Terraformer Dreams - Chapter Five (complete)

[The Zig]

Story so far:
Chapter One - The Fly-Through Sector
Chapter Two - Danger is Coming...
Chapter Three - Scramble
Chapter Four - The Nexus


Chapter Five – Classified Information

Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Benjamin Franklin


Part One: Brief

A yellow light by the engine monitor showed that the Nova was safely docked with the Colossus. A magnetic field would now hold the ship firmly in place. Unclipping the seatbelt, Jo Slammer rose to his feet. The cockpit shifted suddenly, blurred around him. He fell back into the chair.
“Whew,” he shook his head trying to clear it, opened his heavy eyes. “What's wrong with me?”
Landing in a gravitated zone after a few stazurae in space was always a head-spinner, but this went beyond that. Jo tried to think. What was this?
He realised with a yawn, old-fashioned tiredness.
When this whole thing kicked off, he was nearing the end of a three stazura – twelve hour – shift. He had been at that stage of circling stations just to stay sharp. Since then he had burned through another hour of raw adrenaline. Of course he was tired.
He opened his eyes again. The ship engine was still running. He thought he'd turned it off? He was tired! His cabin was calling. Jo turned off the engines and sat for a while to get his head together. Still a way to go before this would be over. He groaned.
The comm channel beeped.
Jo opened his eyes again, pressed the comms button.
“Mr Slammer,” the shiny face of Hillios Aksandros II greeted him.
“Hey.”
“How do you fare?”
“Tired,” Jo answered frankly. “Can't see straight. It's caught up with me.”
“A difficult battle. You do well still to be alive.”
“Yeah.”
“I have never seen the Xenon attack like that.”
Jo nodded.
“My people lost heavily,” Aksandros continued. “I fear to talk to my mother again. Those were her ships exploding around you. The Captain, he knew many of them well. It was a heavy loss to us.”
“Yeah,” Jo was dredging up the last of his energy just to talk. “We couldn't have done it alone. I mean, without you. Your ships... they were the... the backbone.”
The Teladi did not really grasp Jo's meaning but decided it was time to get to the point. “The Xenon, the friendly Xenon, Hzzar Qr, he's here at the Power Plant...”
“Yeah, I saw,” Jo said. “What is that? I'd thought he betrayed us.”
“A misunderstanding. He had to disable some Boron to get away to take down that Xenon carrier. He talked it through with your Defence Commander before he was allowed to land here. We would certainly have lost the Albatross without him. Probably the battle.”
“He took down the carrier?”
“Right.”
“I mean, on his own?”
“Effectively. Some kind of new weapon. Anyway, the point is: I listened in, he has some kind of plan. I think it involves going through the North Gate. It was unclear exactly what, but the Defence Commander is about to leave. He will be attending this debriefing, as will I. I believe he intends to propose something there.”
Jo sighed. He was too tired for the Defence Commander.
“Okay, thanks for the warning,” Jo said. “We... I owe you big time. I'll make sure the Argon officials know what you did for us. Are you..? Will..? What are you doing next? After the briefing.”
“I... I am a technician, a... a scientist,” Aksandros was struggling for words now. “You see, in... in my language there is no real word for 'scientist'. Our 'word' for scientist is the phrase 'curious-one', a pun meaning both: one who is curious about the world, and also one who himself is curious, eccentric.”
“Right.”
“I... I am trying to say, among Teladi it is not a respected profession. Not as it is among Argon, Boron or Paranid. But me, I am one such. I am a strange Teladi, a curious Teladi. And this... I am curious to see where this situation leads. This is why I am out here now... this is... why I wish to follow this as far as possible.”
“Right.”
“If really you wish to repay me, Argon, the greatest payment would be to bring me with you into the Unknown. I must see it all! Persuade your Navy. I will help.”
Jo laughed. “That'll be an easy sell! Honestly, the Navy are desperate. Their entry criteria are just 'anyone stupid enough to apply'! It isn't like they're over subscribed. Honestly, as long as you don't have a record, they'll take you. You've got skills. But if you really want, I'll put a word in.”
“Okay. Thankss... I think.”
...

