Chapter 7
7:32, February 2, 2262, Mars.
For the first time in what seemed like months, Susan woke peacefully, her dreams untroubled by the nightmares that normally plagued her rest. As her still drowsy mind began to focus, she realised that somehow she had woken up without the need for an alarm call, and a very rare event indeed. Yawning she stretched out, enjoying the softness and warmth of her bed. She still delighted in the feel of blankets and a quilt when she slept, despite the fact that the ship climate control could easily had set the temperature to whatever level she wished. It was a small luxury, but one that she allowed herself whenever possible.
She felt strangely relaxed and comforted, and for once had no memory of what she had dreamed the night before. Usually her almost perfect memory could recall the details of her nightmares, so they could plague her throughout the day. This made two dreams in as many days that she had been unable to recall; perhaps her life was turning around at last. This dream was very different from the one she had experienced while lying under the rubble of the ruined café on Mars High. There was just the faint memory of a beach, a warm sun, and the gentle touch of flesh against flesh. 'Why is it I can never remember the good dreams,' Susan thought to herself with a wry smile as she at dragged herself out of the warm bed and off to face another day.
Her mind quickly focused on other matter though as she saw the time displayed on the screen mounted on the wall of her bedroom. "That can't be right," she said to herself, rubbing her eyes to clear away the last vestiges of sleep. Looking again she realised that the time was correct, and somehow she had overslept by nearly an hour and a half.
"Computer, why didn't my alarm wake me," she asked with a slightly annoyed tone.
The cool, mechanical voice of the ships computer responded at once, "Your alarm call was deactivated."
"What! Who deactivated it?"
"That command was issued by Commander Gregor Petrov at oh one twenty hours this morning."
Susan knew she should be angry with the Commander, but could not argue with his wisdom. She had been through a lot lately, and one night of good sleep wasn't going to hurt her. Turning away from the computer, she opened the sliding doors leading to the rest of her quarters. T here her eyes fell on the packing crates she had bought with her from Babylon 5, still sitting where she had left them several days ago.
Susan sighed, realising that if she was ever going to see this vessel as her new home she would have to eventually unpack her belongings, at least those few she had kept. She thought about finishing the task now, but instead pulled out a fresh uniform and marched off to the bathroom, and a warm, soothing shower.
While she stood in the warm flow of water, she decided to make use of the extra sleep that had been forced on her, instead of heading out straight away. After all if her executive officer had deactivated her alarm then he probably wasn't thinking of seeing her any time soon, so he wouldn't mind her using the time to get settled and unpack her belongings. "And there is nothing wrong with a long shower," Susan muttered to herself as she luxuriated in the warm water.
Eventually, after nearly half an hour she decided that she had taxed the ship's resources enough for one day and forced herself to leave the shower. After drying off she dressed in her uniform, leaving her shirtsleeves unbuttoned for now and the jacket lying over the back of one of the chairs in the lounge. Looking at the two large crates, and one smaller one, lying on the floor she sighed for a moment before forcing herself into the task, opening the first crate and pulling out the clothing she had kept from Babylon 5.
She had never really owned a lot of clothing, usually just her uniforms and one or two good sets of casual clothing for when she was off duty. She piled the meagre contents of her wardrobe onto the bed while she scavenged for hangers to put them on. Fortunately, someone had done good job in supplying her quarters with everything she might need, and she soon had her clothing put away.
The second large crate contained all of the rest of her personal items, including books, cookware, knick-knacks and the rest of the items she had thought important enough to bring with her from Babylon 5. Finally, she pulled the foam wrapped packages that contained her certificates of promotion. After looking proudly at the one that proclaimed her promotion to captain for a moment she put them aside to place in her office later, along with the two painting she had though good enough to keep.
It took her nearly another half an hour to put everything away in its correct places, but even when it was done the rooms of her quarters still looked empty and barren and she was reminded of exactly how little she had actually kept from her old quarters. Still, she had arrived on Babylon 5 with much less, and while she no longer had a handy shopped district like Babylon 5's Zocalo, she imagined she would find time in the months to come to do a little shopping.
Pushing the now empty crates into the equally empty storeroom she turned to the last crate, the one John had sent her. Opening it up she pulled out the Minbari clothing that John and Delenn had sent her held it briefly against one cheek again to feel the soft fabric before placing them in the wardrobe with her uniforms and the rest of her clothing. G'Kar's Narn cookware she put on a shelf in the small kitchen, admiring the way the dark earthen tones of the pottery dominated the dull room.
Londo's bottles of brevare she eyed suspiciously before placing on a shelf in the lounge room, next to a vase her mother had once owned. She wasn't sure if Centauri wine was actually fit for human consumption, but the light shining through the reddish-yellow liquid did have a nice effect. Perhaps if she ever had someone visiting she could test its effects on humans, especially if it was someone she didn't like, for some reason immediately thinking of the Psi-Cop Bester.
Dismissing those thoughts as idle fantasy she quickly flicked through the rest of the items in the crate, eager to be done with the job of unpacking and back to her real job. The music data crystals Franklin had sent her she scattered around the player in her bedroom, making another mental note to listen to them sometime. Garibaldi's data crystals she dumped in the bottom of one of her drawers along with the Daffy Duck boxer shorts he had sent her. As she did so, something fell out of one of the pockets and onto the ground.
Reaching down she picked up another data crystal, this one wrapped in a piece of paper. Susan pulled the paper away from the crystal and scanned the writing, reading it out load as she did so.
Susan,
I thought you might find this interesting.
G.
Slipping the paper into her pant's pocket she slipped the data crystal into the player. Instead of a message, all that appeared on the screen is what looked a lot like static. Frowning she pulled the crystal out of the player and tried it again, but with the same results. 'There must be something on it,' she thought, realising that if the crystal had been blank the screen would not have displayed anything at all. Susan tried several more attempts, asking the computer to filter out any interference it could find. There was nothing though and she finally gave up in frustration, tugging the crystal out of the reader in annoyance.
Opening up the drawer where she had tossed the rest of the Garibaldi's data crystals was about to place this one in there as well. As she did though, Susan noticed a strange marking on the bottom of the crystal. Data crystals were not usually marked at all, as it interfered with the storage process. Usually if an identifying mark was needed a label was added. This one though had a peculiar symbol etched into the crystal. She looked at it closely, noticing that it appear strangely familiar. After staring at it for several seconds, the symbol's origin came to mind. It was Vorlon, in fact one of the symbols she had seen adorning Kosh's ship. Unfortunately, she didn't read Vorlon, so that wasn't much assistance.
