Chapter 2: The Trading Post

After eighteen days of travel from the Baglogi system in the blackness of space we were nearing our destination. The hyper drive went offline and Ship decelerated to sub-light speed as we approached the Trading Post. I felt so different from the last time I visited here. Last time I was a junior officer aboard a freighter. I was prey. Now I was quite different.

We sat in the main bridge watching the huge station getting larger on the tactical display. It was built by traders long ago and had grown to become a huge space station at the intersection of several trading routes.

“Attention. Probe deployment complete,” said Ship.

“Thank you Ship,” I said.

“What was that?” asked Jem.

“Another precaution. We deployed cloaked probes to surround the station, to monitor vessels that arrive or depart,” I said. On the tactical display I could see some dots moving into position around the station representing the probes.

“Good idea,” said Jem. We were now within communication range, and it was good protocol to announce your arrival and your business.

“Ship open a channel to the station,” said Jem.

“Attention The Trading Post, this is the Baglogi vessel known as Ship. We seek an audience with the administration of this station to discuss a matter of security,” Jem said in Ori, and with an authoritative tone of voice. We had used Ori aboard Ship for so long now it had become our default language even though we had learned a reasonable amount of Baglogi from our recent mission. But out here it would be unlikely they know Baglogi. Ori was fairly common among traders.

A moment later the response came back in Ori “Message acknowledged. Please proceed to docking port twelve.”

Ship deftly maneuvered around to the indicated docking port, and we were soon attached to the station.

“Attention, docking complete,” said Ship. We left the main bridge and went and changed into our new away team uniforms. We each took standard wrist communicators and Koluna carried the special medical kit. We then proceeded to the airlock.

At the airlock we had to wait for some time, although it was unclear why. After the delay we were able to enter the station. It felt weird leaving Ship behind.

On the station side of the airlock was a large dimly lit docking bay. It would allow freighters to load and offload cargo. At present the bay was empty. It looked grim compared to the brightly lit interior of Ship. The air was not as clean and fresh as the air on Ship.

Four large guards in body armour greeted us with weapons at the ready. I can’t fault them for being cautious.

One of the guards looked us up and down, perhaps assessing if we were a threat or not. We were unarmed and we made no threatening motions. He then pulled out some kind of handheld scanner and proceeded to scan us. After a moment or two the scan was completed and they appeared satisfied.

The guard then spoke to us in Ori. “Welcome to The Trading Post. We will escort you to the administration hub.”

We then left the airlock area with our escort and moved along corridors deeper into the station. It felt strange leaving ship after so long. I felt extremely vulnerable and I hoped our preparation would be enough. I tried to make a mental note of the way back to Ship. It could be too easy to get lost in a big place like this.

Since this station was built from various modules, there were airlock doors between each module we had to go through. If any one module suffered decompression, the airlocks would confine the issue to the damaged module. It made sense, but it also made for slow progress.

Throughout our journey no one made any small talk. The guards were probably just following protocol. The station looked sad and grey, and I was keen to move along to our destination. There was nothing to discuss here.

Our escort brought us to the administration hub of The Trading Post. It was a reasonably large room, a bit more brightly lit than the rest of the station I had seen so far. On one wall was a large tactical display showing the surrounding area, the station and all docked vessels. Another display showed details of various cargoes offered for trade. I noticed Koluna studying this one more carefully. I was more interested to notice that our cloaked probes were not visible on their tactical display.

There were several beings of different species busily working here on who knows what tasks. I did not know what was needed to run a large station like this. We weren’t here to evaluate their way of operating. We were here to find a collaborator.

The escorting guards had us wait to the side while one of them walked over and talked to the being who was obviously in charge. He appeared to be of the same species as the guards. After a few moments they came back over to us.

“My name is Tobis. I serve as administrator here. Please come with me,” he said as he gestured toward a side room. We moved into the room, which contained a large table and chairs. The escort waited outside.

“I am captain Jem. These are my officers commander Brian and lieutenant Koluna,” said Jem. Since when did Koluna get a rank?

“I am pleased to meet you. I have not met Baglogi before although I recognize your lieutenant as being Ori. What is this matter of security you wish to discuss?” asked Tobis.

“We are investigating a case of piracy. According to our records, about one hundred and thirty days ago there was a freighter known as the Opolu Naa that visited this station. About twelve days after leaving here, the freighter was attacked by pirates and ultimately destroyed,” said Jem.

“That is serious. Pirate activity in this area of space threatens all trade. What evidence do you have to support this?” asked Tobis.

“We rescued two survivors of the attack and recovered various evidence from the site of the attack. Further examination of the wreckage led us to a nearby system where the pirates were based. They had been involved in piracy for some time before we located them,” said Jem.

“I see. And the pirates... ?” asked Tobis.

“They are all dead. Their vessels and base were destroyed,” replied Jem.

His eyes widened for a moment then he smiled. “And what do you need of us?”

“The point of intercept suggests that the pirates knew the flight path of the Opolu Naa. Since the last stop of the freighter was here, it is possible that someone aboard this station had leaked information to the pirates. We request your permission and your cooperation to interview your staff and check communications logs. If such a person is aboard, they could represent a threat to other vessels. They may be in contact with other groups of pirates,” said Jem. Koluna and I sat there with a straight face. We wanted to convey the seriousness of the problem, and that helping us would be in his best interest.

Tobis sat for a moment. “I did some checking on the Baglogi. I understand this is your business, but I have never seen one of your vessels visit our station before. On this station you have no authority. However we have a common interest, as pirates are bad for trade. You approached me and asked for my permission, and I am inclined to grant it.”

He pressed a button on a wrist communicator and summoned an assistant. She was a short humanoid being with tanned skin and dark curly hair. They talked for a moment in a language I could not decipher.

“This is Laine, she is your liaison for the duration of your visit. All requests for access to personnel and information will go through Laine. You can expect our full cooperation, and no reasonable request will be denied.

“I have also assigned the guards to escort you for our protection and yours. All guests are to be escorted while aboard the station. I hope this meets with your satisfaction, and I look forward to a conclusion to your investigation,” Tobis said, smiling. With that, he left the room to attend to other business.

“Pleased to meet you Laine,” said Jem, “I am Jem. This is Brian, and this is Koluna,” said Jem. We each smiled and nodded.

“I’m excited to be working with you on this investigation,” said Laine.

“Great, do you have any prior experience with criminal investigations,” asked Jem.