The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 8

Great power comes by controlling the information the public receives. But rarely is this for good.

- Writings of the Sol Empress, Words of Faith

[Diego]

Diego's tailored dark suit and custom leather boots seemed out of place in the cluttered dock control room. Cleared of the blue overall clad workers that normally oversaw the control panels, only Diego with two of his cohorts and one other man occupied the room. He peered out the window overlooking the dock, his hands behind his back. Welder robots created showers of sparks while workers moved about the damaged dock bay, donned in spacesuits because of the loss of atmosphere containment.

"This is disappointing, Mr. Grange." He turned, drawing his trimmed eyebrows down into a single menacing line. "Very disappointing."

Irritation tightened in his chest. Why must I deal with such incompetence?

Silver Grange gulped as he gazed up from a scuffed desk chair placed in the middle of the room. With one arm in a sling, he glanced back over the other shoulder to the mountain of a man who scowled down on him with arms crossed. "Well, you see--"

"All you had to do was delay the repairs on the Phoenix Star and wait for our arrival as we instructed. Was that so difficult, Mr. Grange? Then you would have been substantially richer and a hero as well." He sighed. "But no. Now a dangerous terrorist is still on the loose. Who knows how many more will suffer from your stupidity?"

Silver leaned forward to stand. He grimaced, tilting his injured shoulder down as the man behind him yanked him back into the chair. A nervous grin came to Silver's face. "Mr. Diego, there are some things you should know that might be useful to you."

Diego arched an eyebrow. "Oh, do tell."

"The Phoenix Star goes by the name Raven Sky now, with a new identification beacon."

"A wise move on their part. That is good to know, Mr. Grange. What can you tell me about the Captain, Elijah Lee? I believe that is name?"

Silver made an exaggerated nod. "Yes, sir. He usually goes by the name Moon. I do business with him sometimes. He is an independent hauler that specializes in custom cargos. The ship is very fast, perhaps the fastest hauler around." He lowered his voice and half-grinned. "He also hauls off-the-books, if you know what I mean."

Diego frowned. He is the kind of hauler that the Consortium wishes to end. "I see. Anything else?"

"The Priestess, Celeste Ciel... she is pregnant. Looks like she could drop a litter anytime now."

"Interesting." Diego struggled to maintain a neutral expression on his face while his insides prickled at the implications.

Does she bring a new Sol Empress? Well played, Celeste, but this is not over.

A dark-haired woman sitting at a computer terminal nodded at Diego. "We have all the footage now." She removed a memory crystal from a slot and slid it into the pocket of her black jacket.

Diego leaned down such that his face was only a breath away from Silver's. He nearly whispered. "Mr. Grange, I want you to stay here and review every bit of footage, every log, everything. If you find something useful that would tell me where they are going, perhaps you may find a measure of redemption. Do not disappoint me again. Am I clear?"

With wide eyes and paled face, Silver nodded three times in quick succession. "Yes, sir. I will find something."

Diego straightened up and grinned. "Good!" With a tilt of his head, his companions followed him to the control room door. Silver let out an audible breath as Diego turned away.