Placing the crystal back in the drawer with the others, she pushed it shut and glance up at her clock again. It now read nearly ten, which meant that she had managed to waste another hour and a half of her normal day. Slightly annoyed with herself she forgot about the reason she had been taking the time off in the first place and hurried about the lounge room straightening everything while at the same time trying to pull on her jacket and button up her shirt sleeve. Finally she managed to get that all done and after tucking her framed certificates under one arm hurried from her quarters and into her office.
After sliding her data card into the door lock to ensure the door to her quarters was secured Susan placed her certificates on her desk in a haphazard manner and sat down at in her chair, ready to get on with the day ahead. She was nearly three hours late, when compared to her normal start time, but it appeared that her slate was clean this morning, with very little scheduled to keep her occupied. "More of Petrov's work probably," she muttered softly to herself as she scrolled down the list of messages, choosing what to read and what to discard.
The first message was a vid message from Commander Petrov, so she opened it.
"Good morning Captain, or afternoon as it may well be. I'm sorry to have to force you to take some rest like that, but as your executive officer it is my job to ensure that you are fully rested and ready to do your job, and after all that happened yesterday I didn't think that you would be without a good night's sleep. Anyway, just letting you know who was responsible for deactivating your alarm, although you will probably know that by now. I don't intend on making a habit of this, but I thought that just once you wouldn't mind a sleep in. Don't worry about being late I have taken care of most things for the morning, not that there is anything that requires your presence right now anyway. I will expect you for lunch, but no sooner hopefully."
Susan decided to forgive him. After all, she had enjoyed sleeping that extra hour or so, and as Petrov had said in his message, it wasn't like there was a lot going on. Still as the ship's captain, Susan thought she should set an example and that meant not sleeping in while the rest of her crew was busy working. Fortunately, she had learnt a few tricks on Babylon 5 and after bringing up the computer's service menu quickly deactivated the Commander's access to her person systems, ensuring that he never had the chance to do anything like that again.
"I guess there are some bonuses to working with Mr Garibaldi after all," Susan said to herself as she smiled at a job well done. She didn't like having to do that, especially as she wanted to get alone with her new crew. However, she liked people altering her computer settings even less.
Closing down the service menu she quickly scanned the rest of the messages, noticing one was a report about the final repairs to the artificial gravity system, while the rest were information about new crew members and lists of supplies bought in on the latest cargo shuttles. She quickly scanned the cargo lists and deleted them. The crew dossiers she filed for later reference, seeing nothing that required her immediate attention. That done there was only one message left on her computer left to read and eager to be done she opened that.
The repair report indicated that the artificial gravity system was now operating at its optimum, which meant that it was still less that perfect, but at least it was working now. Gravity was stable across all decks and there were no longer any fluctuations as the power supply rose and fell. Attached to the report were several suggestions from the chief engineer Philip Moore on how to improve the system. She scanned them, but found little in the files that she even understood so quickly decided not to authorise any alterations until she knew more. She trusted her new chief engineer more than she did Kozlowski, but with the Rasputin due to depart for Proxima III shortly, this was hardly the time for upgrading the systems. For a moment she thought about sending off a message asking for more information but dismissed that idea when she realised that such an action would probably result in a flood of reports from engineering, none of which she would understand any better.
Finishing with the last of the reports she sat back in her chair spun around to look at the barren room. Petrov had wanted her to take the entire morning off, but after a couple of minutes sitting in her chair doing nothing as she was seriously contemplating watching some of the films on the data crystals Garibaldi had sent her. That probably wouldn't be a good idea though, and would only leave her hot and bothered. For another minute she sat and idly swirled her finger across the screen, absently drawing shapes of the console. As she sat there, thoughts slowly began to slip back to the past and unbeknownst to her she began to trace a face with her finger, gently, and with soft caressing touches.
Her pleasant daydreams ended abruptly though as a harsh beeping sound cut into her thoughts. Glancing up she noticed that the screen on her desk was now displaying a flashing indicator indicating an important message. She tapped the control on her desk that would bring up the message and noticed with some confusion that it was text only, and that it had no source listed. This was most unusual, as she would not expect an anonymous message on an Earth Alliance warship. The security system had been designed to always tag a message with a code indicating it's source to prevent false orders from being sent. This message though had no code, no source, and no sender's address. Despite her trepidation about what the message may contain Susan opened it and slowly read the words as they filled the screen.
"If you want to know why Futurecorp was interested in Arisia 3 then come to the Lazarus Casino in New Vegas today at 14:30. Sit in the main restaurant area, and I will contact you there. Look for someone wearing a Futurecorp badge. Come alone and without a weapon or the meeting is off."
That was it, no name or anything that might identify the send, just the message. Susan thought for a moment and then pressed the button for a hard copy and waited while the printer slid out the small piece of recycled paper containing the message on the screen.
Susan sat back and considered the message for a minute. She knew now that there was more to the attack at the cafe yesterday than just an assassination of a business rival. Anyone capable of cutting though Earthforce's security to send an anonymous message either had access to some very sophisticated technology or a very good hacker. That would suggest a lot of money and therefore either one of the big companies or the Martian Mafia. Susan didn't really want to have anything to do with either, but she was interested in finding out why the lawyer had been killed, and why exactly Futurecorp had been interested in what was, according to the Earth Alliance records, a fairly worthless mining lease. They had certainly been interested enough to offer enough money to allow her to retire from Earthforce and live comfortably for the rest of her days should she wish.
Pocketing the slip of paper, Susan rose and left the room, making up her mind to go to the meeting, despite the fact it was possibly a trap. There were too many unanswered questions about yesterday's events, and she didn't like that one bit. More pressing concerns caught her attention though as her stomach gave a hungry rumble and she decided that the shuttle bay via the dining room might not be a bad idea. The message had said the meeting was at two thirty in the afternoon, so that still left her with plenty of time to get there.
As she left the room Susan's mind was so occupied with thoughts about the message that she did not notice the message on the screen quietly deleting itself, ensuring that there was no way it could possibly be traced now.
The officer's dining room was empty by the time Susan arrived, as she expected it would be this late in the morning. Still she didn't really mind eating alone. In fact, she quite enjoyed it. There was little enough time on board a starship when it's captain could be alone, so every little bit helped. Still she had other things on her mind this morning, namely the message she had just received.
