The latest update showed that 95% of the debris had been cleared from orbit above the colony, and all pieces large enough to be of concern.
Confirming what Commander Gresset had said about the hostages being taken by earlier shuttles, they had found no bodies among the debris, though a lot of pieces of equipment from the colony.
As relieved as Brooks felt not to be finding dead colonists from the destroyed ships, he was frustrated they hadn’t learned more.
The clear and prime reason to destroy the shuttles was to destroy evidence about the pirates’ identities and support. They had called themselves privateers, which suggested that they had some backing – most likely just a lie or all in their head, since their name of Free Star Company didn’t seem to be attached to any known privateer group in the region. Even the name ‘Tarsota’ seemed simply an unattached term, and while the pirate’s accent was odd, they had made no headway in tracing its origins.
And they had learned even less sifting the debris. The drones were stock models modified in small workshops with hand tools, likely on the pirate vessels or at their base. Their ammunition was from a dozen different sources, their fuel locally made and appropriated from various trading guilds or colonies. There was no clue that stood out to give them the hint they needed to move forward.
It may not even exist, he had to admit. Not every mystery could be solved – or at least not solved in the timespan that people liked.
Not that he was about to give up.
Another report came in; preliminary study of the pirate code that had disabled the colony’s defenses.
“Hello Captain,” Cenz said. “I hope you do not mind if I speak to you while you review my report.”
“That will be fine,” Brooks said, moving the image of his science officer from simply a 2D box to a projection in his HUD that made the being appear as a ghostly presence with him in his study.
“As you can see, the code is a branch from a known bug first identified seven months ago in use with a group of Boku-boku thieves in Gohhi space. While it was never a threat to our security, lower-grade security systems like those in many colonies are still susceptible to the virus if it can be uploaded into their systems.”
“That’s a big if,” Brooks said. “Colony computers still have strong firewalls.”
“Yes. So given the fact that the pirates had a code to bypass that firewall makes it clear; they had inside assistance. In fact, piggy-backing on their fake IFF code was a very simple message that I believe informed their man on the ground of their arrival.”
“But whoever they were, they didn’t have all the up-to-date codes,” Brooks noted.
“Correct. So I believe we can safely rule out Commander Gresset himself. While the suspect is lower in rank, I do have several likely candidates – and I believe they are among the kidnapped colonists.”
“It makes sense,” Brooks agreed. “To get their payment. Or be disposed of and keep the pirate’s secrets.”
“That is correct. So while this evidence strongly suggests that the pirates possess only mundane technology, there is another detail that I find . . . odd.”
Brooks frowned. “What is that?”
“I attempted a scan for krahteons not long after the pirates made their dive, to see if I could learn anything about their engines. The krahtonic radiation that escapes during a jump can occasionally reveal details of the zerodrive that opened the portal, you see.”
“What did you find?” Brooks asked, rubbing his chin.
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“Nothing like what I expected. My initial scans were inconclusive; I had erroneous data that made no sense. Looking deeper into the problem, I found that there was interference, but I could not determine from where it came. Further testing showed that the issue was not with our sensors, and I contacted Executive Commander Urle for assistance. He took a spacewalk onto the hull and-“
“Urle’s outside the ship?” Brooks asked quickly.
“Yes, Captain,” Cenz said, and his screen looked somewhat uncomfortable. “He is a Class-5 spacewalker, so informing you was not necessary. He said that he . . . wished to go for a jaunt.”
“He didn’t even use a proper suit, did he?”
“Ah, no sir – he elected to use his specialized head attachments and-“
Brooks sighed, waving a hand to cut him off gently. He’d never understood Urle’s desire to spacewalk using his absurdly specialized attachments, but it was . . . acceptable. “All right. Continue.”
“From the Commander’s study, we found that the issue was not the sensors, but the ship itself. You see, the Craton is resonating.”
“Wait, what?”
“It can be most easily seen with a visualization,” Cenz said.
A graph appeared; it was very simple, simply a straight line with two spikes. “These represent our normal krahtonic hull resonance. The spikes are when we jumped recently. Now, compare to our current state.”
The new graph was wild; spikes came and went, up and down, currently elevated, since they had come into the space where the pirates were operating. At no time was it at baseline.
Brooks leaned back in his seat, his face furrowed in thought. “Krahtonic resonance is something I’ve heard of, but it takes special conditions for that to happen, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, Captain,” Cenz said. He seemed uncomfortable, and Brooks felt his own anxiety growing again.
“So what are we resonating with?”
“I actually cannot say. But the resonance is strongest in this location.” Cenz brought up a three-dimensional model of the ship, a side glowing to indicate the strongest resonance.
“It is the side that was facing the pirates when they jumped. I believe that . . . this indicates the presence of a very strong krahteon emitter on their ship. It is not that of an engine, at least none I have ever seen. I do not believe that it is the result of tinkering to their drive, though I cannot rule it out. To be honest, Captain, I feel that this is consistent with the idea that the pirates do in fact possess some sort of relic technology. Especially in light of their unexplained ability to dive so soon after arriving in-system.”
Brooks was silent for a time. “Have you shared this report with the other officers?”
“Yes, Captain, as per normal procedure. Was that wrong?”
Brooks saw a ping. It was Lt. Pirra, adding notations to the document. He looked at the first one.
It was a link to one of the legends about the Star Hunter.
“No, you did correctly. Thank you, Cenz. And is Urle back from his spacewalk?”
The Coral nodded, his image fading, and Brooks checked his system to locate his Executive Officer. It did say he was aboard.
He began a call.
“Hello, Captain,” Urle said, accepting the call after a moment. Brooks tried to tell from his voice if it was generated or coming from his actual mouth, but he could not be sure.
“Are you inside now?” he asked.
“Yes, Captain. I was out for a bit, but-“
“Do me a favor, next time wear a helmet,” Brooks said dryly.
“. . . understood, Captain,” Urle replied. “Did Y complain?”
“No, this is all me. What would Y be complaining about, anyway?”
“Nothing, sir,” Urle said quickly.
Brooks let the silence hang a moment before continuing. “This resonance that Cenz had you investigating – is it a danger to the ship?”
“Ah, no sir, we have no reason to believe so. It doesn’t affect anything except zerojumps, and even then the effect is negligible – not of any concern at all. Was there a reason you didn’t want to ask Cenz this?”
“He’s got a lot of polyps,” Brooks replied. “And they like to talk. I didn’t even want him thinking that direction in case rumors start.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Brooks looked to the report again, still feeling uneasy. More comments from Pirra were popping up. She was on top of reports, at least. Maybe too on top of them, perhaps she needed a bigger work load.
“Ian, if this is evidence that the pirates might have relic technology . . .” Urle began.
“I still think it’s a big if, and I don’t want to act like we think this way. I don’t want people getting nerves,” Brooks said. “When we know more, we can tell everyone and make sure we’re actually confident in what we’re saying.”
“I understand. But I’m thinking – why aren’t we involving Kell in this? Relic technology is thought to be tenkionic, and . . . well, he’s got kind of a connection there, doesn’t he?”
“Officially,” Brooks replied, “we do not acknowledge that. So officially I don’t think we can ask for help.”
Even after all that had been said at his trial, Kell admitting strange connections, the official stance did not recognize this fact. What was there to really say on it, except to say they didn’t know?
“And unofficially, would you mind if I spoke to him?” Urle asked.
Brooks glanced at Pirra’s latest comments on the document. They were professional, calm, but all of them alluded to or directly cited things that were almost certainly just legend.
“Just do it on the down low,” Brooks told him with a sigh.