AGU SCI 1: The Star Brotherhood (19 page)

"Thank you," Vyx said.

"Oh, you know I didn't mean you. I mean the people who deal with Wolkerrons because they want to, not because it’s their job."

"I know what you meant. I was just kidding."

"My money is on Lippaula," Brenda said.

"The head of the Star Brotherhood?" Ursula asked.

"Yeah, and Vyx's high school sweetheart."

"What?"

"It's a long story," Brenda said to Ursula. "I'll tell you later."

"As long as we're betting," Nelligen said, "my money is on the shipper of the counterfeit currency. He probably hoped to get his money back from the Wolkerron when we didn't return. He'd tell Ker Blaswetta that we never delivered the cargo, and Blaswetta would have no way to refute the charge."

"My money is on the Senesim Syndicate," Byers said. "They're trying to take over the planet and control all illegal operations."

"Nobody thinks the Raiders might be involved?" Vyx said. "That was a favorite scam of theirs in Region One. They've hijacked more ships than all the other pirates combined."

"So how are we going to find out who's behind it?" Brenda asked.

"We're going back to the planet and stir the pot a bit. When it boils over, we might find out who was behind all this."

"What about the bounty hunters who want to collect on your hide?"

Vyx sighed slightly before answering, then said, "I'll just have to show them that the ante to play in this game is a lot higher than they expected."

~ March 3
^rd
, 2289 ~

With Ursula identified as an SCI agent, the mood aboard the
Scorpion
became much more relaxed. The others could talk openly without worrying they might inadvertently disclose some piece of information that would point to their secret career, and Ursula could share details of her investigation into the counterfeiting problem.

As always happens on a long voyage, things settled into a dull routine. The ship maintenance functions were always handled first thing after breakfast, followed by normal activities, such as cleaning and laundry. Of course, bots did most of the latter work and even assisted in maintenance activities, so the duty was light unless something unexpected cropped up. Ursula turned out to be a real help with the maintenance duties. She said she preferred that sort of work to cleaning, and Nelligen was happy for her help and even more for companionship during boring maintenance activities.

As the days passed, Brenda began to get mildly perturbed over Ursula's contact with Vyx. While most would probably be interpreted as totally innocent, and Vyx probably never even noticed, Brenda sensed an underlying current of sexual interest on Ursula's part. Brenda hadn't forgotten Ursula's previously announced crush on Vyx while they were at the Academy. Even if Vyx wasn't showing any response to her attentions, Brenda was sure Ursula would like to get much closer. While it was true that Brenda's relationship with Vyx had not been declared, they
were
sharing a cabin, and a bed, and she felt that Ursula should respect the unspoken alliance.

The rendezvous point with the
Staatsburg
had been four months from Bleadalto, so the trip to the planet was a long one. Discussions about the crime organizations on the planet and who might be behind the attacks on the
Scorpion
and the agents were common as evening meal conversations, but without new information it was impossible to draw any conclusions. With three major crime groups operating on the planet and a plethora of small criminal groups vying to become the fourth major group, it was anyone's guess if the attacks had been generated by one group or multiple groups.

Four months later, the
Scorpion
approached Bleadalto with Vyx at the controls and all hands on the bridge watching for trouble, but nothing of concern occurred as the
Scorpion
established a stable orbit in preparation for descent to the surface.

"Captain," the tac officer aboard the
Namossel
said into his mike as he tapped a button on his com unit, "That freighter is back."

Captain Wurroples, seated at the desk in his office, pressed the Security Station button on his com unit and said, "What freighter?"

"The one we attacked last year after she left orbit but got away. Should I target her now?"

"Target her? Are you crazy? We're in planetary orbit! Do you want to start a war up here?"

"I have a clear shot right now, before she goes down to the surface. I thought you might want to erase the embarrassment from our record."

"No, you fool, do
not
target her. And the embarrassment wasn't on the ship; it was on Captain Ereppuet. That's why he's no longer captain."

