Starlight Gleaming Ch. 21 Pt. 05

I pulled out the cube from my satchel, and holding it in my hand, turned it on. Killayana looked at it in askance.

I explained, "This is a jammer, and unless the electronic device is specially shielded, it will scramble any recordings and prohibit normal function. I'm assuming Taruca is dead?"

"He is," Killayana confirmed.

"All right. The particulars are that Taruca and his cadre of Imperial Security arrived by submarine three days ago. According to sources I trust, they do not answer to Minister Supay. They brought with them a manual and a prototype circuit board from Tohingo Defense Research to provide our interceptors with working energy shields capable of deflecting those new energy weapons used by Atlantis. There was another submarine with another circuit board and two techs to assist with installing this prototype technology. Unfortunately, Atlantean naval forces learned about the subs and actively hunted down and sank the other submarine. Taruca arrived with orders to keep both the manual and prototype safe, and after handing over them to my care, at least two of his men, armed with pistols, have stood guard in my office, relieved every two hours. Two important things happened this morning. The first was me being assigned as temporary CO of the 1267. Second was being ordered to turn over everything I had to Lord Nicsoll Roshan, which I did. Lord Roshan apparently works for Itcha Aeronautics and has experience as a project manager, which I do not. The hearsay is that he has been tasked by the Emperor himself with seeing to the project's success. I'm here because there's a part to that circuit board that's missing, and is presumed to be inside the missing attaché case."

Killayana looked like he'd suddenly found something sour in his mouth.

Zatic whistled, saying, "Well, cloak and dagger shit is motive right there. It's likely we're looking for one or more enemy agents, Lieutenant."

"You need to mind your mouth, Zatic," Killayana muttered.

"There's more," I added. "Someone, maybe the same someone who killed Taruca, tried to kill Lieutenant Ja-See this morning. She's also part of my Tactical Ops team."

"Which means she's Imperial Security," Zatic commented.

"Great, just great. Where's she at now?" Killayana demanded.

"Fortunately, she's still alive, but barely. No, I can't let you speak to her yet, not until I know she's stabilized. As much as she needs to recover, I daren't take her to either the hospital or the nanotech facility for fear of tipping off whoever tried to kill her that she's still alive."

Killayana narrowed his eyes, staring briefly at the blood spatters on my trousers before speaking. "Is there a chance that she was involved in Taruca's death? That they had some sort of falling out?"

I shook my head. "No. First, from a look at the murder scene, I'd wager that Taruca had his throat cut while in bed, and likely asleep and/or while drugged."

Killayana nodded.

I continued. "She's not a suspect for several reasons, First, Ja-See met Taruca and his men for the first time just a few days ago, when they arrived at High Guard. She asserted to me previously that there was no prior history, and knowing something of her background, I believe her. Second, she knows the importance of this project, and before she passed out from blood loss, she got out the words, 'enemy agent.' While I believe she is capable of self-inflicting such wounds if she deemed it necessary, the angle of her wounds is inconsistent with self-injury. I expect her being part of Imperial Security will not become part of any official report, and for the moment, let's hold back that fact regarding Taruca as well."

"Yes, sir," they replied unhappily.

Neither man had any questions at the moment, but both reserved the right to ask me more later. I readily agreed.

"That's all I had to say." Turning off the jammer, I put it away.

With the fingerprint tech finished, Mack, Akama, the detectives, and I searched for the missing attaché case, including searching for any loose roof tiles or any similar such hideaways. The single room was small with no real place to hide things, but we looked anyway.

Naturally, my phone rang. I looked at both of the CID men as I answered. "Kandikan here."

It was Hanami. "Commander, I have some visitors here saying they had a meeting with you. Police detectives Crazy Wolf and Thunder Cloud. The reporter Sammi Reo is also here with two people she says are her film crew. It's not on your calendar, sir, but you told me you wanted to deal with the people from Capisco yourself."

I winced. Seven hells! I'd forgotten I'd invited them. Well, here's to hoping I don't get too badly burned by this!

"Hanami, explain to them I'm at a murder scene, and ask them to wait. I'm leaving right now and I'll be back there in about twenty minutes. In the meantime, please prepare Air Security Visitor badges for everyone, including the film crew."

