Authors: Thomas DePrima
* * *
"The sensor work is complete," the yard manager said, "and the new hatch is installed. We discovered that water had leaked into other areas, so we had to cut our way through a bulkhead and remove some water that was trapped there, then dry it out and replace everything. All we have left to do is finish the exterior sheathing work and you can leave, Lieutenant. I estimate two more days."
"Thank you, Mr. Rosen. I'm looking forward to getting back to my ship."
"How do you like the
Denver
?"
"He's great. And compared to the
Perry
, it's like we've died and gone to heaven."
"I can understand that. That old bucket was so old and so beat that people couldn't even think of it nostalgically anymore."
"Has it been cut up yet?"
"Oh, yeah. Months ago. Some of the scrap was melted down and used to make new bulkheads and decking for our new ships. Very little goes to waste when we recycle a ship."
"He saw a lot of history. It's good that his ending serves a useful purpose."
"Yes. Well, good luck, Lieutenant."
"Thank you, Mr. Rosen."
* * *
"Severson," the commander said after touching his SC ring and waiting for the connection to be made between his CT and his office com system. He looked up at the chronometer on his bedroom wall and saw that it was 0418.
"Commander? Nyers. More news on the generator case."
"Tell me you found it."
"Not yet, but we're getting closer. We just found the perp who hired the imposter, supplied him with everything he needed to pull off the theft, and then killed him. He went by the name of Zenno. He was trying to act like a big fish, but he was just a minnow."
"Was? Did you kill him?"
"Didn't have to. He took care of that himself as we closed in. Guess he didn't want to spend the rest of his life on Saquer Major. Anyway, we found a receipt in his apartment from a package-delivery company that picked up a crate containing 'machine parts' from the shuttle service the impostor used for his trip to Mars. It was to be brought to Trans-Galaxy Freight Systems for shipment out that same day. The size and weight matches the information we got from the Mars shipyard."
"Which freighter and where is it headed?"
"We, uh, haven't been able to learn that yet. Trans-Galaxy says that without a bill of lading receipt number, they'll have to have someone manually search through the thousands of waybills created that day to see if they can match the description, and even then they can't promise success. The staff doesn't come to work until eight o'clock. I've requested a list of all Trans-Galaxy freighters that left Earth orbit since the time of the theft, and I should have that in a few minutes. I just wanted to update you."
"Let me know as soon as you learn which freighter."
"Yes, sir."
Severson heard the chime indicating the call had ended. He said, "Severson, out," to cancel his CT carrier and then relaxed on his bed. If the generator was off Earth, it could be good or bad. It would be a lot more difficult to find one small generator on an entire planet than finding it inside a freighter, but if they couldn't discover which freighter was transporting it, they'd have to stop and search every one of them until they located it. Depending on the number of departures from Earth's busy freight hub, that could prove to be a difficult task.
Severson settled back into his pillow and tried to fall asleep again, but he couldn't clear his mind of the most recent news. Since he always rose at 0500 anyway, he decided to start his day a little early. He rolled over slightly, kissed his sleeping wife on the check, and then got out of bed and headed for the shower.
* * *
As the huge doors of the enclosed dock opened fully, two small yard tugs arrived to push the
Justice
out of the slip. The work was complete and the small ship was headed home to the
Denver
.
It took half an hour to slowly work their way out of the yard to open space. The speed limits inside the yard were the lowest of anywhere in GA space, and the
Justice
wasn't permitted to use its sub-light engines at all. Everything was accomplished with thrusters until they were clear of the yard boundaries.
"Com, do we have final clearance?" Sydnee asked.
"Aye, Captain."
"Lieutenant, is the way clear?"
"The AutoTect grid is green, Captain. The board is clear."
"And the DeTect?"
"Also in the green, Captain."
"Very good. Let's build our envelope and head for home."
As the DATFA temporal envelope finished coalescing, Caruthers applied full power and the
Justice
disappeared in an instant. All repairs had been completed and there was a brand new spare generator in the engineering locker where a spare was supposed to be stored. The yard had been happy to take back the desk that was mistakenly put aboard the ship when it was launched.