"Aye, Captain."

"Uh, are you sure it's the same ship?"

"Almost certain. It's a Siqquet model, built at the Xillesku Shipbuilding yard. I'm familiar with the original ship design, and this one has that same strange appendage on each side of the stern as the one we chased. It's not standard for that model, and I remember trying to figure out what it was."

"And did you?"

"No, it's a very strange arrangement. It almost looks like an engine nacelle, but that doesn't make sense. There's no practical purpose for an engine at that location."

"Could it be some sort of sensor array?"

"It could be. It could be a lot of things I suppose, but the location next to the stern sub-light engines is strange."

"Whatever. Uh, inform Lieutenant Commander Ereppuet about the ship's arrival. He might be interested."

"Aye, Captain."

"Wurroples out."

"Tlazzurgo out."

Wurroples leaned back in his chair after the connection was terminated. He grinned to himself as he thought about the expression on Ereppuet's face when he learned that the
Scorpion
had returned to the planet. Losing the cargo she was carrying had essentially ended his career. He was lucky it hadn't ended his life. Instead, he had been demoted to second in command under his former second. And he had been making Wurroples life miserable ever since. He should have been sent to another ship in the freighter fleet, but perhaps the boss felt that this would be more of a punishment. But the punishment had been as bad on Wurroples because Ereppuet continued to question every order given by his former subordinate, usually saying something like, "That's not the way I'd do it." Those remarks had been at the core of more than one heated debate.

Wurroples had picked up some information about the captain of that other vessel while he was on the planetary surface recently. He was said to be the meanest, toughest, and deadliest Terran ever to set foot on Bleadalto. It was said he had killed over three dozen people in street and tavern fights in just the one week before his ship left orbit the previous year.

Wurroples smiled to himself as he thought about what might happen if Ereppuet decided to seek revenge on Vyx. Vyx might very well remove that painful thorn from his side.

"What?" Ereppuet screamed at the com unit when informed of the
Scorpion's
return. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be," Tlazzurgo said.

"What does
that
mean?"

"It means that the exterior configuration matches exactly, but I can't know who commands the ship."

"The captain was named Vyx."

"That information isn't required to land on the planet, so it wasn't submitted when the request for a landing pad at the Ogsnara spaceport was made."

"Tell the shuttle bay I'm going down to the surface and I'll need a small shuttle."

"Tell them yourself. I'm the tac officer, not the com chief. Tlazzurgo out."

Ereppuet scowled at the com unit as the communication ended. He was still trying to give orders as if he were the captain of the ship and was always frustrated when he met resistance.

As the
Scorpion
settled onto its landing struts on the assigned pad at the Ogsnara Spaceport, Vyx began a shutdown of the ship's systems. The descent and landing hadn't been out of the ordinary, but Vyx's senses were always at maximum alert when landing. Relief coursed through his body now that they were safely down.

When the last of the console lights and bridge monitors winked off, Vyx sighed and let his body sink into the chair. He always liked to take a few minutes to relax after a takeoff or landing, so no one spoke to him until he started to get out of the chair.

"Let's go to the lounge and discuss what we're going to do today," Vyx said as everyone cleared the bridge.

Everyone had selected their beverage of choice, either coffee or tea, and taken their seats before Vyx said, "We have to be alert from the moment we leave the airlock. I don't have to remind any of you that the last time we were here we had assassins trying to kill us every day until we blasted off this rock. I know Ursula has heard about the two who attacked us as we were loading our cargo. Let's be on extra alert as we move out."

"Where are we heading?" Brenda asked.

"First, we have to remove the four containers from the hold. Second, we need to make contact with Ker Blaswetta and arrange for the cargo-hauling payment. Then we'll see if we can pick up any information about who has been behind the attacks on the
Scorpion
. Lastly, our assignment is to learn everything we can about the counterfeiting operations here, so if we don't have assassins popping up from behind every taxi and transport, we'll spread out and try to pick up whatever loose talk we can. In the past the teams have been Albert and myself as Team One, and Nels, Brenda, and Kathryn as Team Two. Until we get our money from Ker Blaswetta, we'll stay together, loosely. If everything stays somewhat quiet, we'll split into the two teams with Ursula joining Albert and myself."