She was still undecided exactly what to do about it. She wanted to discover the reasons behind the attack on the station, but the way the message had been sent troubled her greatly. Susan wouldn't have counted herself as an amateur in regards to the workings of the communications system, having several times circumvented normal procedure to bypass the security system on Babylon 5 when her father was dying. Even then, the messages she sent had not been anonymous. In fact, the only way she knew to get an anonymous message through Earthforce's security system was is if both sides agreed on the system before hand. During the civil war, it had been possible for the resistance on Mars to send almost untraceable messages to Babylon 5, but that was only after both sides had agreed on frequencies and transmission times.
Given the general emphasis Earthforce placed on security in communication at the moment it wasn't likely that someone from the outside had managed to break their code and send the message, which meant that someone within Earthforce or the government had sent it, or at the very least someone with a expert's knowledge about Earthforce security systems. Both answers were equally troubling, especially as the message was supposed to come from someone in Futurecorp, or at least it was structured to give that impression. Following her reasoning Susan now thought that was unlikely, which meant that someone else had sent the message and it was most likely a trap, unless there was some sort of conspiracy and someone on the inside was trying to pass on information to her so she could break it wide open.
Sighing deeply at the confusing choices she faced Susan walked over to the dispenser to see what glories the autochef had managed to cook up for her breakfast today. As expected, the food was little more than the normal artificial slush that was served on most Earthforce vessels, nutritious but not very appetising. She picked up a plate though and took a seat near the vid screen, which someone had left running.
ISN was the channel currently selected and they were running a story about an IPX expedition into Vorlon space, which didn't sound like a particularly good idea to Susan. Still now that the Vorlons were gone, it was bound to happen sooner or later, she could only hope that she wouldn't have to be the one sent to rescue them when they got themselves into trouble, and sooner or later they would. She could still vividly remember the horror unleashed on Babylon 5 when they had activated the alien device they found in hyperspace and nearly bought about the end of this galaxy. Although quick thinking on the part of Sheridan and the rest of the crew had managed to save the day she still was very sceptical of the methods of the IPX staff, they were too quick to make decisions and did not think things through thoroughly enough for her liking.
On the screen, the ISN reporter was interviewing a Captain Lawton who was about to take command of the mission, and had Susan been less concerned about other matters she might have found it interesting. Instead, it was just an annoyance, and the whole idea gave her cold chills, so she shut down the screen and dug into her meal.
As expected her meal was nothing spectacular, but it did take her mind off other matters for a while and focused it instead on the nature of her food. Somewhere, on Proxima III or one of the other colonies there was a vast vat where the protein that made up her meal was grown. Few people could afford real food any more, preferring instead the cheaper artificial food which was really nothing more than the necessary proteins and nutrients mixed together with colouring and flavour and then repackaged into a hundred different forms. It sustained life, but it wasn't what she liked to eat, especially after being spoiled on Babylon 5 with fresh fruits and vegetables from the hydroponics gardens.
Susan resolved to put thoughts of the origins of her meal into the deepest recesses of her mind and focus instead on the taste, which really wasn't bad. That done she quickly polished off her meal and was about to clear away the plate when her linked beeped. Tapping the receive button she said, "yes what is it?"
A slightly hesitant, voice at the other end responded, "sorry to disturb you captain but Lieutenant-Commander Schmitt was wondering if you would like to join him in the shuttle bay. There is a shuttle coming in from Earth soon with some of the new Starfury pilots on board and he was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming down and greet them personally."
"Tell him I will be down in a few minutes," Susan said, clearing away what was left of her meal and heading towards the exit. She paused only for the small amount of time that it took to switch off the vid screen before heading for the lift down to the lower decks.
No sooner had she walked off the lift into the shuttle bay before she had a data pad shoved towards her by a young duty officer who was waiting for her. Looking at the pad, she noticed it contained a list of names and one, a Lieutenant Audrey Schmitt immediately caught her attention. 'No wonder the Lieutenant-Commander wanted me to meet the shuttle,' she thought with a brief smile lighting up her face. Looking up from the pad she caught the eye of the duty officer and asked, "where can I find Lieutenant-Commander Schmitt?"
"He asked me to direct you to him Captain," the NCO replied.
"Lead on then."
"Yes Captain," he said with a slightly sloppy salute that Susan barely even noticed. "If you will just follow me."
The duty officer led her across to a small gathering on the far side of the shuttle bay, which just yesterday had been hidden behind a stack of crates and other containers. Obviously, her crew had been busy this morning. Waiting for her were Lieutenant-Commander Alister Schmitt, Commander Gregor Petrov, and her chief engineer Philip Moore, who looked like he had just come from the engine room with a streak of black grease running down one side of his uniform.
Alister Schmitt was in an animated discussion with the other officers about a sporting event of some kind, at least that was all Susan could make out before they noticed her and ended their conversation to welcome their Captain. "Good of you to come Captain," Alister said in a jovial tone.
Susan also noticed that he was wearing his best uniform and his boots were polished so bright she was beginning to wonder if perhaps some sort of warning should be put on them, especially with the light from huge shuttle bay spotlights shining off them. Walking up to the group, she also noticed that Commander Petrov was looking a little concerned. 'Probably worried if I am going to chew him out after what he did,' she thought. Having put the morning to good use anyway she had already decided not to say anything. Looking over at Alister she said, "you are looking a little different this morning Lieutenant-Commander. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that an admiral was coming to visit instead of just a shuttle load of pilots. Is there something I should know."
"Nothing important Captain, I just cleaned my uniform and boots this morning that's all," was the response, but for some reason Alister could not keep a cheerful smile off his face.
"I see," Susan said with an answering smile. She turned and looked at the rest of the officers. "So what were you all discussing when I got here?"
"Nothing important," Petrov answered. "Just talking about the latest football results from the qualifying rounds of the world cup, then Phillip here started an argument about who had the right to call their sport football and that was about when you arrived."
Susan sent a quizzical look the engineer's way as he hurried to explain. "What I was saying Captain is that soccer doesn't have the right to be the only sport called football, what about rugby?"
Susan shook her head in amusement, "well to tell you the truth gentlemen I have never really been that interested in sport. There are other more important things in life for me."
"Like basketball," Petrov said.
Further argument, however playful, was put on hold though as the red light above the right airlock came on, indicating that a shuttle was inbound. Shortly afterwards another light came on over the second airlock. "Well it certainly seems to be busy this morning," Susan said. "Which shuttle are you all waiting for?"
