Retrieving Red
Genesis region – Sanctum constellation
Tar System – Tevis Jak’s Epithal
16 March YC 127
I was back in Tar and talking to Tevis Jak.
“I’ve brought the datacore,” I said starting a conversation. “Do you want to send someone to my ship to grab it?”
The agent scoffed, “If only I had that ‘someone’. Nah, just jettison it and I’ll pick it up.”
“Erm… We better form a fleet, or you will become a suspect after collecting my can.”
“Hehe, don’t you worry, Mr Korff,” chuckled Tevis. “We, CONCORD agents, have our little privileges.”
I was taken aback, “Do you mean you can steal other people’s property without being flagged as a suspect?”
“Not publicly, no. But the use of our privileges is closely monitored. If I actually steal someone’s jetcan, I will very quickly become a suspect in the eyes of my supervisor.”
“Okay. Then, for the record:
“Dear supervisor, please rest assured that the can that I am going to jettison in the next minute or so is a lawful transfer of evidence from me to agent Tevis Jak. But if he picks up any of my stuff two minutes or later from now, please consider it a theft and a blatant abuse of official privileges.
“Will he get the message?” I asked, expelling the strange datacore from my hold.
“It’s ‘she’, not ‘he’. And yes, she will get the message,” the agent answered, laughing. “I better scoop that can before your two-minute window expires, or I’ll be in trouble.”
After collecting the datacore, Tevis Jak turned to the camera, “By the way, I have good news. While you were shooing the ‘rats away from the wrecks, I managed to track down one of the survivors. His name is Red and he has already shipped out.”
“What?” I asked in astonishment.
“I know. If I survived a ship explosion I would take two weeks of shore leave before even contemplating another contract. What a fighter, huh?”
“Don’t you find it suspicious?”
“Hmm…” the agent said pensively. “Now that you mention that, I actually do. Then it’s even more important for you to intercept the convoy that Red joined. I don’t think they have enough firepower to deal with the pirates where they’re headed.”
“And where is that?”
“Never mind the destination. The important thing that they are still in Tar. You should be able to meet them here,” said Tevis and sent me the coordinates.
“On it,” I replied, aligning Kaukokärki to the warp-in destination.
Genesis region – Sanctum constellation
Tar System – Mission location
“Where is that bloody convoy?” I asked looking at the overview. “Are we late? Or early?”
All I saw in the window was a small group of hoodlums of Sani Sabik persuasion.
“I don’t know,” said Aura, “but I’d wait here until we meet the convoy or the agent gives us further instructions.”
“Agree,” I nodded, “and while we wait, why don’t we have a bit of entertainment?”
I winked and pointed at the approaching Corpii frigates.
“Pirate bounty is better than nothing,” agreed Aura the Practical.
Twenty seconds later two Corpii Worshippers and one Corpii Follower learned an important lesson – if you see a capsuleer in a Cormorant, run away from him, not toward.
Aura wrinkled her nose, “When you said a bit of entertainment, I didn’t think you meant it literally.”
“Huh, what did you expect me to do? Let them run circles around me and play a Triglavian roulette with my one-fifties to prolong the fun?”
“What’s a Triglavian roulette?”
“Imagine a Gatling gun which fires from one barrel only. Every time you press the trigger it shoots just once. If it’s the right barrel, then the gun fires; if it’s not, then you are out of luck.”
“But we don’t have Gatling guns,” said Aura, confused.
“No, but the chance of hitting an orbiting frigate from a 150-mm railgun is about the same as from that Gatling gun – one in six or one in seven.”
“And then it would take you six or seven times longer to kill those pirates,” Aura exclaimed brightly, as the realisation dawned on her. Then she looked puzzled again, “But why would Triglavians use such a Gatling gun?”
I sighed in exasperation, “Aura, forget I told you about that roulette,” and quickly added as she started to object, “look, there is more entertainment on the way.”
While we were engaged in the discussion of strange Triglavian traditions, two more Blood Raiders landed on the grid – Corpii Raider and Corpii Diviner. Compared to Worshippers and Followers, these Corpii’s flesh was pleasantly firm – each of them took five salvos to dispatch.
“Yippee!” cried Aura in delight. “Bring on the destroyers!”
We waited for several tense seconds, but the universe did not respond to Aura’s call – the grid remained clear. To pass the time, I started inspecting the pirates’ wrecks. There wasn’t much loot, mostly metal scraps. As I approached the Corpii Follower’s wreck and opened the list of salvageable items, one line caught my attention. It was the answer to my question – were we early or late? – and the answer was ‘late’. There, casually inserted between scraps and frequency crystals by dispassionate Neocom, were two words: ‘Red’s corpse’.
I realised that I was holding my breath and exhaled the pod goo which suddenly felt dense and oppressive.
“I guess, our mission is over,” I said grimly.
Aura nodded silently, and warped us back to Jak’s Epithal.
Genesis region – Sanctum constellation
Tar System – Tevis Jak’s Epithal
“Dead, huh?” said Tevis Jak when I told him about our find. “Why am I not surprised?”
The agent clenched his teeth and looked in the distance, away from the camera. He was clearly upset and I let him have a moment to compose himself.
Presently, Tevis took a deep breath and looked at me, “That was my only lead. I’ve got nothing else that can help with the investigation.”
At that moment his commlink buzzed, and the agent picked it up to read the message.
Having finished reading, he looked up and said, “Actually, this is for you.”