"Captain, we've just received a Priority-One message," the com chief said.
"Put it in my queue. I'll take it in my office. Lt. Caruthers, you have the bridge."
"Aye, Captain," Caruthers said as he moved to the command chair and Lt. Olivetti moved to the helm.
Sydnee took a deep breath as she sat down in her office.
What now
, she thought.
Why am I receiving a Priority-One message? Only one way to find out.
She had to lean in so the computer could verify her identity through a retinal scan, but when it was satisfied of her identity, it opened the file.
"Lieutenant Marcola, I'm Captain Wherton of SHQ. Our SCI people have been trying to track down the missing envelope generator since it was stolen from the Mars shipyard, and they believe they might have discovered its whereabouts. They can't be sure at this point, but all evidence points to the generator being part of the cargo with the Trans-Galaxy Freight Systems ship
Gatherer IV
. The ship left Earth orbit the evening the generator was stolen, with its first planned stop being the freight hub around Centrasia. Your ship's course to the sub-sectors patrolled by the
Denver
takes you close to Centrasia, so that makes you the logical ship to perform the interdiction stop. According to our files, you have two MATs, pilots to fly your MATs, and two dozen Marines on board.
"Since Centrasia is roughly one hundred light-years from Earth, and the
Gatherer's
top speed is only Light-225, it will take them about six months to reach their destination. At your maximum speed you should overtake them in a day. Trans-Galaxy Freight has always complied with directives from Space Command, and we anticipate no trouble from them now, but be careful. We don't know if anyone associated with the organization that planned and executed the robbery is aboard the freighter.
"Since the company cannot tell us in which container the generator might be located or even guarantee the generator is on board, you'll have to carefully search every container. The problem is compounded by the fact that the ship is maxed out with ten kilometers of containers. We instructed the company not to contact the
Gatherer
and warn them of the search to be conducted. We're monitoring all communications to ensure they don't. We also don't want you to tell anyone aboard the freighter what we're searching for, since someone connected to the robbery might try to scatter pieces of the generator, making it more difficult or even impossible to identify as being part of the generator.
"You understand the importance of that generator and its value. Be alert for any possible deception, but keep searching until you find it or you're ordered to end your search. Good luck.
"Arthur Wherton, Captain, SHQ Earth. Message complete."
Sydnee, still sitting close to the monitor from having leaned in for the retinal scan, sat back in her chair and sighed. The task ahead was onerous. Thoroughly searching every container in a ten-kilometer-long cargo section would be like searching a five-story warehouse on Earth that was ten kilometers long and one-hundred-sixty meters wide with steel bulkheads every ten meters and where many of the areas had no aisles.
If Sydnee tried to hold the freighter in place for an extended period, the company would be screaming at SHQ the entire time, and her chances of ever being promoted would lessen with each day that passed. It didn't matter that she was only doing what she had been ordered to do. She was expected to follow orders and yet find a way of doing the impossible in such a way that kept pressure off SHQ. The only solution seemed to be a search of the ship while it was still underway. That violated SOP but seemed to be the only solution in this instance.
If they got lucky, they might find the generator in the first month. If their luck was bad, they could still be looking for it when the freighter reached Centrasia, at which point they would have to impound the ship to ensure no cargo was offloaded until their search was over. No matter how she looked at it, it was going to be a nightmare.
"So that's the story," Sydnee said, wrapping up the task ahead of them to Kelly MacDonald, Jerry Weems, and Pete Caruthers as they sat in her office. Lt. Olivetti was manning the helm and would be briefed later.
"So you want us to find this freighter," MacDonald said, "and then begin a container-by-container search until we find the generator? That could take years."
"We only have six months. After that we'll have to impound the ship and the freight company will be screaming to the GA Senate on a daily basis."
"Let them scream," Caruthers said. "We've never been concerned before when ship captains screamed."
"We've never before spent six months aboard a ship, searching, nor impounded a vessel without finding a violation that justified the impoundment."