Alister pointed towards the right airlock. "That one I believe. I don't know what the other shuttle is, but it is probably just another cargo transport. We've had a few lately as you might have noticed."
Susan nodded and they all stood there quietly as the airlock doors opened and the large shuttle was carried across the bay by the giant claw-like magnetic clamps that hung from the ceiling. As the clamp receded to pick up the other incoming shuttle in airlock two the ground crew ran up with a portable ladder so the newly arrived pilots could disembark. In ones and twos, they did so, all carrying heavy looking bags of personal equipment.
Despite the long trip from Earth, most still looked fresh and awake. Susan felt faintly disgusted thinking that they probably got more sleep on the shuttle than she did most nights. Still she smiled and greeted each of the new arrivals one by one, as they filed off the shuttle, as did Alister who would be their direct commander on the Rasputin. As she greeted them she was briefly reminded of the fighter pilots on Babylon 5, how they had looked before the wars and how different they were now. These men and woman showed just as much experience, and behind every face, she could see the hardness that only came with experience in battle.
One of the last off the shuttle was a tall woman in the uniform of a lieutenant. Susan was immediately taken by the resemblance between her flight commander and the pilot. Both were tall, and their eyes were the same shade of brown. The young pilot was even more excitable than her father and wasted no time professing her pleasure at being assigned to the Rasputin. With Alister, she was even less reserved, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him while Susan and the other officers pretended not to notice.
After Audrey and the other pilots had left, Susan turned to her flight commander and said, "a friend of yours Mr Schmitt?"
He nodded, "umm yes, my daughter actually Captain. She had just finished training at the academy and asked to be posted here."
Petrov raised an eyebrow. "And Earthforce agreed?"
Alister nodded again then looked at the Commander with a slight grin covering his face. "Well actually I was allowed to choose which pilots were going to serve under me."
"I understand completely Lieutenant-Commander," Susan said. "It can be difficult serving away from your families. Just make sure her presence does not interfere with your job."
"I won't captain," Alister assured her.
"Good," Susan said turning around to watch the activity in the shuttle bay. The small crowd of fighter pilots had swaggered off in the direction of the lifts where one of the crewmen was busy directing them towards their quarters and all the necessary amenities.
By now the second shuttle, a small atmospheric model that Susan recognised as one of the Rasputin's own, had arrived and been lowered onto the deck on the far side of the shuttle bay. It's single occupant turned out to be Dr Nathan Kozlowski, who didn't waste time with greetings. Instead, he hurried off towards the lifts, his face almost hidden behind a large pile of plastic covered packages he carried in his arms. Susan frowned as she saw him and muttered, "what the hell is he up to now."
Philip heard her comment and replied, "I believe the doctor is working on some new special project. I don't know what it is, he hasn't told anyone yet. I asked him yesterday and all he said was that it was a hard nut to crack."
Susan frown grew even deeper. "This doesn't have anything to do with him stealing tools off our maintenance crews does it? I thought he was here to keep an eye on the running of this vessel as part of its testing, not to start hindering its day-to-day operations. Perhaps you would like to have a word with him sometime to make sure he works on any of his projects strictly in his own time."
"I will take care of it Captain," the engineer assured her.
"Well if that's it for crew arrivals for a while I guess I had better get back to work," Petrov cut in. "I still have to arrange quarters for fifty new pilots and a hundred other things that have to be done before we will be ready to get under way."
"Actually there is one other thing I wanted to discuss with you Commander," she said, handing Petrov the slip of paper containing the message she had been sent. "Someone sent this to me this morning, as an anonymous message. I was wondering what your opinion was."
Petrov scanned the short message before replying. "This was an anonymous message?" he asked cautiously.
As Susan nodded, Philip Moore who was still standing nearby broke in to their conversation. "I didn't think it was possible to send an anonymous message to an Earth Alliance warship. I mean, I don't understand the security systems as well as I could, but it should be fairly secure."
"Well someone did," Susan said. "I don't know how but they managed to do it."
"Amazing," Philip said shaking his head. "I mean I know it is possible to do within a closed system, in fact quite easy if you know how, all you need is the correct pass codes. An anonymous message from outside the system is supposed to be near impossible, as the security codes are hard-coded into the communications system. Are you sure it was completely anonymous, there was no source indicated?"
Susan shook her head. "No. It was completely anonymous with no indication at all of where it came from."
"And that makes me inclined the think you shouldn't have anything to do with whoever sent this message," Petrov said. "After all if it was legitimate they would hardly be sending anonymous messages to Earthforce vessels."
"Still I am thinking of going anyway just to make sure. It is possible that the message is real and there is lot more to the whole situation that I originally thought."
Petrov shook his head in disagreement. "I am not sure I can agree with that Captain, New Vegas is hardly a safe place. If it was on Mars High or one of the other areas where Earthforce still has some presence maybe, but New Vegas... that place is a haven of criminals, rebels, and who knows what else."
"I would have to agree with the Commander Captain," Philip said, although he sounded less sure.
"Well I don't." Everyone turned at looked at Alister, most of them having forgotten he was there. The flight commander looked a little nervous at all the attention but forged on with his argument. "I mean where is your spirit of adventure. Even if this message is a hoax there is little they can do to the Captain in a crowded casino, and if it isn't and you don't go then you miss out on a valuable opportunity."
"I still don't like the idea," Petrov said with a growing frown. "It is too dangerous."
"Perhaps," Susan agreed. "But it is an opportunity I don't think I can afford to give up."
Petrov still didn't look happy. "Very well Captain, but I will have to insist that you take a couple of Major Logan's marines along with for protection."
Now it was Susan's turn to look unhappy. "But the message did say to come alone."
"Nevertheless I still think you should take them. They don't have to be with out when you meet whoever sent this message, but having them in the casino just in case can't hurt."
Susan nodded in agreement. "Ok, can you let Major Logan know and get her to assign a couple of her men, and ask her to make them look as least something like tourists at least so whoever sent this message doesn't get too suspicious. If he spots them anyway, well then I'll worry about that when it happens. The message says to be there are fourteen thirty which is," Susan looked down at her link, which along it's other functions also has a small digital display built into it, "just over three hours from now. Ask the major to meet me back down her in an hour, I will prepare a shuttle for launch."
"Yes Captain," Petrov said with a smart salute before walking quickly towards the lift.
"Well I have to get back to my station, Captain," Philip Moore said. "Good luck down there."
"I can only hope I don't need it."
