April 25th, 2263. 12:08 CNS Fargo – Bridge

The bridge of the CNS Fargo was far tenser than it normally was. The ship’s captain, Second Lieutenant Darryl Erickson, along with his command staff, ran the ship well but were unusually casual. John was happy to see that the casual mood was able to quickly shift to a focused one.

“Jax, I don’t want to hear that engineering is still investigating. I want answers, now.” Lieutenant Erickson said.

A moment later the operations officer, Brian Jackson, spoke up from a seat behind the captain, “Four slip stream generators just blew up. Three more are critically damaged with a farther two suffering damage. They are in the process of shutting down the three now.”

John sat down at a spare terminal and calculated where their relative location in real space was. A mere twenty-five more minutes in this weird dimension would allow them to transition out near a friendly space station. They had five more fully functional generators, only two were needed to produce a wormhole to safety. The odds were in their favor, an immediate transition would add a full day or more of sub-light traveling.

“Captain, we’re in the Gamma Fornacus system currently. If you set heading to zero-one-eight for twenty-five minutes, we’ll pop out near the Walker Transit Station. Which, if this information is accurate, has facilities to inspect and repair the damage,” John said

Lieutenant Erickson smiled as he swung his chair around to face him, “I presume our Marines are ok?”

John shrugged, “Seems like it. They were getting bored already.”

“Helm set that course. Jax, head to engineering and get a bloody answer. If we have to slow down, we will.”

John shook his head, “My money is on shoddy maintenance by station personal or a piss poor installation job.”

“I’m not taking that bet,” Erickson grinned, “So Lieutenant, how does it feel to be back there and not up here?”

“Weird, I’d prefer to be in that seat of yours, but it is what it is.”

“Really? I didn’t think it’d be weird for you. Running those ops was your thing, wasn’t it?”

John smiled as he leaned back in the chair, “That part ain’t that weird. But being out of the chain of command on a ship is. Of course, what the hell do I really know about that?”

The mood on the bridge shifted a bit when Erickson let out a belly laugh, “Seems like you’re a magnet for shit.”

“Captain,” Jax said over the coms, “Engineering suggests reducing power to seventy percent and getting to the nearest station. The other generators look, unhealthy, according to these readings. Engineering does not believe that we’ll lose any more generators.”

John spun around and looked at the readouts, “Yeah, if we were in the middle of nowhere this would be not good. Even with an emergency transition, we’ll be fine. Wouldn’t be surprised if we lost a couple more.”

Erickson nodded and then opened communications to the whole ship, “This is the captain speaking. Everyone is to move to the internal sections of the ship until we transition back to real space. We will be transitioning in thirty minutes.”

“Never a dull moment, eh?” John grinned, “Beats a suicide attack though. Been there and done that.”

“Quiet you,” Erickson said, “Coms, contact the station and let them know of our emergency.”

“On it,” the Seamen Melanie Olson said.

“I’ll get out of y’all’s hair. I’m sure the bosses will want to know of the delay.”

“Probably should get some of that mandatory rest too,” Erickson turned and grinned.

“Sonofabitch, that bastard squealed,” John shook his head as he walked to the door, “You know technically I got enough just now.”

John could hear the bridge crew laugh as he walked out. And as luck would have it, he ran into his Chief Warrant Officer chatting with the head nurse of the ship in the hallway. They both gave him the stink as he grinned as he walked by.

15:12 Walker Transit Station

John didn’t bring any civilian clothes on this trip. Why would he need any he thought. There wasn’t any time scheduled for any shore leave. He was wearing the most casual-looking clothes he had. A green shirt, camo pants, and boots.

He laughed as he cleared customs. His first stop was to help the local economy. It was times like this he wished Alice were here with him. John’s fashion sense could best be described as non-existent on some days, clashing on most days.

A sporting goods store, the name of it escaped him, was the first store he saw. He grabbed three pairs of cargo shorts, an equal number of golf shirts, sandals, boxer briefs, and a backpack to fit everything in. The teller that rang up his purchase laughed at the odd set of circumstances that John had found himself in.

