A Trip Worth Taking. Part 6

Wissen was sitting at his desk in his smoke filled cramped office looking at his voluntary retirement papers. He had just finished reading the morning e-reports from Command and was halfway through the stack of paper work when he came across them. Retirement papers are sent out the first time after serving in the Rheinland Military for fifteen years. He was staring at them with the last two inches of a cigar in his mouth, trying to think through his options.

His family was dead, so there was no Mom and Dad to go home to. He had nothing outside his carrier in the Military. On the other hand, he never wanted to sign up in the first place. His father forced him to do it when he was 17, promised him that if he served five years, he would buy him a ship, and Wissen could do anything he wanted with it.

“Hrumph. . . That didn’t work out.” Wissen said to no one. Two years after he signed up, he received word that while on a trade run through the Omegas, his family was attacked by the Corsairs. No reported survivors. His dreams of running cargo died with his family.

As his hand was moving to put the papers in the shredder, a young Gefreiter came into his office with a data pad and saluted. “Oberfeldwebel, here is the report of foreign civilians crossing the border. It needs your inspection and signature. Sir.” He sticks the data pad out in front of him.

Wissen sighs, puts his retirement papers down on his desk and takes the data pad. He takes the cigar out of his mouth and blows out a long stream of smoke then starts reading the report. Its proper procedure for the border guard to document non military border crossings. The ships are thoroughly inspected, the pilots are questioned, and then released if there is nothing suspicious. The report needs to be inspected by an officer twice a day, and then submitted for records.

A name jumped out of the pad; Demetrius Luger. The man crossed at Stuttgart, heading towards Bretonia. Wissen points at the name and turns to the young Gerferiter. “Who is this? What was he doing in Rheinland?”

The enlisted man takes the pad and taps the display a couple of times. “Demetrius Luger. He says that he came across a wreckage of some of our long range recon ships, four of them. There was a battle and they were destroyed by some unidentified craft. The pilots reported them as Liberty, but the data in the black boxes is not conclusive.

“Demetrius came to the wreckage, summoned by their distress signal. He pulled in one surviving pilot, but the pilot died after a couple of minutes of internal injuries. Before he died, Demetrius promised him he would take him home. Not back to Rheinland, but back to Holstein, to the young man’s mother. Demetrius was patient and cooperative with the questioning, and his story checked out with his ships black box and nav info. He had no contraband, and his licensing was legit. He claimed Planet Erie as his base of opperations, but he is a freelancer, and has no pertinent ties to the Liberty Government and has done some work for our Military in the past. So we let him fulfill his promise, with three escorts, of course.”

The pad is handed back to Wissen. “Is there a problem with this man?”

“What? Oh, no. There is not. Thank you, I’ll finish this report and submit it to headquarters. You’re dismissed.” The men trade salutes and Wissen looks back at the report, at the picture of Demetrius Luger. “I thought you were dead, Tripper.” He said once again to no one. Mixed feelings were bombarding Wissen. He felt lonelier then he ever had since he joined the military, but now, he is feeling hope. A spark jumps from the flame he thought died thirteen years ago.

Wissen sticks the cigar back in his mouth, reached for a pen and signed the retirement papers.

***

Tripper packed in a hurry.  He wasn’t sure if he was in trouble or not, but he knew he had to leave.  It was one of those things, where a person just knew that he was in trouble. 

Once he got back from Holstein, Tripper looked into the two rouge ships that supposedly attacked that Rheinland patrol.  Tripper knew that Liberty would never draw Britonia into a conflict with Rheinland.   Something was up.  He felt no loyalty to Liberty, but he knew how the house worked.  Liberty was too self-centered, too arrogant to involve Britonia.  Even if they snuck their way through, that would still implement their ally.  Those ships could not have flown through deep space.  Without a jump gate, or a jump hole, that trip would have taken a couple of years, which ment they would have had to had left before the Liberty Rheinland conflict. 

No, they came through Britonia.  So Tripper got hold of some contacts he had in the Military, some old buddies he worked with when he first got into the Pennsylvania system.   At first, he asked if there was any military sanctioned activity in the Omegas, then he asked for any information about a new jump hole that may have been found that led to the same sectors, but both times, his contacts wouldn’t help.  “that would be classified information, even if I knew, I couldn’t tell you, Tripp.”

So, Tripper went below the radar.  After some work, he came in contact with someone from the Lane Hackers.  He set an appointment in Dave’s bar.

