Bound by Honor

by Terry Mixon

A rap at the door made them pause while Fields called for the person to enter. The hatch opened and the marines outside passed a petite Lieutenant Commander through. The woman had more than a hint of Japanese descent in her features and bright green eyes.

  “Everyone, meet Commander Takahashi,” Fields said as they all rose to their feet. “She’s my staff intelligence officer. One of the perks of being a flag officer. What have you got for us, Heather?”

  The woman closed the hatch behind herself and inclined her head politely to the group. “A mystery. My staff and I went through all the files you copied, Commodore Madrid. Each and every one of those ships took on a cargo of expensive refined metal and paid with physical currency rather than a transfer.

  “That’s rare enough that we were able to trace the funds to a bank on Mars. They wanted to be cagy about who withdrew the money, but I shut that down pretty quickly. It turns out all of those merchant ships are owned by the same person. Oh, various holding companies have the titles, but if one follows the chain back up, they all arrive at the same place: Western Hemisphere Holdings out of Earth.”

  “That doesn’t sound so mysterious,” Brad said as they all digested the news. “Lots of merchant ships are owned by a single company through dummy corporations. The key is figuring out who’s pulling the strings. Who deposited the money.”

  The woman smiled coolly. “In this case, they are one and the same. The mystery comes in when I look at Western Hemisphere Holdings. It turns out that the Commonwealth itself owns that corporation. I can’t get any more information without asking questions that’ll send up a red flag, but it seems as if there’s a hand somewhere back on Earth pulling the Cadre strings.”

  That revelation sparked some spirited discussion but no real answers. Whoever was controlling the corporation, their specific identities were concealed from Commander Takahashi.

  They now had a new lead on the Cadre leadership on Earth that unfortunately left them no wiser when it came to the destination or purpose for the tungsten.

  “I dug deep, looking for where the cargos were going,” Takahashi said at last, “but none of the ships listed a destination that checked out. They filed flight plans for various ports of call, but none of them ever arrived there. It’s as if they just vanished.”

  “What about Ceres Control?” Fields asked. “Did they note these ships all heading off in the same direction? That might point us to a possible target.”

  “Unfortunately, no, sir. They seemingly went toward their listed destinations and then disappeared. Nothing but a big dead end.”

  Brad’s com sounded and he glanced at the screen. “It’s Oath of Vengeance. Maybe Agent Watson’s enquiries turned up something.”

  He accepted the call. “Madrid.”

  “We’ve received a response to the questions Colonel Saburo had for Agent Watson, Commodore,” Xan Wong said. “She called someone on Ceres and they’ve been asking discreet questions.”

  “Did they discover where the merchant ships were heading?” Brad asked. “Or what they needed the tungsten for?”

  “No, sir, but they did discover an odd coincidence in the incoming cargos. Except that we all know there is no such thing as coincidences in our business.

  “The raw ore they delivered when arriving at Ceres all came from the same asteroid mining station. Not that the bills of lading indicated that, but the quality-control documents in the shipments did. The station is called Kobayashi Station and it’s only about a day’s travel from here at moderate speed. Less than twelve hours for us at flank speed.”

  “Good work, Xan. Pass my thanks to Agent Watson. Get the ships ready to move out. It looks like we have a target after all.”

  He killed the connection and raised an eyebrow at Commander Takahashi. “Any chance you can get us some information on this Kobayashi Station?”

  “Use my desk,” Fields ordered.

  The intelligence officer stepped behind her commander’s desk but didn’t sit as she tapped on the controls. “It’s small, but we have some data. They work a number of asteroids and harvest basic ore. They sell that to refineries like those here on Ceres.”

  “What would the Cadre want with something like that?” Fields asked, his brow furrowed. “What can it do for them?”

  “It’s less what it can do and more what a useful cover it would be,” Brad said. “Just like the import/export business, no one would question the bona fides of a station like that. I have no doubt it’s been around a long time, so people see what they expect to see.

  “Then the Cadre could come in later and make additions to the station. No one that’s visited in the past would know about them, and likely no one that visited in the future would be allowed to see the changes. If they were visible at all.”

  Michelle nodded. “We’ve seen that same pattern time and again. Usually right before the Cadre attacks us. I wonder if we might get the drop on them this time. That would be a refreshing change of pace.”

  Brad grinned. “Since it might give us a clue as to their eventual plans, I’m willing to give it a shot. If we sneak in under stealth, they probably won’t see us until we’re right on top of them.”

  “That’s good, up to a point,” Saburo said, “but we need a reason to inspect the place. We’re curious just isn’t going to cut it. Belters are a stubborn, irascible lot. Even the honest ones would tell us to take a flying leap.”

  “I might be able to help with that,” Fields said. “It turns out that Fleet is authorized to inspect any facility we choose here in the Belt. Even if your ships weren’t Fleet auxiliaries, I could contract with you to perform that duty for us.

  “Normally, that would require me to pay you, but I think we’ll let the Agency eat the bill this time,” the Fleet officer said with a grin.