With a hiss, the straps slipped away. In the cockpit of Cheiron, Lil rose from her seat. Her hands reached up for the roof, stretching out her slim body which clicked a few times in response. Finally her arms fell to her side and she let out a sigh, allowing tension to drain from her body.
She looked over at the weapons console. It was still showing laser status so she reached over and pressed the red toggle at the bottom. Missiles. A smile crossed Lil's lips. Eleven Hornets, fourteen Silkworms and some lesser missiles, all scooped from the void. Her little salvage endeavour had worked beautifully. What's that? About 180,000 credits?
Add to that the two battered Ms Lil had caught that were now limping to a distant shipyard, and she'd made nearly quarter of a million credits. Add all this to the one point five mill she had been paid already, and you've got...
“... a good night's work!”
A beep. It's ready. The beep told her the Pegasus was ready for launch. Lil had been summoned to a debriefing on the Colossus, not attending – she was told – was not an option. She did a quick final check: Cheiron was set up to hold position, combat computer ready to defend, weapons on-line. Good. Now to get gone. She walked eagerly for the transfer pod. No-one knew this, but for all huge the difference in price... she loved the Pegasus way more than the Centaur. But this was her secret!
...

The conference room on the Colossus; debriefing yet to start. The room was warm. Slumped in a chair, the room clouded around Jo, warmly wrapping him, blurring the edges off reality. His eyes drifted emptily around the edge of the table in front... various people around... discussing a battle... His battle... far away... far gone... The one that flew into the 'roid... dumb machine... he went through the... hole in...
Somewhere a door slid open.
“... so they tried to outrun our ships by running through...”
That voice... Jo knew it... he did...
“... flew right into Argon Prime, and right into the waiting...”
Jo recognised it. Definitely. That voice. Some irresistible force pulled his eyes up, they fixed on a face.
“... dumb Pirates!”
“Elton,” came loud to Jo's snarling mouth.
The man glanced over smiling; a double-take and the smile slipped away. His eyes widened. “Orijin?”
Jo was suddenly on his feet. His fatigue evaporated in hot fury. His face burned red as blood pulsed through his clenched fists, nails cutting into his palms. Disbelief kept him still. People were watching now, peering up. Finally, in a powerful effort of self-control he un-knotted his muscles and marched from the room, leaving the man, Elton Simons, gaping after the closing door.
...


Part Two: Data Miner

No sooner had the debriefing ended than the system's Defence Commander, Kristan Moor, marched from the room, his head down, a bull.
The Defence Commander missed most of the debriefing wrapped up in his own thoughts. Something was going on. It was being kept from him. He would not stop until he found out what. A man with a mission.
Who the hell is Jo Slammer?
Hardened Navy crewmen jumped out of his way in the corridor.
Where the hell is that computer guy?
...

After the debrief, Lil wandered to the bar. She had never been aboard a Navy ship before. The Argon Navy types seemed so prim, so proper, she couldn't imagine them having their own bar. She had to see it.
She was not disappointed. Sure, it was nothing like the wild, free atmosphere of a Bliss Place or a Pirate Base... let alone Old Annie, the Anarchy Port... she grinned. That was one place she would visit again! But still, this bar wasn't bad. It was respectable. The layout was spacious, if unimaginative, and the bar was well-stocked. The drinks were alcohol too, not the damn synthesised stuff. And on top of all that, she noticed, prices were subsidised. What more could a girl want?!
She noted with a wry smile the cases of Argon Whisky – Space Fuel – tucked behind the bar. Anyone else carries that, you blow them clean out the stars, right?
Hypocrites.

