Chapter 10
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Upon our return to SS5, the captain was in a rage. “Who do you think you are! You can’t keep putting her in harm’s way! If she gets killed or even injured, we're going to be stuck cleaning the bilges of returning ships for the rest of our careers!”
“Captain, had I known it was going to be anything like it was, I would not have allowed it. She has to learn, though, and you learn best by doing. If we somehow get caught in a similar situation, she will now be more confident in her ability to act. That's something classrooms cannot teach.”
The captain paced about. “I just don’t know what to do with you two, Knog. The Chief has been all over me to keep you safe, but at the same time she is grinning from ear to ear over this bust. Her rookie, a Salton no less, just made a major bust. I have two dozen agents from the media standing outside those doors, clamoring for an interview with the rookie who brought in thirty thousand liters. If they find out that it was done by a Salton, they will go nuts!”
I nodded. “Well, Captain, you’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen. If her name hits the mainline news, she'll become a much bigger target. We’ll have to have two dozen destroyers escort us wherever we go.”
Paq Wendell stopped. “You have to take credit for this bust, Beutcher. With those stars, it won’t be much more than a puff piece as compared to what it is in reality.”
The captain raised the chief on the comm. After two minutes of private conversation, he returned and stared at me.
“Well?”
The captain shook his head. “The Chief wants credit for the department, and she wants to take advantage of the press while she has their attention. She's insisting that we change the reports to give you credit, and that I put you in for another…”
I leaned forward. “What was that, Captain? I couldn’t quite hear what you said last.”
The captain snarled. “I said, I have to put you in for a commendation! OK, you're probably going to get a fourth star for something that was a screwup!”
I laughed. “Wow, Captain. That must be painful for you to take. Look, if it’s any consolation to you, this did happen under your watch, and you will now be responsible for two of the stars on my shoulder. I know you feel I'm a pain in the ass sometimes, but part of me is that way because of working for you. You're a partial reflection of your detectives, and if I’m not mistaken, your teams have been ranked at or near the top of the security service now since you took command. If this turns into another star, credit will be due to you as well.”
The captain stopped his agitated movements and stared. “That’s enough, Beutcher. I don’t need my feathers fluffed this morning. Go work on that report, and you're confined to this bay until the chief has had a chance to speak with you. That goes for Miss Salton also.”
I nodded as he turned back toward the bay door. “Got it, Captain, and thanks for the pep-talk.”
I walked back up the ramp-way to Joni, who was putting the polishing touches on the report of her first major bust.
I sat in my chair beside her. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. The media got word of a major bust of bleurgh, and they're beating down the doors out there wanting to interview the detective responsible.”
Joni made the motion of straightening her uniform. “I can handle the press; I’ve seen a thousand interviews given by my family.”
I shook my head. “Your family is the issue. You can’t take public credit for this, or the word will get out that a Salton is out there making busts. You will become a huge target for those opposed to your family. We can’t put you in the spotlight like that.”
Joni half smiled. “I’m OK with that. I’m not doing this for the publicity anyhow.”
I again shook my head. “Unfortunately, this bust is a big deal, and the media already knows it happened. The chief wants credit, and she knows we can’t put you at risk, so, they want the report rewritten.”
“What? They can’t do that! This is my bust!”
I pulled the report up on my screen. “Firstly, they can do that, and secondly, your name has to be removed altogether. Should the report go public, which it will as a matter of record, you can’t be on it, as it would make you a huge target. My job here is to train you and not to get you killed or kidnapped. I have to agree with the chief on this one. You have to be scrubbed from the report. They've been doing that to all your others already.”
Joni sat back in her chair in disbelief. “You know, for years now I have busted my ass in the classroom to try to be a detective. This is my accomplishment; this is exactly what I have wanted to do since I chose this line of work. And now, I pass my first, no, my second big test, and I can’t take credit for either one!”
I turned my chair toward her. “Look, if it means anything, I know what you did and how you performed out there. You saved my life. Those two who had me caught—I was a dead Grunta. And that load of cesium ore—had you not had the instinct to go into that hold for a deep inspection, that ship and all those men would have disappeared.
“You have accomplished more in a month than most detectives do in their first dozen years. Because of your name, you can’t take public credit. You did, however, accomplish both of those feats without getting you or your partner killed. Others may never know what you did, but you and I, and the captain, always will.”
Joni stared at me. “They're making you take credit for this, aren’t they?”
I replied, “It’s the easy and logical choice. And just so you know, I did want you to have the credit here. In fact, I'm going to insist that we keep two copies of the report: one that goes in as public record, and yours, which the chief will deliver to your father. I know part of why you're here is because you want to show accomplishments of your own, without the family name being involved.”
Joni looked back at her report, reaching up and pressing the delete button.
I said, “Why'd you do that?”
“I don’t need to prove anything to my father. He already has confidence in me. Besides, if a copy of that was to somehow leak out, my cover here, not that I really have a cover, would be blown. I like this job, Knog. I like what we do, and I want to keep doing it. I feel free out there. Most people react to me as a detective and not as a Salton.”
