“Well, to the best of my knowledge, no outsider has ever seen an individual Imraehi,” Lord Erama told him. “If any of your various sources in the vicinity has seen one, then that’s information that would be most welcome.”
The senator shook his head. “Well, I’d hate to disappoint you, Lord Erama, but we haven’t received any such information yet.”
“Well,” Lord Erama said. “That’s interesting. If the sources who report directly to you haven’t seen any individual Imraehi, then it’s hard to see how they could know that Deramar Ardeis is involved with their leaders.”
“My sources are providing secondhand information,” Senator Ereis reminded him. “It’s filtered down from the pirates and smugglers.”
“Ah. That’s right. And so you can see the problem. Rumors. Rumors passed on from people who are not known for being particularly trustworthy. I wouldn’t put much stock in that kind of information.”
Senator Ereis sighed. “Lord Erama, it’s as I said. I don’t know if the rumors are true. I’m just saying what others are saying.”
Lord Erama nodded. “All right then. However, there’s something else that interests me.”
Senator Ereis looked somewhat puzzled. “Oh, yes? What is that?”
“If the rumors are true,” Lord Erama said, “and Deramar Ardeis is indeed close to the leadership of Imraec Tarc, why should that worry you enough to want to push the schedule on if and when we effect a military intervention?”
“Why, if we can learn something of the leaders of Imraec Tarc from Ardeis,” Senator Ereis replied, “then surely it follows that they can learn something from him of us, no?”
Lord Erama was silent. Put that way, the senator’s point was all too clear.
“We’re not enemies with the government of Imraec Tarc yet,” Senator Ereis continued. “But we will be soon and the Imraehi must know this. If they are anything like ourselves then they’ll be preparing for war. And, yes, perhaps one small planet can’t pose a threat to the entire United Frontier. But they can still do a lot of damage.”
5. The Imraehi Connection
Jiang stirred her drink with an air of affected absentmindedness. It was nice and it helped her pass the time. This type of work had never been her favorite part of the job back when she’d worked for the Federation Department of Security and while many things had changed in her life since then, her feelings on surveillance duty hadn’t warmed any. Still though, it was a necessary evil and so she bore it as patiently as she could.
Looking around the bar and the cafe dining area, she saw that this station on the outskirts of Imraec Tarc’s territorial claims was getting fairly crowded - and the whole station was alive with activity. Clearly, she and the others had stumbled onto a major transport hub - and judging by the appearance of the patrons in the bar, it wasn’t one on any of the regular shipping routes. Which made perfect sense, Jiang knew, as while the United Frontier sanctions against Imraec Tarc remained in place, all official trade had been suspended - and the Harskans, the Minstrahn and the Federation had all placed similar sanctions as well. And while none of these groups had as yet declared any intent to take matters against Imraec Tarc further, as far as she was aware, the United Frontier’s proposals for direct action against the world had the full official support of all of them. When one added up all those factors, it was clear that those who traded with Imraec Tarc now were doing so on the wrong side of the law.
“What’s a pretty young thing like you doing all alone in a place like this?”
The question broke Jiang’s chain of thought and jarred her back to her immediate surroundings. Annoyed, she turned to the man who had just sat down beside her. He was human, in his mid-forties, with gaunt features and thinning dark hair... and she’d seen him before. Merec Derairc. One count of attempted kidnap and three of murder and they were the first details that popped into her head. And, unless he had been given early parole for good behavior - which seemed highly unlikely - he should have been locked away in a high security prison on Saeban. Jiang knew this because she had put him there, and she could only wonder how he had got himself out.
“I’m waiting for someone,” she said in reply to Derairc’s come on. She turned back to her drink.
Derairc remained where he was, which didn’t surprise her. His psychological profile post-internment indicated a large degree of stubbornness. But that was fine. If he bothered her again, she could just move somewhere else - even if it meant standing.
“Hang on,” Derairc said, leaning in. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
Jiang turned to him and gave him a look of distaste, the expression of a woman who didn’t appreciate a suitor’s advances. “No.”
She turned back to her drink once again, swiveling in her chair to turn her back to him.
“Wait a minute,” Derairc said, a nasty expression coming over his features. “I do know you. You’re -”
Jiang swirled on him. “Back off, pal.”
“No, you’re -” Derairc started and then stopped.
A shadow fell over him and half the bar as well. There was a noticeable drop in the ambient noise.
Genwodians were not the largest sentient species known in that region of space but they were the largest among those capable of interstellar travel. Even Levarc were dwarfed by them.
Reaching down, the Genwodian gripped Derairc by his side and hoisted him up into the air. Derairc’s eyes opened wide as he took in the broad face before him, a face that was in that moment, for all intents and purposes, his entire world.
“The lady told you to leave her alone,” the Genwodian told him in a voice that was soft and yet filled the room. Derairc didn’t move, although he appeared to be on the verge of crying. The Genwodian lowered him to the floor. “So why don’t you go and sit somewhere else?”
Pulled back from what would have seemed to him the edge of the abyss, Derairc wasted no time in getting out of there, pushing his way out of the bar with a chagrined look on his face and tears sliding down his cheeks.