She got a half of 'Red Whine' – an old miner's beer from Red Light – and turned around, leaning back on the bar to take in the room. A few fresh-faced young pilots – typical Argon Navy types: arrogant, annoyingly preened – sat around a table talking loudly, probably about the battle they had nearly missed. Farther on, a scraggy-looking lone pilot sat staring out a window. A few engineer types talked quietly at the end of the bar. The Barman was playing a Goner 'card-game'. She had seen it before – it was called something like 'Perseverance' – you had to arrange pictured 'cards' into ordered rows of some kind.
A few local system officials that she had seen in the debriefing entered; they stood next to her at the bar. A practised eavesdropper, Lil casually sipped her drink while listening intently to their chatter. Before long, their conversation turned to the lone pilot in the corner. They were almost whispering; Lil strained to hear. She was surprised to hear the lone pilot's name.
...

Doors slid open. The Terracorp Station Commander, Reynolds, looked up from his computer-desk to see his Defence Commander walk through.
“Reynolds. Where's Linus?” The Defence Commander demanded.
“He's through there,” Reynolds, pointing to a door behind him. “He's pulling up data on those black ships.”
“Right,” the Defence Commander started in the indicated direction.
“Kristan? What is it?”
The DC stopped. “Following a lead.”
“What?”
“I... I'm investigating something.”
“Is it important?”
Kristan glared at Reynolds. Oops! Silly question! The Defence Commander marched on without a word. With a long sigh, Reynolds got up and followed after him.
“Linus,” the Defence Commander barked.
“Commander Moor,” the computer expert swivelled his chair around to face them.
“I need you to dig up some info from the Argon files.”
“I'm already working on... or is this more..?” Linus looked to Reynolds who sighed again and nodded.
Linus fiddled with his terminal for a moment. A fresh screen appeared.
“Okay,” he said. “What do you need me to do?”
“I need to find someone...”
“... Argonopedia, census data...” Linus thought aloud as his fingers worked the computer. “What's the name?”
“Slammer.”
“Slammer, Jo?”
Moor nodded.
“Argon. Pilot. Male. Terracorp.” Linus filled in. “Aha! Here's his file.”
Commander Moor looked over Linus' shoulder. “Is that all?”
“I guess. Unless... Any classified files would be hidden from us.”
“Classified files? There are classified files?”
“Well... I don't know. But if there were, we wouldn't see them... unless we had access rights.”
“So... there's no way to see if there are any classified files?”
“Well... Not without getting us arrested.”
Commander Moor seemed to consider something. “Right... New search. Can I do it?”
Linus brought up a new screen, then got up to let Kristan Moor take his place.
Moor typed in a name.
“Who's that?”
“Just a name I heard.”
“Heard?” Linus asked. “Odd spelling. You may want to allow homophones.”
“Good, yes. Okay! ... Damn. Seven thousand matches?!”
“Yeah. You'll want to cross-reference it. Put in anything you know,” Linus was getting water from the dispenser.
Moor typed. 'Argon. Male. Age: 35-45.' He scratched his head. What else can I put? Ah! 'Associate: Elton Simons.'
Linus choked. Water sprayed onto the screen, the back of Moor's head.
“No! Stop!” Linus coughed, leaning over him quickly deleting the name. “Never search Elton Simons. Never! He's probably the most secret man in the Argon Secret Service. I guarantee you, if you ever search that name, you will have A-S-S all over you in minutes. Literally minutes.”
“So what do I put instead? I've still got seventy three matches.”
“Just put Argon Secret Service: A-S-S... The king of all acronyms!”
“Right... search.”
Finally, a single result. The file came straight to screen. The name popped up first, then the picture, hazy at first, then clearing...
“That name. I know that. Wasn't he that..?” Linus stopped, seeing the picture. “But, isn't that..?”
Reynolds looked on, stunned. “Can't be...”
The Defence Commander growled at the screen. “It is.”
...

