Heavy troop shuttle
The crew was secured in some rooms on the transport. Some of the troops were going to remain onboard while the rest returned to the heavy shuttle. The heavy box was going to be left secured on the asteroid. Once they were far enough away they were going to blow it in the hopes the other ship would assume the ship exploded and the crew were killed. It would also make them think that Earth would assume the probe was the cause of the explosion.
Once they were ready the shuttle took them in tow and slowly accelerated to get away from the explosion. Once they were far enough away they triggered the secondary bomb. It went off with a satisfactory flash of light and flare of secondary radiation. They weren't sure if the second bomb had exploded as well but it would be destroyed which was good. They didn't need someone to pick it up and have it go off near a habitat.
After the bomb had been triggered a message was sent to the Fijishi letting them know. It was going to take some time to get back since they were towing the piece of junk but that wasn't a problem. They would get back and turn the crew over to the Swiss. As far as the ship? Might as well have it junked, it was in that bad of shape. To honest the pilot of the shuttle didn't have any idea how it was even space worthy. Chances were good it occasionally leaked air based on the number of hull patches he could see.
It was only an intersystem ship and he doubted it could get over.1c. Maybe .15c at the very most. At a guess the thing was a good fifty or more years old and hadn't been well maintained. What it might have originally started life as he didn't have the faintest idea. How many modifications it had over its life he didn't know but he could see at least five additions. With a shake of his head he turned and started working on his report of the action. What they were going to do with the five he didn't know and didn't really care.
~~~
Col. Jinjow arrives home
For the entire flight back to Earth, he tried to remember what he had learned but nothing had come back. He had very carefully sorted through his luggage for the encrypted files he had hidden as well. None were to be found and they had been very carefully hidden. When he was done with digging through his stuff, everything was piled on the bunk he had. All of his electronics were there, just none of the data crystals. Even more frustrating the electronics had been carefully wiped as well.
It almost looked like they had been reformatted and reloaded before being placed in his luggage. Everything was there other than the data crystals. What almost burned was a neat and tidy inventory list of everything he owned and had brought with. As far as he could tell, when they packed him up they had generated it. It had been signed by the two warriors and the Ambassador. If he managed to remain alive he was going to be lucky. His command took a very dim view of not completing your missions.
The flight back had been very uncomfortable since nobody would talk to him. From what he could tell this was a regular trip to Earth and it looked like they had replacement warriors and crew. Other than during meals when he asked for something to be passed nobody said anything to him. For the two weeks, he was almost completely isolated. When they arrived at Earth he was actually relieved even knowing what he did about his command's likely reaction.
Once the transport had landed on the Fijishi he didn't get a chance to look around. He was escorted to a shuttle and dropped to the surface. As he had expected it was down to Switzerland. What Jinjow hadn't expected was to be escorted onto the Barque which was the Sholan Embassy. Once on board he was taken to a small waiting area and told to sit. There were two warriors with him and they remained. He was slightly insulted by that. He wasn't going to try anything. If that stupid woman had just done her job he wouldn't have screamed at her. As far as he was concerned the entire telepath thing was just a way to hold onto power. The thing with one in every five days off for the three was their way of getting more time off while others worked.
Assuming he was still alive in a week or two he was going to file a complaint about his treatment. They had physically assaulted him, did something to his memory, and tossed him on some random ship back. He couldn't complain about the data crystals since they weren't authorized. His neck had been sore for a good week after that one warrior had almost sunk his claws into it. Being tossed across the room had caused a few bruises which some were still there.
He was still fuming when a door opened and he was told to go in. The warriors escorted him in and he almost twitched since the Sholan Ambassador was waiting for him. When she pointed at a chair and told him to sit he did as she ordered. It irritated him since most females in his department were support. They did all the secretarial stuff, got coffee, and meals as needed. Very few were of a higher rank than he was. Of those they had earned it working their way up the chain.
Teo looked at the man and lightly sensed his emotions and surface thoughts. After several moments she finally spoke, "Col. Jinjow, I have a report here of your actions on Shola. Not just what caused you to be sent back but from the moment you arrived. Before you say anything, it is from several different sources and not just the embassy. We are not pleased with your actions and have filed a complaint with your government. I'm going to try one last time to get you to understand what you managed to avoid." She took a sip of the coffchar mix Billy had created, "First and foremost is the expected treatment for anyone with purple. Don't touch unless asked or they initiate it. That is for any rank of telepath from the weakest talent to the strongest normal talent. It is both our culture and our laws."
"When it comes to Leska's like Yilly, Lt. Cmdr Verzilon, and Z'Marl you just don't touch. For Leska's an unwarranted touch is, by law, equivalent to grievous assault. For a simple touch, you would be facing a jail sentence of five plus years. When you cornered Z'Marl it would have been within Ambassador Madlax's rights to have fried your brain. That isn't a joke in case you think it is. It would have left you with the mentality of a child, in a coma, or even dead. Since he didn't he could have called the police and had you arrested. You would have been locked up for fifteen years to life. It would also have been an option to have you personality programmed."
She took another sip of the drink, "When he decided to send you back you seriously lucked out. You are being returned to your country along with a report of your actions from arrival to what caused your departure. We have filed a complaint with your government about your actions. We have also informed them before anyone from your country goes to Shola they are going to be heavily mentally examined. They are going to be examined by medical for a psychological evaluation and by the telepaths for additional evaluation. Anyone who isn't passed by both won't go. For your information, Ambassador Madlax has recommended we don't allow anyone from your country be allowed to go to Shola."
