Chapter Thirteen
LIB Investigator Rick Cholten made his way quickly to Shlickman's office. He had a gut feeling that now was the time to ask for favors, and Rick's instincts were usually right. When he reached the door, he almost had to stop himself from barging into the office and ruining a perfectly good opportunity. Instead, Rick quietly knocked on the door and waited for an invitation to enter.
Rick took a seat opposite Dave Shlickman. When he saw Shlickman's face he knew what he was going to face, but that could be used to his advantage.
"I heard they found a body. One of the people you're trying to find, and save," Shlickman said, almost coldly.
Rick did not hesitate in his reply, "That's why I'm here."
"What do you mean by that?" Shlickman asked, genuinely puzzled at Rick's remark.
"Sir, this guy is taking those Astex refugees, and now we know he is capable of killing them. He's not using them as hostages, so I believe that he will kill again, without hesitation. Sir, you of all people know that I always try to solve a case as best the capabilities and experience I have will allow me. Now I need to push myself, and at the rate that this guy executes his actions, I don't think I'll be able to push myself to the lengths required."
Shlickman wiped the beads of sweat off his balding head. Rick quickly got the impression this was not a good sign. Shlickman took a deep breath, hopefully to calm himself, and said quite stubbornly, "Outside help isn't that easy to get."
Rick's quick thinking jumped into action. "It doesn't need to be outside help, sir." He pointed to the door. "How many people out there, right now, have not been designated an assignment?"
Shlickman stood up from behind his desk and left his office. Rick followed closely behind. Shlickman gathered up all the detectives so they could see him. "How many of you do not have a current assignment?" he yelled. Shlickman quickly counted the raised hands. Seven. He pointed to two of them. "You two, stay behind for other cases that might roll in."
When he was done with them, he turned to Rick. "You now have a team of five."
"Thank you, sir," Rick replied.
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This wasn't the first time Rick had been in charge of a team for his investigations. He had been assigned partners on numerous occasions, such as the abduction of Gary Ligh, the United Galactic Express Vice President. He had also had his fair share of small groups, like this one, mainly to track and catch pesky pirates, bringing them to justice.
He had once led a huge team of about twelve, to find, track, and destroy a munitions smuggling run. He ended up accompanying the marines into combat as well, receiving a little training for the part.
Despite all of this, Rick knew that a team that was formed, but not needed, was a waste of valuable resources. It took up men and women who could be used for other cases. Those involved had a slightly decreased workload, which could disadvantage them later on when they find it difficult to kick the habit of slackening off more than you needed to.
Rick very rarely requested a team, because usually he was capable of solving the case on his own. But this case needed a lot of research. And it all needed to be done as quickly as possible. One man alone was not capable of doing it. He truly did need a team this time.
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Immediately, his expertise went to work, and Rick Cholten began to give orders to this newly formed group. He first turned to a tall young man who had only just joined the LIB, Maxwell Hoist, and his senior partner and mentor, Ben Ontard. "I want you two to go and find me anything you can about that corvette. Crew, captain, serial number, anything. Go for it." Hoist and Ontard simultaneously turned and left the room, to start their huge research task.
"Katherine." Rick turned to Katherine Lorasir, probably the neatest detective in the building, her tidy suit complemented by her equally tidy tied back brown hair. "I want you to join up with Ted and find out anything you can about Destor Couriers. So far I've got nothing. Hopefully you can beat that."
Katherine and Ted Ullnick left the room and headed for the LIB's database, but Rick stopped them. "There's no point guys. I've tried the database already. It's got nothing. You're going to have to try something broader." Katherine and Ted consulted with each other for a few moments, then turned the other way, out of the building.
The only person left was the strong ex-security guard, James Pilton. "Jim," Rick began, "you're going to accompany me."
"Doing what?" Pilton asked.
"Interviews," Rick replied simply.
"With who?"
"Our Astex suspects. And if the guy we're looking for is one of them, I'd feel a lot safer with some company, especially if it's you."
"Thanks a lot Rick," Pilton said, almost sarcastically.
"You go on ahead and get my scoutship ready, I need to straighten something out with Shlickman."