“So, you're Jo Slammer!” Lil stood facing the lone pilot.
The shabby head did not respond. He stared off into Space.
She tried again: “Lil Sarra. Captain of the Cheiron. We fought together. You're Jo Slammer, right?”
His shoulders moved... a shrug?
“That's what they call me.”
“Good to meet you in person,” she said.
The face turned to her. Lil was shocked; she had expected another fresh-faced fly-boy type; this face was older, worn. His jaw jutted forward, covered in spiky dark hair, stubble that grew over much of his face, almost to his eyes. Stretching up his right cheek, dark scars lined his face, stopping just below his eye, and continuing above his brow. His hair, somewhere between medium and long, was impressively unkempt, and just starting to grey in patches. And staring through this rough, vagabond face, a pair of sharp, dark eyes. To describe his face in a word? Apish.
“You look... you're older than I'd imagined,” she muttered.
“Ahh, you!” Jo said, those animal eyes burning into her. “The grave-robber, the vulture.”
He watched closely, barely a flinch passed over that porcelain face. Something about the pale whiteness of her face, the flat empty surface, the inexpressiveness... to him it looked ceramic – a mannequin, a mask she had plastered on to hide her real face.
“We don't want innocent freighters crashing into heavy explosives,” she said smoothly. “I'm doing a public service scooping that up.”
“Right.”
Lil felt her shoulders relax as Jo's eyes drifted back to space. But something about him said their conversation was now over. Of course, Lil was not easily deterred. She had decided she could learn something from this man. She was not leaving until she was satisfied. Resolutely, she placed her drink on the table and sat opposite him. She smirked to see irritation in the way he snatched up his drink.
Lil sipped her own. 'Red Whine' always felt like home to her. It was what all the old miners drank where she grew up. It was the first thing she had ever drunk; years back. her and a boy she had known, they had sneaked off, hidden behind the old drill chamber, both raging drunk on one small bottle.
Someone was next to her, she looked up at a man in a Terracorp outfit.
“Jo,” the man said firmly. “Come with me. Commander Moor wants you now.”
...


Part Three: Trapped

After wrapping up the debriefing, the Colossus Captain was pulled aside by Elton Simons.
“The Shades are our top priority,” Simons stated.
“Shades? What are they?”
“The black ships,” Simons snapped. “The pirate faction.”
“Pirates? They don't sound like any...” The Captain trailed off. Now he remembered. He had read something about this, stealth ships attacking Argon peace-keepers out near Loomanckstrats? Something like that. “But, the black ships helped out here. Surely the Xenon are...”
“But why? What interest do they have out here? What motivation is...”
Simons stopped abruptly, his eyes sliding to some point next to the Captain. The Captain glanced to find a Teladi beside him. “Ah! Can I help you, friend?”
“Hillios Aksandros the Second,” the Teladi bowed deeply. “Trader. It greatly pleases me to meet you.”
The Captain stared blankly, he wasn't used to being bowed to by Teladi.
“Uh... Ripley... Captain Alan Ripley. Can I help you?”
Aksandros looked expectantly at Simons.
After an uncomfortable silence Simons finally answered. “Simons... Advisor.”
“Many thanks. I seek the one known as Jo Slammer. I would be grateful if you should point him out to me.”
The two Argon exchanged glances.
“He left already,” the Captain said.
“Oh?” Aksandros was confused. “Which one was he? Where was he sat?”
Captain Ripley looked to his 'advisor'.
“Same chair as you,” Simons stated. “Left before you arrived.”
“Jo left before the debriefing?”
“Personal reasons. You'll find him in the bar.”
Aksandros lingered a moment.
“Was there anything else?” The Captain asked.
Aksandros shifted, “I was thinking perhaps...”
“The black ships,” Simons interrupted. “The Shades. You saw them?”
“No. No, I was nowhere near combat.”
“Aah! You were with Slammer for first-contact with the Xenon.”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
“Okay,” the Captain said. “Good. Well we have work to do, so if...”
Simons raised a hand and the Captain fell silent.
“Hillios Aksandros,” Simons went on. “Perhaps you can tell us something that might help?”
Aksandros shook his head, “The Xenon... his speech structure... uh grammar... it was similar to Gray-C, Grace, a computer language. I don't know if... I don't know.”
“Good.” Simons nodded. “That may be germane. I'll pass it on. Now, you wished to ask something?”
“I was wondering, might I stay with you, on this ship that is, for any... endeavour you may undertake related to this situation. I am a technician, and... and perhaps even, I can help. I know it is unusual and is not my...”
Simons abruptly left for a computer terminal. Aksandros and the Captain looked at each other blankly for a moment.
“We'll need to run a level two security check,” Captain Ripley said at last. “But after that, I have no problem with you staying aboard. Okay?”
The Captain turned to follow after Simons.
“You might want to ask Jo about them,” Aksandros called after him.
“What?”
“The black ships.” Aksandros pointed at the computer screen. “Jo seemed to be expecting them.”
“Expecting?”
“Sure. I think he knows them. He ambushed the Xenon with them. They saved the day. Twice!”
...

