Chapter 6
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I brought up the scheduling list on the holo-display. A small freighter carrying fusion reactors for use in surface transportation was next on the list. We would not need to be in position for intercept for another seven hours. I posted a request and received an assignment to do a final check on a ship that was arriving at SS5 Bay-19.
The ship was carrying frozen produce and was requesting a portal transfer to the colony on Nars II. It was a private hauler under contract to the Motlin Corporation. After three hours of checking every possible hiding place for contraband, we gave a clean signal to the portal generation crew. Minutes after our leaving the ship, it was transported to the space around Nars for the delivery of its cargo. We returned to the Daunte to wait for our next assignment to begin.
The following week of inspections went off without a hitch. Joni Salton was thorough in her efforts, and I only needed bring the occasional minor mistake to her attention. After an eight-hour inspection of a large ore carrier, we returned to SS5, landing in Bay-17.
Joni frowned. “Here we are, back at our own private docking bay.”
Paq Wendell was waiting when the ramp-way lowered. On his third step up, he was confronted by Raptor looking down the steps with an unnerving stare.
Wendell said quietly, “I don’t think that animal likes me.”
Joni smirked. “He’s just protective, Captain. Is there anything you need?”
Wendell shook his head. “No, I just have some news I thought you two might be interested in. They caught up to one of the Igari who attacked the guards in the hallway in front of Sam’s. He hasn’t divulged any names or the intent of the attack, but it’s only a matter of time. The Salton security force doing the interrogation will use brute force if they have to. It isn’t like the old laws of the AMP have to be followed anymore.”
The chat, which was no more than a checkup, was over several minutes later.
Joni had a dejected look on her face when the captain had left. “Whoever that is, they're going to be ripped apart. And that will likely go for everyone they know as well. I sometimes wonder if a lot of people would still be alive had I just stayed put in the family compound on Alpha Prime. You know, it kind of weighs on your soul when you know people are being hurt and tortured in your name.”
I placed my hand on Joni’s shoulder. “One should only bear the responsibility for one’s own actions. You have done nothing wrong and should not carry that burden. Have you spoken with the security force about this?”
Joni offered a half laugh. “They couldn’t care less about what I think; they are just out here to protect me, and anyone who gets in their way will just get rolled over. I love my family, Knog, but they are not kind or fair or even the slightest bit remorseful for anything they do. They crave absolute power and will savage anyone who they believe to be a threat.”
“In all fairness, the Igari who attacked were unprovoked. Those guards who died had families as well. While I may not agree with the methods your father’s people will use to investigate, I do believe those responsible should be brought in to stand trial. Innocent lives have been lost.”
After signaling Joni to move over by the oven, the scrambler was turned on. “Are you sure you should be talking about this with them listening?”
Joni looked toward the nearest bug. “This is about the only time they listen to me. Besides, they've heard me say that same thing a hundred times. You had a good response, and they won’t question you about it. I, on the other hand, need to be careful I don’t elicit a response from you that they don’t like. You're the first real person I've been able to talk with in years. My friends in the academy, I always knew they were plants.”
I smiled. “I just realized you've been calling me by my first name.”
“Does that bother you?”
I flipped the scrambler to off. “Coming from you, no. Have a seat and I’ll bring over a cup of coffee. We’ll look over the next assignment and review the ship design for possible contraband locations.”
Joni smiled and moved over to the copilot’s chair. After several hours of light conversation and study, our next scheduled inspection was due. It was a medium-sized ore carrier that came with a destroyer escort. The carrier was too big for portal transfer, and the cargo too valuable to ship without a destroyer tagging along.
Joni asked, “What’s so valuable about cesium ore that it has to have a military escort?”
“Cesium runs all the reactors in the Alliance. Without it, there wouldn’t be any portals, and the propulsion systems on these ships would be very limited. I had an engineer once tell me that the run from the station out to Omirus colony would take nineteen months instead of the two days it takes us now. This whole alliance runs on cesium.”
Joni leaned back in her chair. “Where does all the cesium come from?”
I pulled up a star-system diagram on the holo-display. “This is the only place I know of directly. A planet in the Holloway system. It has a molten core that is largely made up of cesium. I know there are other sources out there; this one is the closest to the Alpha sector.”