  Brad rose to his feet and his officers joined him. “That sounds like a plan. We’ll ship Agent Watson over to Freedom and head out within the hour. We’ll pull one of their tricks and file a flight plan for Io. Then we’ll circle around and go see what they’re hiding.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Brad’s destroyers swept in from the darkness without warning, surrounding the unsuspecting mining station. They’d approached under stealth and seen nothing out of the ordinary with Kobayashi Station. Still, that was how the Cadre did business. Hiding their bases in plain sight until they needed them.

  Not this time.

  Once they abandoned stealth, it didn’t take long for the station management to start screaming. Brad was certain that if these people weren’t pirates in their own right, that’s what they thought he was.

  The burly black man on the screen looked like a miner. Hell, he looked as if he could chew stone and spit out refined ore.

  “I don’t care who you say you are; you look like pirates to me,” the man said. “We’ve already called for help from Fleet, so you’d best clear away. Ceres is close enough to send people that’ll ruin your day.”

  Brad smiled coolly. “You don’t have to worry about that, Mr. Murray. We’re officially sanctioned to perform this inspection by Fleet. That is part of your charter, to allow inspections like this.”

  The large man’s eyes narrowed. “This is the first time anyone has sent mercenaries for anything like that.”

  “I’ll send our contract and authorization. I suggest you don’t make this into more than it has to be. Allow us to perform our inspection. If you fight us on this, someone might end up hurt but the outcome will be the same.”

  He killed the communications channel without waiting for a response. The screen went back to showing the mining station in the distance.

  “What are you thinking?” Michelle asked. “Is he Cadre or a dupe?”

  Brad considered the question before answering. “I’m not sure. He sounded sincere. Pissed off in the same way I’d be if the situation was reversed.”

  He rose to his feet and paced the bridge. “We’ll go in like we were expecting pirates. If we’re wrong, then I can apologize. It’
s not like we’re going to come back this way any time soon. Not after Ceres gave us the boot.”

  “Be careful,” she said. “If this ends up being a Cadre trap, I’d prefer you not get caught in the jaws this time.”

  “I’ll do what I can. Keep an eye on the shipping around the area. No one in or out until we’ve cleared the station. Fire warning shots if someone tries to get past you and doesn’t listen to reason. Use boarding parties if they ignore you.”

  Brad ended up taking about two-thirds of their available shuttles for the inspection. Saburo had plenty of troopers scattered into the mix, but he’d brought engineering specialists and other techs to look at equipment and materials of interest.

  The station wasn’t all that big, but it had several areas where raw material was delivered and from which the processed ore was shipped. Brad picked the largest outgoing shuttle bay for his landing zone.

  For security reasons, he didn’t tell Murray where to meet him. If the Cadre was around, that would be the perfect way to get a missile for his trouble.

  It seemed as if they weren’t going to open the hatch for a minute, but a series of increasingly insistent demands from him finally got them to allow his shuttles in.

  Pitt chose a space clear of the cargo craft that had been in the process of loading processed ore. Brad rose as soon as they were down and met his troopers in the back.

  “We’re not looking for trouble, but if someone comes looking for a fight, don’t hesitate. Physical force for physical force is acceptable, but only use lethal force if they fire first. Clear?”

  They indicated their understanding, and Brad gestured the lead troopers to exit and followed them out. They had their rifles aimed low but could easily bring them up to firing position in moments.

  The cargo loaders—he’d heard them referred to as longshoremen, which he didn’t get—advanced on his people menacingly. They stopped only when his troopers started raising their weapons.

  “You’re not welcome here,” an incredibly bulky man of Asian descent said with a growl. “Leave.”

  “We’re not going anywhere until we’ve completed our inspection,” Brad said. “Back up.”

  “Are you going to make me?” the man asked with a wide smile. “I think I’d like to see you try.”

  “Chang!” a man’s voice called out. “Leave off.”

  Brad turned and spotted Murray hurrying up. Next to Chang, Murray looked small. They grew them big in the Belt.

  Once the longshoreman had retreated a few steps, Murray turned to Brad. “I don’t seem to have a choice about you being here, so I’d suggest you speed this along. I’d like you gone before someone tries to bash your head in.”

  “Has anyone told you that you’re a bit touchy?” Brad asked as he gestured for the station manager to precede him. “You’re making this a lot harder than it has to be.”

  The other man shook his head. “You don’t know crap about Belters. We don’t like outsiders telling us what to do. Hell, we don’t like other Belters telling us what to do. Look at whatever you want and get off the hell off my station.”

  “I’ll look at the loading facility first while my people look everywhere else,” Brad said. “While I do, you can tell me about all the suspicious ships we’ve heard about in the area.”

  He’d decided to drop that as a potential line on the Cadre. They knew the station had supplied the processed ore the suspicious merchants had brought to Ceres, so why not see if he could shake some information loose?

  Murray frowned. “The only suspicious ships I know about are yours, Commodore. Otherwise, my operations have been going along without any hitches. Who reported seeing strange ships near my station?”

  “I don’t have names. Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you, because you seem the kind of guy that would make sure they wouldn’t make any other reports you didn’t like.”

  The larger man didn’t respond, so Brad let it go.

