Outcasts of Gideon

Lt. Apirat Ulkos : Part 2

When he arrived at the office of the Saturn Patrol, he was greeted by Sergeant Ciwanê. She was a recent addition to the Patrol. Tall and slender, she was one of the few who could claim to have grown up on Titan. Lieutenant Ulkos found her no more or less capable than the rest of the staff.

She stood at the edge of the large, open office. A dozen desks and tables littered the room. Most of them were unoccupied, a condition of the early hour.

"You won't believe this one," she said.

Lieutenant Ulkos didn't find her enthusiasm endearing. "I'm sure I won't." Hoping to avoid small talk from the young Sergeant, he continued toward his desk.

The Sergeant flipped up her comm bracelet and projected an image in front of him. "Wasn't there yesterday."

He paused to assess the hologram. In it he saw a dark, dusty planet with what appeared to be a crater. He had no reference to determine how large it was. "What am I looking at?"

"It's about a kilometer wide."

"Is it man made?"

"Do you see that stuff in the middle? It's just floating there. Hovering over the crater. Phaethonium. Can you believe that? What the hell?"

"Is it man made?"

"The phaethonium?"

"No, the hole."

"Probably. I'm not sure. I don't think anybody knows yet."

He flashed her a grimace. He had nothing more to offer.

"It wasn't there yesterday," she said, her enthusiasm unfazed.

"I heard when you said that before."

"About a kilometer wide. What makes a hole that big?"

"A meteor?"

"Well, of course a meteor could. But why is the phaethonium floating over the hole, then? What would cause that?"

He looked at the image, then at her, shaking his head. "So, I guess we have nothing new in."

"Not that I've heard."

"And this crater is somewhere else."

"Odyssey Omega, wherever that is."

He turned toward his desk. "I guess if I was there, I might be more interested. Then we'd have a case to work on."

It was an odd dichotomy, one that he frequently reflected on. He had worked most of his life to bring about a more lawful society, yet success meant fewer cases, less to do. In recent months, the lack of work had become almost unbearable.

In fact, he didn't believe it. The edge of the system was still a festering sore ripe for malfeasance. That hadn't changed. To him, it was far more likely that the Saturn Patrol was being squeezed out. Damasos was the interstellar police force. As humanity spread, so did its influence. Maybe the Patrol had just been fortunate to this point. How long would it be before they became obsolete?

He settled in behind his meager desk. Sitting there was one of his least favorite things to do. It meant he wasn't on a case. He would rather stand at attention all day long, but that wouldn't get him a case either.

Lieutenant Anakena – the Duty Officer – approached. "You've heard about this Odyssey thing?"

"The ancient Greek?" He smiled.

"The crater Ciwanê's been gee-whizzing about. It's in some backwater outpost called Odyssey Omega."

There were dozens – or hundreds – of human outposts. More were established each week. He'd long ago given up keeping track of them. He wasn't inclined to visit, even if he could. From where he sat, they tended to blend into each other. "Yeah, right, the meteor."

"Something might be coming out of that system. So we're on alert."

"It's about damn time."

"Yeah. Well, if something does come our way, we'll have to let Damasos in on it."

There was that word again. Was this confirmation that they were calling the shots? He couldn't tell for sure. "They've taken everything else, haven't they? When will we know more?"

"You'll know when I do."