G-Pol Ch. 03

She then contacted the station's G-Pol office directly and forwarded her report. Included in it was her suspicion of a leak in G-Pol that'd warned someone of her arrival and status. The pirates had been waiting for her. The bounty hunter had been instrumental in not only helping her, but in the capture of the pirates alive and ready for questioning. She had no doubt he'd been putting his time to good use questioning them himself for leads on other cases and other useful information. There was of course no reason to report that bit of insight. It went without saying. Lastly she informed them that she'd be accompanying the bounty hunter when he brought in his captures and would check in at the same time.

Her report was acknowledged by the G-Pol controller and she was told she would be expected. She thought the response rather short but suspected they were more interested in reading the report at the moment. She couldn't help wondering if the leak was here and not elsewhere as she'd originally thought though. With this in mind, she quickly sent off another copy of her report via encrypted subspace to headquarters back on Luna. It was better to be safe than sorry as the old saying went.

She and Karl Docked at the G-Pol security locks in order to transfer his prisoners. It was here she saw him for the first time. He was still in his power armor which appeared to be a heavily modified aerial or space model. It had performed well enough in space though, so she thought it might be the later. In truth she wasn't an expert on such things, although she had been exposed to them during her military training. This suit didn't have the look of the Bavarian Enclave units and she guessed it was probably of CAF manufacture. The Central American Confederation seemed to prefer this more streamlined design style. Especially for their lighter models.

Karl had the helmet off and she could see he was relatively thin and had long dirty blonde hair. She couldn't tell much more than that because of the armor, but he wasn't bad looking. She really couldn't be sure of his height either, but he looked like he might be about right for her, depending on how much the armor added. At this point he was about twenty five centimeters taller than she.

He looked her over as frankly as she just had him, and apparently liked what he saw. His eyes lit up and the smile transformed his face. He came forward and held out his armored hand. "Natasha?" When she nodded and reached out to shake, he captured her hand and kissed it instead making her feel like blushing. "I'm glad to meet you! I've been looking forward to it since we first talked earlier. I've got to go and collect the bounty on those clowns then go and get cleaned up, but are we still on for dinner?"

Natasha had to laugh softly. "Of course silly. You don't think I'm going to let you out of it that easily do you?"

That was when he caught sight of Bona. His eyes widened and she knew he was immediately fascinated. "So you're a killhound team." he concluded sounding impressed, "I don't think those pirates'd had much of a chance if they boarded you. You probably could've captured or killed them yourselves!"

"Yes but that would've ruined all of your fun!" bona replied surprising both Natasha and Karl, "They would've stunk up the whole ship too."

Karl had to laugh at that. "Believe me they would've too! I haven't smelled such poorly washed individuals in a long time. My armor is probably going to need a thorough scrubbing first chance I get. Just breathing the same air made me feel unclean. And their living conditions... calling it a pigsty would be an insult to pigs! They'd be better off if they just slagged that heap for its metals. They'll never be able to sell it to any self respecting... anything!"

A G-Pol officer came down the corridor from the other direction to meet them. "Ah, Mister Steiner don't you have a bounty to collect?" He pointed to a lift. "You'll need to go upstairs to get that taken care of. And, please try not to kill anybody on my station! I'd hate to have to throw you in with the dogs you just captured." He obviously meant he'd very much like to do just that. Karl just smiled and snapped off a haphazard salute as he turned toward the lift and stepped inside. The door closed and he was gone.

Natasha was just deciding she didn't like this officer. He had that stuffy officiousness that just turned people off. Bona agreed with her completely. This guy was going to be a pain in the...

The man turned to her as he was wiping the sneer for Karl off his face. "I hope that miscreant didn't bother you too much. He really is nothing but trouble. On his last capture, I think it was on Ceres, he blew up a car carrying two suspects and in the process got six civilians killed and nearly burned down two buildings! He's like all those morons who call themselves bounty hunters. Little more than mercenary killers! They only respect the law when it makes them money and ignore it and public safety when it suits them. That one's been nothing but trouble since he got here. If he hadn't interfered we would've been able to take them in another few days and add several more charges to their list!"