“If cesium is our main power source, seems silly to only have a single warship guarding it.”
“Other than the Alliance military, there are no other militarized ships in the galaxies of the New Alliance. You hear about the occasional pirate raid, but even they would have difficulty with taking on an ore ship of that size. Pirate activity is mostly limited to the small transport caught out in deep space, where they can get in and out quickly. It generally doesn’t pay much, so the occurrence is rare. And pirate hostility such as that is dealt with quickly. SS5 has five ships just like this.”
“That's a lot of space to cover.”
“Ship traffic is more prevalent in the outer colonies than here. You can travel on foot to any of the planets, colonies, or stations through the portals, but if you want to leave civilization to the outer reaches, you have to have a ship. Did you know, most people live their entire lives without ever boarding one?”
“Hmm. I guess I never really thought about that. I've been so many places, through portals and on ships, that it never occurred to me that most people don’t even travel.”
I continued, “I believe most species, other than Humans, prefer a simple life where they get up every day and perform the same activities. We all have limited time in our lives; most prefer that time to be safe and secure, filled with familiar activities and events. Humans, on the other hand, are one of the few species who often seek adventure.”
Joni looked over at me. “How about you? Is Knog an adventure seeker?”
“For a Grunta, I am. Our people prefer the familiar life. I found that while I do not have an outgoing personality, I do enjoy interaction with others. I suppose that's as adventurous as I get.”
Joni poked at my arm. “So, you’re saying you’ve never thought about venturing out to do some exploring? There are a lot of places to see out there in the Alliance. When I was young, my father would take us on the occasional treasure hunt to a faraway world. It’s one of my favorite memories, before everything got so political.”
“I chose the inspection service with the idea that I would get my adventures by meeting people from other species and other worlds. One of my favorite encounters was with a Gursen captain and his crew. The Gursen are the only species I have met who are from the Andromeda galaxy. Their movements about the ship were extremely slow and quite frustrating, but they were great conversationalists and kept me well entertained during my three-day inspection.”
Joni laughed. “Three days? Now see, that's something I would enjoy as well. As far as galaxy meet-ups go, I've talked with other Humans from the Milky Way and from the Saw Blade. Interesting how we can live so far apart and still be the same. I guess a common language throughout the galaxies does that for us.”
“It would seem.”
“Of late, the families have really closed off the inte
rgalaxy travel. I could see a time when those portals are shut down altogether. There's only a single portal going to each now.”
I pulled up another diagram. “SS6 has the portal from here to Andromeda. They say the power it takes to keep the portal open is twice what most planets consume and a hundred times more than most colonies consume. A large part of SS6 is rumored to be nothing but cesium reactors.”
Joni pulled up a diagram of the portal station on SS6. “One thing I find fascinating is the history of the portals. It was Humans that built all of these nearly two thousand years ago. Shortly thereafter, the secrets of just how they worked and how to construct them were hidden away. They built this fantastic transportation system and then locked away how they did it. My uncle has been obsessed with finding out how they operate. I think he has big plans for their use should his people ever figure it out.”
“That power usage is also why we only sweep small ships like this one through portals. This cesium ore hauler we will be looking over— it has enough ore to keep SS5 running at its current level for thirteen years. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if the cesium stopped.”
Joni cringed. “Now that’s a scary thought.”
The inspection time was soon upon us, and the Daunte was swept to a waiting location in the path of the ore ship.
As the Jasmire slowed to a stop, I raised her captain on the comm. “This is Detective Beutcher with the SS5 security force. Please open your gravity wall for boarding and a standard security inspection and search.”
A voice responded, “This is the Jasmire. You are free to dock, Mr. Beutcher. We look forward to the inspection. Administrator Duggar will be waiting on deck with the manifest logs. We only haul one item, so the inspection should be an in and out for you.”
I replied as I approached the docking bay, “Thank you, Jasmire, we'll do our best to get you back on your way as soon as possible.”
When the ramp-way had finished lowering, we stood. “Joni, from here on, it's again your inspection. Would you like me to follow along or wait here with Raptor?”
