The Tempest Class Freighter, Tornado, reached the Eikon Cluster with a full complement aboard, funds in the coffers and three pods of Thermalium mineral ore for delivery to Eikon Major.
The system was known as the Eikon Cluster,
so called due to the high number of M class planets and moons in the Eikon
solar system, they quickly found an abundance of work with Golbolt
Interstellar, based on the moon Somar.
The main reason for that was that the
Operations Manager was Oshwin Lemik and he fought against the Legion in the
Shaxon War with the Skeet brothers, they as pilots and Oshwin as Logistics
Commander.
From the moment they were reacquainted, the
Tornado got as much work as they wanted and regularly ran between Eikon Major
and Minor, Eirkos and its moons, Soman, Rekar and Marikya, and neighbouring
planet’s, Achrem and Zenden as well as Zenden’s moon, Linden, plus a host of
other smaller moons and asteroids.
In the time they had been in the Eikon
Cluster they had familiarized themselves with the planets and moons they
visited and had cultivated great friendships along the way, they had also made
a lot of important contacts, so whatever part of the system they were in they
always knew which ear to whisper in to, to untangle any complications, or open
doors that would otherwise have remained shut.
One important ally they had cultivated was Emad Salmin of the Legion Aeronautica, who was, thanks to the Tornado,
Supreme Commander for the whole of the Eikon Cluster and those aboard the
Tornado, and their friends and allies felt the weight of his gratitude.
This was for two reasons, one was for their
help in capturing a wanted criminal, Kurla Babic, and
second the recovery of the Gouveian Crown Jewels, he was suspected of stealing.
So they had benefitted greatly from his gratitude,
but on one trip as they were just passing Zenden’s moon Linden, Shiyne said
“I’m picking up something on the scanners”
“What exactly?” Merri asked
“I don’t know, I can’t identify it, we’re
being jammed”
“Use your other scanner then” Merri said,
which of course meant that Shiyne should use her
telepathic gift, because Shiyne was a Vann and all of the Vann were telepaths,
by varying degrees, and many of them left their home world at some point to use
their gifts to earn a wage.
Those at the zenith of their talents worked
as corporate negotiators or in the justice systems of the Legion.
Shiyne was a Vann with mid-range
capabilities and she could read most species to some extent, her skills were
limited with the more sophisticated or complex brains, lesser minds were easier
for her to explore.
In addition to reading minds she could also
implant thoughts and the suggestions would stay in place longer with someone
who was more intellectually challenged.
But in this instance, it was her reading
skills that were required.
“Roger that” she responded and closed her
eyes and it only took her thirty seconds before she added
“Got them”
“Who?” Malena asked fearing an attack
“Legion” she replied, “a squadron of six Firedarts
and a Blaze Command Ship”
“What do they want with us?” Merri asked and
Shiyne smiled
“It’s the boss man,” she replied
“What does he want?” Merri asked
“A chat” Shiyne replied and smiled again “And
some of Bagg’s scones”
A moment later she added “we have an incoming
message”
“Put it on speaker” Merri said
“This is Supreme Commander Emad Salmin of the
Legion Aeronautica, cut your main engines and prepare to be boarded”
Merri nodded and then opened the mic
“Captain Strong responding, message received,
cutting engines and standing by”
Then she switched to internal comms
“Malena, stand by the docking port” Merri
replied just as the Legion Firedarts took up station around the Tornado, one to
Port, Starboard, Forward, Aft and two stationed above.
There were two docking rings on the Tornado
to facilitate transfers to and from the freighter while in space, one in the
belly below the loading bay and the other was amidships above the cargo bays
which was also the mooring point for shuttles or ancillary craft.
Merri had killed the engines and was using
the thrusters to hold the ship steady as the Legion Blaze Command vessel
maneuvered into position and locked on to the belly docking ring.
When the hatch opened Merri had joined Malena
and was waiting to greet their visitor
“Welcome aboard Supreme Commander” she
said
“I’m Captain Strong”
“Let’s go to the mess room” he responded
curtly “I will need to see the whole crew”
“I anticipated that” Merri said “Follow me”
When they reached the mess the Supreme
Commander instructed his escort to stand guard outside while he entered the
mess to find Bagg was performing his familiar role as provider of scones and
coffee.
“That smells really is amazing” he said
“Still feeding the soul and the body in equal measure I see”
“There are plenty to go around as usual” Bagg
said “Please sit”
“So for what do we owe the pleasure of your
visit?” Merri asked as he bit into one of Bagg’s scones
“That is so good” he said, and licked jam off
his lips then he added
“I need a favour”
“Name it” Merri said
The favour was in regard to Neff Abery who
was an influential member of the Eikon Government, he also had his own Moon,
which was actually a moon of a moon, and Miah orbited Zenden’s moon Linden.
“It all goes back to the raid on the “Blue
Horizon” in Odekka” he said
“I thought that was all wrapped up” Lyris
Skeet said
“Almost” he replied “except for the top man”
“I thought that was Kurla” Zerrad added
“He was the ringleader of the gang certainly,
but he didn’t steal the Gouveian Crown Jewels for himself, he would have known
he couldn’t sell it, they were too high profile, it had to have been stolen to
order” He explained “And that’s where Neff Abery comes in”
“Did Kurla name him?” Merri asked
“No he’s saying nothing but the Lakmean trader, AaHannaa, is talking
enough for the both of them” Salmin said with a wry smile “And so are all the
little fish”
He paused long enough to eat another mouthful
of scone and then he put a small data tablet on the table and added
“And I have compiled this evidence against
Neff Abery, and it doesn’t stop with the Crown Jewels, he is involved in a
variety of criminal enterprises, including sex slavery into Mehreen space, I
even have images of him sampling the merchandise, and meeting with Mehreen
representatives in neutral space”
“But?” Bagg asked
“But the Legion can’t get authorization to
act against him” Shiyne said reading his thoughts
“Correct, he is to well protected, both in
Government and by the Prefects on Miah” he said “I can’t touch him”
“He must know where the bodies are buried”
Zerrad Skeet remarked
“Does he know?” Merri asked
“I doubt it, but even if he did he’s so arrogant
he wouldn’t care, he thinks he’s untouchable” Salmin said
“He is apparently” Parse Sacrod added
“That’s why I would hate for this tablet to end
up in the wrong hands” he said as he pushed it across the table.
“Yes that would be very unfortunate” Merri
said as she picked it up
“Well I had better be on my way” he said “it was
nice meeting you all again”
“Please take a batch of scones back to your
ship” Bagg offered
“I would like that very much” he said and
then he took his leave of them.
“Ok coffee break over” Merri said as their
Legion escorts sped away “Let’s get this bird back up to speed”
And five minutes later Merri sat in the
pilot seat and nodded to co-pilot Malena who brought the
Plasma Turbine Pyroclast Engines back on line and the Tempest
class freighter was back up to speed and on the way to Zenden.
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