The Genwodian turned to Jiang. “If anyone else bothers you, Miss, I’m in the corner over there.” He gestured to the place.
“Thanks,” Jiang said, feeling a little overwhelmed herself.
The Genwodian looked at everyone else in the bar. “I’ve been brought up right,” he told them. Then he ambled over to his table and, one by one, the various conversations around the room started up again.
Jiang gave silent thanks that her cover hadn’t been blown but she was now rather more visible than she’d been before. On the other hand however, perhaps it was a blessing. After all, it was rather unlikely that any of the pirates or smugglers on the station would bother her now. And maybe that would give her more freedom to do her job in peace.
For the next half hour or so, she certainly noticed that the other patrons around her were giving her a little more personal space than they had before. Then at last, she saw what she’d been waiting for. A crew member of the Drifter’s Folly entered the bar.
He was a Raomish, a powerfully built man with indigo skin. And if he hadn’t come in so shortly after her friend the Genwodian had given Derairc that scare, he probably would have made quite an entrance. As it was, the other patrons in the place still gave him a fairly wide berth but no one paid him any attention. At least, no one paid him any attention until he was seated at the bar with a drink. Then a Kirya, who appeared somewhat similar to a human but with blander features, approached the bar and stood beside him.
Trying not to draw any more attention than she already had, Jiang glanced at the pair and took another sip of her drink. Over the ambient noise, she managed to catch fragments of their conversation.
“They’re paying good money for the things,” the Kirya said. “Good money. Military surplus?”
“A private stash,” the Raomish said. “Not easy to get. And not cheap. The money’s really as good as they say it is?”
“It’s good. If you don’t believe me, just -”<
br />
A group of men behind Jiang started laughing just then and drowned out the next bit but she soon caught onto the conversation again.
“- captain.”
“All right,” the Kirya said. “I’ll talk to him myself. But he’ll need to show me the merchandise if he wants to trade. Because I’m not -”
“If you think we’re going to let you get your grubby hands all over our stuff before your clients give us something in writing -” the Raomish started.
“My clients are not public people,” the Kirya cut him off. “They like their privacy. And I’m not going to risk compromising it by taking you to them unless you can give me some proof that you’re not wasting their time.”
“Who the hell are these clients of yours?” the Raomish asked, getting angry. “Have they got a bigger navy than the Federation or something?”
“What?” the Kirya asked back, annoyance the dominant tone in his voice.
“Well, they’ve got you by the balls, haven’t they?”
“You don’t know my clients,” the Kirya said. He spoke in a firm voice now. “My clients are also scary people. And they don’t like agents who don’t follow the rules. They don’t like them at all.”
“All right,” the Raomish said at last. “I’ll talk it over with the captain.”
With that, the conversation was over. The Raomish left and then the Kirya went too, heading off in another direction.
Jiang took another long sip of her drink. That had been more informative than she’d expected and almost as informative as she could have hoped.
She waited a couple of minutes and then, standing up, she made her way out of the place as well - giving her Genwodian guardian a smile of appreciation as she left.
Once she was out of the bar, she walked at a brisk pace to the docking tube of the little ship that Drackson had acquired for her and Alia. A Shokhan Star Freighter that had at least one previous owner and probably five, it wasn’t anything fancy but that was the point. It wasn’t a ship anyone would notice or remember and with Alia’s modifications, it wasn’t as sluggish or defenseless as its appearance suggested.
“Well?” Alia asked as Jiang came into the mess. “Did you have a good time? Meet any guys?”
Jiang smiled. “Yeah, I met a Genwodian.”
She had the satisfaction of seeing Alia looking rather taken aback.
“What?” she managed.
Jiang then told her the story.
“Well, he may be a pirate,” Alia said when it was finished, “but he sounds like a proper gentlemen.” She grinned and shook her head. “Still though, it’s not really good that this Derairc character is out and about.”
“No,” Jiang agreed. “However, I’m fairly certain I can find his ship and tag it with a tracking beacon. Then either the Federation or Frontier authorities will be able to pick him up somewhere down the line.”
“And what about the Drifter’s Folly?” Alia asked. “Did you find out anything about what the crew’s up to?”
“They’re hauling military equipment,” Jiang said. “And if I’m not mistaken, they’re trying to sell it to the government of Imraec Tarc.”
Alia frowned. “What kind of military equipment?”
Jiang shook her head. “I don’t know. But I do know that the government there is offering good money for military equipment, which suggests they’re stocking up.”
“Getting ready for a war,” Alia suggested.
Jiang looked solemn. “I’d say so. They’ve also got a lot of agents out and about looking for suppliers and there’s another thing about that too. They’re being very secretive about it.”
Reece made it to the mess by himself that morning, smiling as he sat down to enjoy a small breakfast. It was a simple feat, one he had done more times than he cared to remember, but now it felt like an achievement.
Carla sat across the table from him and gave him a smile. “You’re looking well this morning.”