"A good pilot makes his own luck Captain," Alister cut in. "Come let's pick out a good shuttle. I assume you'll want to fly it yourself."
Susan thought about that for a moment before responding, "yes, I think I will. It is has been a while since I flew anything. I will need a co-pilot though, just in case."
Alister nodded as he consulted a data pad that he had pulled unseen from a pocket. "Hmm it looks like shuttle 3 is already prepped and refuelled. I will give you that one, and mark it down as being on a test run just in case anyone asks."
"That is probably for the best," Susan said, slightly despondently. "At least then if something goes wrong I won't get anyone in trouble."
"That is not a very good attitude to take Captain," Alister chided her. "After all as the old saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It is sort of my philosophy really."
Susan smiled despite the worry that was eating away at her inside. "I am afraid I am a little more pessimistic than you Lieutenant-Commander, and perhaps after the way everything has been turning out lately I think I have good reason to."
Alister shook his head with a wry smile on his face. "Well at least you are alive Captain, and as long as you are still alive things can not be that bad."
"I might disagree with you on that."
"Then you do not understand the philosophy of a fighter pilot," the flight commander said, now with a broad smile on his face. "If I get time sometime I will tell you. It is the philosophy I live my life by, and it has worked out so far. Although I am still only a Lieutenant Commander, so maybe it is not foolproof. Still the way I see things Captain everything works out for the best eventually."
"And if it doesn't?" Susan asked.
The flight commander shrugged. "Then you are dead."
"Being dead isn't going to help me much."
"Well perhaps not, but you won't have to worry about anything any more, you won't be able to." They both pulled up outside the doors leading into the smaller shuttle bays that held three of the six atmospheric shuttles. To free up space in the main shuttle bay the smaller shuttles had been given their own bays. Susan wasn't exactly sure on the wisdom of that decision, but it did make launching the shuttles a lot quicker as all that had to be done was to depressurise the smaller bay and open the outer doors, avoiding the messy process of the airlock in the main bay.
"I guess that is one way of looking at things," Susan said with a smile of her own, appreciating the humour in the flight commanders words.
"Indeed it is Captain," Alister said as he opened the door leading into shuttle bay 3. "Now lets get this shuttle ready to launch, we have some work to do if you are going to get there on time."
Dr Nathan Kozlowski's quarters were like his mind, cluttered, but full of all sorts of useful junk. The room was dominated by a large desk, covered with the doctor's latest notes, inventions, and the equipment for vital repairs. The standard blank walls found in all the other ships rooms were hidden behind large shelves that covered all the walls. These shelves were piled high with even more paper, old models of the Rasputin, engine parts, and a lot more junk. There was even a small portable fusion reactor sitting on one shelf, right next to the fish tank in which a single, unhappy looking goldfish swam in endless circles.
None of this mattered to Nathan though as he swept everything on his desk into a small storage crate and placed the now full crate onto one of the shelves. Then with the space made available he gathered up the packages that he had dropped near the door earlier and placed them on the desk instead, eager to unwrap them. Like a child at Christmas time, he tore into the plastic covering and tossed it aside, before sorting through the components and tools he had bought with him from Mars.
It has taken him nearly a day but he had finally managed to locate all the necessary components in the Earthforce storage depot. Of course sneaking them past the depot's quartermaster had taken much longer, but he had eventually managed it. So far the strange alien rock, or device, or whatever it was, had managed to resist everything he had thrown at it, but he was only just getting started. Rummaging through a chest that sat on the floor next to his bed, he pulled out a radiation suit. After pulling the suit on over his clothing, he made sure the door to his quarters was securely closed before opening his packages and beginning to work.
The small atmospheric shuttle touched down delicately on the long landing strip outside the New Vegas dome, it's arrival going almost unnoticed among the steady traffic of other shuttles, ground vehicles, and monorail cars. Mars may only have a population of around two million, but right now, it seemed that a large percentage of that population was here with Susan in New Vegas.
The flight had been without any major dramas, and Susan had found it strangely relaxing, well except for the almost continuos chatter from her co-pilot, a middle aged former civilian pilot who had only recently signed up with Earthforce after his taxi business went bust during the war. He was a likeable enough man, but his ability to talk about seemingly minor details did not make him a friend in his Captain.
Fortunately, after that they had enter the Martian atmosphere and both had been forced to keep an eye open for other traffic. The controllers on Mars High though kept her informed correctly and Susan's managed to avoid any contact with other fliers as she manoeuvred her vessel into an almost perfect landing.
Now she was on the planet, walking toward the casino where the meeting was supposed to be held, in the company of Major Lillian Logan and two Marines who, although they had dressed casually, still looked like they were on parade. She hadn't originally intended on taking the Major along was well, but after she had insisted Susan didn't really feel like arguing, especially against someone who looked like they every intention of not budging for their position.
Looking around her Susan was reminded of how out of place she probably looked in the city and it's glittering buildings and equally glittering residents. Her destination, the Lazarus Casino, was not one of the largest in New Vegas. That title went to the Crown Casino, which dominated the city in both size and glamour. However, Lazarus was one of the more popular and well known casinos, having been built into the northern side of the dome during the city's construction, so it was possible to look out over the Martian landscape while you gambled. It was also close to the shuttle landing strip so passengers could easily find their way on foot instead of having to take a taxi or shuttle bus across the dome to one of the other casinos.
Susan would have thought that this would have made it popular, but it was remarkable quiet outside as she walked through the large bronzed doors. Of course, it would likely liven up later on that day when the last shift from the factories knocked off for the night and the workers, their credit chits flushed with hard-earned money, would ride the transport tubes from across Mars to New Vegas.
After passing the two hulking security men who scanned everyone who enter for weapons Susan found that her initial thoughts from the outside were wrong and the casino was actually a lot busier than she expect. Unknown to her the casino had another larger entrance built below the building, opening out into the New Vegas terminal for the Martian wide transport system. Not knowing quite where to go she asked directions to the restaurant and after being pointed in the right direction by one of the many security men who were scattered around the building headed off towards her destination with her three protectors close behind.
Fortunately, the restaurant was almost empty with most of the casino's patrons busy in the other parts of the building, or still in their hotel rooms far above, sleeping off their previous night's activities. Spotting a smaller bar off to one side of the main eating area Susan led her companions towards it. The bar was raised above the main restaurant and it would provide a good view of anything that happened below.
"I think you should wait here Major," Susan said, pointing at an unoccupied table that overlooked the sunken eating area below. "After all I don't want you to scare off this guy, whoever he is."
