The Sisters and the Spy
Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station — Sister Alitura’s Office
16 September YC 127
Having finished Alpedurch Soulobert’s mission, I returned to Arnon. There, I dropped by Sister Alitura’s office to check if there had been any developments in Tahaki Karin’s mission.
Before I could ask a question, the agent said, “Captain, what happened between you and Alpedurch?”
“Why do you think anything happened between us?” I asked in response.
“Because when I called Alpedurch and asked him about your performance, he dropped the connection.”
I chuckled and told Alitura the story of 10 kidnapped scientists and their lucky escape, both from Equilibrium of Mankind and Sisters of EVE. I made a point of articulating my exact mission objective but stopped short of expressing my opinion of it.
Sister Alitura sighed and smiled sadly, “You know, I kind of feel for him — we, agents, do not make such decisions lightly, and he, being a distribution agent, probably never faced such a choice before. By the way, his inexperience with security missions might explain why he botched the mission description. In his place, I would have offered a bonus payment for returning the scientists safely to the SoE station after the primary objective was achieved.”
“If that was the case, I would be inclined to forfeit the bonus reward,” I said drily.
Alitura gave me a strange look and changed the topic.
“I guess, you’ve come to enquire about Dagan investigation.”
I nodded, “Yep. Any news?”
“Unfortunately, no. Our Black Ops team is still trying to replace Tahaki Karin’s biometric information in official registries. They discovered that Minmatars had recently upgraded their cyber security controls, and the known vulnerabilities had been patched. Now, they are trying an alternative approach which may take some time.”
“May I ask what that approach is?”
“You may but I can’t tell you the details — they are classified. In general, however, it’s the oldest trick in the book — a human factor.”
I raised an eyebrow, “You mean bribing someone to deploy your malware inside the network perimeter?”
Alitura shrugged, “It may be as easy as asking someone with the access to the registry to simply enter the new data into the system. And yes, it may be a bribe, but it may also be a blackmail. The Black Ops just need to find the right person and the right motivation.”
I was familiar with security agents’ methods, and the mention of bribes and blackmail did not shock me. What jarred me was the fact that Sisters of EVE practiced those methods. I had a high opinion of the organisation that provided charitable services in our harsh world, and I expected it to uphold its ethical standards in all its activities. Maybe I was naive, but the glow of their golden logo had just become a bit dimmer in my eyes.
27 September YC 127
It took SoE Black Ops almost two weeks to replace Tahaki Karin’s biometric info. As soon as it was done, Sister Alitura summoned me to her office.
“Good day, Captain,” the agent greeted me. “Our agent is the Tahaki Karin now.”
“What happened to the real one?” I interrupted.
“Electronically speaking, she is a non-entity. Once we have finished this operation, she will be free to go,” said Alitura and added wryly, “She might find her newly acquired anonymity useful as her former comrades will soon be very unhappy with her. But enough about the ‘real Tahaki’. I’ve called you because I need your help to deliver our Tahaki to the Society transport.”
“Erm, are you sure that arriving in a bright-yellow Cormorant will not raise suspicions among SoCT members?”
“On the contrary, what can be more natural than asking the capsuleer who saved her from the wreck of Heartbreak to give her a lift? Tahaki will be sure to tell everyone what great friends you have become.”
I grimaced, “And after she finishes her mission, I will be known as a friend of a traitor?”
The agent spread her hands, “Captain Korff, you should know by now that in our business you cannot have your cake and eat it too. Whatever you do, there will always be an injured party who will take offence. If you are planning to do business with SoCT in future, now is the time to decide whether you want to step on their toes or not.”
She had a point. Even if I had such plans, I would readily take a hit to my standing with SoCT — I was too invested into The Damsel investigation to back down now.
“Alright, send me the coordinates of the rendezvous point and tell ‘Tahaki Karin’ to meet me in the docks in 30 minutes.”
“I have already sent the travel itinerary to your navigation AI who informed me that she was not aware of any missions accepted by Captain Korff which involved travelling to the aforementioned destination,” said Alitura with a glint in her eyes.
“She isn’t wrong,” I laughed and pressed my thumb onto the sensor on Alitura’s datapad, accepting the mission.
When I came to my berth I saw a vaguely familiar female figure waiting for me near the gangway. It had to be Tahaki Karin’s doppelganger but I couldn’t say for sure. The problem is I am not very good at remembering faces and I saw Tahaki only once on my CCTV camera, when I rescued her from an exploding ship. I wasn’t sure what to say and started raising my hand for a handshake when the woman stepped towards me and gave me a hug.
“Captain, aren’t you glad to see your friend Tahaki who owns you her life?” she whispered in my ear. “You never know who is watching.”
Somewhat stunned, I returned the hug and said loudly, “Tahaki! I haven’t seen you for a while. How are you doing? Let’s go inside and have a chat.”
We walked towards the ship and Aura opened the airlock door for us. It silently slid sideways and we stepped inside.
As soon as the door closed behind us, I turned to the agent and said, “We can talk freely here. How shall I address you?”
The woman’s mouth twitched into half-smile as she answered, “Until the end of this mission, the only name I respond to is Tahaki Karin.”
“Fair enough. Are you ready?”
She snorted, “One can’t be ready enough for such a mission. There is always something — some mannerism, shared memory, allergy, phobia — you name it — which cannot be gleaned from the records or interrogation.”
“So how are you going to cope if someone notices such inconsistencies?”
“Oh,” she said airily, “thanks to my traumatic escape from an exploding ship, I have a very convenient case of amnesia.”
“Haha, convenient indeed. Now, what’s the plan? I’ve got the coordinates. What do we do once I’ve got there?”
“Nothing special. I’ll don an EVA suit and you transfer me to SoCT spaceliner. That’s it.”
I frowned, “A liner? Does SoCT provide a public transportation service?”
“I don’t think so. What I know is that it’s a kind of a cruise ship available exclusively to members of the Society. Don’t know why they call it a liner. It should be called a cruiser but I guess that would be confusing — it’s not a combat ship.”
“Anyway, whatever it’s called, I’ll get you there. You better put on that EVA suit now as it will take just a few minutes to undock and warp to the destination. And, Tahaki… good luck.”
“Thank you, Captain,” the agent smiled warmly.
About ten minutes later, Kaukokärki exited a warp tunnel near a small station where the SoCT ship was berthed. You know what, it was a cruiser! Not a military vessel but a cruiser-class Victorieux Luxury Yacht. I knew that model well as it was the one that I helped Gerhardt make more slippery. Even without that modification, Victorieux was very hard to catch as it could equip both a CovOps Cloaking Device and an Interdiction Nullifier. No wonder SoCT chose that hull for their luxury ‘liner’.
Tahaki’s transfer between the ships went without a hitch. I was about to align to the SoE station and warp back, when I received a message from Minmatar Security Agent Kitar Ang:
Republic intelligence tells me you might have a lead on our prodigal son, Dagan. He needs to be taken down for everyone’s good. The Republic will watch your back.
“What the hell?” I said, scowling.
“Problems, Cap?” asked Aura.
“Judging by this message, yes.”
“What’s wrong with the message? If anything, it sounds positive — we’ve got Minmatar Security Department watching our back.”
“It’s the fact that our back needs watching that bothers me,” I said wryly.
Aura opened her mouth to say something… and then closed it. We spent the trip back to the SOE station in silence.