“I feel great today,” Reece replied. “I feel like a new man. Couldn’t be better if I were planetside back home.”
“Where is home, by the way?” Carla asked.
“Erelli,” Reece told her.
Carla gave him a look of disbelief. “The world of those famed beaches? Islands everywhere surrounded by coral reefs. The waterfalls. The -”
Reece laughed and shook his head. “I know. I know. You’re wondering why anyone in their right mind would give that up. I wonder myself sometimes.”
“Like now, I suppose,” Carla told him.
Reece’s gaze drifted down for a moment and then he looked her in the eye. “Well, perhaps it is cards on the table time.”
Carla frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, as I said, I’m from Erelli,” Reece began. “And it is as lovely as you say. But it may or may not surprise you to know that even on a world as beautiful as that, we still have our share of those people whose sole contribution to wider society is to make life worse for the people around them.”
Carla nodded. “I know the type.”
“Well, it was my job back on Erelli to track these people down,” Reece said. “And to bring them in. And I was good at it. Then one day, not too long ago, I uncovered part of a weapons smuggling ring working on Erelli. They’ve supplied weapons to a lot of bad people without a second thought and a lot of good people have been hurt because of it. So, when I discovered part of it, I decided that I wanted to shut down the rest of it as well.”
“You just upped and left like that?”
“I don’t work for the government on Erelli,” Reece told her. “I work for myself. I get by on the money I receive from the occasional client. But I do also do the odd investigations for my own interests.”
“These interests don’t include vengeance, I hope,” Carla said.
Reece shook his head. “No. Going after bad people isn’t a matter of vengeance. It’s a matter of safety. If you have an organization that makes its profits by indiscriminately selling weapons to the highest bidders and you leave it alone, then sooner or later someone’s going to get hurt. So when I found part of this organization on Erelli, I knew I just had to find the rest of it.”
“And so you were in that mine because the chief operator is part of this weapons smuggling ring?” Carla asked. “I remember you told me you suspected the organization was dubious.”
Reece nodded. “I was understating my suspicions, as you’ve probably guessed. But there is a reason those guys were mining delydrium.”
“It’s not a common substance in ship building,” Carla said, “but I understand it can be used as a construction alloy. Quite a good one too. Very strong. Flexible too.”
“It’s all those things,” Reece said. “But it also has some interesting effects that aren’t so commonly known. If you expose it to tryithelite, for instance, it goes ‘boom’.”
Carla couldn’t help smiling. “It goes boom?”
Reece shrugged. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you with the technical jargon.”
“Fair enough. And I suppose if it can be made to go boom, it can be used in the manufacture of other things that go boom.”
“That’s the gist of it, yeah.”
“I see,” Carla said. “Now does it have a more destructive force when it explodes than other more commonly used substances?”
Reece shook his head. “Not really. With the exception of one or two of the standards, delydrium is a poor substitute.”
“So I guess the real question is... who would want to use it for manufacturing weapons?”
“That’s the easy part,” Reece said. “Someone who doesn’t have ready access to the better stuff.”
“And who is that in this instance?”
Reece sighed. “I don’t know. But I assume that when we track down the chief operator and his cronies, we might find our answer.”
Carla nodded. “We might at that. We believe that the delydrium was being shipped to a place called Felkar. Since we appear to have been
thrown into this case together, does it mean anything to you?”
“Nothing right now,” Reece said, “except it sounds like a place we should probably take a look at.”
“That’s my conclusion as well.” Carla got up. “Now, I’d better consult my crew about a couple of things. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
“See you then,” Reece replied.
“That’s right,” Eroim said as Carla came onto the bridge. “They must have used an open comm channel when a Levarc patrol caught them out in the open and then told each other they’d rendezvous at our station. Pulled our own trick on us. But that’s the kind of conniving, underhanded stunt you’d expect from that lot.”
“Hang on,” Kailis said. “You just said it was the same trick your navy pulled on them.”
Eroim smiled. “You’re quite right, lass. But you see, that was a stroke of genius when we did it.”
“And it was conniving and underhanded when they did it?”
“Exactly.”
Kailis nodded. “Right. I think I understand now.”
Carla grinned and shook her head. Whatever their little chat was about, it would have been a lot less pleasant than Eroim was making it out to be. However, it wasn’t the first time she’d heard of rival worlds using the Levarc War to settle old grudges.
“Am I interrupting anything?” she asked.
Eroim turned around in his chair. “Not at all, Captain. I was just giving Kailis a little history lesson.”
“I see,” Carla said.
“Of course,” Eroim admitted, “it was all a lot of nonsense really. I don’t know what we were thinking, setting each other up so the Levarc could knock us down. After all, it wasn’t long before they found both our home systems and put an end to the game anyway.”
Yes, Carla thought. Eroim was definitely understating something there. She wondered whether she’d ever get a real idea of just how colorful his life actually was.
“Everything’s clearer in hindsight,” she said. “Now... we’ve got a decision to make.”
“About whether we keep tracking down these murderers?” Kailis asked. “If you’re asking us whether we’re in or not, I’m in all the way.”
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