The Major looked concerned. " I am not sure that is a good idea Captain, what if he has a weapon. I am not sure I would be able to reach you in time."
Susan smiled. "I don't think he would be able to get past the scanners would he now." She pointed towards the main door where it was still just possible to see the hulking shapes of the two security men holding the portable scanners that had been used on everyone entering the building.
"Anyone can fool the scanners Captain," the major replied, slowly opening her jacket to show Susan a glimpse of the blunt shape of a small PPG in its holster beneath her arm. "It just takes a little skill. That and a good Earthforce issue jammer."
"Put that away," Susan whispered, nodding towards the nearby security men. "I don't think they would be too happy to find you waving a gun around inside their casino.
Lily glanced in the direction of the security and smiled at Susan's concerns. "Don't worry Captain. They can't see us from here. Besides I am hardly waving it around."
"I still think you should wait here, it will less suspicious for our friend, whoever he is."
In response, the Major shrugged and took a seat at the nearest table, indicating for her men to do the same. As they sat down, Lily looked back up at Susan and said, "As you wish Captain, but do try to be careful. I will do what I can to protect you, but it will be difficult to do anything if this guy pulls a gun on you instead of talking."
"I will be as careful as I possible can," Susan said as she walked away from the bar and took the short set of stairs down into the sunken restaurant. There she took a seat up against one of the large windows that looked out over the barren red Martian landscape. It was a glorious view, but Susan was too concerned about the upcoming meeting to enjoy it properly.
It was actually a very nice restaurant, despite currently being empty. Crystal chandeliers, which much have cost the Casino's owners a fortune, hung from the high ceiling and the seat Susan currently found herself sitting in was soft and comforting, not at all like the hard Earthforce issue seating in the Rasputin's dining room. On the far side of the restaurant, beneath the raised bar area, was a stage for a band or other entertainment. It was currently as empty as the restaurant though.
In fact in the entire place the only people present were herself, the major and her men, and a fat Centauri tourist who was sitting on a table of his own near the bar. An impressive feast was spread out on the table in front of him, and one of the two waiters who serviced the room was currently taking an order from him for even more food.
After several minutes of sitting quietly on her own, she saw a waiter approaching with a tray bearing a drink. After placing it on a coaster, he put in on her table. She tried to argue that she had not ordered anything, but he waved away her arguments by saying, "it is compliments of our other guest this afternoon Captain." He directed her attention to the Centauri tourist who, seeing her looking in his direction, raised his glass in a salute. Susan returned his salute, and almost breathed a sigh of relief when he did not make any move to join her, instead returning to his meal. T he last thing she wanted to do now was trade conversation with a Centauri, unless he was her contact of course.
That thought in mind she examined the Centauri closer, but could not see anything of real interest about him. He was larger than most Centauri, who tended to be slim. One look at the meal on his table though, and Susan could see the reason for his weight. The table in front of him was piled high with plates of food, including what looked like an entire apple pie sitting off to one side. Susan chuckled to herself under her breath, wondering with no small amount of amazement how one person could eat so much, even a Centauri, well known for their love of good living.
Thoughts of the Centauri were soon lost though as she continued to wait for her contact to arrive, assuming he was going to arrive at all and the whole thing was not just some sort of wild goose chase. She picked up her drink and looked at it for a moment, gently swirling the glass so the ice rolled around reflecting the light from the chandelier above. She didn't really want to drink anything right now, preferring to keep a clear head in case she had to act quickly. Instead, she just watched the light playing off the ice cubes.
Susan was still looking at the ice in her drink ten minutes later when suddenly the chair opposite her slid back with a loud grating sound. She looked up at the noise and watched as a man, dressed in a light grey suit, sat down at her table. On the lapel of his suit was a badge bearing the circular Futurecorp logo. Once seated he leaned forward and asked in a low voice, "Captain Ivanova?"
After she nodded in confirmation he let out a small sigh of relief. "I wasn't sure that you would come. It was a slightly unusual method I used to contact you, but I couldn't allow anyone else to know I was here or my life would be over."
"I can understand your concerns Mr?" Susan looked at him, waiting for him to fill in his name.
"Mr Black, Arnold Black. I work for Futurecorp and after what happened on the Mars station I knew I had to tell someone. There is so much going on that I couldn't just stand by and let them get away with killing Julia. Then I thought of you, and knew you would be the person to tell."
"Why don't you start at the beginning Mr Black and tell me what exactly is going on."
He looked hesitant for a moment and then asked her, "How much do you know so far. If you tell me what Julia passed on to you I can fill in the blanks a little quicker."
Susan thought back to what the lawyer had told her, and realised it had been precious little. "I don't really know anything Mr Black. All your lawyer told me was that she was interested in buying a planet called Arisia 3, which up until that moment I didn't even know existed. Then as I was making a call to check on some details the gunmen appeared and started shooting up the place."
Her contact nodded, "so you didn't hear anything about The Project, or Project A3?"
Susan shook her head, "no nothing like that."
He leaned closer, his eyes narrowing as he did so. "Are you sure Captain? Project A3, the name means nothing to you?"
Susan felt a sudden tingle running up her spine as he spoke and realised with horror that he was scanning her. "You're a telepath," she hissed in surprise.
"How did you know that?" he asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing.
Susan pushed back her chair and made a move to run away as fast as she could, but before she could leave her seat the telepath's left hand grabbed her arm, while his right came up from beneath the table, clutching a small, but still lethal looking, weapon.
"I don't think you are going anywhere Captain. My superiors are most interested in you." His eyes narrowed even further and an evil grin began to spread across his face as he pointed the weapon towards her, slowly squeezing the trigger, making sure Susan could see everything he was doing. "Now don't move Captain, I don't want this to get messy."
Before the weapon could fire though a large, meaty hand came down suddenly and grasped his wrist, and with a sickening crunch of bone twisted it upwards sharply. The gun fired, sending it's small stun dart shooting safely into the ceiling and out of harms way. The large hand then released the telepath's wrist, allowing his hand to flop downwards, the weapon slipping from now senseless digits. Before the telepath could react, the same hand gripped the front of his shirt and hauled him bodily from his chair and onto his feet.
Susan lifted her eyes, following the hand along its large muscled arm to the body of a heavily built man who now stood beside the table. He was dressed in the uniform of the casino security, a uniform that was stretched tight across an impressive body that appeared to be mostly muscle. With a snarl at the whimpering telepath, the security officer dragged him away, taking little notice of the way the telepath clutched his broken hand and cried out in pain.
