Chapter eight

     "Captain, what are we doing here?"

     Our ship was parked right in front of one of the biggest cluster of Federation and Corporation ships in the galaxy. We could see rows after rows of ships lined up perfectly, always staying in rigid formation. These ships were the pride of the entire federation and it's main source of military might, the galactic starfleet.

     In a stark contrast to the discipline showed by the ships of the federation's star fleet, those that belonged to the the Corporation were all over the place, just flying around without rhyme or reason but they were equally intimidating as the starfleet ships if not more so because what they lacked in numbers and discipline, they made up for in sheer raw power.

     The Corporations main source of power is money and that was why their ships were not only ridiculously expensive but also ridiculously overpowered. 

     The Federation had brought hundreds of their starships but the corporation only brought five but five was enough. They were giant behemoths that were as large as moons armed with the latest weapons and outfitted with the latest tec. The federation ships flew around showing their abilities as a group but the corporation ships didn't need to do Jack, they just floated through space and their mere presence was enough to terrify anybody into submission.

     And the reason why the two powers were here? Two words, Telerium alloy.

     Telerium was the heaviest stable metal in the known universe and an essential part of all ships. One of the reasons that there are a very limited number of ships is exactly because of the scarcity of this metal but during the last war between the federation and the corporation, they had stumbled upon a solitary asteroid that was almost completely made of Telerium.  Both powers knew that the other one wouldn't give up such a precious resource and the only outcome would have been mutual destruction so they immediately tabled their differences and decided to sign a peace treaty in order to share the Telerium fairly and from that treaty the Department of Intergalactic Commerce was born not only to oversee the actual mining of the Telerium but to mediate any conflict between the two powers.

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     I ignored Twitch's question because I was too busy concentrating on my screen.

     "Alfred, zoom in on the Asteroid."

     The screen zoomed in on the asteroid and I could see that there were no Federation or Corporation ships close to it, only a swarm of D.I.C ships and one old fashioned mining rig.

     The two powers didn't trust each other so neither one was allowed near the asteroid. The only ships allowed were D.I.C and even they were under constant supervision. The only mining rig allowed on the asteroid was an old modeled rust bucket that couldn't hide any tricks.

     "Alfred, can you scan the asteroid especially that mining shaft. I want to know how wide and how deep it is."

     This time it was Sandy who spoke up, "Captain, shouldn't we be heading to the Compendium instead of loitering here?"

     I looked at the numbers and figures displayed by Alfred and smiled, "Patience Sandy. Right now all I want you to do is to fly us next to that asteroid."

     "But that would put us in the range of their sensors."

     "I know."

     "Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't we wanted criminals? What will stop them from turning us into swiss cheese the moment they see us?"

      "Don't worry about that, leave it to me. Just move slowly towards that asteroid."

      "This is crazy captain, even more crazy than usual."

      I looked deep into her brown eyes and asked, "Do you trust me Sandy?"

      She sighed deeply then smiled, "God help me but I do. Alright captain, I'll do what you say."