"Yes, sir," she answered. "Anything else, Commander?"

"No. Thank you." I hung up. Turning to Killayana, I said, "All right, I'll let you both get back to it. If you have any other questions, if you find the missing case or the interface unit, I'll be at the 1267 late this afternoon, and from tomorrow onwards."

Zatic asked for a description again. I gave it as best I could, not having seen it. The pair went back to their work.

I returned with my protection detail to Air Security.

After apologizing for not being there when they arrived, I signed the forms for their badges. I asked the police detectives and Sammi Reo and her crew to follow. Akama drove us to the warehouse entrance.

While I forbade filming the building outside, I let the film crew begin recording once we were inside. There were Ground Service on guard duty, but seeing me and the prominently displayed visitor badges, they let us through; I asked the cameraman to not record the faces of the Ground Service warriors, citing possible retribution by Obsidian Tears for anyone entering Capisco.

I asked Mack and Akama to stay topside. Neither one was happy, and Mack looked ready to argue with me, but I was firm. "I'm going to take the cruiser, and the others will have to squeeze into the vehicle. There's no room for you to ride along. Besides, if this turns politically ugly, I don't want either of you caught up in the maelstrom. You can either go back to my place or head to the Commissary for some food as we'll miss lunch while we're down below. Alternatively, I hear the cafeteria is back in operation. These people need to see what was operating under their very noses. I don't expect to be more than two to three hours, and regardless, at fifteen-thirty hours, I'm ending the tour. Do you understand my orders?"

Akama nodded in affirmation, but Mack said, "Commander, I was there. You need me to go with you as your guide. I can also answer questions that you would have to guess at. How would that look, sir? Giving a tour and not being able to answer any particulars?"

"Point made, Sergeant." Taking a deep breath, I said, "All right. Sammi Reo keeps her cameraman and the other one has to stay behind. See you after a while, Corporal Akama. If you decide to go to the Commissary Diner, you have permission to order lunch on my credit card."

Unhappy with the situation, Akama stayed behind with the extra civilian. While Mack drove, Sammi and her cameraman rode in front while I sat in back with the two detectives.

For the next three hours we went on a tour through the remains of the criminal kingdom built on blood and pain and fear. While Sammi did some spots in front of the camera, Mack stayed off-screen and answered some questions while the camera took shots of various rooms - some with blood stains -- and areas that had seen intense fighting. When they got to the room where they had discovered the dead children, Mack broke down, and I spoke, reminding Sammi that Mack was like many single mothers working for Air Security; they had worked together and supported each other, and so their shock at finding children they had known and come to care for murdered and in such a unbelievable condition had shocked and enraged these warrior women. When Sammi asked, Mack gave the names of all five murdered children without hesitation.

All four visitors were astonished and frequently commented on the sheer size of the underground mini-town. When we arrived at the slave auction center, with the broken shackles connected to walls or floors, all four paused to take in the implications.

Sammi was the first to react, and instructed her cameraman pan through the area while she spoke for the camera. "Four months ago, Capisco Police, receiving a tip from the Empire of Chimorro, provided crucial information that broke three kidnapping rings and a slave center within Capisco itself. We are standing below that same city, where criminals have gathered, like rats in the barn, hiding from the law. Here, underground and out of sight, in just three short months, young teen women and girls were tricked or kidnapped and brought here. They faced the frightening prospect of becoming slaves, of becoming property to foreign buyers who arrived at this illegal and evil marketplace. This is where women were bought like you would buy meat as the grocery store. Some of these young women would live, but always at the mercy of the men who bought them, living with foreign customs and traditions, and if they had children, those children would be raised to embrace those foreign ways.