Behind her, Susan was aware of the sounds of running footsteps and glancing around saw Major Logan, followed closely by the two marines that had accompanied her, hurrying across the nearly empty room towards Susan's table. Susan turned around and looked back towards the security officer, watching him dragging the telepath across the bar towards a side exit. The fat Centauri she had noticed earlier was following the pair, an outrageous red and green cape flowing out behind him as he hurried to catch up with them. Even from her location, she could hear the telepath's complaints, but it must have been a common occurrence as none of the waiters or other staff seemed to be interested in what was going on around them.
Any further view of what was occurring was blocked by the sudden appearance of a gold suit directly in front of her. Looking up into the face of the owner of the suit Susan was confronted by a tall, thin man with dark, slicked back hair and what appeared to be a permanent facial tick.
"Captain Ivanova?" the man asked, extending perfectly manicured hand in her direction.
Susan took his hand, intending on shaking it, but he turned her hand around and raised it to his lips. "And you are?" she asked calmly, despite the fear she felt inside at what was going to happen to her now if the telepath had detected her own latent telepathic abilities.
"Andre Manavis," the man said, still holding her hand in his. "I am the owner of this establishment and I must apologise for this incident Captain, had I known that man was a telepath I wouldn't have allowed him inside, and I can not image how he managed to sneak a weapon past my sensors."
"How did you know he was a telepath?" she asked sharply.
Manavis gave her a slick smile and pointed in the direction of the departing Centauri. "I have my own telepath, one that doesn't belong to Psi-Corp. It makes things a little easier to run my business and no one suspects anything. Of course, you won't tell Psi-Corp now, will you?"
"I don't have a lot of dealings with the Psi-Corp Mr Manavis," Susan replied.
He nodded. "Well I Can't say I blame you. I used to do some business with them before the civil war, but since then they have increased their prices and although it is more expensive to hire my Centauri friend, at least I don't have to deal with those Psi-Cops. And now that Mars is going to be independent I don't have to follow the Alliance rules any more either."
Susan looked in the direction of the side exit and noticed the security men dragging the telepath through the door. "What are you going to do with him," she asked. Almost immediately she realised what the real answer would be, but for some reason felt almost comforted by that, although deeper inside she felt a little sick that she could wish someone, even a telepath, dead.
"We will take good care of him," Manavis answered. "You need not worry about that. Now if you will excuse me for just one minute I have to consult with my assistant." He hurried off towards the side exit calling out for the Centauri telepath to wait.
Manavis caught up with the Centauri telepath before he left the bar. "Make sure the staff is moved out of the room before I get there. The less witnesses there are the better, after all the last thing I want is a horde of Psi-Cops running around here looking for their friend here. I might need you later to see what everyone in the bar knows, for the usually price of course."
The Centauri nodded his head once in agreement and then followed the bouncers into the kitchen. Manavis waited for a few minutes and then followed his assistant inside, another two security men joining him. Inside the large kitchen, the telepath had been thrown on the floor, and was surrounded by a ring of security staff. One of the security men picked up and began admiring a large metal rod that had been sitting against the wall.
Manavis walked over to the ring of security men and looked down at his prisoner. Then a thought grabbed him and he tugged the Centauri telepath aside and whispered to him. "Are you blocking any messages he might be trying to send to his bosses?"
The Centauri nodded and said softly in heavily accented English, "he had been broadcasting almost constantly since Jack grabbed him, but I have blocked his thoughts. He is not strong enough to break through my block, us Centauri are much better at this sort of thing than Human telepaths."
Manavis looked pleased, "good, I didn't want this place flooded by Psi-Cops, that would be a little bit too much right now. But I still need to send a message to them that the casino's of New Vegas are off limits to Psi-Corp and anyone else who wants to interfere with our business."
Turning back to the injured telepath Manavis said, "Well, it looks like you have been a naughty boy doesn't it. I thought that we told your bosses before that we don't like telepaths running around New Vegas, and I certainly don't want them in my casino. Yet here you are, and threatening a hero of Mars no less."
"She is no hero," the telepath snarled at the gangster.
Manavis just smiled at the telepath's outburst. "Ah but you see that is where you are wrong. She served as Sheridan's second and it was Sheridan who freed Mars and allowed me to get my casino back. Then you have go and threaten her with a weapon, in my own place no less. Didn't you read the sign over the entrance that said no weapons or telepaths allowed. Why that is twice you have broken the rules in one day."
Sweat began to dribble down the telepath's forehead as he eyed the bouncer with the steel rod, who was now slapping it gently against his hand and smiling broadly at the telepath. There was nothing warm in that smile though, or in the manner of the other members of the casino's security team as they moved closer around the telepath. Searching for a way out of the situation, he resorted to the most popular method used by the Psi-Corp, threats. "If you do not let me go right now you will have more trouble than you can handle with the Corp."
Whatever reaction he had been seeking, he certainly didn't expect the peals of laughter that broke out around him. The only people in the room not laughing were the Centauri and Manavis both of whom just stood there staring calmly at their prisoner. Manavis waited quietly for the laughter to die down before responding to the telepath's threat. "I still don't think you understand the situation Mr Black, if that is your real name. You see Mars is no longer part of the Earth Alliance, so we don't follow your rules with regard to telepaths and the Psi-Corp. In fact, I think many people would want to see your kind dead after the way you treated the rebels during the war. So while that sort of threat may get you somewhere on Earth and the other Alliance worlds it doesn't carry much weight here on Mars, and even less so with in my casino. I am afraid you are going to have to be taught a lesson."
"You can't do this," the telepath cried out. "I am a member of Psi-Corp, I have rights. You can't do anything to me."
Manavis knelt down and patted the telepath on the cheek. "I will think you will find that I can do whatever I like. Without Earth Alliance troops to enforce the law around here, we are going to have to do a little enforcing of our own from now on. At least until the new Mars government gets up and running and sends in its own police force." He then stood and looked at one of the bouncers. "Gag him Jack, I don't want his screaming to upset my customers.
The security man in question nodded once and pulled out a roll of thick tape, quickly covering the telepath's mouth before he could utter another complaint. The other bouncer's grabbed his arms and dragged him bodily towards a back door, the telepath struggling furiously.
