Outcasts of Gideon

The First Lowering : Part 1

Lieutenant Ulkos had been assigned the FBXL7. Like the Patrol ship he'd just been on, this was one of the newer ships in the fleet. Unlike it, this vessel was not well maintained. He took it as another slight from Captain Aram. Had she not authorized him to pilot the vessel himself, he might have complained.

Climbing into the cockpit, he went rapidly through the departure checklist. The ship had ample fuel to travel to Dione and back, even if he pushed the speed. Like the other vessel, this one offered no more than two bunks below. That might be an issue considering the number of people he believed he might find. Of course, Dione was not without detention facilities.

He set his vid screen to navigation and requested authorization to depart. The docking clamps let loose and he engaged the anti-grav. Thrusters propelled the ship up and away from Huygens. He switched the vid screen to view the ship's ascent.

Once free of Titan, he dropped the anti-grav and programmed the main engines. He would push the speed, scheduling in a series of relatively short high G bursts.

He switched over to system monitors. There he discovered a queue forming at the system McAfee. He might have managed to inspire some caution in Captain Aram after all. The system wasn't shut down, as he requested. Instead, it appeared the Patrol had introduced layers of administration. This would bring about a gridlock, at least for a short time.

He tuned into the queue traffic. As he expected, several vessels were arguing for their higher priority. Those that remained silent might be more suspect than the others. Capturing all the details he could, he would analyze the data as he made his way to Dione.

The high G burn cycles came and went. He was better than an hour into his transit when he started his extended float. At this pace, he would reach Dione in another four hours, giving him ample time to analyze the queue data.

Some of the ships waiting in the queue were too small to accommodate four or five passengers. Those he could ignore. The remainder included everything from cargo to research ships. Analysis of flight records showed none with any change in mission. There weren't any outstanding licenses or gaps in reporting.

Each potential flag was yet another dead end. Having found little of note, he went back to studying the Aion. He still knew almost nothing about the people he was pursuing. What they might be doing in his system was an even greater mystery. On its surface, it was a nothing case, a joy ride gone sideways. That was true until he factored in the low-rent thug they had in custody. Doran Cheyvyne meant someone else thought the hijacked shuttle was important. That was a thread to pull on.

He downloaded what he could about Odyssey Omega. There were things he already knew, like phaethonium. There were a few things he didn't know. None of it helped.

He dug into criminal records. The Damasos was a wealth of information there. A few criminal organizations operated in Odyssey Omega. Most of them were active in other systems as well. The exception was a group headed by someone named Dagrun Runar. Another potential thread.

He switched his vid back to the system monitor. There he saw the growing line of ships seeking transit through the empty. He didn't know how long Captain Aram would slow the traffic. Maybe long enough for him to see if Dione was a dead end. Maybe not.

He switched on the transit audio again. Unlike earlier, there wasn't much chatter. He left this on and closed his eyes. Before long, chatter picked up. It was between system admin and a ship demanding immediate authorization. The ship claimed diplomatic priority.

"Uki Gakuto, please be advised we are under administrative review. This concerns all vessels regardless of prior authorization." The Transit Command dispatcher was business-like.

A brief pause followed. Then a new voice came across the feed. "This is Captain Peduli of the Uki Gakuto. I have a diplomatic envoy onboard with classified materials en route to Earth. We are requesting priority for the next available transit in-system. We have authority to supersede those vessels currently queued for passage."

He pulled up data on the ship. It had come from Dione. That couldn't be a coincidence. He was now several hours from Titan. At very high G, it would take him another hour of braking to get started back. He wasted no time igniting thrusters. The ship was quickly reoriented. He punched in a long burn.

As the engine lit up, he called the Patrol. A hologram of Sergeant Tori appeared with a smile. "Sergeant, I've been monitoring traffic entering the system McAfee. There is a vessel requesting immediate passage. I want information on that ship. What diplomatic authority do they have?"

"I'm not familiar with any ship making such a request."

"The vessel is the Uki Gakuto. The Captain claims they are transporting classified materials. They came from Dione, which is where I was heading. I want you to give me whatever information you have on that ship."

It took the Sergeant a few moments. "I've transmitted what we have on the Uki Gakuto. Is there anything else you need, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, I'd like you to get the Captain to authorize a stop and search on that ship."

"Sir?"

"Just ask for me."

Sergeant Tori cut the video feed. As he waited, Lieutenant Ulkos scanned the files delivered to him. What he found raised more questions than answers. He already knew they were inbound from Dione. Prior to that, they'd detached to the Schedar system. He had no details on that mission. His notes provided no information about Schedar.

There was no indication of any diplomatic representation. If there had been, he might have expected to see something about it connected with their stay on Dione. He flipped the vid back to output from Dione. Nothing there indicated diplomatic activity.

His comm lit up again. Sergeant Tori appeared before him. "Sorry, sir, but the Captain says she can't do anything about the research ship. Apparently some dignitary is aboard."

"Any idea who?"

"No sir. The Captain didn't know."

"They came from Dione. There's nothing from there says anything about a diplomat."

"I'm sorry, sir."

Disgusted, he cut the connection. He had a good deal of braking burn to wait out. Then he'd have to push hard to close the gap back to Titan. There was nothing he could do about that.

He bumped the transit audio up again. It was quiet. Maybe that was a good sign. He switched his vid over to the system monitor. The Uki Gakuto was still on this side. It waited close to the bubble. He couldn't hope to catch it without some help.

"Uki Gakuto, this is Transit Command. You have been granted access to the system device. Please proceed."

His luck had run out. He would get there a few hours too late. If he wanted to catch the Uki Gakuto, he would have to do it on the other side of the bubble. That was something Captain Aram would never allow.