“We don’t like your reputation, Freelancer.  If you didn’t say the word ‘millions’ in our first conversation, I wouldn’t be here.”

The Hacker wore a dark brown duster and dark sunglasses.   Tripper didn’t like him, but didn’t know where else to get the information.  He owed this to Gustav, to find out why he was killed.

“I know I haven’t gotten along with the Hackers in the past, but it was never personal.  It was always business, just like what I have for you now.”  Tripper said. 

Tripper noticed that Dave had been watching them ever since they sat down together.  He could tell that Dave didn’t like him either.

“Business, huh?  Ok, I’ll listen.  But if I don’t like anything I hear in thirty seconds, I’m walking.”

“Ok then, I’ll make it quick.”  Tripper took a deep breath, and looked down into his drink.  “I need information from the Liberty Military data base.  There was an attack on a Rheinland scout patrol in Omega 7.  Four Rheinland ships were destroyed by two, maybe three supposed Liberty ships.  They used Liberty ships, with liberty weapons, but this isn’t Liberty’s MO.  I need evidence for or against the fact that it was Liberty that did this.  I can pay eight million credits.”

A smirk snuck into the corner of the Hacker’s mouth.  “Hacking into Liberty. “ He shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, I can do that for eight Mill.  But why do you care if it was them?”

Tripper looked up.  “Questions answered gets me a discount. “

The hacker raised a hand. “ok, ok.  Give me three big ones now and the rest when I get you the info.”

“Fine.”

Three days later, there was a knock at Tripper’s door.  It was the Hacker.

“How did you find where I lived?” Tripper asked

The hacker smiled, “it’s what I do.  Anyway, about your info.  Here is what I found.”  He handed Tripper a hard copy of a military Loss Report.  On it, it had an itinerary of two ships, and armaments that were stolen three weeks ago.  In the report, it stated that the fugitives fled with the ships towards Britonia.  Once they crossed into Manchester, a group of Bundschuh fighters defended them and escorted them away.  Liberty broke off the pursuit.

The informant handed Tripper a second sheet of paper.  “They matched the ships that attacked your Rheinland friend.  I got a readout of the ships from his black box, and it seems to be the same ships.”

Tripper was genuinely surprised.  “I didn’t ask you to hack into Rheinland.  Why did you do that?”

“Oh that, the scum flew through Vespucci on their way out.  That’s our turf, and they didn’t ask permission.  I get a feeling that you’re not doing this to be friendly, so I want you to get them.”

“Yeah, thanks.  Here’s the rest of the money.”

Tripper sent a message to the headquarters for the Rheinland Millitary.  He provided the coordinates of the attack, and the descriptions of the stolen liberty ships.  He explained that he believes that Bundschuh stole them, and are using them for some unknown reason to attack Rheinland ships, possibly to hurt relations between Rheinland and Britonia. 

Later that same day, Tripper gets a message from his buddy in the Liberty Navy.  It read:

“Tripper:

What are you getting into?  You are being investigated as a possible info leak.  Military Intelligence found evidence that you sent a message into Rheinland with classified information.  If they decide it’s true, you might spend some time in Huntsville Prison.

I know you.  You’re not a snitch, but you’re no fool either.  Whatever you’re doing, stop it.  Lay low. And watch out.

A Friend.”

So, Tripper decided that it was time for him to leave.  On his way out, he stopped by Dave’s bar. He couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.

“So, that’s that?”  Dave said, more than a bit irritated.  “You’re a big freelancer now, so you have to move to the Barrier Gate?”

“Yeah, something like that.  I’ll be back though.  I like it here.” Tripper hopped he could come back.  He really did like it here. 

David scowled at Tripper.  “It’s that man you were seeing here the other day.  You’re in trouble.  Hackers are scum.  Don’t get involved with them.”

“No, it’s not the Hackers.  I just need to lay low for a while.  I’m not in trouble.”

Dave went back to wiping the bar.  “I’m doing more and more work for Interspace Commerce.  Where can I reach you if I need a good escort?”

“I better not say.  Someone may come looking for me.  If they do, I don’t want you to get involved.   You understand?”  Tripper felt like a heel. Dave was a friend, and he didn’t want to lose touch.  “But I’ll contact you in a bit, once things cool down.”

Dave looked at tripper out the corner of his eye.  He did understand.  Tripper was in trouble.