I nodded. “If it’s any consolation, I already believe you to be as good a detective as any out there. And I should know; I have these three stars to back up that opinion. And while we're on the subject, the captain says the chief wants to submit me for a fourth star.”
Joni threw her arms up in the air as she tried to contain a laugh. “Oh sure. I see what’s going on here. You're stealing my bust to get that fourth star.”
I again nodded as I pointed to her eyes. “You see what I said about being a good detective? I can’t slip anything past you, can I?”
The fact that Joni was taking the news of her report so well spoke volumes to me about her character. She was a good detective, and I had no doubt that one day she would have four stars of her own.
For the next week, we were grounded in Bay-17 as the chief worked on her media campaign. Joni’s father was filled in on the actual bust and gave his blessing to my receiving a fourth star. The ceremony was drawn out, with the chief speaking continuously to each of the media outlets. I was given a single line of speech to rehearse and was told to not utter another word besides what had been written for me. When the celebration was over, I returned to the Daunte.
Joni was waiting I came up the ramp-way, “Ah, look at you, four stars on that shoulder. Wow, that's an impressive sight.”
I looked at the stitching. “This one on the end here, it’s yours. I’ve never been one to want a partner, but as long as you're willing, I would be honored to have you as such.”
Joni laughed. “Honored? Ha! You need me as a partner. How else are you going to get to that fifth and final star?”
I smiled. “No, it's an honor, Joni Salton. I had hoped that one day
one of my boys would want to be a detective, but they have shown no interest in what I do. It's refreshing to see and to work with someone who shows your enthusiasm.”
Joni smirked. “You aren’t going to start tearing up on me, are you?”
“I promise to not do you such a disservice, Miss Salton. Now, if I'm not mistaken, the captain promised to have a new schedule posted by the time the award banquet was over. Let’s see what further trouble we can get ourselves into.”
Another week passed without incident. I could see the boredom building in the young detective as her attitude toward the ships’ captains was nearing a point that would be considered unprofessional.
After one such encounter, once we were again aboard the Daunte, I said, “I just wanted to say you have been doing an outstanding job with your searches; however, your interpersonal skills have begun to slip. It’s one thing to be firm with an administrator or captain, it’s another to border on being rude.”
“Some people are just asking for it.”
I nodded. “I wouldn’t disagree, but we need to operate on a level above them. You're coming in here not knowing if a person is having a bad day or perhaps a bad month. Always being professional sets you apart from whatever their troubles are, which puts you in a position of authority. Most will recognize that and give you the respect this position commands. If they persist, you then have the discretion to apply whatever pressure you see fit, but always in a professional manner. When doing so, you leave little room for complaint.”
Joni sighed. “So, you're saying I need to ease up unless given real reason to be a hard-ass. I can agree with that. It’s just I don’t know how many more of these cakewalk inspections I can do without exploding from boredom. Maybe it’s time we used a little of our discretion for another random search.”
“We have five hours until our next stop. We can scan for the next available ship in this area, or we could request a portal jump to somewhere more distant, although I doubt it would get approved.”
“I say we put in a request. If they deny it, we can always stay local.”
I raised the dispatcher on the comm. “Hela, this is Knog Beutcher. We're requesting a jump out to the shipping lanes near the Gonath system for a random inspection. I was looking over the public logs and noticed there hasn’t been an inspection out there in twenty-eight days.”
Hela replied, “I’ll run it by the captain. Will let you know as soon as I have an answer.”
I closed the comm. “I’m sure we'll hear within a few minutes. The captain has a call out to be notified immediately about anything to do with us.”
Hela came back moments later. “You have approval, Mr. Beutcher. I will set up the jump. The captain would like a word with you first. He should be in contact with you any moment.”
As I closed the channel with Hela, the captain hailed us. “Knog, I wanted you to know that I thought this was a bad idea. The chief, however, wants to give you a little rope on the chance you two bring in more good publicity. I think it’s an asinine reason for approval, but you got it. Keep me informed of what’s going on, and don’t hesitate to call in backup if things get even remotely dicey.”
I nodded. “Understood, captain. We’ll do our best to not get shot.”
The captain pointed a finger at the display. “Don’t be screwing around out there, Beutcher. Everything I said before still stands. We can’t risk an incident.”
When the comm closed, the coordinates for the jump, as well as normal shipping schedules for the area, came over the data feed from Hela Gruend. I acknowledged with a textual thank-you and prepared for the portal sweep.
Joni said, “I say we just ask the chief next time. She seems much more reasonable than the captain.”
“Don’t sell the captain short, Joni. He’s been out in the field and knows what can happen, while the chief is a political appointee.”
Joni shook her head. “I thought the chief was an earned position? Since when are they appointed?”
“Since those working for your family deemed it a necessity. Most offices with authority over law, trade, or even movement of people are now controlled by appointees. There are a lot of veteran workers out there who moved up through the ranks only to find themselves out of a job. You Humans love your cronies.”
Joni half scowled. “Hey, don’t throw me in with that lot. Common sense tells you it should be the best person for the job and not your pet’s groomer’s cousin because you owe them a favor. If I was calling the shots, things would be different.”