  He’d seen his fair share of shuttle facilities over the years, so this one wasn’t too strange. He could figure out what everything was used for and nothing seemed out of place.

  Still, he wasn’t here to assume anything. “I’ll want to see the refueling station, too.”

  “Sure,” Murray said. “It’s on the surface, but we have an inspection port that you can see it from over here.”

  He led Brad to a small port that looked out onto the surface of the asteroid the station was built on. The fueling station was a fairly small affair for the number of cargo shuttles Brad had seen, but he supposed it would be adequate if refilled often.

  He was about to turn away when the fuel feeds caught his eye. In microgravity conditions, a shuttle or ship could hover near the refueling station and the feeds would extend out to meet it. All fine and good.

  Only, these lines were far larger in diameter than they needed to be. They were of a size to refuel one of his destroyers. Perhaps even something larger. Yet the tanks he was looking at wouldn’t give one of his ships a quarter load. Why such much overengineering? What he saw made no sense.

  Unless there was more there than met the eye. This was an asteroid station, after all. There could be additional tankage under the surface.

  “We should be thinking about lunch,” he casually said into his com over the general channel. That was the code phrase that told all his troopers there was trouble afoot.

  His troopers immediately raised their weapons to threaten every Belter in sight. There weren’t many, but a few were a short distance away. Those earned personal visits by his people, who herded everyone together as quickly as they could. They also confiscated everyone’s coms.

  “What are you doing?” Murray demanded.

  “I think you’re lying to me, so I’m making sure you don’t run off or warn anyone while I see if I’m right. Take me to the underground refueling tanks. The ones under that little thing.”

  The man blinked. “Are you crazy? There are no other tanks. That’s it.”

  Brad smiled. “I suppose we’ll see. People, some of you spread out and find me the tunnel leading to the tanks. It’ll probably be concealed, so look closely.”

  The access tunnel leading to the fuel tanks wasn’t concealed, but the additional tanks that fed into it were. Someone had built side tunnels to additional tanks buried a short distance from the obvious one and placed a very convincing facade of sealed stone over the doors.

  After his people found those, it only took a few more minutes to get to the tanks. They were huge and the controls said they were completely full. The sheer volume of fuel would be more than enough for a Cadre fleet, even one with a carrier.

  It was also a sign that the Cadre warships hadn’t been there recently. If they had been, the tanks would’ve shown use and needed refilling. That meant he had a chance to stop whatever the pirates were up to.

  Satisfied that he was on the right track, Brad made his way back to the prisoners.

  And that was what they were now. This kind of facility didn’t just happen by accident, and everyone working there in a position of authority would have been aware of the hidden installation.

  Murray glared at Brad as he stepped out of the access tunnels. “Satisfied?”

  “If by that you’re asking if I’m pleased to have found the concealed fuel tanks, I am. I’m less happy with you, Mr. Murray. How long have you been working for the Cadre?”

  The man’s eyes narrowed until he almost seemed to be squinting. “Trying to bluff me isn’t going to get me to admit there’s something there when it’s not.”

  He’d been hoping Brad missed the clever doors. Or he’d hoped Brad would be gullible enough to think he knew nothing.

  Brad brought up his wrist-comp and showed the man a brief clip of them opening the hidden doors. “Trying to bluff me isn’t going to save you. As the manager here, you had to know about the concealed fuel tanks. Even an incompetent couldn’t have missed the tankers that filled them. It would’ve taken quite a few.

  “Yo
u’re screwed. Flip on the Cadre and Fleet might have some mercy. What did the Cadre need all that fuel for? What was their plan?”

  The other man shook his head. “Good luck proving that I knew anything.”

  “I’m sure your computer records have more than enough detail to make sure we can hang you,” Brad said, stepping close. “The harder you make us work for it, the worse this is going to be for you personally. Tell me, do you really want to help those bastards kill innocent people?”

  When the man stood there silently, Brad shrugged. “It’s on you, then.”

  He turned toward his troopers. “Find a large set of rooms we can use to secure everyone on the station.”

  Then he activated his com and called Oath. “This is Madrid. We found a set of massive concealed fuel tanks. Bring some of our ships into close orbit to start assisting Colonel Saburo in searching this place.”

  He waited for confirmation of his orders, but when none came, he felt his gut tightening.

  “Any Vikings ship, this is Madrid. Please respond.” When that didn’t elicit a response, he hit the command channel linking him with Saburo. “Be on the alert, Colonel. Something is going on.”

  It was only when he failed to get a response that he truly understood what was happening. They were being jammed. It was sophisticated enough that they hadn’t realized it either.

  Of course, it might only be his group. Everyone else could be screaming out warnings and he’d have no idea. The ships, too. He had to get a handle on what was happening.

  “Secure the prisoners and fortify a place near here,” he ordered the troopers. “The Cadre is on this station. Team One, with me.”

  He headed back toward his shuttle. He could lift away from the surface of the asteroid and get a feel for what was really going on. With luck, it was only the asteroid station being jammed.

  Moving carefully, he and the troopers made their way back to where they’d left the shuttle. They arrived to find armored men entering their shuttle. Cadre commandos.