Prologue

Urle entered the study without a word and sat down across from Brooks.

The Captain studied his screen a moment longer before looking at his first mate.

"Did you finish your analysis, Zach?"

"Yes," the man replied.  "The bullet that killed Governor Grenness was a high-quality splitter round purchased somewhere outside the Sapient Union.  I've found the maker, but they declined all questions and are outside our jurisdiction."

Brooks steepled his fingers, elbows resting on the arms of his chair, and said nothing, only staring at his second in command.

Urle continued.  "The drone was a local build, modified to fire the larger hunting round.  It was a simple job, but we were not able to pull any evidence to connect it directly to Hoc Rem.  It seems likely he was the one who arranged the hit, at least."

"I don't doubt it," Brooks replied.  "But our suspicions are not proof.  Have you sequenced the DNA of Rem?"  After the man had fled, they had searched his quarters.  They'd been cleaned, but hastily, and evidence remained.

"Yes.  With a 97.5% certainty, we can say he's from the Archenar system."

"Rough conditions there," Brooks said.  "Among the few who wouldn't rejoin the Sapient Union."

"And a place where a lot of people become hired guns, it's true," Urle said.  "But that's where the hard trail goes dead.  Have you had any more luck with the Governor's data?"

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"I've gone through it several times," Brooks said.  "I believe he gave me everything he had, even his secret files.  But he was not an organized man, and a lot of his illegal dealings were never put to record.  There may well be details I'm missing, but we'll need a dedicated analyst team to find them."

"Well, you have me," Urle said.  "One-man analyst team.  On that topic, a lot of Archenar natives go by names related to rivers on the terraformed world of the system - just a common habit.  Rem is a river on the smallest continent, so I did some searches for mercenaries who match his physical build and also use river names from there.  I have a handful of possible aliases for the man.  I'm really not sure on these, but if I collate with your data, perhaps I'll get something."

"You're welcome to look," Brooks said, sending the archive to his first mate.  "But even with something concrete, we're going to need to pass this info up the chain to see what they can find."  Brooks smiled and held his hands out defensively.  "Not that I doubt the Human Data Comb, but you're a lot more useful doing things other than analysis."

Urle shifted.  "I never should have left data services," he muttered.

"You hated it, don't lie," Brooks retorted.

But his smile began to fade.

"We're headed to Medical Station 29," he said to his first mate.

"I know," Urle replied calmly.

"Have you told the girls?"

"I will at dinner tonight," the man replied.

Brooks watched his friend closely.  "Will you be all right, Zach?"

The man hesitated before replying.  "Yes, Captain.  I will."

Brooks knew his first mate was not being fully honest, but that he would press through his feelings regardless.  Seeing it in him, the suffering he was already going through just at the mention, made Brooks want to keep a close eye on him.

But Zach was an officer of the Sapient Union.  They trained, they acted, they took oaths to perform their duties regardless of the cost.

"Very well, then," Brooks said.  "Dismissed."