Chapter 32: Decisions

Laine awoke slowly. The drugs left her brain foggy. Her arm twitched, and in her confusion she didn’t understand why.

She opened her eyes to discover she was aboard a vessel. The last thing she remembered was Brian at her father’s home.

As her head cleared, she knew what the twitching was.

To her surprise, she was in a seat, restrained?? Nothing made sense to her.

Laine tapped her finger and thumb five times together, and the twitching stopped. This wasn’t her first abduction. Ship was nearby, and by now they’d have a location on her.

She turned her head and looked around the cabin. In a seat nearby sat another being, a Baglogi, but it wasn’t Brian.

“Cham?” asked Laine.

“You got it in one,” he replied.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“We’re going on a trip,” he replied. His smile didn’t look too pleasant.

Laine sighed. Perhaps Ship would catch up with them.

From her seat, she saw a map of the Quard system on the display.

“You don’t have to do this. You could drop me off on Quard and leave before anyone notices my absence.”

“I already took you and no one noticed. Relax and enjoy the ride.” His tone of voice convinced her that negotiations were useless.

Laine sat in shock. Her experience with Brian and Jem taught her that most Baglogi were decent beings, with a sense of right and wrong. Cham didn’t fit the pattern.

“Did you kill my father?” asked Laine.

“Brian killed your father. By now, he has likely died from an accident in detention,” replied Cham with an evil grin.

“Ship, we’re coming back! Prepare to leave orbit. Track the signal from Laine. Extrapolate her destination as best you can,” ordered Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

Jem turned the shuttle around and fired the engines on maximum to stop their descent. With the engines still on maximum, she piloted the shuttle back towards Ship.

She turned and spoke to Saria. “I believe Laine is in more urgent danger. If she leaves the system, we won’t find her alive again.”

“We should contact the Chief Inspector and update him on developments,” said Saria.

Jem nodded.

“Ship, inform the Chief Inspector about what happened to Laine. Tell him we’re going after her and ask him to protect Brian,” ordered Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“We’re almost there. As soon as we’re secure, leave orbit and pursue the vessel with Laine,” she said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

As their shuttle approached Ship, it slowed down and entered the shuttle bay. The shuttle bay door closed, and Ship fired up the sub-light engines. Soon, they left orbit from Quard Prime.

After dinner, the guards escorted me back to my cell. They looked disappointed their plan hadn’t worked.

I sat and waited in my cell for the next attempt.

Soon, the door opened, and two guards told me to come out. The guards were Quard, and I didn’t want to attack an ally. I also knew some of them weren’t on my side.

Until their motives were clear, I’d play along. I stepped out of the cell and followed them through several reinforced doors and long corridors.

My instincts told me this might be it. The detention complex was a maze of corridors, and they could take me anywhere.

Suddenly, we emerged at the main entrance. Sergeant Elevon and a group of armed security forces waited for me.

“Hello again, Commander,” said Sergeant Elevon.

The detention complex guards handed me into the care of the armed security forces.

“It’s Captain now. I got promoted since we last met,” I replied.

He tilted his head slightly sideways. “Hmm, congratulations then, Captain.”

I left the detention complex, surrounded by the sergeant and his group. We got into an armoured ground transport and were soon on the move.

“Captain, we only just learned of your arrival. Ensign Laine told us, and your vessel gave us your location,” said Sergeant Elevon.

“I’m glad you arrived in time, I barely avoided an attack by Lagaid prisoners,” I said.

“Something unusual is going on,” he said.

“I didn’t kill the ambassador. I believe it was a plot to bring me here and kill me,” I said.

“It was a breach of protocol to put you in the general population, and also not to inform us. I’m taking you back to headquarters, and we can review the evidence together. For now, you’re still under arrest and in my custody,” he said.

“Fair enough,” I said.

“I have news for you. Several assailants killed a security detail of ours and abducted Laine. Your Commodore tracked them leaving the system, and left to follow them,” he said.

“I thought she’d be a target. Do you have any security video of the attack?” I asked.

“I have a team of investigators working on the scene. We’ll have answers soon,” he replied.

Jem and Saria rushed up to the main bridge.

“Ship, report,” ordered Jem.