The Daunte was moved to its new location near Gonath.
“We all like to think we would do things differently. The decisions that have to be made for governance on that scale have to be staggering when it comes to their effect on others. It’s easy for us to say what we would do from here; our actions might be totally different if we were in that position.”
A dozen ships came up on the nav screen. “Well, we aren’t in that position, so I guess those problems won’t get solved today. We have a slew of ships to pick from. I wouldn’t have thought this was as active a system as it is.”
I replied, “In my experience with the Gonath system, I generally have had to wait for several hours for a single ship. Let’s move in a bit closer. I’ll have portal command change the microportal location to follow us in case we need to jump.”
After several minutes of observation, I said, “Those are all personnel transports except those two over there. Those are…gunships.”
I opened a channel to security command. “This is Detective Beutcher. I’m passing in a video feed from the Gonath system. It looks like there's a large-scale movement of people going on here. I have two unidentified gunships that appear to be acting as escorts or monitors. I think we might be witnessing a raid on a colony.”
Hela Gruend replied, “Mr. Beutcher, hold your position, do not approach further. Word just came through from portal command that the Gonath system portal is under blockade. I am going to request a sweep out of there for you, Mr. Beutcher. Please hold.”
As we waited for our jump out, a gunship turned and sped in our direction. “Mr. Gruend, I hope they have a portal opening in the next few seconds.”
I turned the Daunte away and pushed the throttle to full. The gunship continued to gain on our position.
Joni yelled, “They're firing at us! Hard right! Hard right!”
I pushed the stick over. The two high-energy bolts streamed past our position, missing the Daunte by only a few hundred meters. As a second set of bolts came our way, I pulled up on the stick, then over, performing a hard roll to the left. Again, the ion bolts missed their target.
As I prepared for another evasive maneuver, the “portal closed” indicator came up on the nav screen.
Joni said, “We just lost our way out!”
The second gunship soon joined the pursuit. “I don’t think we can evade for much longer.”
As I spoke, the twin cannons of the Jess fired on the first gunship as Garrett Rourke entered the fight. His first shots damaged an engine, forcing the gunship to slow and allowing us to move beyond its effective range. The Jess fired a long shot at the second gunship before once again disappearing from the nav screen.
Joni said, “You know, for years I have hated the fact that my father had some monkey following me around everywhere I went. Now, twice in the last few weeks, I've owed my life to it. As aggravated as that shadow has always made me, I’m now thankful they're here.”
As we continued to speed away, the two gunships broke off and returned to their mission at hand. I set a course for the next-closest colony at Barrington Station. It was a two-day journey, but we would be able to once again establish a portal sweep back to SS5 from the Barrington system.
During our ride, I studied the nav recordings. “That's our third time looking over those gunships. We checked for broadcasts and found nothing recorded, the ships have no markings, and they're not a design I recognize any part of.”
Joni
replied, “We had a dozen of those transports showing on our sensors at any time. They were coming and going in a steady stream. That had to be a raid on that colony.”
“That's what I believe too. What I don’t understand is... this is the Alpha sector. Who would be so brazen as to raid an entire colony right here in the capital sector of your uncle’s systems? I know our military ships only reside at the security stations, but where are they?”
Joni sighed. “As much as I hate to, I'll give my father a call when we return. They have to have some contingency plan for handling this type of thing. I mean, come on, that’s a whole colony back there.”
I slowed the Daunte as we approached Barrington Station. “I don’t believe it. Barrington is being raided as well. This is insane.”
Joni said, “Gonath has two million citizens; Barrington is nearly double that. And they're all defenseless.”
As we watched, a small freighter entered the Barrington Station system. One of the two gunships monitoring the raid moved into action. The freighter Monak attempted to turn, but was easily caught by the much-faster unmarked warship. We watched in horror as repeated ion streams were sent through the untimely freighter. Her captain and crew and any others aboard were quickly dead.
The next-closest colony was another two and a half days’ travel. I set a course and again pushed the throttle to full before the gunships monitoring Barrington Station turned our way.
Joni said, “Wow. I was not expecting this. These are peaceful colonies, 65 percent Human. Gonath is primarily a mining colony, and Barrington is all farms. I can only imagine the horrors of being torn from your homes without warning.”
The ride back to SS5 was filled with discussion of the events that had transpired. How was it a sector as wealthy and powerful as Alpha was being raided? Gonath and Barrington Station were colonies on the edge of Alpha sector space. The edge of the Delta sector, which lay just beyond the two colonies, was as wealthy and peaceful as Alpha, and both were under the control of the Salton family.
As we set down and the ramp-way lowered, the captain was waiting with his hands on his hips. “No more risk taking, Beutcher. We can’t keep putting young Miss Salton’s life in danger! I had it out with the chief this morning, and she's now in agreement. You two will be sticking close to home here. I don’t care if the biggest thing you bust is a Begrid trader transporting rotten carrots. You'll be staying within five light-years of this station. That gives you two planets and four colonies to police. You two are confined to that space until further orders.”
I replied, “Glad to see you as well, Captain. Have you seen the video feeds we sent?”