"If he hadn't interfered, I might not be here talking to you now" Natasha replied dryly. That silenced him in embarrassment. It was all she could do to keep a straight face. He looked as if he wanted to choke. She saved his dignity by cutting him off before he had to apologize. "Maybe we should go and check me in? That, and I need to replenish my ammunition. I used up twelve missiles defending myself while... well, you have the report. By the way, you never introduced yourself. I'm Lieutenant Natasha Nazarova, I suspect you were expecting me?"

The older officer turned officious. "Ah yes Lieutenant, let's get that taken care of then. My name is Captain Clement Dumerk. Will you be wanting quarters on the station? Our officer quartering is more than comfortable and it is much more sanitary than that available on the planet. Although short stays on the surface can be... educational." He sounded disapproving.

Natasha considered this a moment. "No, I think I'll stay on my ship. It's my home anyway and it saves me the trouble of having to pack and move. In this way also I can move quickly on any leads that might develop. I will probably have to visit the surface in any case, since it appears that's where my suspect is hiding. Can you tell me how Ryans was killed? It wasn't in the report."

Dumerk nodded nonchalantly as they entered the office and began to go through the sign in process. "Very good then. Yes, Ryans... He probably wasn't killed by your suspect. The suspect probably just took advantage of the situation. He was killed by one of the native species, a variety of large insectoid. Or more specifically, the bacteria it carries on its body. It is apparently necrotic, meaning it eats living flesh. There isn't much known about it other than the insect isn't aggressive and only attacks when it is threatened. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd think the young man probably swatted at one and was cut on one of its spines or caught by its claws, allowing the bacteria access and it is this that killed him. It is a fairly fast acting agent and if he didn't know what to do, he would've had little chance. The insects are not common though and are rarely seen. There have only been two deaths from this source since I've been here. Ryans was the second, and that's been four years now. It wasn't in the report because it had no relevance to the case. I'd call Mister Steiner far more dangerous!"

Okay then, it was official. Dumerk did not like Karl. He probably made it a point to harass him at any opportunity. Technically it was an abuse of power, but one that was often overlooked and ignored by the higher ranking officers. She decided she'd give Karl the benefit of the doubt until she had a chance to ask him a few things. Whatever he'd done couldn't have been too illegal, or he would've been arrested instead of paid for his captures. There was always more than one side to any story. You learned that quickly in investigations.

Once the paperwork was complete, she escorted the technicians back to the ship to observe their reloading of her magazines. Each turret launcher held six missiles and an additional thirty six in an automatic magazine. They could launch them individually or in volleys of up to six at a time. She knew she should carry more than the minimum loads, but she so rarely used the ship's weapons she didn't see the need for a stockpile of missiles on board. This last encounter though had her thinking maybe it was time to keep a few reloads on hand. She already had a weapons locker for the purpose after all. Why not fill it?

When she asked the technician and explained the reason, he simply added the additional missiles and sent a change of order to Captain Dumerk. It was approved without question and she had her ammo lockers filled for the first time since she'd taken ownership of the vessel.

One day she'd have to think about adding a couple of crew members as well. It wouldn't be good to have to reload the missile batteries in the middle of a fight when she was alone. Come to think on it, an engineer would be nice too. Only she liked being alone on board most times. It was nice to be able to walk around naked when the mood struck her and not have to worry about being embarrassed or embarrassing someone else. Maybe she could find a female crew? That would solve most of that issue easily enough. One thing was certain, she hadn't planned to be this long without one. She really needed to rectify that and soon.

Karl rode the lift up to the next deck. Dumerk was pretty funny most of the time, in an annoying kind of way. If it weren't for his more than competent officers, he wouldn't have a job most likely. Karl had seen thieves ply their trade right under his nose and he never noticed anything. A typical desk jockey. What was worse was, the criminal operators had his number and played him like a harp.