"What do you need to straighten out with me?" a voice said behind Rick.
Rick turned 180 degrees to face Schlickman. "This case obviously has many aspects concerning planets other than Levo. That would mean that it should have been turned over to the GIB guys."
"Practice."
"For who and what?" Rick asked.
"You. If you crack this case, you get to work in the more prestigious part of this building complex. You become one of the elite. You'll be a member of the Galactic Investigation Bureau."
Chapter Fourteen
Rick Cholten and James Pilton jumped aboard Rick's scoutship, Pilton now Rick's copilot. For the first time in about a week or two, Rick was now able to control the ship without being under any form of stress, and since they weren't in any immediate hurry, Rick and Pilton found the time to talk.
Pilton got right to the point. "You're pretty lucky about this opportunity. How'd it come about? I mean, without all the detective work. What opened it up?"
"One of the guys at the Levo sector of the GIB is retiring," Rick answered. "They need someone to replace him."
"They picked the right guy," complimented Pilton.
"Thanks."
"Another thing. How come the GIB is in the same complex as we are?"
"That one's easy," Rick said. "To share facilities saves room, time and money. So far in the long history of the complex, the two have never overlapped, and the complex's budget stays low.
"But enough about me. How come you gave up the security guard job, Jim?"
"Ah. That job wasn't hard enough. I wanted to do something that would be challenging to me. Detective work was an obvious choice to me."
"Do you ever think about going back?" Rick inquired.
"Only when I'm having a real bad day," Pilton laughed.
When they had settled down, Pilton continued. "What about you Rick. You ever think about doing theatre work?"
Rick could only smile for a few seconds before he answered. "Sometimes, if I ever get a break."
"It'd bring back memories, huh?"
"Yeah, a lot of the good ones."
Pilton was about to raise another question when they arrived in the Antares system.
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Once in the New Providence space port, Rick quickly briefed Pilton.
"Basically," Rick began, half yelling over the crowd, "we've narrowed it down to three guys in the Astex Mining Corporation. Were going to have a little chat with them." He handed over a few files. As Rick always did, Pilton quickly skimmed over them taking note of the names:
Krink, Jack
Mostle, Steve
Scorn, Tom
"Who do we visit first?" Pilton asked.
"We're going down that list," Rick said, pointing at the three names Pilton had in front of him. "We talk to Jack Krink first."
Continuously having to dodge the crowd, Rick Cholten and James Pilton slowly made their way out of the station, to make their way to the main offices of the Astex Mining Corporation.
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They were sitting in what was possibly the best office they had ever seen. All four walls, the roof, and the door were painted all a lush blue. The floor was covered in a carpet of the same colour. The desk in front of them, and the three chairs in the room, where all a bright white.
Blue and white. The colours of the Confederation. This is how the Senior Vice-President of the Astex Mining Corporation displayed the companies allegiance to the government.
As soon as Rick Cholten had sat down in the chair, he couldn't help noticing how comfortable it was. He instinctively knew that this office alone was quite expensive.
As soon as Jack Krink, a tall, muscular man with short blonde hair, walked in, Rick introduced both of them. As he did so he couldn't help noticing that Krink was wearing a blue suit and white shirt, perfectly matching the surrounding office.
"What can I do for you two gentlemen?" he asked, rather politely.
"We'd like to ask a few questions for an investigation we're doing. We hope you don't mind," Rick replied.
"Not at all. Go ahead."
Both Pilton and Cholten prepared to take notes, then Rick started the interview.
"Okay," Rick began, "since we have all your background information already, we can skip straight to the important stuff. Do you, as a Senior Vice-President, receive any discounts on any products, or even receive them for free?"
"I receive a rather large discount, yes, but our products, as you call them, don't come free to me, and I usually don't have much need for them anyway."
Rick couldn't help but think that this answer was rather cryptic. He thought he could sense Pilton thinking the same thing. He wondered if he could get another cryptic answer by hitting him head on with the subject that would be most sensitive to any Astex employee.
"What about the oil? Is that included too?" he asked, suddenly, catching Pilton off guard as well as Krink.
