Mingyu stomped down the ramp of his ship, steam still billowing off the cooling thrusters. He was annoyed. More than annoyed, he was angry.
His ship the Moonlit Destiny had planned for a six-month deployment in Gliese 667’s outer belt to look for and extract precious metals. Less than three weeks into the trip, he received a communication to return. And for nothing other than some pompous core worlder here to throw his weight around. The Destiny’s sensor officer had picked up the ships when they burned for the station. They hadn’t been subtle about their approach. But he wasn’t on duty, and pirates wouldn’t have been so brazen, so he ignored them.
Mingyu wasn’t blind. He had seen the two gunships sitting menacingly off the station as his ship docked, their turrets on full display. It didn’t impress him. He had been a second lieutenant in the Coalition Navy and had served aboard the flagship Ivanov. And while it hurt him to admit, not comparable to the STO’s flagships, the Ivanov would have been more than a match for these peashooters the Omni rep had brought as a warning. Not that Petrov Station couldn’t defend itself. The Omni ships could learn a thing or two from Petrov about keeping their weapons hidden until needed.
Now if they could just teach the Commissars to wipe their own asses without a Captain around, maybe he wouldn’t have been required to sit in on a full Council meeting. Did the Commissars think that the station just ran on goodwill and wishes? It took dedication, effort, and a whole lot of credit from the founding families to keep the station independent.
He took the elevator to the core, easily adjusting to the change in gravity. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how people could stand living in the fake gravity. He much preferred being out in space or simply aboard his ship with the gravity disabled. There was something comforting about just floating.
As the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, he smirked a bit as he clambered up the rungs easily. He had lost track of how many proposals to redesign the elevator he had blocked over the years. The people at the station were too soft. They might as well live in a gravity well for all they understood about actual space. Which is why he made sure to keep this one small reminder for the people who operated the station.
That little memory brought a smirk to his face and lifted his spirits slightly, but it didn’t fully banish his foul mood as he crossed the command center and made his way toward the meeting room. Technically he was an hour late, but Mingyu would be damned if he was wasting extra fuel just to push his arrival up. He was already losing enough money just having to return ahead of schedule.
The door swished open at his approach, and he was hit with a wall of discussion from his fellow Captains.
***
“Na! Bout time you show up. You think we just have time to wait around for you all day?”
“Isn’t that your normal tendency Xu!” Mingyu said with a smile before clasping the other man’s hand. Mingyu and Xu Yuchen had been friends since they could walk.
“Glad you arrived safely,” Ingrid Liu stated with a slight nod.
Mingyu nodded back, even though he despised the shrewd woman. He wasn’t about to air his grievances here where it paid to be civil.
“I think we can all agree this is a colossal waste of our time,” Sergei Zhang added as he lounged against one wall with his feet up on the table.
Anastasia slapped his feet off the piece of furniture and glared at the large man. “If you truly thought it was a waste of time, you wouldn’t have returned so early. So quit trying to sound tough.” The man had the decency to look chastised by Mrs. Weiss’ words.
Unlike the five boisterous younger Captains on the council, the two older ones remained quiet. Denis Kovalenko was in his sixties but had only started a family a decade ago. And his daughter was only nine.
Oleg Hoffman was a bit younger, having just turned fifty. But he had also started a family later in his life, and his son and daughter were twelve and thirteen respectively.
The nine families were all that remained of the original founding twenty. Some like the Liu’s had combined to strengthen their families. But that didn’t grant them additional seats on the Council. Most did it to preserve their diminishing lineages and keep the station running. Some did it to consolidate power. Which was laughable out here in the ass end of human-occupied space. But Mingyu couldn’t throw stones, his ancestors had done the same, merging the Xinwei line with the Na.
“If pleasantries are over with, we do have important matters to discuss,” Denis cut through the chatter.
The room quieted as everyone turned to the Captain. As the oldest member of the council, his words did carry a bit more weight. The man was also semi-retired and spent most of his time aboard the station. Which meant he was usually the first to find out about issues such as this.
“You are all aware of our unfortunate guest?” Mutters and words of acknowledgment passed through the others in the room.
“Good. Unfortunately, I was not made aware of their arrival in the system until after they had met with the Commissar.”
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Sergei shot to his feet, pounding his hands on the table. “What blithering idiot failed to follow the standard procedure to notify the Captain on duty first and foremost?”
“While I appreciate your concern for procedures, Sergei, please sit down and control yourself. You are a Captain, you must act like one at all times.”
The younger man flushed slightly before dropping back into his seat. Mingyu wanted to roll his eyes at the man’s antics and the older man’s reprimand, but he knew better than to annoy his fellow captains.
“The Commissar responsible for this breach will receive a reprimand in his official log. But it will include the caveat that we have never had to host a VIP, so he was likely not aware of official policy on how to act.”
There were a few grumbles at that, but Mingyu approved.
“Then again,” Captain Kovalenko continued, “Should we treat this group as a VIP? By STO’s own laws, they do not qualify for this.”
“Are you calling for a vote on this?” Oleg asked.
Denis paused to think for a moment before responding. “Yes. Does anyone second this vote?”
“I do!” Sergei responded.
