The Feeding of Sorrows by Rob Howell

Author:Rob Howell [Howell, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seventh Seal Press
Published: 2019-06-11T22:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 22 – Rick Blaine

ECS African Queen

Maquon System

Ten minutes after we exited hyperspace at Maquon’s L4 point, my comm buzzed. “Mr. Blaine? Would you come up to the EW suite, please?”

“Be right there, Captain.”

Allnut and a petty officer were examining a screen when I entered.

“What’s up?”

“You’ve got a message,” she answered.

“A message?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let me see it.”

“We can’t open it.”

I smiled. “May I, PO?” I slid into his chair and looked at the screen. I blinked when I saw the header codes, but said nothing, then I downloaded the message from the queue to my sweeper.

The PO glanced at me when I got up.

“You know the boss and security. Sometimes he’s a pain.”

He snorted.

I thanked them, then went as quickly as I could back to my stateroom.

A message from Tlanit? What was wrong?

When I entered my stateroom, I activated my security systems, just in case. I opened the message, and Tlanit’s face appeared on the Tri-V.

“Mr. Blaine, since you found the Barracks Reports I made available, I’m certain you understand what they are. You’ll find the most recent one attached to this message. The relevant portion is near the bottom. There’s little there, so I’ll summarize, but I know you’ll want to see the raw data for yourself.”

He moved his paws over the system he was working on.

“One of our sources discovered that something is going to happen on Maquon. Unfortunately, the report doesn’t specify what or when. It could have already happened. All the source reported was that someone is planning something that might result in a Peacemaker case.”

His face turned grim.

“My nephew has been, or will be, sent to the Maquon base for future assignment as is the norm for the Foresters. If you’re reading this, you have either entered the Maquon or Earth system. If on Earth, please inform Colonel Edmonds of this report, though I also sent it to him by a different, slower route. If on Maquon, I ask that you investigate to see if whatever is going on will put my nephew in danger. I’m making my way to that system as quickly as I can, given the constraints of my position, but you’re likely to get there before I do. If you discover something pertaining to my nephew, I hope you have found my haunting ghosts.”

Bingo! It couldn’t have been a coincidence that those ghost characters Heidi had found in Tlanit’s directory included letters from three human alphabets and three Cochkala ones. They had to form a security code.

“Mr. Blaine, I don’t regret sending Kiial to the Foresters. I needed to do something following Cimaron 283133-6A. However, I don’t find the prospect that he might die uselessly tolerable. In combat? Absolutely. it’s the price of the task. But not in a trap. Find out what you can, and I’ll be indebted. Save him, and my debt will be greater. I have a reputation for paying my debts, and the payments of a Peacemaker to someone in your profession aren’t without value.

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