Storm Divers (Book 1 of The Fractured Republic Saga)

by Terry Mixon

  “It’s enough to buy you time to explain this to me in more detail. They say you seek a place of safety. I will see to that in exchange for all the information you possess about this attack and Janus.”

  “I don’t know you.”

  The woman chuckled. “Ah, but you do, I suspect, if only by reputation. I am Grandmother Wu.”

  That put this into a different perspective. Wu was the undisputed head of the criminal element here on the station. She was also Jason’s actual grandmother.

  “I suppose I do. Your word is good with me. What now?”

  “I will hand this com to one of my associates, and he will direct you to a place of safety. I will accompany Jason and your friend there and you will tell me the complete story. If what you say is true, there is a cancer on this station and blood is called for.”

  He laughed without much humor. “Then I can assure you that you’ll hear a lot more than you bargained for. These people are scum. I’ll see you soon.”

  A man came on the line and gave him directions to a building in Chinatown. It was a safe enough area, not like the old vids from Earth, but closemouthed. If Grandmother Wu hid them, they’d stay undiscovered. Even from Janus.

  He put the com away and started walking. Things were beginning to fall into place. It felt as though they’d almost discovered what had happened to Zane. If they could get their hands on Evans, they’d know for sure.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Grandmother Wu led the way through the back of the restaurant and out to the loading dock. A battered delivery truck stood waiting for them with its rear door already raised.

  Inside, it wasn’t set up for cargo, but for passengers. Someone had ripped the seats out of another vehicle and bolted them to the floor.

  “Do buckle up,” Wu said. “This truck doesn’t have the smoothest ride.”

  “I take it you need to move people around without them being seen,” Rachel said as she strapped herself in. She watched one of the guards tie their pack of weapons to the side rail. They’d put her pistol in with the rest. Trust only went so far, it seemed.

  “Some that arrive on this station don’t wish to be found again,” the old woman said with a shrug. “In those cases, moving them to a place of safety while shielding them from prying eyes is worth a goodly sum.

  “Tell me, Agent Price, if Janus is indeed working with the Disruptors, how do you intend to expose them? Why not call someone back on Earth?”

  “If only it were that easy,” Rachel said with a sigh. She explained how Janus was blocking direct communications with anyone else.

  “Interesting,” Wu said. She held out her hand and took the com that one of the guards handed her.

  “I need you to send a message to your sister on Earth,” she said after making a call. “Inquire about your nieces. Send it now while I wait.”

  A few moments later, her eyes narrowed. “I see. Call me when it goes through.” She handed the com back to the guard.

  “It seems you are correct about the ‘technical difficulties’ the station arrays are experiencing. Another point in your favor. So, they will not allow suspicious messages out until they deal with you. That could prove awkward if it takes long.”

  Rachel nodded. “I hope so. The only way to stop them is to get word to RIS headquarters. To the Inspector General, to be precise. I’m certain that someone in my chain of command is involved.”

  “Oh?”

  “The man we’re interested in at Janus has a sister in the RIS. She’s my boss’s boss and almost certainly dirty. I have to get to someone who can see that she doesn’t make my report vanish as effectively as they made Zane Hale disappear.”

  The van came to a stop, and the back door slid up. They were inside a warehouse of some kind, Rachel decided as she climbed out.

  Wu walked to a door in the wall. It opened into a home of some kind. The sudden transition from commercial space to residential was pretty jarring.

  The old woman smiled. “The entrance to this home lies on the other side of the block from the warehouse. An unaffiliated associate that is not connected to my business or me supposedly owns it. As a spy, I believe you would call it a ‘safe house.’”

  She gestured toward the chairs in the living room. “Please sit. One of my guards will make refreshments. The tea is excellent, though we also have coffee for those without refined tastes.”

  “Tea sounds fine,” Rachel said. “To answer your question, I’m hoping your organization has access to a suitable transmitter.”

  The old woman shook her head. “Sadly, we do not. There has never been a need to have a covert system. Perhaps one of the ships visiting the port?”

  Now it was Rachel’s turn to shake her head. “Their transmitters aren’t that powerful. The fastest way we could use them to get a message to Earth would be to send someone there with it.”

  “That can be done, of course, but help would likely come too late for you. We shall consider other possibilities.”

  Once the steaming tea arrived, Rachel pondered the alternatives while she sipped the admittedly excellent drink.

  “Perhaps there is someone who can help us,” she said after a few minutes. “I met a reporter. Surely, someone with a journalist’s connections could get a message out. Or at least be ready to tell the story when the time comes.”

  The old woman nodded. “It can’t hurt to try. Give her a com.”

  One of the guards handed Rachel a com, and she looked up the reporter’s number on the network.

  He answered after a few rings.

  “Hello again, Mister Enright. This is Rachel Price.”

  A loud squeak told her the man had just sat up straight in his chair. “Holy cow. What the hell did you do, lady? Security is looking for you as a ‘person of interest’ in the park shooting. Then a bunch of guys shot it out with security at Adam Hale’s shop.”

  “I’m willing to explain everything to you in exchange for a favor.”