"Yes, oil is included in the discount," Krink replied, but with a tone that suggested confusion as to why Rick would ask it.
Good, Rick thought. He has easy access to it.
"Does the discount get lower as the ranks go down in the industry?" Rick asked. Pilton knew what he was trying to do.
"All our employees have a discount to some degree, but yes, regular employees have the lowest discount, in terms of percentages."
"How do you keep track of these? How do you know that someone is truthfully an employee and is entitled to a discount?" Rick asked, pursuing the subject further.
"That's a good question, and one I don't hear to often," Krink replied. "All employees are issued with a 'discount card'. To make sure that this card hasn't been forged, we also supply each employee with an individual number unique to them, which is kept in a database that few have access to." Rick immediately knew that there would be no chance of him looking through it, and was bitterly disappointed. Krink continued. "When an employee makes a purchase, the name and number are checked by the database, and if both match, the discount is accepted."
"But how do you stop someone stealing the number?" Rick inquired.
"Ah. It's easier than you'd expect. Discounted purchases can only be made at this planet and the employee must be in uniform, so purchases are usually made after an employee has finished for the day, or during a break. They are required to enter their name and number into a console, and that console checks the database."
Rick made a note of all of this. It was important. Heather had been burned by oil. Oil was expensive and the killer would need a lot of it if he was going to take out all the victims in the same way. The odds were now even more in favor of one of the Astex guys being the killer they were after.
When he had finished writing, he paused for a moment. He knew what he had to ask next. "You heard about the mutiny, yes?"
"Yes," Krink replied simply.
"What was the freighter doing?" Rick asked.
"I'm sorry, but that information is classified," Krink said, trying to sound as casual as he had for the rest of the interview.
"I suppose I can't look at the database either, can I?" Rick asked, also trying to sound as casual as possible.
"No, you can't," Krink said simply, and coldly.
Rick knew the interview had to end now, before something serious happened. "Thank you for your time, Mr Krink," he said quickly, standing up.
"Not at all," Jack Krink said, once again in a normal tone of voice.
Cholten and Pilton left the Senior Vice-President's blue and white office, and decided to have an early lunch.
Chapter Fifteen
While it was nearly midday on New Providence, it was only a few hours past midnight on Diphidia II, in the neighboring Diphidia system. This was where Maxwell Hoist and Ben Ontard had arrived to do some research into the corvette. The Diphidia II records were one of the biggest archives of militia ships as a result of a previous incident with the Astex Mining Corporation, and many encounters with sneaky pirates.
However, both of then knew that it would be nearly impossible to try and get anywhere in the small hours of the morning, so instead they opted to get some rest and adapt to the new time.
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Little did they know, that two of the refugees, Jill Athenset and her neighbor, Larry McMatten, lived only a short distance away. However, Jill had been nervous the past few days, afraid that she would be next, and so Larry had come round to stay with her until the situation calmed down a little.
They were both asleep. They were both being watched.
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A shadowy figure hiding in the dark was waiting just down the road for the right moment. But this time was different. This time he wasn't alone. Hiding closely around him were three other, cloaked figures. He had a little surprise planned.
They had not been waiting long before the man gave the signal, and they all moved quickly and silently, unnoticed, toward the house. The various blades and the blaster that each of the cloaked figures carried made no noise as they hung from their belts. The man prepared his blaster, but not to break the window. He would get in a different way this time.
The four of them grouped at the front door, and one of the cloaked figures effortlessly picked the lock and bypassed the security system. As one, they all moved into the house.
Two of the figures moved to various positions in the house and stayed there. The man, and the other remaining figure, each knocked one of the residents unconscious, the man with his blaster, the cloaked figure with his fist. The man picked up the young woman and carried her back towards the door. He was met there by the other figure holding their victim.
The unconscious man was slung over the man's other shoulder, and he walked out of the house, the extra weight didn't seem to hinder him.
The figure standing in the doorway, no longer carrying a body, turned around, found a position in the house, just has the others had done, and waited.
The captain returned to his ship alone, which was ready to leave as soon as he arrived.
(This message has been edited by moderator (edited 03-04-2002).)
