Federation Reborn 2: Pirate Rage (48 page)

"And the second?" David asked amused as he studied the phonic data.

"Was it intentional or not?" the Veraxin chittered. David turned and watched his roommate rub a pincer along his snout. "A trick by some is to let you think you’re learning something. Working for it. But in reality it's a trap."

"Oh." David turned back to look at the holo again. His eyes narrowed in intense concentration. He flipped through the sensor feed until he found the right overlay. When he did he studied its readings carefully, using his new training to interpret what he was seeing.

After a long moment, he frowned thoughtfully. "No … something … something is
right
about this. It doesn't feel off; the feeling is genuine to me. I'm looking at the bio scans here." He ran a finger over both of their heart beat and respiration readouts, then flipped to the thermal profile, then back. At first he'd been a little upset about such monitoring; it had seemed like an invasion of privacy. Now that he knew the importance of it, how it could help them in intelligence gathering, in sorting out the lies from the truth, he was all for it.

Besides, the bastards had it coming. Torture was out, he'd read about how unreliable it was, so passive scans were in. "See here and here? They really did get upset about that, which leads me to wonder why?"

"Again if it was a bait and switch …"

"Yeah, but there is something else too. After this discussion one killed the other in his sleep and then tried to hang himself," David said. “It's why I was so interested in them. I narrowed it down to this time segment and another.”

"Oh?" The Veraxin's eye stalks suddenly focused more on the image. "Interesting."

"It's like he was covering up something."

"Did they get anything out of the killer?"

"Unfortunately no. He had suffered brain damage and died of a stroke some time later. They missed a blood clot that had formed when he had cut off flow to his brain."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. So we're not going to get anything more out of them," David sighed in disgust.

"Something …." The Veraxin stared at the caption. "Sound out that last part. We were assuming it was a cough. but what if it's something close to it?"

"Dai … Dai-ko … Dai-ko-ku … Um …," David got a faraway look as he tried to place the familiar sounding word.

"
Daikoku
?" the Veraxin asked. He bounced his head in excitement. "That must be it! Computer, run a search on the word."

"Name search found.
Daikoku
, Terran Japanese mythological god of wealth and happiness," the computer stated after a moment. The holo split to show images of a fat stone figure holding a sack over his left shoulder and a small object in his right. "Literal translation great black Deva. One of the seven lucky gods associated with fortune. Also associated with farmers, kitchen, agriculture. Originally from India. Hindu male warrior deity …"

"Computer pause." David said thinking hard.

"What is it?"

David barely heard him, his thoughts were racing. "Computer is there a
place
named after this
Daikoku
? A planet, possibly with casino ties?"

"No planet of record."

"Damn. I was so sure. I remember something," David muttered shaking his head. "No, you’re wrong; I know it. Maybe not a planet." He got up and paced. The Veraxin took his place and studied the record of the deity.

"Fascinating. Your world had many cultures with many different deities before they accepted the spirits."

"There is something I'm missing. I remember …," David turned in place several times, thinking hard and then his eyes lit. He dived for his duffel.

"Find something?" the Veraxin asked, turning an eye stalk his way.

"It's got to be here; please tell me I brought it. I'm sure I packed it. Goddess of space I hope I did!" he dug through his back, tossing items out with abandon. A pair of boxers landed on the Veraxin's head.

"Hey!"

"So got to be here, where is it?" David said urgently, tearing through his clothes.

"What are you looking for?" Bright-day asked, picking the item of clothing off his head and tossing it back. It smacked into David's back, but he ignored it. He pawed at the pouches looking. When that failed he checked the pockets of the civilian clothing.

"A data disk. Holo projector. Mini one. I kept it. Grew up with it as a kid; it was the only thing I had of space. I … it inspired me." He tore at the clothing until he felt a familiar hard shape. "I think I …." He pulled a plastic octagon out and held it up triumphantly. "Gotcha!"

"What may I ask is that?"

"Data disk like I said. I couldn't bring the projector, but this is the memory module for it." David went over to the desk and frowned at the interface.

"Just insert it. It's a universal port," the Veraxin said.

"You sure? I don't want it to
eat
it. It's old."

"I assure you; it doesn't eat data disks," Bright-day said amused.

"Here goes," David said inserting the disk.

"New storage medium detected. Accessing … virus detected."

"Shit!" he reached for the disk but the Veraxin grabbed his hand with a true hand. "Pull the data now and it will be corrupted my friend. Wait."

David gulped and turned to look at the data stream. "Virus quarantined. New data being assessed."

"It's a travel brochure," David muttered, pulling the file open and then widening the holo screen to the max setting. He shrank the video and then minimized it.

"What are you looking for?" Bright-day asked. "Silly me,
Daikoku
correct?"

"Yeah." he was rapidly scanning the index, muttering as he went.

"Silly," the Veraxin chittered. "Computer word search new database for
Daikoku
."

"Accessing. Index file corrupted by virus. Rebuilding database. This will take a moment."

"Crap." David muttered.

"Have patience my friend. All good things come to those who wait, remember?"

"Patience hell," David sighed running a hand through his hair. He was surprised to feel himself shaking a little. Adrenalin had hit him hard. He tweaked his stats to flush it and regain his equilibrium.

"Index rebuilt and saved. Item located.
Daikoku
," the computer reported.

"Let's see it!" David said excited, eyes bright and suddenly intent.