  “That depends on what the favor is,” the man said guardedly.

  “I want you to get the details of this story to someone on Earth. Before you say that I could do it myself, a simple call will show you that communications are being held up just to keep me from doing that.”

  “That’s a pretty serious charge,” the man said. “I’m not that big on conspiracy theories.”

  She waited a moment for him to make up his mind, and continued when he didn’t speak. “Why don’t we meet and you can hear me out for yourself. All I ask is that you don’t involve security.”

  The man sighed. “I could get into a lot of trouble for something like that.”

  “You could, but sometimes getting the hottest stories means taking risks. If security picks me up, you’ll miss out on the most sensational scoop of your life.”

  After a very long pause, he spoke. “I’m probably going to regret this, but I’m in. Where will we meet?”

  “Give me your com number and I’ll call you in an hour with details. Expect that someone is watching you, so no double-crossing. I’ll see you soon.”

  Rachel hung up and returned the com to the guard, who started taking it apart. This operation was eating up a lot of communications gear.

  Wu nodded her appreciation. “That was well done. I can have someone pick him up and bring him here after they search him for listening and tracking devices. That will give you time to explain the situation to me.”

  “I’ll start as soon as Hale gets here.”

  “I’m already here,” Hale said as he walked in from the kitchen with a guard at his back. He gave Jason and her a long look. “I’m glad to see you two in one piece.”

  “It’s been close a few times,” Rachel admitted.

  Wu pointed to a chair. “Now you can explain this situation to me in full detail, Agent Price. Leave nothing out.”

  * * * * *

  Adam sat beside Jason while Price laid out the situation for Grandmother Wu. He leaned over and whispered into his friend’s ear.
“What is she going to do? Turn us in for the reward, if there is one?”

  His friend shook his head. “She doesn’t cooperate with security like that. If she doesn’t think she can trust you, she’ll make you disappear. But I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”

  “She’s a real piece of work. Why shouldn’t I worry?”

  “Because she’d have already gotten rid of Price if that was the way things were looking. Trust me, she’s already interested in this. That isn’t to say she won’t find some other way to come out ahead with the inside information, though.”

  Jason shook his head and smiled ruefully. “Dude, your brother was a spy? That’s so cool.”

  “My brother was an asshole. I’d rather not have anything to do with him. If someone hadn’t tried to kill me, I’d have told Price to get lost.

  “Speaking of trying to kill me, I figured out who sabotaged the ship. It was Double Dick.”

  His friend scowled. “That bastard. He’ll wish he was dead once I get my hands on him.”

  “Funny thing. He was dead when I found him in his shop. Someone wanted to make it look like a suicide, but we both know that isn’t Double Dick’s speed.”

  “Shit,” the smaller man said. “There’s someone else involved. Couldn’t you be just a tad less epic in offending everyone around you?”

  Adam smiled. “I don’t do half measures. I found his stash and his financials. He kept everything in cash and hard metals. He also used initials for the people or businesses he dealt with. I’m hoping Price can decipher it.”

  Jason shook his head. “Let my grandmother figure it out. She has people plugged into every sector of this station. If anyone can put a name to them, it’s her.”

  “What about finding fingerprints? I’m betting whoever paid him didn’t wear gloves. Accessing that kind of database is going to take…”

  Adam shook his head. “Never mind. Of course your grandmother has people in security on her payroll. Fine, I’ll run it by her.”

  Price was wrapping up her presentation. “So, we think Janus is using the Disruptors. That probably means there’s something buried in all the chaos those asses are causing that benefits Janus.

  “The problem is sorting it all out and nailing it down. Once the RIS knows that they need to be looking, I hope they can spot a pattern. To get that started, I need to get a message to them.”

  Wu nodded slowly. “That is a good beginning, but it will not help you personally. You must strike the head off the snake and then vanish. Hiding from security on this station will be difficult for longer than a few days. Impossible for as long as help would take to arrive. The only successful strategy to save your lives is to leave Jove Station.

  “The outgoing ships will be heavily screened, and even if I arranged to smuggle you onto one of them, the crew would discover you before long and hold you for a shuttle from the station. This is a tricky puzzle. I shall need to consider it carefully.”

  Adam cleared his throat. “While you’re doing that, I have some information to add. The people that sabotaged my ship are definitely different from the ones working for Janus. I made a trip to a fellow diver’s place and found him dead. There was a suicide note, but he wasn’t the kind of guy that would kill himself.

  “I took some stuff from his place that the person behind it might have touched, and I got his financial records. Something in there might just close off the second mystery. Oh, and according to Jason’s girlfriend, Zane smuggled a crate out of secure holding on the port. She has no idea where it went or what was in it, but I’m betting it led to them killing my brother.”

  Wu glared at her grandson. “I do not like that woman. Grow up, boy.” Then she frowned at Adam. “I am not in the habit of doing favors for free. The work for Agent Price promises to pay quite well. How much will you pay for this work you desire?”

  He grinned. “Ten percent. I figure Double Dick owes me at least that much. It’s in the bag I brought.”