"We can always find a few violations if we want."
"Can you find smuggled goods where there are none?"
"I can if we make a side trip to Costio first. I know a little place that always has contraband available at the right price."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Pete."
"I was only kidding, Syd."
"I know. That's why I'm pretending I didn't hear it."
"So you're saying that we find the Trans-Galaxy ship
Gatherer IV
, have them drop their envelope so we can board them, then allow them to rebuild their envelope and continue their voyage while we search for the generator?" Weems asked.
"Exactly."
"And we rely on them for food and beds and stuff?"
"No. I want no fraternization with the freighter crew. Our people will operate in shifts, with half sleeping in the MAT when off duty. The seats in the MAT fold down to make a bed, and the area above the seats folds down to make another bed. For food, we'll use emergency rations."
"My people are going to love that," MacDonald said.
"It's better than sleeping in a cave on Diabolisto and fighting Lampaxa Vorheridines."
"For the first week, maybe. By the second week they'll be wishing they were on Diabolisto."
"Yeah, especially since they're required to wear their armor with their helmets sealed whenever they're outside the MAT."
"That's excessive," MacDonald said. "Can't they remove their helmets when they're down in the containers?"
"No, and it's not my rule. It comes straight from Captain Lidden. I'm just the captain on this small ship, which is also under his command. We will follow every rule he has in place, just as if the
Denver
was a few hundred meters away rather than a few hundred light-years away."
"How about if we move the habitat container to the freighter for the duration?"
"I doubt their link sections could accommodate a single habitat. The specs say that two linked habitats can fit into a standard Lewiston link. We only have one normal habitat and two weapons platforms. I'm not going to allow a weapons platform to be linked to the freighter."
"How about if we move the habitat unit into their maintenance section amidship?" Weems suggested. "Those maintenance sections are always large enough to accommodate at least two of the hundred-sixty-meter-long link sections complete with twenty-meter-high containers. They have to be able to take them in to repair them if they have a serious problem."
"That's a possibility," Sydnee said.
"Are we going to get any help from any other SC ships?" MacDonald asked.
"As far as I've been told, we're the only ship involved in this operation. After we actually board the
Gatherer
and begin the mission, I'll see if I should request additional assistance from SHQ. However, I feel confident that if a warship performing interdiction activities were available, they would have been assigned this job."
"Perhaps they're just giving you an opportunity to make up for your mistake," Weems said.
With a smile Sydnee said, "Go ahead. Put more pressure on me."
"I didn't mean it like that."
"I know. I'm just kidding. I've already considered the possibility that they're giving me an opportunity to
atone
for my past mistake, but I discarded it. I felt that if they blamed me for surrendering the generator to someone whose credentials and timing had been so impeccable as to satisfy three security checkpoints before reaching the
Justice
, they wouldn't now be trusting me with this mission. They would have found another ship somewhere that could handle the job. In any event, we've been tasked with doing this, so let's do it.
"Kel, brief your people. It's too bad Staff Sergeant Padu isn't here, but Lance Corporal Addams will be able to function as the individual who can provide the first level of certification that the object is what we're looking for, if and when it's found. When Lance Corporal Addams is off-duty, Chief Luscome will handle that role, although he'll have to do it remotely from the
Justice
because he's still not fully healthy and because he doesn't have any armor.
"Pete, work with tac to find the
Gatherer
.
"Jerry, you'll pilot the MAT over to the freighter when we find them.
"Any questions?"
"How do we perform this search?" MacDonald asked.
"When we reach the freighter, I'll ask them to transmit the manifests. As you secure the area over there, our systems will be searching for anything which indicates a container might hold the generator. Those we'll search first, thoroughly. If it's definitely not in there, we seal that container and move on. If we don't find the generator in any of the most likely containers, we start at the stern and check every single previously unchecked container as we move forward to the connection point with the freighter. We'll also search all maintenance bays as we reach them and the storage lockers in the main ship. Let's assume SCI is correct and we merely have to locate the unit."