The Forever Quest by Craig Robertson

Author:Craig Robertson [Robertson, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BluA
Publisher: Imagine-It Publishing
Published: 2016-12-17T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

I analyzed the information I’d stolen as I walked back to the room I’d rented. From everything I’d learned about Deerkon so far, I figured it was definitely best to be off the streets by dark. Also, surveillance was so ubiquitous that someone would probably notice and report a man wandering around all night without needing to sleep.

By the time I laid down in the bed—again no telling how intrusive the cameras were—I had discovered something potentially useful. Nothing huge, mind you, but interesting nonetheless. Collective for Gains did have more information on Varrank Simzle than I’d found anywhere else. Some files were biographical while others related to his criminal empire. This Varrank Simzle fellow was one bad apple. There were estimates as to how many people he’d killed over the last decade. Even though the estimates were conservative, they suggested he was responsible for several million deaths.

He openly controlled the puppet government he’d hand selected. Varrank paid every policeman, judge, and street sweeper. He extorted, stole, cheated, embezzled, and looted freely and continuously. There was no black market he didn’t own, no drug he didn’t sell, and no prostitute he didn’t control. What was more, his control extended well beyond Deerkon itself. He had tentacles in the governments and businesses of planets within several light-years. He also had a huge standing army and an impressive starfleet. In short, he was the evil boss of all he could see, touch, and imagine.

I knew what Desolation was bringing him. I used that information to try figure out how it might fit into Varrank’s schemes. There were several ion cannons in the shipment. They were awe-inspiring weapons, but he had many already. There were ten extremely powerful magnets being delivered. Those didn’t make sense. There was no direct military application for them, and Varrank didn’t seem like a philanthropist to the sciences. Aside from that, the delivery we were making had supplies, medicines, and probably some contraband, but nothing that stood out as worthy of Karnean’s wages and extended voyage. There was probably some loot not on any manifest, but I wasn’t likely to learn about that.

I did find out one key fact from my friends at the Collective of Gains. Of the last eight ships to Varrank goods on Deerkon, the Collective could only document one ship leaving the planet after delivery. That specific ship that did leave Deerkon was piloted by a captain who’d ferried goods for Varrank for many years. It seemed like most ships in casual service to Varrank had a bad habit of disappearing, along with their crews. That was worth knowing. Karnean may have hated my guts, but he’d like to hear that tidbit from me.

The following day, I wandered Monzos again, but I did less investigating. With the general suspicion level being so high, I wanted to stay off everybody’s radar. Snooping around was an excellent method of getting noticed. What little I did learn added nothing to what I already knew. Evening rolled around, and I had my potential date with Kayla.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.