Part 25

The cries of the panicked passengers greeted Fox, Fara, and Jack as they stepped out of the elevator. The ship's crew scrambled from person to person, treating injuries and reassuring the passengers that there would be no further issues. One of the crewmen approached the group, pale and visibly shaken the young man spoke.

"I'm officer Thomas, do you have any injuries to report?"

"No." Jack replied.

"What about her?" Thomas said, pointing to Deetra.

"A server from the dining room. We were able to escape before the glass broke, she passed out when it started to get hot. Your ship was sabotaged Mr. Thomas and I think this individual knows who's responsible."

"A security camera in engineering caught two individuals cutting the ship's shield array."

"And you didn't try and stop them?" Fox said in disbelief.

"Our security team was busy elsewhere."

"Team?" Fara said. "As in one security team?"

"Yes. We don't have security issues on this or any other pleasure ship, so we don't have a large security staff. It simply isn't necessary"

"It was today." Fox said. "A bunch of innocent people died because security was spread too thin."

"I agree." Officer Thomas replied. "Off the record, I think it's a joke they don't have more security staff. Something like this was going to happen, we're fortunate it didn't destroy the ship or cause more casualties than it did. It's tragic to think like that I know, but still..."

"So who are they?" Jack interrupted. "The two you caught in engineering? Who are they working for?"

"I'm not authorized to discuss that with passengers."

"Here." Jack handed a small item to the officer, "Think we can discuss this now?"

"OK, I'll tell you what I know. We need to do this away from the other passengers though." Officer Thomas led Jack and the others to a small room nearby.

"I said away from the other passengers." Thomas said, pointing at Fara and Fox.

"They're with me." Jack told him. "They can hear whatever I can hear. I'm keeping the Kelden until I have a chance to talk with her."

"Fine, here goes," Officer Thomas began. "We had some reports of F-PAD operating in our last port of call, we followed standard procedure and swept the ship, but didn't turn up anything or anyone unusual in our search. We can't really go cabin to cabin without making the other passengers suspicious so we mainly watch the important parts of the ship."

"Like engineering." Fox said.

"I already said we were understaffed." Officer Thomas replied, clearly agitated. "After the shields went down the two suspects left the ship in one of the emergency escape capsules."

"Did anyone attempt to follow them?" Jack asked.

"No, we were too busy trying to scoop bodies out of space and keep people on the ship from panicking."

"So you have no idea where they went?"

"None, we scanned the area around the ship several times, they disappeared after they left the ship. The escape capsule is designed to propel itself 50 to 60km away from the ship then hold position until help arrives, it's not built for any kind of space flight."

"Could someone have tampered with that capsule?" Fara asked. "Is there a way to hide it from your sensors?"

"It's possible I guess." Thomas replied. "It would defeat the purpose of the capsule though, they're designed to have a very distinctive signature so other ships can find them easily among the debris of a wreck. I can have security look over the surveillance recordings of that escape capsule and see if anyone tampered with it in the last few days. It would take someone with security clearance to be able to get inside, they're locked down unless there's an emergency."

"So they had help from a member of the crew." Fara said. "Who's F-PAD?"

"Foundation to Protect Alien Dignity." Jack told her. "They're an organization that believes humans shouldn't have taken to space until we learned to live together in peace on the homeworld. They see the HSF as a threat to every species we come in contact with and our presence in space an insult to the 'noble' aliens that have colonized other worlds. Most of them just stage protests and file petitions in an attempt to get the HSF to relocate back to Earth. There are a few that attempt to keep humans out of space by making it so dangerous people are afraid to travel they attack ships, sabotage civilian transports, and murder pilots and passengers."

"They're a threat to every civilian ship." Officer Thomas interrupted. "We're constantly finding and disarming explosive devices their people leave behind. Most aren't large or sophisticated enough to do any damage, but people tend to panic when you mention a bomb on the ship."

"What about energy signatures, or thruster trails?" Jack said. "Have your people tried to scan for those?"

"This is a civilian ship, most of the crew on the bridge don't know what half the equipment does and will likely go their entire careers without ever using any of it."

"You've got to be kidding..." Jack said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Now what's your story." Officer Thomas interrupted before turning to Fara and Fox. "Two members of a recently discovered species that had their homeworld rendered uninhabitable are running around on a pleasure ship with a CSU."

"I don't think you need to know..." Jack replied before Fox interrupted.

"One of our own was taken to Thorin, we're going to get her back."

"Thorin." Officer Thomas looked dumbfounded. "Sorry I asked, my condolences."

"What do you know about Jordan Everitt?" Jack asked.

