[Captain Indrix Jaen]

When the higher ups put me in charge of this investigation, it was pretty much written on their faces what they expected out of me. Completely annihilating a squad of ships and having it broadcasted over galactic network was a deep slash in their gargantuan pride and I was a qualified military official with nothing left to live for except revenge. They wanted a manhunt that they could claim plausible deniability on. While I hated being used like some convenient and disposable tool, they were indeed correct in their evaluation of me and that I would not refuse this opportunity.

I couldn’t help but think back to what happened in the prison. I had the scourge of my life delivered to me on a silver platter, tied up and seemingly helpless. I mistook his expression of amusement as one of aggression, failing to realize that I was the one in danger in that room, not him. I should have noticed something was up when there were no scans of him in the database, instead I got complacent after seeing how lax his treatment was, thinking that he wasn’t constantly guarded just because he wasn’t dangerous when alone. In fact, all the blame went to me considering I wanted to selfishly savor his suffering instead of just ejecting him into deep space and cutting off any possible suspicion towards me.

I just couldn’t bring myself to let him off that easily. Not after he took away everything I ever knew. The family I’d managed to keep together even after being forced to enlist to pay off my parents’ debts. The crew that I had the pleasure of working with for twenty years, being close enough with each member that they would invite me to be best man if they ever settled down. I’ve spent countless nights ripping out my tongue and wrenching off all my teeth, trying to rid myself of those horrific memories, but it all just came back by the next morning.

An interesting piece of information had been hidden just below the surface of the information highway. The Meldren leader, Governor Destra Sind had a private conversation with Dominique prior to his escape. It was noted that Dominique was aggressive towards her when the conversation was broken up, but that wasn’t enough to clear my suspicion.

I just left warp at the edge of the Meldren system and was greeted with the expected regular Meldren signatures followed by the unexpected warning of a massive human ship, large enough to flatten a small city if it ever landed.

When my original ship was destroyed, all of the data that was stored in the computer systems had been wiped, meaning that none of the battle data could be recovered for study. Whatever it was that they used, whether it be an actual sentient weapon or a much more likely data wiping virus, it had looked over a black box that held the logs for each main ship system. The R&D team pieced together that the ship’s network had been breached and that the integrity shields had been shut down as the attack was made. They figured that the ships would have at least held together long enough for a counter attack if that hadn’t been the case, so now policy was to close all communication lines except for one that was constantly scrubbed before packets made it to the network, resulting in massive latency in any communications as a cost for a chance of fighting back.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

This measure was made with the idea of fighting back against the one-man ship that Dominique was piloting, not a capital ship that was hundreds of times that size. I couldn’t help but stare at the visualization of the ship perched on a moon above the Meldren homeworld. It was by no means the largest ship I’d ever seen, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it boasted the most lethality in the galaxy.

Now wasn’t the time for sluggish caution considering there was a high chance that I was already in dematerialization range. Even if I managed to survive falling from orbit on a shower of debris, the nearest celestial body was a 10-kelvin, atmosphere-less hellscape that would finish me off. I opened an FTL communication line with the Governor in hopes that the lack of aggression was not a mistake.

“This is lead investigator and Captain Indrix Jaen, mind telling me the situation?”

“Meldren Governor Destra Sind, the human ship is friendly, do not engage them under any circumstance!”

“I didn’t take you for a joker, Governor. Since when were you friendly with those hairless scum?!”

Then, a new voice rang out from the call, “Hey now, even I have feelings.”

“...Who the hell is this?! Why are you on this call?”

“On the contrary, you are the one who barged in on this line. Captain Nathaniel Brand of the Mayflower 233, and also the real-estate manager for the air-space you currently occupy. Mind explaining?”

“I am investigating the escape of a galactic prisoner and Governor Sind here caught my suspicion. I bring with me full Grahtonian military authority. As far as I’m concerned, you aren’t involved in that, unless there’s something interesting you want to reveal?”

At this point Governor Sind cut into our horn-measuring contest, “If you are here for that reason, then I can’t help you. I have nothing to do with Dominique’s actions, nor do I condone them.”

“Then why the secrecy in your meeting with him? It’s clear to anyone that you played a part, the only reason you aren’t currently undergoing a full, intrusive Grahtonian audit is because people doubt that someone like you would be on his payroll!”

“Audit all you want, his escape was a complete surprise to me! That secret meeting was me updating him about the status of his people, if he took that as prerogative to waltz out of your hands then that’s on you!”

This would have been the point where I’d start singing my profanities if not for a warp signal being observed not too far behind me. I nearly fell out of my seat at the readings that were sent to me. The ship that just warped into visual distance happened to be none other than the small transport ship that was stolen from the prison during Dominique’s escape.

My instincts told me that I’d been caught in a trap, that I was flanked by two forces and every passing moment may as well have been my last. Then my logic kicked in, asking why they would even bother flanking me, and then how a transport vessel would pose a threat. These doubts were given fuel when I heard two exclamations from the call, one of utter surprise and one of exhausted annoyance.

There wasn’t a guarantee that my target was actually on that ship, I needed more information before I could act. This could be my greatest chance at my goal, but it would all be for nothing if I make a mistake here and cut off any future chances.