He stepped off the lift into the processing center to spot his prisoners already in the works. The young female corporal behind the desk in front of him smiled and waved him over. "Looks like you caught your men!"

Karl laughed. "Yeah, you might wanna dunk 'em in a solvent tank then dip 'em for flees and lice before you handle 'em too much though! I don't know how human beings can live in such filth. I guess their mother's just couldn't get through their thick skulls."

The corporal laughed with him. "I'm just glad I don't have to clean that ship up! I've already got the paperwork started. All you need to do is sign most of it and we'll transfer the funds to your account."

That made him smile. "Thanks Hun, I really appreciate that. The sooner I can get this stink washed off the better!" He took the proffered stylus and signed the necessary forms making sure they were all correct and in order. The computer showed the funds transfer as complete and he double checked it with his own account using the wrist mounted info pad on his armor. The funds were present and confirmed.

The little corporal blew him a playful kiss as he entered the lift and he threw her a jaunty salute as the doors closed. When he got off the lift he headed down the corridor toward the decontamination unit. Locking his helmet in place he stepped inside and activated it to wash away the evidence of his past day's activities. Once he was finished there, he entered the main habitation section of the station and headed for his hostel.

He got a lot of looks as he crossed the open areas. It wasn't often you saw a power armored man in a place like this. He waved back to the children who pointed and waved but kept up his pace. He didn't want to make any parents nervous. They seemed to take a dim view of their sons and a few of their daughters taking an interest in an obviously non-military piece of equipment like this. They always assumed the worst. What made it worse was that as often as not they were right to be mistrustful. Many was the merc who would take advantage of a curious child. He wished it wasn't true, but was realistic enough to know he couldn't protect them all.

He did his part though. In many places he was well known for taking down mercs who thought they could take liberties with children or young women. In fact, a few years ago he'd killed a pair of them in the process of trying to rape a teen girl. He'd been in time to prevent the crime and had earned quite a bit of respect there. He'd also caught quite a bit of heat from the men's cohorts, but there had been another merc unit there with more of a sense of honor and they'd backed him up. The angry mercenaries had eventually been forced to leave the area as noone would do any business with them afterward. The girl had given him a braided lock of her hair wrapped in fine wire by way of thanks and as a good luck charm. He still had it too, in a compartment inside his armor where he kept small mementos of his experiences.

As he entered the hostel he saw the owner in his usual place behind the counter and waved to him. The old man smiled and waved back. How's the hunting?"

Good!" Karl smiled back, I got four! Worth about one twenty five plus another forty in recovery fees. I'm thinking of spending a little of it on a vacation! Mind if I extend my reservation?"

"No, not at all!" the old man chuckled happily, "You want the suite? It's a pretty nice setup! I'll give it to you for half."

"Done!" Karl agreed with a laugh, "How's two weeks sound? Say half up here and half planetside? Actually, make that ten days planetside. I wanna work on my tan!"

"Good choice!" the old man chuckled, "You want me to send up a girl to celebrate?"

"Nah, I've got a date for tonight" Karl said with a smile. Prostitutes weren't his style, but he didn't want to insult his host by saying so. If he had to pay for sex it wasn't worth it. All the girl would want was the money. He liked it when the girls he was with actually wanted to be there.

An image of Natasha came to mind. Now that was a beautiful woman. She was tall. He couldn't tell much more with her in that uniform, but the way she moved told him she was in great shape. The fact she was bonded to a killhound told him she was definitely worth pursuing. He hadn't worked with them often, but he had enough to know Killhounds were extremely good judges of character and one wouldn't bond to someone who wasn't a beautiful person inside too. He hoped she was interested in more than one date!

He paid for his change in accommodations and to have his things moved then headed up to his new rooms. Once inside he was impressed. The place was luxurious! He quickly opened and climbed out of his power armor. Then he set it to sanitize itself and closed locked and set its security system. Next he stripped out of his clothes and tossed them into the refresher, setting it on maximum to ensure they were clean.

