A month later (most of it spent travelling in stasis, so that I only aged three days), Colonel Renfro and I were meeting in a nondescript office on a nondescript planet named Attica. He'd been briefed by his superior, or superiors (I never knew). Now it was time to brief me.
- "First - I've assigned you a partner for this mission. I'll explain why later. She should be arriving... just about now."
Sure enough, there was a sharp knock on the door. Renfro looked satisfied; not because he'd predicted it accurately, but because his expectation had been met. The man demanded punctuality.
"Come in."
I don't know who was more surprised - her, or me. She knew me as Trainee Thorn (never having met Sergeant Mayne). I knew her as Erika.
- "Welcome, Sergeant Nika." said Renfro. "This is your new partner, Sergeant Pilgrim."
We both had new names, so that no one would ever connect me with the WAFOTA case. I was Pilgrim now. No doubt Erika had equally good reason for having a new designation.
It was the same woman, though: moderately tall, with long, straight brown hair, and an athletic body that I'd gotten to know quite well. The woman, I mean. Well, I suppose I'd gotten to know both the woman
and
her wonderful body.
"I believe you've met before." said the Colonel.
- "During our training, Sir." she said.
- "Of course." Renfro was faking it. He knew pretty much everything about me, up to and including what my godmother had worn at my baptism. I assumed that he knew just as much about her - or she wouldn't have been here. He had us both sit down.
"I trust that you won't have any difficulty working together?"
- "No, Sir." we answered, just about simultaneously.
- "Good. Then let's begin. Open the files in front of you. Item #1 is a photo of Captain Teck. He's an ISEC operative, handled by a colleague of mine - a colleague that has... well, let's just say that they've been acting in an unorthodox manner. Several of their agents, and several of their latest operations, have gone unrecorded, and unsupervised."
- "Is that unusual, Sir?" I asked. I had a hard time picturing Renfro himself being accountable, or putting up with supervision.
- "Yes. Operations can be pursued with discretion, but they are
always
subject to examination afterwards. The identity of the subject is none of your business, at this point, but
their
superior - their handler, if you wish, recently retired. That has created what I suspect is a lapse in direct supervision, leading to... irregularities."
Erika - or Nika, now - didn't react. She hadn't looked my way once since we'd sat down. I was doing the same. Mostly. Alright, I'd snuck one look.
"My colleague's latest operations have attracted my attention. It's the third time he's employed Captain Teck and a small team - travelling aboard the same Halygon class ship."
That was odd. I wondered if Renfro had picked up on it himself, or if some diligent analyst or bean-counter had spotted it first.
"In the past year and a half, Captain Teck and his squad have travelled three times: each voyage lasted between 45 and 48 days."
That was even odder. "One way?" I asked.
- "Return." he said. "I expected that question. Here is a list of inhabited planets that are within 24 days of Attica."
Both Nika and I leaned forward to look. It was a surprisingly short list. There were only three planets on it. Neither of us commented. Colonel Renfro liked to do most of the talking, and he did not encourage idle remarks.
"You may also be interested to know that there is no record of Captain Teck and his team landing on any of those planets."
Halygon ships are built for long-distance travel, and to carry passengers or cargo. They're transports, not warships. They have no stealth capabilities, so they're easily detected in space, and even more easily when they break atmosphere - on a civilized planet, at any rate.
- "Collusion, Sir?" said Erika. Or Nika, rather - I had to get used to calling her that.
- "I've almost entirely ruled that out." he said. "Inquiries are ongoing, but I have good reason to believe that Captain Teck and his team did not land. Here's why."
The Colonel passed us a simple schedule of 5 departures and arrivals, in groups of five. Five ships departed on the same day, and returned at the same time. The length of the voyages was always the same: 45 to 48 days.
The Halygon ships were not always the same, nor were the points of departure, even though they were all in this sector. What immediately caught my eye, though, were the names of the passengers who had chartered the vessels. Several names occurred more than once, or even twice. Three names were on the list four times, and one appeared five times. Most of the names were preceded by their ranks; more than three quarters were Generals or Admirals.
- "It's the same with these ships." said Colonel Renfro. "No record of landing - anywhere."
- "Are these Generals and Admirals on active duty, Sir?" asked Nika.
- "Very good, Sergeant. No - they are all on the retired list."
Yeah, she figured it out first, but I would've got there soon enough. So a bunch of retired senior officers, by pure coincidence, decide to take a short trip together on a Halygon ship. They travel for a month and a half, going... nowhere. It wasn't just odd. It was decidedly weird.
- "A plot, Sir?" But how was Captain Teck involved? His three trips all coincided - exactly - with the last three groups of five.
"I am investigating all of the names on that list." said the Colonel. "But with limited resources, that will take time. It's also a delicate matter. Admiral Colenso, for instance, was a member of the Chiefs of Staff. So was General Diab."
Yeah, those people weren't going to like having junior ISEC operatives prying into their business. They weren't likely to grant interviews, either.
"That's why I've pulled a few strings to have you assigned to Captain Teck's team. 'For additional training' was how I phrased it."
Clever. Colonel Renfro's ISEC colleague couldn't very well refuse, unless he wanted to reveal what Teck was up to. And the Captain would have no choice but to accept us.
"For the moment, Sergeant Pilgrim, I've added two notes to your file, both citing you for ICI."
- "Sir?"
ICI was short for 'Inappropriate Collegial Interaction', which covered everything from sexual harassment to fucking your boss.
- "Relax, Sergeant. It's only a cover, for when my colleague scans your dossier. Of course I'll remove the citations after this operation. Sergeant Nika, your citation was for Assault. You were also directed to take Anger Management Training."
- "Thank you, Sir."
So I was the pervert, while Nika was the violent one. Nice.
Given our respective appearances, Renfro was presenting me as the muscle. I was big, and built. My UC and AC scores from training were highlighted. The only references to my first two missions specified that I had served as a bodyguard. Nika could have been anything from a spy to an assassin. Brains, skills,
or
muscle.
- "Work as a team." he said. "You've done it before, and will probably have to on this mission. If you're at all successful, there'll be more than enough credit to go around."
- "Yes, Sir." we both said.
Outside the Colonel's office, we walked down the hall together. I smiled at her.
- "How have you been?"
- "I'm fine, Pilgrim."