The Terracorp security officer escorted Jo to the Defence Commander's room. The door opened and Jo walked in, head down, eyes half-closed. So tired.
“Can we do this another time, Moor?”
“Now's good, Mr Orijin,” Reynolds answered. “Now's fine.”
Jo's eyes were still half-closed, but another adrenal burst lifted his mind out of the fog. That name.
Commanders Moor and Reynolds stood facing him. Behind them Jo saw a computer technician. It looked like the Commanders had a makeshift base of operations set-up in this little apartment on the Colossus.
“Mr What?” He asked.
“It's over, Jo,” Moor said, pointing behind Jo.
Jo looked back over his shoulder. On a large screen a face stared out – the head was shaved clean, as was the face, and there were no scars – yet the face was unmistakeably his. Below it, the name 'Mak Orijin'.
“Now,” Moor scowled. “You're not going to insult us by continuing this charade. Are you, Mak?”
...

Aksandros stood in the weapons hub of the Colossus. The reloading and re-arming had been completed now; technicians stood around in groups chatting casually.
Aksandros looked up at a huge tower of metal crates in front of him.
“This is Mass Driver ammo, is it not?”
“Sure is,” Lo, the chief weapons officer answered.
“I didn't think your Navy used Mass Drivers?”
“Yeah, funny story! We got all this years back, back when Mass Drivers were still just a rumour. 'A weapon that goes through shields,' Cap'n Ripley says, 'we gotta get us one of those.' So we stocked right up... Then they came out! Soon as we saw how... frankly how Crap they are. Well... we didn't bother in the end.”
“But you kept all this ammo? You could make a fortune!”
“Ah, well that's down to old Navy regs. 'Arms Dealing', see? Captain's trapped, if he sells it on he could be court-martialed.”
Aksandros laughed, shaking his head. “But all this ammo!”
“I know!”
...

“You recognise the face in the picture?” Commander Reynolds asked.
“Of course,” Jo nodded.
“So what do you have to say?” Moor demanded.
Jo shrugged, “Good lookin' guy! People used to say I look...”
“It's you!” Moor shouted, causing everyone to jump. “It's clearly you.”
A dark silence... ...broken by a light, carefree laugh.
“Oh! I haven't had this one in years!” Jo chuckled. “Where'd you dig that picture up? People always said I look like him. I don't see it, but they'd say 'You look like Mak Orijin! Go kick some Xeno-butt!' Even in nightclubs girls'd be 'Hey! Are you..?' Whew! Y'know, I wish it was! I mean, the guy was like a hero or something.”
Reynolds shook his head. “You don't expect us to believe this?”
“Well... Yeah! Unless you wanna think I'm Mak Orijin! I mean, damn! I know I'm good, but I ain't no super-pilot. Come on!”
Reynolds glanced between the picture and the man in front. At first glance, they were the same... but looking closer... was it? “Maybe it's not...”
Moor cut him off. “Elton Simons seemed to know you back at the briefing, eh 'Orijin'? Maybe we should ask him about you”
“Yes, maybe you should,” Jo never flinched, there was something menacing in his tone. “I'm sure he'll set you straight. Now if there's nothing important..?” Jo looked between them, “...then I need some rest.”
The door slid open automatically as Jo approached. Coming through the other way at the exact same moment however, Jo almost collided with Elton Simons. The Terracorp security officer was bundled into the room behind Simons. Two armed Secret Service agents blocked the door.
“Jo Slammer,” Elton smiled. “Do stay. And the Terracorp Commanders. Excellent. We need to talk.”
...