John left and was going to check into the Hilton Hotel onboard. His hike to the hotel was interrupted by going through the jewelry wing. He grinned as he walked into the Audemars Piguet boutique to browse. There was a much larger smile on his face as he walked out with a new watch on his wrist.

Alice, of course, would have disapproved, or flat out prevented him from the purchase. Then again, today there was no adult supervision of the man-child that was now wearing a blackened ceramite tourbillon watch. Piece unique as well, which meant John was now light three full credit chits.

Ten minutes later John was checked into the hotel. The presidential suite wasn’t available, but one of the penthouse apartments was. John set the bag from the boutique was placed it on the table nearest the door in his temporary room. His backpack was casually tossed onto the couch.

He then walked over to the terminal and secured it to do some work. But as soon as he did, an incoming message appeared. Internally, John groaned. He was certain it was going to be Alice, ready to chew him out for his latest purchase.

“Director,” John said in a surprised tone.

“I see you are surprised to hear from me,” Director LeCroix said sternly.

“I figured it was an angry wife call if I’m being honest.”

“Why did you keep a personal copy of the data you intercepted on your last mission.”

John pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and sat down on the couch, “I don’t trust NI, sir.”

“Because of our history?”

“Not in this case. Your team on Titan I don’t have an issue with. Commander Murphy, on the other hand, she I definitely have an issue with. Have you seen the shit work she’s doing?”

Director LeCroix looked like he sucked on a lemon, “That… is something we’re looking into.”

“Reassign her, sir. She’s shit the bed, literally. The reason we’ve wasted, three, maybe four months is at her hands. She directed us to four consecutive terrible raids. And the only reason the last one wasn’t a complete failure was the idiots we’re searching for pulled the power before the wipe was complete.”

“We were lucky then.”

“Very.”

“That doesn’t explain why you are in possession of that intel.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Director, I want this mission to succeed. True, I have personal reasons for it, but I don’t believe success is possible so long as she is where she is.”

“I could order you to turn over all copies.”

“Look how well I follow orders, sir,” John took a sip of water, “You know damn well that my talents are needed now, more than ever. Because honestly, without my help, your teams will fail us.”

Director LeCroix rubbed his forehead. He was clearly frustrated at the situation. It was clear that he didn’t want John to be as hands-on as he was, but it was clear that even he was struggling with what was happening.

John noticed that and spoke, “Sir, how the hell did she get that position? I can’t imagine her being qualified for running this op for y’all.”

“She is qualified but didn’t have experience running an operation like this. Fleet Command insisted she get assigned to his.”

“As the NI lead?”

“Yes.”

John looked shocked, “On who’s orders?”

“That doesn’t concern you,” LeCroix, “You’ll have unfettered access to all data. You will however share with the Commander everything you find.”

John wasn’t given a chance to respond as the communication ended, “Sure, but I’ll slow roll it though.”

He got up and looked through the snack basket above the mini-fridge. Another call came in, and he accepted without looking. John smiled as he picked a bag of pretzels.

“Hi honey,” Alice said with a smile, “Why are you in a hotel?”

John grinned as he hopped over the couch and sat down, “The slip generators fucking exploded mid-flight. Well, some of them, not all of them. So, we have four days of unexpected downtime. I think they are pulling all of them and installing brand new ones.”

“Never a dull moment with you,” Alice grinned.

“We got some new toys to play with. Two words: holy shit.”

“I got the dates lined up.”

“For your boards? Jesus, is that already happening?”

“Well, eleven months from now. Not exactly today, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“So, Dr. Alice Lief-Robertson. Very cool. Residency going to be on station?”

Alice smiled as she nodded, “Yes sir.”

“Hey, all of us are lieutenants now. How the hell has it been that long already?”

Alice shook her head, “When one of us goes AWOL for several months and then gets shipped back to Earth, time flies.”

