Chapter 8

Once it became obvious that there wasn’t any resistance to the invasion, Aga Khan decided that a personal inspection of his new prize was in order. Now he obviously avoided the grittier aspects of the station, the bilges and reclamation spaces being absent from the inspection. Areas such as fuel, water and air storage were his first stops. When he realized that the reports were true, that the cupboard was bare so to speak, He flew into a rage. demanding that greater effort and additional searches be made.

HIs next stops were the famed, or infamous locations on the station. He sampled the cultured meats and hydroponic vegetables at the famed tempura palace. Nobody mentioned that he was served exclusively rat. He also sampled the various drinking establishments. several hours were dedicated to the tender offerings of Kim Cho’s backrooms.

It was during this inspection that he discovered the old station master’s residence. This had been one of my priority construction projects. I had gone in and redesigned the entire space. It was a space dripping with elegance and opulence. Just the refresher space alone was 4 times the size of a normal living pod. It included cold, warm and hot water baths. Real baths, not showers. The cooking spaces included every cooking device known to man and enough refrigerator and freezer space to supply a family of 4 for a year. And I had stocked them with every delicacy available. The communications room also held state of the art radio, video equipment. You could access everything from the FN council chambers to the simplest garbage scow in orbit. But the center piece was the living quarters. Specifically, the picture window. A 3 meter by 3-meter window looking out on the docking area of the station. And by luck, framed perfectly in that window was the ‘Queen Anne Revenge’.

My goal had been to tempt the pirate leader into making that space his own. I succeeded. Aga Khan moved in that afternoon.

Shortly after moving in, Aga Khan contacted his boss. This is when the true purpose of the pleasure palace came to life. I could, in real time, watch and read any and all commo that Aga had. And the first piece of hard intel was his boss.

“Well Aga, I assume that all has gone according to plan? And that you will be returning to base shortly.”

“Many pardons holy one, there are difficulties. Our mission was not the surprise we had relied on. These dogs had prior knowledge of our intentions. The station has been stripped of all but necessary supplies.”

“So, use what’s left. That should get you back.”

“My apologies master, there are insufficient fuel supplies. Additionally, the air and water supplies available are minimal for the population on the station.”

“So? It seems that those 2 issues are easily resolved. But the fuel? what is the problem there? Isn’t there enough on hand to get back to your base?”

“No sir, there is none to be had, anywhere. We require a tanker resupply. I warned that this was a possibility, and requested a tanker be included in the fleet.”

“OH, so now your failure is someone else’s fault? perhaps MY fault?”

“OH NO Celestial one, it surely is a lack of foresight on my part. I have already sought to resolve this problem and have requested a tanker be sent.”

“And the additional cost for that will be levied against your share of the prize Khan. And what of the crystal, has it been located? Do you have it?”