Joni smiled. “I would prefer if you came along. You keep me on my toes, and besides, I enjoy the banter you sometimes strike up with the administrators. I love the way you phrase your questions. The reactions and responses you get are priceless.”
I nodded as we walked down the steps. “I find I can tell a lot about the individual if I ask questions they are not expecting. If you get back an immediate answer, it's probably rehearsed and they have something to hide. I like the confused look: that's a sign you are off base with any suspicions.”
“This is the stuff the academy doesn't teach. Please, keep going.”
“Facial expressions can give you information that doesn’t get returned in an answer. Ask the administrator when the last time it was his manifest tally didn’t match his cargo. If he’s never had an issue, he may be slow to answer. If he's been skimming, he may come back with an indignant reaction.”
As we stepped out onto the deck, the administrator was waiting. “Hello, Mr. Beutcher. I am Thaz Couberg. I have the logs here for your review.”
Joni stepped forward. “Mr. Couberg, Inspector Salton. I'll be conducting the inspection today.”
Joni loaded the logs. “Sixty million metric tons. Interesting.”
The administrator gave no reaction.
“Mr. Couberg, have you ever had an instance where the manifest did not match your cargo?”
Thaz Couberg was silent for several seconds before answering. “I do not recall ever having an incident as such, Inspector. Has that been an issue with cesium ore? To my knowledge there isn't much use for it except for power generation.”
Joni nodded. “Have you ever been arrested, Mr. Couberg?”
The administrator was stoic with his response. “I have not.”
Joni pulled me to the side. “I didn’t get anything out of him, Knog. What am I doing wrong?”
I shook my head. “The art of eliciting a telling response is something that will take you years to develop. It's not a simple question and answer. It takes finesse with the timing and the delivery, and with your body language and voice inflections. Observe.”
“Mr. Couberg, have you ever been to the Andromeda galaxy? I understand there's a large black market for cesium there.”
The administrator stopped, tilting his head to one side. “Cesium? Who would buy it? It’s expensive to transport with all the shielding the hauler has to provide. And it’s too easy to detect it in large quantities. I would think if you wanted to smuggle something, there are a lot of things that are in bigger demand than cesium. Is that becoming a problem?”
I shook my head. “Merely a conversation starter, Mr. Couberg. I enjoy hearing what transport crews have to say, as I believe they have the pulse of the alliance.”
The administrator began to spill his guts on items he had seen smuggled. “As a directly flagged Motlin ship, the captain and crew dare not smuggle anything of value. Causing embarrassment to the corporation would earn you an immediate firing and a retroactive pay recovery in an attempt for the company to recoup any future losses the transgression may cause. The Motlin crews are paid well, Mr. Beutcher. Few would risk an infraction.”
As we worked our way through the outer holds, Joni asked for radiation suits. We would be performing a full cargo inspection. The administrator gave a concerned response, which brought Joni to attention.
“Is there something we shouldn’t see in the holds, Mr. Couberg?”
The Human administrator frowned. “Yes. Radiation. As a fellow Human, I just can’t see why you would have an interest in going in there. You do know cesium is dangerous in this particular ore form. It has been processed into cesium-137 salts, which are quite harmful to living things.”
“Thanks for your concern, Mr. Couberg, but I would like to do the inspection just the same.”
“We have suits just over here. Let me notify the captain of this request. He will want to be present for it. Pull the suit on and zip it up. I will have one of my crew check it. Mr. Beutcher, would you like to inspect as well?”
I held up my hand. “No thank you, Mr. Couberg. I would ask that you have your crewman do a thorough check of the seal. I'm responsible for my trainee and would appreciate any extra effort on your part to ensure her safety.”
Couberg nodded. “I will assist in the check, Mr. Beutcher. She will be secure.”
With the suit on and tested, Joni was directed to the door leading to a decontamination room before entering the cargo holds. Once through, she began to inspect the cesium salts that were stacked on pallets of sealed containers.
The captain, Holland Juvis, an Igari, joined us.
Joni spoke over the comm. “You run a tight ship, Captain. I’m not picking up much, if any, leakage from these containers. Very little.”
The captain replied, “I do my best, Detective. My crew and I have been working together for many years—”