“I updated the Chief Inspector, and he wishes us good luck. He lost a full security detail guarding Laine. Sergeant Elevon has Brian safely in his custody,” replied Ship.

“Do we have a lock on the vessel with Laine?” asked Jem.

“Negative, Commodore. Based on the tracking device, she has already left the system. Here is the path she took,” replied Ship.

On the tactical display, a red line showed the course taken by Laine.

“Good job! Pursuit course, best speed,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“At least Brian is with Sergeant Elevon. He will treat Brian fairly,” said Saria.

“I hope so. This was a ruse to get Brian. Laine was a bonus,” said Jem.

“Do we know where they’re taking her?” asked Saria.

“Ship, based on the trajectory where is Laine going?” asked Jem.

“The most likely destination is the space station known as The Trading Post,” replied Ship.

Jem looked at Saria. “This confirms it was the Lagaid. They preyed on many freighters until we stopped them.”

“But how did they get cloaking technology?” asked Saria.

“They could have gotten it from a vessel on Yastri, we discovered. We stopped them there too,” replied Jem.

“If they’ve got cloaking technology, would they have nano-bots too?” asked Saria.

“I don’t think so. The weaponized use of nano-bots happened since Brian joined. The vessel on Yastri was much older,” replied Jem.

“I’m asking, because I must prepare for when we catch up with them,” said Saria.

“I agree. Plan strategies either way,” said Jem.

“Yes, Commodore,” replied Saria.

The armoured ground transport arrived outside security forces headquarters. I knew this building from my last visit.

“Let’s get you safely inside, Captain,” said Sergeant Elevon.

We stepped out, with the security forces team surrounding me and the sergeant. I half expected the Lagaid to attack, but nothing happened. We made it inside the building without incident.

The sergeant escorted me to the meeting room. Waiting inside was Chief Inspector Ricks.

“Welcome, Commander Brian,” he said.

“It’s Captain now,” I said. “I got promoted since my last visit.”

“Oh?” he said.

The sergeant fetched a portable scanner and came over to me.

“If I may?” he asked.

I simply held out my arm, and he scanned my ID.

“Thank you,” he said.

A moment later, he pulled up the scan results on a wall display.

“Here’s the ID scan just now. It shows you as Captain,” he said.

I nodded. It was what I expected to see.

“Here’s the recent scan, from immigration,” he said. The display now showed the second scan.

“It shows your rank as Commander,” said Chief Inspector Ricks.

“That’s not me,” I said.

“It appears to be from an earlier ID scan. There are several dates that don’t match,” said the sergeant.

“But my promotion to Captain was before the arrival scan. It can’t be me,” I said.

“It seems so. We need to investigate thoroughly before we can clear you,” said the sergeant.

“Understood. Any news on the abduction of Laine?” I asked.

“We just received a security video from the scene,” replied Chief Inspector Ricks.

The sergeant pressed a few keys, and we saw several Lagaid attack and overpower members of the Quard security detail.

“Hey, look there!” I said.

“It appears to be you, entering the ambassador’s residence,” said Sergeant Elevon.

“It couldn’t be me, I was in the detention complex!” I said.

“This shows someone who looks like you. It’s likely he murdered the ambassador,” said Chief Inspector Ricks.

“Given this evidence, do you have enough to clear me?” I asked.

“Agreed,” he replied. “I’ll cancel the warrant.”

The sergeant removed my wrist restraints.

“We’ll find you more suitable clothing soon,” said Sergeant Elevon with a smile.

“Thank you. From the video evidence, we’ve a common enemy. I’d like to help with your investigation,” I said.

“We wouldn’t have it any other way, Captain,” said Chief Inspector Ricks.

“Captain, I’m trying to see a pattern to the events so far. The murder of the ambassador brought you back to Quard. The abduction of Laine caused your vessel to leave Quard to pursue. If we assume these were part of a plan...” said the sergeant.

“ ... their plan was to get me here without backup?” I said.

“That seems a reasonable conclusion. If we add in the attempt in the detention complex, they’re keen on revenge,” said the sergeant.

“It appears more subtle, more carefully planned than before,” I said.

“Which means we must keep you safe. It’s likely they’ll come after you again. Sergeant, please arrange a safe place for the Captain and assign double the usual security detail,” said Chief Inspector Ricks.