“Very well. All in favor of stripping the Omni representative of VIP status, raise your hands.”
Only three hands went up. One was Sergei’s, no real surprise there. But Mingyu was surprised to see his friend Xu’s hand up as well as Ingrid’s. But perhaps even more of a surprise was not seeing Denis’ hand raised for a vote he called for.
“If you weren’t even going to vote for it why even bring it up?” Sergei crossed his arms after the vote failed.
“Just because I believe they don’t deserve VIP treatment, doesn’t mean I believe it should be taken away. We have a delicate situation on our hands, despite some of our members reaching out to personal contacts in the STO.” The eldest captain looked straight at Mingyu as he said that last part.
Mingyu just shrugged. He wouldn’t apologize for calling in a favor.
“So that’s it then?” Xu spat in annoyance. “We treat them with kid gloves and find out exactly what they are after.”
“I’m afraid so,” Denis responded before checking his watch. “I have notified the Commissar to bring our guests by around noon. Because of Captain Na’s late arrival, I’m afraid we don’t have much time to discuss other matters. I would just like to remind you all to remain professional during the discussion. We cannot give these core worlders an inch-,”
“-or they will take a mile,” the rest of the room finished in unison. It was a tired saying that meant less and less each year. The core world mega corporations took what they wanted when they wanted. And very little could stop them. The best they could hope to do was mitigate the damage.
***
A few minutes later the door opened and a man wearing a vacsuit, which probably cost more than most made in a year, entered.
“Greetings esteemed Captains. I am Theodore Pembrooke, head legal counsel for Orbital Motion Navigational Innovations. I-,”
“We know who you are,” Sergei cut the man off, earning a reproachful glare from Denis and Oleg, “get to the point.”
The suited man’s smile never wavered. “Very well, I can appreciate cutting to the chase. O.M.N.I. is here investigating an instance of intellectual theft. We would appreciate it if you turned this culprit over to us along with any assets he has stolen or modified against our standard use policy. The person we are investigating is one Alexander Kane.”
Mingyu and the other captains confered quietly amongst themselves, forcing the man to wait standing at the lectern across the room. This wasn’t strictly necessary as they had already been informed about why this individual was here. The hushed conversation instead consisted of remarks about the questionable parentage of this man as well as his fear of being aboard station without his suit. Mingyu had a hard time not smiling or laughing during the quiet talks.
After making the man wait what seemed an appropriate amount of time, the Council turned back toward him. Denis, as the speaker, was the one to respond. “No.”
They all watched as the face behind the clear face shield blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
“Has education in the core systems degraded to the point that you do not understand the meaning of a very basic word?” Anastasia Weiss replied dryly.
The man’s face tightened before he responded. “I understand what no means, Mrs. Weiss. What I don’t understand is why that is your response to our simple request.”
It was Mingyu’s turn to speak. “It’s good to know the core systems are keeping up with their education. As to why we declined your request. That’s simple. It is against our laws. I would have thought someone in your role would have known that before coming here.”
At the rebuke, Mr. Pembrooke’s face tightened even more. “Now you listen here. I have come here in good faith.”
Sergei cut the man off with a barking laugh. “Good faith he spouts. What a load. Are those gunships out there your good faith?”
“Those are merely my escort,” the man bristled.
Mingyu stifled a smile. This had all been done on purpose to rile the man up and get him to state on record that these ships were simply for self-defense. Now if he tried to use the gunboats as leverage to get his way, it could be deemed as piracy.
“I believe we have gotten off track,” Oleg said, playing his role as the voice of reason.
“Thank you, Captain. Now if we could discuss my original question.”
“That answer hasn’t changed,” Oleg stated firmly. “What you are asking for is against Petrov Station law.”
“Are you refusing our request?”
Denis leaned forward. “Watch your tone, Mr. Pembrooke. You may have VIP rights, but those can and will be revoked if necessary.” The man shut his mouth and Captain Kovalenko continued. “And when did we stipulate we were refusing your request? You simply need to go through the proper legal proceedings.”
“And what would those be?” the irate man managed to speak between clenched teeth.
“Arbitration,” Ingrid Liu responded casually.
“That’s ridiculous,” Pembrooke spluttered. “You can’t be serious.”
“The accusation you are accusing someone aboard this station of is a serious offense,” Oleg reminded the Omni representative.
“That could take months. I’m not even familiar with your station's laws.”
“Clearly,” Xu added dismissively.
Before the man could complain further, Denis cut him off. “I suggest you either hire some station counsel or start brushing up on our laws. All in favor of dismissing this meeting.”
All seven hands went up. Denis nodded and turned back to the Omni representative. “You have four months to prepare your case, Mr. Pembrooke.”
The door opened behind the man and he stormed out.
Once it shut, the room fell into silence for a bit.
It was Anastasia who first broke the quiet. “Anyone familiar with this Alexander Kane?”
There was a collective round of shrugs or shaken heads.
“The name sounds English,” Mingyu remarked. “Don’t get many of those out here.”
“Would you like to take on the task of finding out who this is?” Denis asked.
“I’ll look into it,” Mingyu nodded. Not that he wanted to do it, although, he was curious as to what sort of person drew the interest of Omni.