  The guard lifted the bag onto the coffee table with some effort. Everyone leaned forward with their eyes wide when the man opened it.

  “Jesus!” Jason swore. “How much money is in there?”

  “I didn’t bother counting it,” Adam said. “Way more than Double Dick should have. The pad on top has his financials, but he only used initials to identify the other party. I’m hoping the person or persons behind the sabotage handled the money and left fingerprints. I assume you have someone in security that could run them down.”

  The old woman nodded, her eyes alight. “Ten percent is quite acceptable. I will have someone scan the money to isolate fingerprints of interest while one of my people knowledgeable in such things deciphers the man’s financial transactions. It may take some time, but this should provide useful information.”

  Wu smiled at Price. “I shall take your initial payment from this as well. Your organization may repay Mister Hale.”

  “Don’t worry, Hale,” Price said. “I’m good for it. Unless I die. Then you’re screwed.”

  Price smiled at Wu. “Is that good enough for me to get my weapons back? Oh, Hale, I brought a selection from your private reserve.”

  He grinned. “Excellent. I was starting to feel underdressed.”

  The older woman snapped her fingers, and a guard brought the bag over to Price. “My man will see that the reporter is vetted. Once he is certain there are no watchers, he will strip the man of any recording devices and take him to another building I own. You can meet him there.”

  She turned her attention to Adam. “While Agent Price does that, I find myself curious about this storm diving. If you want to kill yourself, can’t you find a simpler method?”

  He sighed. It was going to be another of those conversations. Why did everyone think he was crazy?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Rachel considered possible approaches she could take with the reporter as Grandmother Wu’s man drove her across the station. Enright knew something was going on because of the shootings. She needed to get him firmly on her side as quickly as possible. Then, he might be able to use his contacts to get a message out. Somehow.

  The driver pulled in behind an ethnic Chinese grocery, but led Rachel to the other side of the alley. The business there seemed focused on some kind of manufacturing. With all the materials being harvested in the belt, it was often more cost-effective to have the raw ingredients shipped to other locations so they could create whatever they wanted locally.

  None of the workers paid them the slightest mind as the man led her upstairs. Several offices there probably served the workers below. He selected one seemingly at random and ushered Rachel inside. This one seemed like a spare, as there were no personal belongings.

  His com rang, and he spoke for a few moments. “The reporter is clean,” he told her after he’d disconnected. “One of my associates will bring him here in just a few minutes. He won’t know where he is, so don’t mention anything about this place or Grandmother Wu.”

  She considered giving him a lecture on operational security, but decided that would probably be rude.

  Rachel sat behind the desk and queued everything on her comp. She only knew the reporter had arrived when the guard cleared his throat.

  Another man escorted Enright into the office. They’d put a bag over his head and tied his hands in front of him. That seemed like a little bit of overkill.

  The two guards let themselves back out of the room and closed the door behind them.

  She rose to her feet and removed the bag. “My apologies, but a girl can’t be too careful. Let me cut you loose.” She used a pocketknife to cut his bonds.

  Enright rubbed his wrists. “I feel as though I’m in some kind of noir movie. You don’t have any gold statues you’re looking for, do you?”

  Rachel didn’t understand whatever he was referring to and decided to ignore it. “I realize this must seem overly dramatic, but some very powerful people are trying to kill not only myself, but Adam Hale. If you’ll hold y
our questions, I’ll tell you everything right now.”

  Using the comp as necessary, she laid out the events that had brought her to this place and provoked the hostile response from Janus. Then she told him her suspicions.

  The reporter seemed unconvinced when she’d finished. That was probably natural. His field required more than a healthy bit of doubt when someone told him a story.

  “This’s pretty hard to swallow. Even if I believed any of it, my editor would laugh me out of the newsroom. Lady, all you have is supposition. Do you actually have any real evidence?”

  “You can test some of my story yourself. Send a message and see if they delay it. Contact security and find out who they think is shooting up the station.”

  The man grunted. “They’re being less than forthcoming. They have a few images that someone took of people they’re very interested in. You and Hale are among them. If there’s a theory beyond that, they’re not sharing it.”

  She perked up. “They’re looking for some of the shooters? Let’s see who they are.”

  Rachel used her com to look for the alert and sent the images to her comp. They popped up on the screen. One of them was very recognizable.

  “Here we go. Compare this man on the left with the record I showed you of the ex-RIS spies.”

  He leaned forward and examined them closely. “I’ll admit they seem to be the same person, but that’s not very much.”

  “I know. All I’m asking you to do is contact someone on Earth and give them the files. How can that hurt?”

  He scowled but slowly nodded. “I might have a way to do that, but I’m going to have to run all this past my editor.”

  “You can’t tell him I’m a RIS agent. That’s classified. Just tell him I’m an investigator for the government.”

  “Honestly, if there hadn’t been an attack at Hale’s place, I might not even believe this much.”

  She smiled. “Then let me give you another hot lead you can check out. Port security is looking for Zane Hale. He slipped into secure storage and had a crate shipped out. No one knows what was in it or where it went, but they’re all stirred up.”