Brenda was dying to ask why Ursula was being assigned to Team One, but she held her tongue. She knew Vyx hadn't made the assignment out of any special interest in Ursula. Perhaps it was simply because he wanted to evaluate her abilities, but Brenda just couldn’t shake the resentment that Ursula would be spending the day with Vyx.

Before leaving the ship, the team used the external camera to surveil the area. There was a maintenance crew working on a nearby ship, but there were no weapons in sight, and the crew was performing real maintenance, not just sham operations. After watching them carefully for a few minutes, Vyx gave the word to open the hold.

While Byers and Nelligen watched from the opening hold, the women disembarked with their weapons and took up positions where they would be ready for whatever trouble might come.

Unloading the empty containers was a snap compared to loading the full containers. As each oh-gee block cleared the edge of the ship, the container tried to drop slightly, but Vyx was prepared and adjusted the controls as needed. He set the containers off to the side of the ship where tugs would be able to retrieve them with minimal chance of damage to the
Scorpion
.

When the ship was again fully closed, Vyx set the charges designed to kill anyone who tried to enter the ship in their absence and called for two driverless taxis.

The agents headed into town as soon as the transportation arrived. There had been no sign of trouble so far. The short trip was uneventful, but the team never let down their guard. Their last experiences on the planet ensured they would remain wary. Since they had just arrived, it might simply be that word of their presence hadn't yet circulated.

When the taxis arrived at their destination, the team had them stop half a block apart. As they stepped out, no gunfire came their way, but the day was still early. They spread out and entered the tavern separately, taking up solitary positions at the bar or tables. Only Vyx and Byers sat together.

Ker Blaswetta arrived three hours later. Vyx hadn’t contacted him because he knew Blaswetta would be alerted to the arrival of the
Scorpion
before the ship had even settled fully onto its skids. The tall, thin hominoid pulled out a chair at Vyx's table and settled into it before he spoke.

"Welcome, Trader. You've been gone a very long time. Did you find another job while you were away?"

"Our absence was owed to attacks on my ship. One required a great deal of time to repair. I thought you might already know about them."

"Me? How would I know?"

"The first occurred just after we left the planet. It appeared that someone knew what our cargo was and wanted to get their hands on it."

"A great many people knew you had received a very heavy cargo. There were all the tug jockeys who delivered the cargo to your ship, for example. And who knows how many people who work for the shipper knew who was taking the shipment. I did receive word that you delivered the cargo with all seals intact and was instructed to pay you when you returned. The shipper was pleased."

"Then there was the attack on my ship after we left the freighter. Someone managed to plant explosive charges on my FTL drive unit and on my sub-light engines while I was unloading. It had to come from someone aboard the freighter."

"That's
most
distressing. I assure you that I have no knowledge of such an attack. I am an honest deal broker. My reputation would be ruined and my business lost if I ever got involved in anything like that."

"You'd also be a lot richer if the freighter haulers never returned to collect their payment."

"An insignificant amount compared to the loss of my business. I assure you that I knew nothing about the attacks and would never be complicit in any scheme to attack a freighter." Blaswetta was silent for a few seconds, then withdrew an envelope from inside his garment and held it out towards Vyx. "Here's the payment we agreed upon, payable at any bank on the planet. As you can see, the check is payable in GA credits, as you required."

Vyx opened the envelope part way and glanced at the bank draft there, then pushed the envelope into a pocket inside his cloak. "Ker, I want to know who was behind the bounty attacks. I know you've had enough time to get to the bottom of that matter."

"Trader, I honestly don't know. All I know is that the day after you left, word was circulated that there never was a bounty. It was all a ruse. But I've never been able to figure out who actually started it."