Part Four: Payback

An Express cruised by the internal windows in the final stages of docking with the Colossus. Aksandros peered after it. An escort of six Novas followed behind.
“That'll be our xeno-expert,” an engineer muttered. “Note the federal escort. She's the President's niece apparently.”
Aksandros nodded.
“Ahem! Excuse me,” a nervous-looking Navy ensign stood nearby. “Sir? Are you... Hilly, Hillios Axe...”
“Hillios Aksandros the Second.”
“... Yeah?”
“At your sservice.”
“Um... we're getting a communication through from... ha... uhh... Hillios Lizi... Liz-anne...”
“Hillios Llizandros?”
“That's the one! Yes, she wants to talk to you. She called the bridge! Captain Ripley said to channel it through to the room he gave you. Is that okay?”
“Yes, yes. I'll be right there.”
...

Simons surveyed the room. His eyes lingered for a moment on the main screen, still showing a profile for 'Mak Orijin'. His gaze passed over the two commanders to settle on Jo. Jo glared back.
“What's happening here, Jo?” Simons asked.
“It's clear that...” Moor began.
“Jo?” Simons repeated.
“They wanna think I'm Mak Orijin,” Jo growled. “I wanna sleep.”
“Huh!” Simons chuckled. “I always said you look alike!”
“Right,” Jo scowled at the floor.
Reynolds glanced across at Defence Commander Moor, “So Jo isn't Mak Orijin?”
“Certainly not,” Simons said. “Orijin's still rotting in a cell down on Artur.”
“But earlier,” Moor pointed at Jo. “I heard you call him 'Orijin'.”
“Ah!” Simons nodded, finally grasping the situation. “Yes. I was caught by surprise. They look alike. My mind leapt to the wrong one. My mistake.”
“But it seems...”
“Anyway,” Simons spoke over the Defence Commander. “We have serious issues to discuss, so...”
“Our pilot's real identity,” Moor started angrily, “is a serious...”
“I answered the question, he's Jo Slammer,” Simons said simply. “Desist or leave.”
“What?! I...”
“If you don't stop, I'll have you removed.”
“Removed!?” Moor was incredulous. “From our designated quarters?”
“Correct,” Simons moved nearer the door causing it to slide open; an armed agent glanced in. Moor, getting the message, pulled together all his composure and sat down, fuming but silent. The door closed gently.
“The black ships,” Simons said. “What do we know of them.”
“I understand they saved the day.” Moor grumbled. “If it wasn't for the black ships, Jo's so-called 'plan' would have got us killed.”
Simons looked to Jo. “Is that so?”
“Sure,” Jo tried to look casual. “They saved our arses.”
“Who did?”
“The Sh... ships,” Jo shrugged. “The black ships. Don't know their names! didn't have time for introductions! But whatever... We'd've lost without them.”
“Shades – is that what you nearly said, Jo? You're aware that they're Pirates.”
“Am now.”
“Right. Some of the pilots seemed to think you were expecting these ships.”
“Oh?”
“That you coordinated with them.”
Jo shrugged again, “Lucky timing, I guess.”
“But you've no idea who they are?”
“No.”
“And you didn't coordinate with these ships? Didn't communicate in any way?”
“No.”
“And your ship's playback footage will verify this?”
“I guess.”
“We'll see,” Simons nodded.
“We will,” Moor grumbled. “You won't.”
“What?” Simons glanced at Moor.
“Why would you get to see it?” Moor smiled. “Our ship playback data belongs to us, to Terracorp. I control that... I see no reason to share it out.”
“You have to share,” Simons stated flatly. “It's evidence, possibly criminal.”
“Not until we've seen that it's criminal. And if it is 'criminal evidence', we'll need to pass it over to HQ and let management decide what action Terracorp will take prior to declaring it. Might take a while. And who's to say it won't get lost in transmission. It happens.”
“Kristan...” Reynolds started nervously. “I really don't think we sho...”
“I do,” Moor said firmly.
“What do you want?” Simons asked in a bored tone.
“Nothing,” Moor's smile faded. “Now why don't you run along, Mr Simons, we were having a meeting here!”
Jo couldn't quite hold back a smile. Simons glanced coldly at him and shook his head.
“Okay, I see this is an unproductive use of my time. I thought you might want to help, we're on the same side. But I'll get what I need another way. We have means,” Simons stopped in front of the door. “If anyone wishes to be more... forthcoming, I suggest coming forth quickly. I may be able to spare you any consequences.”
“Farewell!” Moor shouted jovially as Simons left the room.
Jo left closely behind him.
“Jo! Where are you going?” Reynolds called.
“Bed.”
“Back at the power plant?”
“Where else?”
...