Walking into the lav he was happy to see a sunken tub with all the best modern luxury options including therapeutic massage jets, self heating and an auto wash feature. He set the auto wash to its maximum and the water as hot as he could stand, then climbed in gingerly to acclimate himself. It felt great. Then he leaned back and let the thing do what it did. He'd been in a few public baths where they used living bath attendants, and this was almost as good. In most cases the attendants would be of the opposite sex and he knew the reasons. Of course for those who wished it, the attendants could be of the same sex as well. The purposes were the same. He didn't partake of what was offered though. It was just another form of prostitution to him. The artificial system got him just as clean and he was nice and relaxed by the time he was finished. He was beginning to think this was the better system.

When he returned to the front room, he was pleased to find that his belongings had been brought up. He usually kept everything in the two orbital drop cases he used as luggage. They were easy to secure, thus protecting him from theft and also made it easy to move about as he wished without having to repack. He opened the one that held his clothing and selected his favorite old fashion suit. It was a three piece design with matching slacks, vest and jacket all in black. To go with this he chose an emerald green silk shirt with a mandarin collar which he'd been told brought out the colors in his eyes. This outfit had never failed to impress and he thought it would go well with Natasha's black uniform. He took all this over to the refresher and pulled out his other now clean clothes and put in the suit and shirt to be sure they were wrinkle free and fresh. Then he put away the cleaned clothes and picked out his underwear for the evening. He chose a pair of black bikini briefs and a black undershirt, both of a high tech material that could stop a knife thrust in an emergency. Then he went to recover his clothes from the refresher and finished dressing. He left the jacket off for now and went into the other case.

From it he removed another favorite possession, a modern reproduction of the 1911 colt automatic pistol along with two spare magazines in a shoulder holster. The ancient design was famously reliable and accurate, both of which he valued highly in a weapon. This one still used an upgraded version of the old.45 caliber ammunition which was actually supersonic rather than the slower original. The frame was somewhat updated in that it had a fifteen round capacity rather than the old seven or eight and it was customized for better accuracy and ease of use. To this he added a slim vibro-knife with a seventeen centimeter blade and balanced for throwing. This he hung behind the magazine pouches under his right arm and the pistol under his left. He never went anywhere unarmed.

Too, he'd noticed that Natasha carried a Bavarian Arms autopistol as part of her dress uniform on her right hip, so this seemed appropriate. The Bavarian arms model was a ten millimeter and was standard issue for the Bavarian Enclave military. It too was well recognized for its reliability and accuracy. It was a very modern design and sported many hi-technology features including illuminated sights as well as laser sights which could be useful for intimidation purposes. Nothing said you were dead to rights like the little laser dot on your chest.

They were both in the law enforcement business so it made sense for both of them to be armed. It was true his weapons were much lower tech, but they would be just as effective if he needed to use them. They probably wouldn't though. With the killhound along as well, most of the idiots would leave them alone. He hoped she brought her. It was too bad Dumerk had come along when he did. He hadn't had the chance to introduce himself to the killhound and get her name as well. Hopefully he'd get the chance to rectify that this evening.

He put on his jacket and placed a call to the docking port where Natasha had her ship. She answered immediately. "Hi Natasha?" He wasn't sure if she had any other crew on board so he played it safe. He waited to hear her confirm it was her. "It's Karl. I realized we hadn't set a time for dinner. Are you ready, or would you like me to give you a little more time? By the way, your partner is very welcome too if she's interested."

That made Natasha smile and she could feel the happiness radiating from her partner. "Yes we're ready. I'd planned to bring her along. Her name is Bona by the way. I know we didn't get the chance to introduce her when Dumerk came along."

Karl had to laugh at that. "I don't think he likes me very much! I think it's just the type of person he is though, he can't help it. Okay then, I'm ready to go here. I can be there in ten minutes or so if you like?"