"I haven't seen Mr. Everitt since the incident." Thomas replied. "He's usually with the passengers whenever there's an incident. This is more serious than a passenger complaint though."

"I have reason to believe he's involved."

"Everitt? A member of F-PAD?" Thomas shook his head. "There's no way."

"When we were in the dining hall, right before the shields when down, this Kelden told me Mr. Everitt wanted us there and she was to report to him when we were seated and to be out of the room before dinner ended."

"I guess anything's possible nowadays, it's really a shame if Mr. Everitt is involved, he put his heart and soul into running this ship. Maybe it would be best if you all went back to your cabin with that Kelden and waited for me." Thomas told the group. "I'm going to get security and see if we can find Mr. Everitt, then we'll get this sorted out."

Fox, Fara and Jack went back to their room as Officer Thomas instructed. The usually busy areas of the ship were nearly deserted with only a few small groups of passengers scattered around talking quietly among themselves, most of the shops had closed or were empty, and many of the ships entertainment venues were deserted. Deetra regained consciousness shortly after the group returned to their room and immediately tried to escape before being subdued by Fox and Jack, she refused to speak and simply sat in a corner of the room glaring at the others. Fox and Fara passed the time browsing the shipnet while Jack watched Deetra, the silence was broken by a familiar voice coming from the room's intercom.

"Hello?" It was Officer Thomas. "Is anyone there."

"I'm here." Jack answered.

"Oh good, I need you to being that Kelden up to the bridge, I've got a couple of people that want to speak with her."

"Alright, we'll be right up."

"Just you and the Kelden, they insist."

"Will you two be alright here until I get back?"

"We'll be fine Jack." Fara replied.

"Deetra will not go." The Kelden said. "You cannot force me."

"It's not really an option at this point." Jack told her. The Kelden stood up and prepared to lunge at Jack, her clawed hands open and shaking slightly. "Deetra, we're going. Please don't make this more difficult than it needs to be."

"Everitt said Deetra will be free. All Deetra wants is to be free."

"You are free, whatever authority Mr. Everitt had over you is gone, he's done something very bad and is going to pay for it. You're not in any trouble as long as you don't attack anyone. Mr. Everitt left you to die in that dining room with everyone else, we picked you up and got you out of there. You have a chance to be free now."

"Deetra wants to go home." The Kelden began to relax. "Can you help me go home?"

"If you help us find the people responsible for what happened on this ship, I will make sure you get back home."

"Than Deetra is your servant now, Deetra is not free."

"No, all I'm asking for is a bit of help, the outcome is the same whether you help or not. If you help us though, we can complete our investigation and you can get back to your homeworld much sooner. The decision is yours, do you want to stay here longer or come with me, help and go home sooner?"

"Deetra will come." She said as she held out her hand. "Please don't hurt Deetra's trust."

"I'm not going to hold onto you." Jack said as he opened the door. "I trust you, so please trust me."

Deetra nodded and slowly followed Jack out the door, Jack turned and looked inside the room briefly, Fox and Fara were still seated at the small table inside.

"I'll be back soon, this shouldn't take long once Deetra tells her side of the story."

"Be careful Jack." Fara said as the door closed, she turned back to Fox who still had a small pistol in his hand. She didn't remember him picking one up.

"What were you going to do?" Fara asked.

"If she lunged at Jack, I was going to shoot." Fox replied. "Why didn't you have a weapon ready when she stood up?"

"We needed her." Fara replied. "I was going to try and help Jack if she attacked. I didn't want to kill her though. How are you holding up with everything that's happened?"

"I'm fine." Fox told Fara. "I just stay focused on finding Krystal. I've been reading about the planet we're going to, the humans have been there for a very long time, no wonder they don't want to give it up."

"Isn't it a terrible place though? Anyone we mention it to seems to really dislike it."

"Like Jack said, it's a paradise." Fox replied. "The weather is mild and rarely severe, the planet is covered with thick forest..."

"And flesh eating worms." Fara interrupted.

"The humans have some very detailed guides on how to deal with them. I don't think they are the big problem people make them out to be as long as you're prepared. Jack says we'll be prepared when we get there."

"Jack's been a big help through all of this." Fara said. "Have you known him very long?"

"No. Krystal brought me out to his ship just a few days before I brought you there. I'd say she knows more about him than I do. What did you ask?"

"No reason really." Fara said as she looked away from Fox. "We're running around together and yet, we know so little about eachother."

"Fara." Fox looked at her with a slight smile. "I've seen that look before. You've got more than a passing interest, don't you?"

"No." Fara said.

"Fara, I see you watching everything he does. It's fine, really."

"Fox." Fara stood up and began to walk away. "I'm a Cornerian, and well, he isn't."