“That's crazy! I can't pay that!” Aksandros hissed.
“You had those ships on loan,” his mother said. “What you don't return, you pay for. Teladi law.”
“But mother... you knew I couldn't...”
“I loaned you those ships in good faith,” she said. “And at no profit. You lose them, you pay for them.”
“I can't. I can't raise that kind of capital.”
“Then debtor's prison it is.”
“Prison?” He was truly shocked. “Mother!! You wouldn't!”
“You need to learn the value of profit,” she said casually.
“But...” Aksandros was at a loss for words. He had expected fury, anger, but cold, calculated malevolence?! What was this?
“You wouldn't!” He said weakly.
“I wouldn't??... I suppose we could work out some sort of payment plan instead.”
“Payment plan?”
“Sure,” she said smoothly. “The silicon you're carrying will serve as a deposit – of course you'll need to deliver that to my Silkworm Factory in Seizewell. After that, I suppose you can work for me until you have paid off your debts. We'll build you up some business.”
“But...”
“In that case, we wouldn't even need to involve the authorities.”
“But my plans... the Paranid science station...”
She sneered. “Plans change.”
Suddenly he saw. This was her plan all along. He should have guessed from the ease with which she loaned him those ships. She knew he'd lose some. This was that deft, scheming mind that had made her semi-royalty among Teladi. He'd seen it before. He'd been had.
“I'll call you back,” he said.
“Don't be long,” she told him. It sounded like a warning.
...

“What is it?” Moor demaned.
“Watch,” the young officer insisted.
Some video footage: the image zoomed in on Jo's Nova, seen from the rear flying away toward the Colossus.
“This is just before the debrief, it's from a camera on our station. There!”
The image wobbled, then stabilised.
“What am I looking at?” Moor asked.
“There! Above the Nova.”
At first Moor saw nothing, but then he noticed something. A dark shadow shifting against the blackness. A shadow? ... A Shade?
“One of the black ships?!”
“Yep.” The image refocused on the distortion, the outline of a ship emerged.
“What is it?” Moor asked.
“Don't know. But from the data it's clear Jo's communicating with it.”
“Do Slammer's ship logs confirm this?”
“We'll see soon enough. They're downloading.”
“But he's definitely talking to one of the Shades here?”
“Definitely.”
“So he lied to Simons... Do you know what he's saying?”
“We don't. But it'll be on Jo's logs.”
“I'll get Simons,” Reynolds said, standing up. “This proves Jo was lying. That he's the guilty party. At least this footage'll get Argon Secret Service off our back.”
“Simons?” the Defence Commander's large head shook. “No. Screw Simons. Better the devil you know. I never liked Slammer much, but I killed people today by not trusting him. Him and these so-called pirates... if they were working together... they saved this sector. We owe them a hearing.”
“Owe them? Rubbish! You heard what he said, Pirates. Let secret service sort it out!”
Moor stood up, grabbing Reynolds by the arm.
“No! We'll sort this out ourselves.”
...