“Hey, I didn’t want to go AWOL on that journey,” John said defensively.

“Are you staying safe? You know why I worry…” Alice’s tone changed.

“The remaining twin is raising hell with the pirates out in unclaimed space. As for our ops, it’s classified but thus far you’ve had nothing to worry about,” John smiled, “Trust me. If I get my wish though, things are going to get hot and heavy.”

“Will we be better off without his organization?”

“Without question,” John answered the question instantly, “I appreciate your concern and for you worrying about me. I feel like you make up for my lack of sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Alice laughed as she shook her head, “More like always. And don’t you try to argue that mister.”

“Yeah, your right,” John grinned.

“I love you, John, stay safe out there.”

“Love you too honey. Pretty safe here though, not sure I can get into trouble here.”

“John, we just had a moment,” Alice grinned as she blew a kiss to the screen, “Don’t be that guy. I’ll see you soon, right?”

“Yeah like, two-ish weeks I think.”

Alice waived and then ended the call. John finished eating his snack and looked out the window. As much as he wanted to enjoy the time off, he needed to work on this case. His stomach rumbled mighty. Maybe after dinner though John thought.

16:45 Tex’s Authentic Texas-Style BBQ

John was happily drinking a beer in the corner of the restaurant when a man, a real-cool-customer type, walked into the restaurant. He grinned when he saw him. Aaron Voss, Mercantilist Intelligence Bureau, was not cleared to be in Confederate space. But to John, he represented a potential opportunity.

He quickly finished his meal, and more importantly the beer, and dropped a credit chit on the table. He pointed at it to his server as he strode over to Aaron. The enemy spy had no clue he was made. Nor did he have any clue that one of the most dangerous individuals in the galaxy had spotted him.

John slapped Aaron’s shoulder and sat down next to him, “Evening. Barkeep, I’ll take that Ardbeg Corryvrecken. Double and neat, please. Plus, whatever this guy wants.”

“Fuuuuck,” Aaron said under his breath, “Tequila, whichever one will burn more.”

John whispered, “If you answer me honestly this can go down easily. Lie and it gets worse for you.”

Aaron nodded.

“Corporate or Military espionage?”

“Corporate,” Aaron sighed, “The target was the Min-Lee-Vogue corporation. They have a new void coating that we wanted to get our hands on. Price was too high though.”

John smiled as he handed the bartender a fresh credit chit, “Appreciate it. Not going to interfere with your business. Already do the meeting or am I intruding?”

Aaron laughed, “I was fucking hungry and could smell the BBQ.”

“Excellent, then we have time to chat,” John raised his glass before taking a sip of the amber liquid, “I understand you’re out of Dr. Norman’s clutches.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Was able to use what remained of my influence to get away from that hellhole.”

“Who replaced you?”

Aaron winced as he took the first of his two tequila shots, “You don’t know him, but I’m positive he was a mole in the Bureau for our good doctor.”

“So, the Bureau is blind to the sketchier shit he’s been doing.”

“Like his testing in your space. They aren’t aware of what is happening, but there are rumors and innuendo aplenty. By the way, Dr. Norman knows you are on the hunt.”

“How many ops does he have ongoing?”

“No clue, officially they’ve never had any going. Was there any hard proof that he was that could cause him to lose his funding?”

“Does the Chancellor and his cabinet know?”

Aaron shook his head, “Rumors sure, but they lack solid proof. And before you ask it, unless you catch an active site it’s probably not going to matter much. But he is wearing out his welcome due to his lack of protocols.”

“Damn. Y’all have what, nine secretaries in the cabinet?”

Aaron nodded but looked confused, “Why do you ask?”

“Once there’s a majority committed against him…”

“Oh, duh,” Aaron finished his other shot, “Six to three in favor of him. Three will not change their votes at all. Our Secretary for Veteran Affairs and the Homeland Defense are committed to matching their votes.”

John grinned, “And you have a connection for the former. Aunt, is it?”

“Yes, but I’m not going to introduce you to her. Good lord…” Aaron shook his head.

