforts. Even Laine had contributed significantly since joining our crew. Perhaps it was adrenaline, but I felt really happy.

“SHIP, DO YOU have the enemy vessel secured?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Good. You can keep watch while we get some rest. We have done really well, but I’ve had enough excitement,” said Jem. Jem stood up and we all followed.

We all left the main bridge and returned to our cabins. It wasn’t long before I was asleep.

The next morning we all woke up. I felt refreshed. I did not recall dreaming anything last night, which was a clue how tired I had been.

Laine joined us in our cabin for breakfast. This time we had some Ori cuisine, kind of to welcome Koluna back. It was nice to try different food with my crewmates.

After breakfast we returned to the main bridge. Once we were seated, Jem called us to order.

“Now we are rested, Koluna please share what happened from when we left the administration hub until your return. Ship will record your testimony for the evidence package,” said Jem.

Koluna sat up straight. “Soon after you left me to review logs and video feeds, Tobis and some of his guards entered the meeting room. They had weapons drawn and insisted that I leave with them. They gave no explanation, and I did not protest. They removed my wrist communicator, and we left the station to board the vessel you found me on.

“I was directed to a cabin aboard the vessel and I was confined there for the duration of the journey here. I had access to a bathroom and a food dispenser. I knew that you would come after us and you did. I think it was a while after we had arrived in this system that I felt my arm twitching. I guessed it was the chip that Brian had installed. I knew you were close. I tapped my finger and thumb five times to send a response.

“I was not released from my cabin until after they had surrendered. I joined Tobis at the airlock and we returned to Ship.”

“Thank you Koluna. Ship, have you downloaded the logs from the enemy vessel?,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Good. Please add the pertinent information to the evidence package. And what about the derelict vessels? Is there anything we should retrieve from them?”

“Affirmative. I should like to harvest materials for construction of probes. The metal alloys can be used efficiently by my replicators,” replied Ship.

“You mean you will eat up sections of the pirate vessels to make more probes?” asked Laine.

“Confirmed. The materials are readily usable and do not require me to process ores from nearby asteroids. My reserves are depleted, and recent missions with Brian leads me to believe it is important to restock before proceeding,” replied Ship.

“What about their computer cores?” I asked.

“Status of computer cores of pirate vessels is unknown. All power is out and the cores are shielded from my scans,” replied Ship.

“Perhaps an examination of their cargo holds will give some clues as to which vessels they have raided recently,” I offered.

“Ship, move us closer to the derelict vessels. Make sure the nano-bots are deactivated. Send in some maintenance bots to salvage data from the computer cores and harvest materials for your replicators. If you have time, investigate their cargo holds for clues. Record any manifests or tracking numbers on shipping containers,” ordered Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship. The tactical display showed we were moving again. The yellow dot representing the captured enemy vessel followed us, under remote control by Ship.

We were now maintaining a short distance from the derelict vessels. Ship had bots and probes going out to the vessels to salvage whatever was needed.

“Koluna, I’d like you to dig through the downloaded logs with Ship. Some questions I have are who else is involved? Are there other pirate ships or bases in other systems we need to track down? What is Tobis’s role in all this? See what else you can come up with,” said Jem.

“Yes captain,” said Koluna. She moved over to a workstation to begin her task.

“Laine, Brian, you’re with me,” said Jem. We got up and left the main bridge. We followed Jem, and it was soon clear where we were headed. We each put on our away team suits and entered the shuttle bay. Seeing Laine in her new suit made me see her in a new light. She really was part of our crew, our little family.

I also noticed that Ship had refined the suits a little. There was a flashlight attached and there were some grab handles. Good job Ship!

“We will see which of the crew aboard that vessel will talk. I don’t trust anything Tobis would tell us. He is far too devious,” said Jem.

“Understood,” I said. By now I was doing my pre-flight checks. Soon we left the shuttle bay and traveled the short distance to the other vessel. I decided to call it the other vessel and not the enemy vessel since it was now under our control. I did not know if we would eventually keep it, so I did not think it deserved a name.

“Ship, I need your help in selecting some suitable crew to interview. Could you interface with the other vessel and via the internal communications ask each crew separately if they will talk with us. Tell them that cooperation or lack of it will be noted and may be used later,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Jem turned to me and Laine, “I didn’t want to bring Koluna back with us after her experience as a captive. She seemed to handle it well, but I don’t want to push her too far.”

“Understood captain. But the logs are in Lagaid. Ship will have to translate for her,” I said.

“If Ship or Koluna need help, they can contact me and I can translate from wherever I am,” offered Laine.

“Thank you Laine. Ship did you get that?” asked Jem.

“Confirmed. When we need help with translations of key information, we will contact Laine,” said Ship.

We docked with the other vessel. I opened the airlock on our side and we entered. I had a stun gun ready.

The airlock closed on our side and then the other side opened. We stepped through into the other vessel. It was dimly lit and looked like the cleaning had been neglected for a long time.

“Ship, direct us to the first candidate,” said Jem. We followed Ship’s directions and arrived at a crew cabin. The door unlocked and opened. I looked inside and saw a guard we had met before aboard the Trading Post. He was already sitting at a small table. He was not making any hostile moves, so we entered.

“I thought you three were dead,” he said in Lagaid, “Tobis said he sent you to a remote part of the station just before he blew it up.”

Laine translated his words for us.

“We got out just in time. Unfortunately, two of your colleagues did not make it,” I said. Laine translated into Lagaid.

That was a preview of Star Guardian 2. To read the rest purchase the book.

Add «Star Guardian 2» to Cart