"If they were lucky. For those who remained behind, the women and girls would have simply vanished, and most without a trace or a hope for an answer. We should remember that their virgin status was a selling point being advertised by the Obsidian Tears criminal gang. Can you imagine what would be on the minds of foreign men who bought themselves a virgin from the Seven Nations? The chance to defile a young woman, make her do anything you want and if she resists, whip her, beat her, or even murder her without consequences? The chances of a decent master who would respect their innocence would be indulgence in pure fantasy. The obscene notion that these girls somehow might have deserved this defies rational and decent discourse. If these thoughts fill you with outrage, you are not alone. I am here, seeing these cages and their broken chains, and I see the faded blood stains everywhere. Even this much exposure makes my skin crawl. This place has the feel of having been here for a while. Year of hiding away while taking our young people, robbing them of their future lives - for profit! There were male draconians here in this crime city, guests of those obscene criminals who call themselves Obsidian Tears. The draconians are allies of the Aesir-Vedan Alliance, but here, far away from their human allies, they readily act more beast-like. Those women falling into their depraved clutches would be forced to satisfy their alien and vicious lusts, over and over, until those poor, helpless, captive women had been raped to death."

She paused a moment, then continued to speak. "For those of a more sensitive nature, we have seen photographs of some of the women who suffered such a fate, and we have been allowed to make copies of those photos. While none of the dead found in this den of depravity were from the Seven Nations, I have seen and met some of the women of other colors being offered for sale. White women from Atlantis, black women from Afrika, and women from the Eastern Islands and from the Empire of Chimorro itself. The Empire discovered this abominable place and they put a hard stop to their evil trade in human misery. Nearly a hundred women from the Seven Nations owe the armed warriors of High Guard for their rescue, the humanitarian care they received afterward, and for most, the prompt return to their distraught families.

"This is Sammi Reo, reporting for Channel 6 News, from this thankfully empty slave market beneath the city of Capisco. Channel 6 is an affiliate of Consolidated Network News."

Shortly after that, time ran out and we left. I answered a few questions as we departed the area.

As we were rising to the surface, Sammi asked, "Commander, are you wanting final okay on the story I'm putting together?"

I chuckled as I shook my head. "No, I'm leaving that to the discretion of you and your bosses. I only ask that you not retain or show any faces of our warriors. The Obsidian Tears gang is still active and has an active presence within the Seven Nations. We don't want anyone of our people to be targeted."

"That's a reasonable request, Commander. I'm surprised you shared this with us, but I'm glad you did. It makes the story of the women you found and returned a part of a bigger piece. Trafficking humans and slavery is illegal in the Seven Nations, yet it persists."

I said, "I would appreciate you share any future information on Obsidian Tears and their activities with these two detectives, Sammi."

"I will do that, Commander."

As Sammi and her two people departed, the two detectives stayed a bit longer, wanting a private word.

The detective sergeant looked at me speculatively. "Killayana said that you were the one who told him to share the information with us earlier this year. That true?"

"Yes," I answered. "But Lieutenant Killayana is a good man and would have done so on his own, regardless. He cares about what's right and wrong, and seeing that the bad guys pay for their crimes."

He said, "You're right about Killayana. His partner is the same way. I learned a lot about you during that airplane ride, Commander. You're cut from the same cloth. The truth is that you didn't have to share what you did with either that reporter or with us. You could have kept your mouth shut and while we may have grumbled and squawked, there was not a damn thing we could have done about it. But you didn't. You got those young women back to us, safe and sound, and you showed us just how bad and how deep the corruption is." He paused a moment, then asked, "Just how much trouble will you get into for letting us see what you did here?"

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Detective Sergeant."

Crazy Wolf said, "Come on, Commander. This is potentially pretty hot stuff politically. You've had a little inkling about how things are in Capisco, and you'd better believe, Obsidian Tears have a few people in the State Council on their payroll or are blackmailing them. The first five minutes when Reo's show starts to air, better believe phones will be ringing and pressure put to bear to shut her down."

I shrugged. "I'm afraid that's your problem to deal with. Right now, a lot of lives were saved with all the money I spent, so I'm going to use as much good will with my own superiors as I need to and can get away with. I would have given a lot to have fought at their side, but I had all the many thousands at High Guard War Base to think about. Your city and nation made it possible for us to live, and that's no small thing. You are both good cops and as a fellow cop, I felt you needed to see how extensive and how bad all of it was. I can guarantee you that it was much worse when they were rescuing all those women." I paused, then added, "If you run into trouble and I can help, let me know. Please pass the same to Sammi Reo and her two helpers."