“I’ll level set with you Aaron,” John paused as Aaron’s meal was delivered, “If I have the goods on him, I need you to schedule a meeting.”

“And risk…”

“You know my reputation. Do you really think I’d ask for a meeting and do anything? The worry isn’t me. It’s Norman’s organization trying to ensure its protection. I, and my command, give zero shits what your government does.”

Aaron sighed, “You know how to contact me. But I can’t guarantee anything.”

John finished his drink and then slid out of his barstool, “This op is going to happen one way or the other. I’d prefer the collateral damage be minimized. Let your minister-aunt know that when we have the goods on him; we will act with or without your blessing.”

“Your military leadership isn’t willing to start a war with us.”

John smiled, “The Union doesn’t have the military strength to fight a proper war, and we don’t want that. We do want this madman minimized.”

“You mean eliminated,” Aaron said as John walked past him.

“Same thing,” John said without looking back and waving to him, “Think about it. It’d be a safer galaxy with that organization gone.”

19:33 Hilton Hotel – Penthouse Suite 2

John was rubbing his chin as he stared at the terminal. He was smiling because he had moved a necessary chess piece into position well ahead of schedule. That he’d be in the right place at the right time to meet someone with an enemy agent was hard to believe, but he wasn’t one to ignore the gift that was in front of him.

“OK John, what’s the angle to play? How do we find a hot lead?”

John scrolled through the data. Lost person records were a good place to start. The problem with that is new settlements tended to be rather lax with personnel records. People escaping their past was chief amongst many reasons for piss poor people management. Because of that, the new colonies were notorious for informing the military slowly.

No, that wasn’t going to work. It could help corroborate issues, but that alone wasn’t going to find anyone. Dr. Norman’s organization wouldn’t manage these labs but facilitate their construction and employment through questionable scientific channels.

John notated that for more investigative work in the future. That wouldn’t help him in this instant. Shipping and freight. His eyes lit up, that was it.

“Eve, are there any records with an outside company? Shipping or freight related perhaps?”

“Checking,” the feminine voice replied.

“That’s got to be the angle we can use to track them down.”

“Trebuline Incorporated has been notated numerous times to ship chemicals and prefabs.”

“Access the Naval Intelligence database; are there any shipment records that resemble an order for this organization? Look for recent records only, like the past month or so.”

“Shipment TI-14Z56G981 includes several prefabricated buildings and other remote base items. TI-12Y32B8372 was a lengthy list of items but chief among them were three industrial compounds commonly used in genetic research.”

“Locations and destinations of these shipments?”

“The former shipment is onboard the Free Merchant’s Guild freighter, Tomahawk. It is docked here at Walker Transit Station. Docking Ring Two, bay thirteen. It is scheduled to depart at 08:00. The other…”

“Send the ship and destination back to command. Get me a channel open to Erica.”

A moment later Erica appeared on screen, she was blushing, her hair was a mess, and she was trying to hide part of herself in the covers, “Sir!”

“Apologies for interrupting your, uhm,” John grinned and used air quotes, “Extra-curricular activities Sergeant. I need you and eight marines to suit up in the Fargo. We need to inspect a freighter. You have sixty minutes, so finish your fun there and get suited up.”

“Thank you, sir!” Erica slammed the off button quickly.

John grinned as he contacted the station’s shipping tower, “This is Lieutenant Lief of Taskforce Omega, attached to the CNS Vigilant. When is the FMG Tomahawk scheduled to depart?”

“Sir! 08:00, the captain is very punctual,” the controller said.

“Good, according to Article 22 of the Void Commerce Clause the freighter’s clearance is temporarily canceled. You may not inform the captain of this change nor are you to update anything in your systems that are publicly available to view.”

“Understood, we’re holding her here until we hear from you.”

John ended the conversation and ran out of his room. He was given two gifts today. One he couldn’t use until a sunny day down the road. The other, that one was going to be taken advantage of right here and right now.