A moment later the video screen they had paused was replaced by something else. "Welcome to
Daikoku
resort and casino where you can be a star among the stars!" He winced at the well-worn pitch as the long dead salesman blithely droned on. "
Daikoku
is a five-star resort station of impeccable taste and view. The staff is trained to cater to your every whim." He glanced at the video of the station.

"A space station?"

"I was thinking about it. It's not an industrial station, just a resort. If it wasn't blown up, it would’ve either turned into a habitation or more likely died out from lack of support."

"A base you mean.
Daikoku
. Fascinating."

"Computer scan document for location of space station," David said impatiently when he didn't hear what he wanted. “It's got to be in there. Why send a brochure without telling them where to go?”

“Then it is. Give it a moment. As long as the file isn't corrupted, it will be there,” the bug replied sagely.

"Accessing. Location found. Location mentioned. Pi sector, quadrant two, star system Echo four niner."

"Never mind," David said grinning.

"You believe they are using this station?"

David nodded excitedly. "Think about it. Pirates can use it as a haven, a port. They can bring goods and people there. Drop, refuel, have some fun and then go back out. Anyone on the station could pick through what they got and ship it out …"

"To Horath. The supposition bears investigating. However, Echo four niner five niner is a known system with a space-based industry according to our records. How could they miss something like this?"

"If they have regular traffic, it's easy to hide in plain sight. Remember what the lieutenant said about that earlier?" David asked.

"True."

"Or the station could be outside the heliopause of the system if it drifted off course. Or it could be deliberately put there to avoid authorities back before the Xeno war. Remember Antigua Prime? It could have been hidden in plain sight."

"We can easily check for that. Unfortunately, it's a custom station so we can't get independent corroboration," the bug replied.

"True, but this is something, a lead," David said. “From there, if we can capture it we can get a lot of intel. Where ships are, where they've been, schedules, personnel, the whole bit. Definitely something, a target.”

"It is that," the Veraxin said, feeling a slight pang of jealousy. David hadn't found the information through rigid adherence to the protocol; he'd jumped to conclusions and had a background of information from his childhood he'd held back. That wasn't fair, but their job wasn't about fair. Nor was it a competition he reminded himself. "I do wish you'd stop doing that."

"What?" David asked looking up confused.

"Having these hunches. They can be amusing to watch, but they may lead to trouble. And they short circuit the delicate process of patient study."

David made a face and then snorted. "I'm wondering if it will bear out. I'd love to be in on it."

"Quite possibly. We'll need to report this."

"The lieutenant?" David asked suddenly concerned.

"Exactly. However, I suggest we get our data in order and then make the report as soon as possible."

"
Daikoku
isn't going anywhere you know," David replied. “But I'd like to be there when we take her.”

"But the people on it might. And if the station does exist, it changes our strategic situation. The chain of command has to be informed."

"Right," David sighed. "Let's be about it then, shall we? You tease out any more information about the station while I do a thumbnail on the location."

"Good."

---<>))))

An hour later they waited as the communication channel opened but had them on hold. David looked at his Veraxin compatriot but the alien looked totally serene. "What's taking so long?"

"I was at dinner. This had better be good, boys," the lieutenant's voice growled over the link.

"We think it is, sir. We, ah, discovered some information, and we need to report it."

"It can wait."

"Sir, it is a possible location of a pirate base that has some possible bearing on the current Horathian attack—specifically Fourth Fleet, sir."

Interest suddenly sparkled in the lieutenant's eyes. "Oh?"

"Yes, sir, we discovered a blip in the interrogation tapes that had been overlooked. Careful analysis of the recording yielded a clue,
Daikoku
," the Veraxin said.

The lieutenant's face instantly set in hard lines. "Say no more. Meet me in my office in an hour, gentlemen."

"Yes, sir." The link was cut. David looked at his partner. "I wonder if we're getting a medal or a bawling out?"

"A bit of both? He did say we were interrupting dinner. Some species are quite annoyed when that happens."

"Ouch." David winced at that. Scuttlebutt said the lieutenant had been trying to date a hot lady for some time now. Double ouch.

"I guess we better get going then."

"I for one choose to eat. There is no telling when we will get another chance."

“Get dressed and do it on the go,” the Veraxin stated. “I'll gather the supporting materials.”

---<>))))

Several hours later Admiral Irons rubbed his temple as he looked at the report. "You say Hammerschtel and Bright-day pulled this out of interrogation tapes?"

"It was missed. Most people overlooked the cough not realizing it was part of a name. And Ensign Hammerschtel's unique data helped to put the pieces together."

"A pirate's den in Pi sector. Interesting."

"More than that, it's a headache." Sprite said, pulling up the holo of the sector, then switched to a map of Pi sector. Lines were drawn where ships were known to travel. The location of the casino turned pirate station took on new importance. “It gives us another access to worry about. What is there that is so important that they had ships of Fourth Fleet go to them first? To resupply from their journey there I bet, but is that all? Which makes me wonder why go through the trouble of Fourth Fleet? Why not just wait until a regular shipment comes in?"

"Storehouse. Nest of pirates cut off? Lacking sufficient … no, that's stupid. They had to get the ships there in the first place to unload. But why bother?" He shook his head.

“Resale? Sell what they don't want … no, that doesn't make sense either. They take what they want,” Sprite mused.