"I will do so, Commander. And thank you." Crazy Wolf turned to Mack, saying earnestly, "Please, thank you for going with us, and telling us in your own words what you saw and witnessed. It can't have been easy for you, and the both of us appreciate your candor and bravery, Sergeant."

He then held out his hand, and Mack shook hands with him, then with Thunder Cloud. Crazy Wolf then said, "You, too, Corporal. You did a righteous thing here."

The woman merely nodded, her face stoic.

The detectives said they had work to do, got into their vehicle, and drove off.

Akama curled her lip. "I can't abide the stink their cruiser makes."

"It is pretty foul," I admitted. "They asked for the technology for helping us, and I was told no."

Both women nodded, understanding that sometimes those in charge acted inexplicably.

Mack said, "What's in the bag, Akama?"

"Food and cahault, though I'm afraid the latter are as cold as mermaid's tits, even with the cup warmers. Nonetheless, you should eat something. You, too, Commander." She handed the bag to Mack who looked inside, gave a sniff, and nodded with approval.

"You paid for this?" I asked her as we got into the cruiser. "Or did I?"

"The Empire does give me a pittance, Commander, but my kindly boss keeps buying me food so I don't have to go hungry. Where to now, sir?"

I chuckled and assumed lunch was on me. "Ground Security C&C. I need to check in and get started on sorting the mess the Atlanteans made of things. As for your boss, I'm told on good authority he believes in taking good care of his people. I agree, a corporal's pay is indeed a pittance."

Both women snorted with amusement. Mack passed over a sandwich wrap to me and the cold cahault. I preferred it hot, but even cold was better than nothing at all. I refused the potato wedgies, telling Mack to take mine and finish them. At that moment, her stomach loudly gurgled as if in response, so she shared them with Akama.

When we arrived at the parking lot outside Ground Security, Akama asked, "Where should I park, Commander?"

"In the CO slot. The Commandant, General Rikoletsi, assures me this is temporary, but it's official. If any ambitious Ground Security troopers cite my cruiser, they'll have to explain it to me." The women laughed at that. "In the meantime, Captain Lovyanchiti is in temporary command of the 602. Since I already have the best security troopers available, I assume my protection detail will remain as it is."

Both women had the grace to blush while basking in my praise. Once we were parked, we put on our helmets, secured our vests, and entered the building. I presented my ID and signed in at the desk. The desk sergeant almost passed out when the machine responded with, "Identified, Commander Kandikan, CO, 1267 Ground Security regiment."

"Who is your regimental NCO, Sergeant?"

"The Senior Sergeant is Altohay Calm Waters, sir."

"Altohay is a man?"

"Yes, sir."

"Please send a message to the Senior Sergeant, informing him that the new regimental CO requests he come to the CO's office as soon as possible. No more, no less, Sergeant."

Nodding, he typed briefly a few moments before giving me his attention again. "Done, Commander." Then he saluted me. "Welcome aboard, sir."

I returned his gesture. "Thank you. For the record, I liked Commander Jaykoor and enjoyed working with him. He is sorely missed. Thank you, Sergeant."

"Thank you, sir. He was a good CO. The 1267 is a top-notch regiment, sir."

"Ground Service. And duly noted." I strode into the bullpen and headed for Jaykoor's old office.

Where my office at the 602 had been adjacent to the bullpen, the offices for the senior staff of the 1267 were down a short hallway, away distance from the bustle of the main work area. Altohay exited an office and seeing me, called out and hurried forward. A grizzled man in his fifties, I had seen him around before, but hadn't put the name to the position. I held out my hand and we shook.

After nodding to Mack and Akama, he asked, "What can I do for the CO of the 602, Commander?"

I unzipped my vest and dug out my transfer order, handing it over for him to look at. "The Commandant has in lieu of anyone else, told me that I'm to fill in here for a while. We both know your previous CO was a fine officer. While I'm here, I will need your assistance to help smooth things along with the regiment. I'll try my best to not to become a carbuncle on your ass, Sergeant."