Introduction
The man looked at the digital readout that displayed the current time. This was taking too long. He didnt bother to look at the screen impatiently. The man on the other end had blacked out his end, as well as disguising his voice. He had too, just in case the Confederation decided to intercept the transmission, however unlikely the case may be. It was a secure line anyway. But precautions must always be taken. Experience had taught him that, and he was an exceptionally good learner. He secretly smiled at the thought.
Do we have a deal? he asked again. The second man still thought about it, then came to a conclusion. The first man couldnt see the point of thinking. His deal gave this man a second chance. Finally, he came to a conclusion.
Yes.
Good, I will not forget it. And then he ended the transmission. He didnt care if the other man still had things to say, or if he suddenly remembered he had forgotten to mention a minor detail or two. They both had all the information they needed. That was all that mattered in a situation like this. He constantly found himself trying to explain that concept to some of the people he found himself working with. It was those types of people that could eventually get you caught.
The man cleared his mind of those thoughts for the time being. He sat back in his chair and smiled, welcoming the peaceful darkness that now surrounded him.
Chapter One
Heather Nerrott brushed back her wavy red hair from her eyes and took one last look around. It would be sad to leave, but also a relief. She looked around at the now empty living quarters of the ex-Militia Corvette and she took one last moment to reminisce before she was kicked out forever.
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All twelve of them had been recruited as workers on a Bulk Freighter when the Astex Mining Corporation had discovered oil on Tau Ceti IV. But Astex got too exited and started production too quickly. Greed took control of the minds of all the high ranking staff. They wanted easy money.
Problems began to arise, minor ones at first but they became more and more serious. Astex took shortcuts. Illegal shortcuts. Only the captains of the freighters were supposed to know, but Heather and her friends soon found out. They needed to tell the galaxy. The information they knew was worth money. 12 million credits shared out between all who testified. By some amazing stroke of luck, it was 1 million each.
A mutiny arose on the freighter they worked on and the twelve of them took control. They hailed the corvette that Heather was now standing in and jumped ship, scuttling the freighter.
Now they were fugitives, hiding from one of the most powerful corporations in the entire galaxy. The captain of the corvette, Ron Mackleson, informed his superiors of the situation. The corvette landed at Levo and the fugitives remained on it for several days. Although they were ordered to stay on board, it was fear that kept them in place.
The leader of the mutiny, Will Stromp, tried to stay brave, and even used his comlink once (in private to avoid panic among the others), but it didnt help, and he too eventually joined the silence around him.
What none of them knew was that Mackleson had been trying to get out of military life. He sold his corvette for 6 million credits and resigned from the militia. The fugitives had to leave.
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Heather followed the others down the corridor, escorted by men and women who were once the crew of this now desolate and empty corvette. She knew, as did the rest of them, that once she was outside, she could be in serious danger. And not too many people would believe it.
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They didnt spend much time in the spaceport. Each said their goodbyes to the others and boarded various spacecraft, mostly shuttlecraft or scoutships. Heather, however, along with Stromp, was already on her home planet, Levo, and so she and Stromp made their own arrangements.
On the way home, Heather took what little time to relax. She new she wasnt safe in the long run, but at least she would survive for now. She even almost fell asleep once or twice at the thought.
As she walked through the front door of her house, an amazing sense of relief came over her. She new she would have the best nights sleep she had had in weeks. Heather immediately sat down in a very nice leather chair from Earth. She sighed from exhaustion but still managed to smile. She was safe for now.
She was home.
Chapter Two
Heather woke up the next morning completely refreshed. She had been away from home for months, yet her normal morning routine kicked in straight away, which surprised her. An hour after she had eaten, she felt like going for a morning run, which surprised her even more.
Despite her physical appearance, Heather was actually a rather good long distance runner. But being her first day back, she decided to take it easy and not run a great distance.
On her trip back she stopped at a local store to buy some water. She picked up a bottle, walked to the counter and just as she was handing over the money, the top news story caught her eye. Heather almost feinted from both exhaustion from running as much as shock. She picked up her water and ran, not bothering about her change.
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If Heather had ever timed her runs, this would have definitely been the fastest. She sprinted. Hard. The shock had now turned to fear and that fear was the force that drove her home. The fear overrode the pain and the exhaustion. All that mattered now was getting back inside her house to safety.
When she did she slammed the door behind her and locked it. She proceeded to check the back door and all the windows. Even though she already new she had locked them before, she wanted to be sure.
Heather sat down on the nearest chair and began to cry, letting the reality of it wash over her. They had reached him already. Will Stromp, the unspoken leader of the mutiny and the refugees, had disappeared.
She new what had happened. Despite what other people knew and believed, she knew what had happened and strongly believed it. The Astex Mining Corporation had taken Stromp because of what he knew, and they would almost definitely kill him, whether it be now or later. And deep down, Heather felt they would come for her soon too.
Chapter Three
It was one of those days where you found you had no work to do and nothing to do in place of it. Rick Cholten, an investigator for the Levo Investigation Bureau or LIB, was having one of those days, so he reclined his chair and closed his eyes.
He had not been in this position for more than a minute or to when he heard something drop onto his desk. Rick opened his eyes to see a case file siting there. He looked up and also saw his supervisor, Dave Shlickman, standing beside him.
Whats this? Rick asked. He tried to sound disappointed at the fact that he had been given some work, but inside he was relieved he had something to do.
A disappearance. William Stromp. You heard about the mutiny on the Astex freighter?
Yeah, said Rick blankly.
He was the leader. Find him. Shlickman gave Rick a grin as if to say Good luck on a near impossible mission, and left, leaving Rick to go over what little evidence they had.
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Rick knew why Shlickman had given him this particular case. Rick was one of the best investigators the LIB had when it came to disappearances and kidnapings. He was occasionally borrowed by other agencies on other planets because of his experience. Still, Rick knew that this case would be a challenge.
He went over the account of events. Stromp had made it home safely after leaving the Levo Space station and everything seemed normal to his neighbors. However, yesterday morning one of the neighbors noticed the front door wide open. They investigated and found a shattered window and evidence of a small struggle.
That was it. That was all Rick Cholten had to go on. But at least he had suspects. Astex was one, for a start. Then there was the small courier company that had bought the corvette. And finally, any former member of the corvettes crew that was protecting the fugitives.
He didnt have to visit the crime scene, that had already been done yesterday. No fingerprints besides Stromps or any other physical evidence had been found. Whoever had taken Stromp had been very careful not to leave any tracks.
Despite this, Rick decided to check it out anyway. It was always easy to miss something.
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Rick Cholten was lucky that local law enforcement hadnt cleaned up the scene already. He had to admit, they had done a pretty good job examining everything. He could see for himself now the signs of a struggle. A few small items on the floor here, an upturned chair there. From what he could make of it, Rick came to the conclusion that this struggle hadnt lasted very long.
But why? Maybe the suspect was armed. Or maybe there was more than one. Rick dismissed the second possibility. If there was more than one there probably wouldnt be any struggle at all. So for now Rick had to assume that he was looking for only one person, possibly armed.
Rick made his way back to the office, and then back home. It was starting to get dark. He had just walked through the door when he received a call.
Hello?
Investigator Cholten? Rick didnt recognize the person on the other end.
Yes.
This is officer Darlop from Capella. When can you make your way over here? It sounded to Rick more like an order than a question.
I can leave tomorrow morning, why? Whats the rush?
Another ones gone missing.
(This message has been edited by Avalanche (edited 06-12-2001).)
(This message has been edited by Avalanche (edited 06-21-2001).)