Turning away Manavis looked at the Centauri telepath. "Make sure he is found somewhere near the Psi-Corps base, and try not to make as much of a mess this time. Last time I had to pay the cleaning staff a fortune to keep them quiet, and I don't want that happening again"
His assistant nodded once and followed the others out of the back door. Manavis watched them leave and then, after brushing a few specks of imaginary dust off his golden suit and making sure all his hair was still in place, left the kitchen and headed back to the main casino. Just as he stepped out through the door back into the restaurant, he noticed something shining on the floor. Bending down he picked it up. His face broke out with an amused smile when he noticed it was a Psi-Corp badge, which must have slipped from the telepath's pocket as they escorted him away. Rubbing with his fingers, he admired his reflection in the polished metal before slipping it into his own pocket.
Seeing Susan still standing next to her table he made his way back across the empty room to her side. "Captain Ivanova," he said in an apologetic tone. "I am so sorry that a nasty experience had to happen during your visit. Usually I run a nice clean casino, but I have been having some trouble with Psi-Corp for some time. As he tried to kill one of my guests with a pistol you can see why I don't like his kind around here."
"He will be ok." Susan hesitated, not really wanting to sound too interested in the telepath. "I mean I hope he won't get into any trouble over this incident."
Manavis smiled at her concerns, "You need not worry about him Captain. I will ensure that Psi-Corps are informed of the situation and it will be taken care of soon enough. In fact, my assistant is just bashing out a message for them on the old keyboard now. Now can I offer you a meal at our fine restaurant, on the house of course."
"I think I have had enough excitement for one day Mr Manavis, I might just head back to my ship."
"I understand how you must be feeling Captain, so let me offer you the service of my own personal shuttle to take you and your companions back to your vessel." Manavis gestured in the direction of one of the waiters who hurried towards his side.
Susan was quick to refuse the offer though, not really wanting to turn up at the Rasputin a luxury shuttle, which might raise a few too many questions. "There is no need, I have my own shuttle waiting for me, and I need to fly it back. After all my ship is leaving soon and it can't leave without all of its shuttles."
"Of course Captain," Manavis said, dismissing the waiter. "Then let me instead offer an invitation for you to visit my casino anytime you like, all meals on the house. I can not have the reputation sullied by this one incident."
"That is most kind," Susan said, smiling despite her misgivings. She didn't like the smooth gangster any more than the telepath, and right now only wanted to leave and get away from the casino, the planet and in fact the whole system.
"Anyway," Manavis continued, "I have other business to attend to right now, and so I must abandon you I am afraid. If you should need anything for the rest of your stay then please let me, or one of my staff know and I will do my best to assist you." He shook hands with her this time and then after a final offer of assistance left Susan and her party, taking the same side exit that Susan had seen the security men dragging the telepath through before.
As they headed towards the exit Susan turned to Major Logan and asked, "what do you think they will do to him?"
Lily shrugged, "if he is lucky they will just mindwipe him or something like that, but probably they will just kill him."
Susan looked appalled, at both the telepath's possible fate and the cold way Lily had answered her question. Inside she had already known what the answer would be, but despite her hatred for Psi-Corp, she had never contributed to the death of a telepath before. Sure, she had tossed one telepath who had tried to pick her up in a bar on Io station out a third story window, but he had been ok… eventually. "Can't we do something?" she asked hesitantly.
The Major stopped just outside the casino doors and looked at her with concern. "Look Captain, I know how you feel, you wouldn't be human if you didn't feel something. However, those men in there are most likely Martian Mafia and that telepath was dead the moment he walked in the door, there was nothing we could have done about it. Just because he attacked you doesn't mean that you are responsible for his death, assuming of course they kill him."
"It doesn't make me feel any better though."
"No it does," Lily agreed. "There is nothing we can do though, and filing a report would only lead to the Mafia coming after us, not to mention Psi-Corp. Let the two of them fight it out between them and we can just stay well out of the way."
"That is probably for the best," Susan said finally. Inside she felt nothing but relief, realising that what ever the telepath had found out about her it would die with him. It sicked her to feel this way, but she could not help but feel the way she did, knowing that for now she was still safe from the Psi-Corp."
"Of course all this leaves a lot more questions than answers," the Major continued. "I mean that telepath in there must have been tied up with the men who attacked the lawyer on the station. That could mean that Psi-Corp was behind the whole thing."
Susan waited until a small crowd of tourists had passed before answering. "Maybe, that would certainly explain how the attackers escaped from Mars High. However, I know of telepath's working outside the Corp before, and there are several internal divisions within Psi-Corp that aren't exposed to the public. You are right about one thing though this is getting very confusing. He nearly had me fooled there for a moment. He seemed more interested in finding out what I knew than anything else, at least to start with."
Lily nodded, "that would suggest that he was working for the same people who sent those gunmen to kill the Futurecorp lawyer doesn't it."
"I guess so," Susan said. She looked around to make sure that no one else was listening into the conversion. Apart from the two marines, who were keeping their distance from Susan and Lily, one guarding the front and the other the rear, there was no other soul in sight. Even the marines were too far away to hear what they were saying, which suited Susan fine. "Then he kept asking about something called Project A3. That was when he tried scanning me."
Lily looked confused about something for a second but there was no hesitation in her question. "A3! What was the name of that planet you were mentioning last night?"
"Arisia 3," Susan supplied.
"That was it," Lily said a joyful look of discovery lighting up her face. "I think I have the answer then. The telepath and the gunmen were part of one organization, maybe something being run by Psi-Corp, maybe not. Somehow, Futurecorp found out about whatever they were up to and wanted in on the action. That is why that lawyer came to see you, so she could buy mining rights to the planet. Whatever is going on must have something to do with that planet, probably some sort of scam or corporate war. Those business types are very ruthless when it comes to money."
Susan didn't look convinced. "That could be true, but I don't see why they need Arisia 3 though. From what I could find out about it, there is not much there. It is just a small mining world near the Narn border. Most of the major corporations turned down the mining lease when it was first offered, mainly because of its distance from Earth, which reduces any profit they might make. Besides, the quantities of Quantium 40 present are hardly even worth the effort it would take to mine them and any profit they made would be negligible."
"I still think the answer is there Captain," Lily said. "If you like I can look into it further, I like playing detective, and it will give me something to do on board the ship. Life for a marine is not that interesting you know. Most of the time we just sit around and play games in the rec hall, or train in the gym."
"Well if you don't mind I would love you to help out. The whole thing has me beat, not to mention worried. The sooner it is all sorted out the better."
"Then it is a deal Captain," Lily said with a smile. "I will begin as soon as we get back on board."