Jo was barely in bed when his secure electronically-locked door slid wide open and two commanders marched into his private quarters. His head was foggy, but he knew the game was up when he saw the playback footage of him with the black ship. The voice data from his ship – his half of the conversation with his old friend – that just confirmed it.
When Moor explained the situation, Jo finally, reluctantly acquiesced. There were no options, if Simons saw this Jo would be in serious shizura. A rock and a hard place. He didn't have a choice...
“So you want the truth,” he sighed. “Fine. It's a weight off my mind anyway. But this can go no further than this room. You'll see why.
“Yes, my real name is Mak Orijin. Yes, THE Mak Orijin. And yes, you remember correctly: I'm the guy who destroyed the Xenon shipyard...”

***

Chapter Six - Ghosts of the Passed

[kethalpak]

More, More, More, MORE!

This series is good, very good.

[KiwiNZ]

Excellent aftermath. Looks like the battle is won. Nicely described tiredness. Interesting cliffhanger! Jo and Elton don't appear to be friends

Looking forward to the next part!

[The Zig]

Part two's now up.
Part three'll come after the part-ee weekend!
Have fun,
Zig

ps. If you haven't read The Da Vinci Code, READ IT!
It's soo good. Read it before the film spoils it.

[X-Periment]

You get better and better... Plus I'm making a script for your fanfic.

[KiwiNZ]

Thanks mate. Very good second part! Gave me very nice reading material during my stopover at Singapore airport

Should it really be that easy to unravel the mystery around Jo's past life? I guess the station def commander has still not heard the last about his attempts to sabotage the event.

Looking forward to the next part!

[The Zig]

3rd part's up. Sorry about the wait, unlike RSDark Angel Who has a worthy reason to be busy (college), my excuse is that a well-meaning friend got me San Andreas last week as thanks for some work I did! I have no self discipline! It's quite good!

KiwiNZ: Singapore airport?! Get you! Altho to me that sounds pretty exotic, thinking it through, I hate that wait at airports. Early one morning I had to spend eight hours at the airport in Zagreb trying my damdest not to fall asleep. Not fun!

X-periment: do you fancy putting a short over on the other thread I started? I thought you'd be first up! There are some good one's on there, have a look.

[KiwiNZ]

Excellent third part! Looks like Jo is a bit in a misery. Simons could denounce him and/or blackmail him. But it could also potentially mean that Jo blurts out whatever he holds against him. So a very interesting position that you created there.

Looking forward to the next part!

[bladeuk]

Amazing stuff as usual, really cant wait to find out what simmons knows about jo, and vice-versa

[The Zig]

Thanks to anyone who's still bearing with me! That's chapter five.
So sorry for the delay. I'm in the middle of a TEFL course (a celta), it's a qualification to teach English to non-native speakers. It's kinda intense actually, more work than I expected. If there's anyone out there who's done a tefl (or has learned/is learning English) feel free to offer me any advice or general gems of wisdom!

Chapter six will be along soonish. I've also got another li'l story half-done that I'll post soon. As always, feedback welcome.

Cheers,
Zig

[KiwiNZ]

Very good finish to the chapter! Looks like Moor feels guilt at long last. At least it appears to make him reasonable for a short while, even if the change of mind was rapid. But I guess more than anything else, he wanted to know what was going on.

Looking forward to the next chapter!

[biggie1447]

more please
i read all the others and can't get enough