Milo Greene opened the door to the small office and sat down in the chair in front of the desk.    Alan Torick, the main behind the desk, picked up a tablet, laid it on the desk, and turned the screen on to reveal the picture of a young man with short, light-brown hair.

"That's him?" Milo asked eyeing the picture thoroughly so as to burn the image into his memory.

"Yes" Alan said.  "He is the only surviving member of the crew.  He hasn't been seen now since the fire."

"And what about the cargo?" Milo asked.

Alan hit a button on the tablet to move to the next picture.  It was a picture of a small, black, powdery substance on a white examination table.  "This is all that is left of the ore in the cargo area" Alan said straightening his small, round glasses.

"Son of a gun" Milo said looking closely as he could at the powder.  "I'm guessing that wasn't caused by a short circuit or a fuel explosion."

"So far nothing abnormal has been found on the ship's forensic log.  There's no reason that the ore should have burned like that."

"Could an SPG bubble rupture have caused that?" Milo asked.

"I doubt that" Alan said shaking his head.  "A ship that size it would have been torn into a billion pieces had that happened."

"Where was this crew coming from?"

"From Marzala" Alan answered coolly.

"Well, that right here might just explain it.  No one goes there just to dig for gold.  If the crew of this frigate were there they would've been searching for dangerous gray artifacts like anyone else who actually ventures over to a place that dangerous."

"Don't assume anything and let your imagination get away from you, Milo.  A lot of bizzare things happen to ships that visit that planet, including those that don't even go down to the surface."

"The Royal Intelligence service apparently doesn't think it's nothing.  Their legendary bounty hunter, Azari Yuler is apparently looking for this man as well."

"We don't know that to be sure" Alan said.

"You don't know that for certain because the RIS is not willing to give us any information about this.  That in my mind is reason enough to think there's interest in it." Alan shrugged his shoulders.

"There are a lot of books on their book shelves they don't lead us open up, Milo, and not just about exotic weapons technologies...if he's out there there's any number of things he could be doing.  If you're going to do field work you need to be focused on what you know and not any far-reaching theories."  Milo thanked Alan (not paying any attention to his admonishment) and took the disk with the mission data out of the office.  There was really not any point in prolonging the conversation any longer.  There was no sense in bouncing hypotheticals and ideas off of Alan.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Milo returned to his office and shut the door.  He picked up the tablet on his desk and after making sure it was not on the agency intranet he downloaded and opened the the latest version of The Royal Comet.

Radian Sickness Cases Rise in Outlying Communities

There continues to be no sign of abatement of new cases of radiation sickness in the outlying communities and installations of the outworld sector.  Local medical staff are overwhelmed and short on supplies. Union scientists continue to be puzzled as to the source of the radiation but say that the signs of radiation sickness are unmistakable and afflicted individuals are responding to standard treatment.  Individuals living within the affected areas have advised villagers to place radiation detectors in their homes and have portable detectors with them at all times.

The Royal Medical Service has deployed three medical frigates to aid in treatment efforts for Eizen and Faraday, the two systems most affected by outbreak.   This deployment occurs at a pivotal time as Union leaders and her highness' renegotiate the soon-to-expire Quidalar Accord, some terms of which are rumored to be of contention between Union President Griffin Alamore and her highness.

Meanwhile sector governer Lance Larrett continues to deny rumors that the Union has evidence that the outbreak is a result of a weapons test.  An inside source from the Union's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) maintains that nothing can be ruled out at this point and that there are no leads on what could be the natural source of the radiation.

Milo was startled by the sudden opening of his door which he had not shut all the way. A tall young woman with frizzy redish-orange hair noticed him putting away the tablet.

"It's just me.  Reading the Comet again instead of doing your work again?" she asked who seemed amused at Milo's apparent quick attempt to hide his tablet.

"What's going on, Kayla?"

"Clyde's here.  We're going to happy hour over at Sun Spot later today."

"Clyde?" Milo said surprised.  "What is he doing here?"

"I didn't ask him.  He just sent me a message to tell me to meet him there and that he wanted you to come as well, which I thought was interesting.  I figure we'll get the whole story when we get there."

"Okay. I'm in.  By the way, I just spoke with Alan" Milo said changing the subject.  "From what he has said it sounds like we might be headed over to outworld. You ever been to Eizen?" Milo asked Kayla.  Kayla took a butterscotch candy from a jar on Milo's desk and put it into her mouth.

"A few times.  There's a pub in Eizentown called Stardust Alley.  Many women go there hoping to meet rich prospectors and get some glimpses of the occasional hunky Royal Starfleet pilot."

"I've got a strong feeling we're about to get wrapped up in something that's pretty big" Milo said. 

"Maybe" Kayla said clearly not having any interests in discussing any of Milo's theories.  "I need to go, but make sure you don't forget to come today.  Clyde specifically asked if you were coming."

"Oh" Milo replied seeming intrigued.  "I'll go.  The stories of his adventures are usually pretty interesting."

Kayla turned around and went out the door and down the hall to the left.