--- Part 7: Deeper Underground ---
She tapped away lazily at the battered PDA. The screen flashed with the notes she had been making over the course of the day. Her first stop had been Kroe and Anna Wayanes. Anna had been a member of Black Paper's gang. They were twins and Kroe had used that fact to infiltrate and bring about the apprehension of Black Paper. Sue had been shocked at his unmasking, it was Alex, her on and off hunting partner.
The last time she had seen him alive was when he had mysteriously ditched her while they were looking for Doctor Osto's research notes. Teaming up with the legendary hunter she had found him but he was acting strangely and so they left him behind. The authorities had checked the transporter logs and found that he had made too many trips to the surface with the ones caught by Kroe for it to be coincidence.
Alex had revealed the name of a partner, Black Hound but was murdered in his holding cell before he could divulge more. Kireek's confidence in his powers meant he had let slip of his true identity to the One who would defeat Falz. The legendary hunter proved to be the strongest in that encounter. And now it seemed that the two of them reported to a higher power, Black Arm.
It all made sense if you thought about it. Hound and Paper were killing the hunters for their weapons. A few were being sold but the rest were being destroyed. The Wayanes sisters told Sue that they had been instructed to look out for 'something special'. No ordinary rare weapons, what was it they sought?
With that trail going cold she had questioned the recovery team sent to the Ruins and every junk dealer, scrap merchant and Cast repair station on the ship. Her feet felt like she had walked fifty kilometres so far! Kireek's remains had done a fair bit of travelling themselves, being passed from person to person. When the recipient had discovered what he had done, they wanted nothing to do with it and moved them on. The parts were then assigned for destruction and given to a dealer called Septia Moose.
Septia Moose however had gone missing over six months ago, one of Black Paper's victims. They used his shop as a front to sell on their stolen merchandise. The authorities knew this information that had been uncovered as well. However, Moose's shop was located in one of the more 'run-down' districts of Pioneer 2's Vega residential district. Here Moose's neighbours would be understandably reluctant to venture forth information. Fortunately, Sue had more luck. Kireek's fresh assault on Ash serving to loosen tongues sufficiently to serve purpose.
The final pages of her notes consisted of a list of descriptions of various regulars that had called upon Moose's shop up until recently. The fact that the shop had been boarded up seemed to be no barrier to business. She could eliminate all but four of the suspects as the Hunter thieves. It was the unknown ones that would prove problematic. Pioneer 2 was the second wave of settlers so it carried only sixty thousand people made up of humans, newmen and androids. But twenty five thousand of those were members of the Hunters Guild in some capacity and that does not discount those who would imitate a hunter for whatever reason.
She raised the glass to her mouth but put it back to the table when her arm beeped. A BEE system message. The message was direct, "Come to the telepipe reception area in the labs immediately." There was no name signed to it. The message header had been spoofed so she could not determine who had sent it. She paused for two seconds and then strode purposefully toward the Lab.