I'll admit it: I'm scared. Someone's after me, and I'm not even sure who. Until I know what's going on, I'm sleeping in the Aedos's cargo hold, right next to my crate of firearms. My before-bed routine now consists of raising my ship shields and activating a proximity alarm that will tell me if anyone comes near me. I've even moved to an outside landing pad... less private, but it means that I can get away in a hurry if I need to. Yes, it's paranoid, but can you blame me?
It started earlier today. I was on a routine patrol for the Navy in my Avenger. As I entered the Texas system, I opened a comm channel to the Battleship Mississippi to let them know that I was beginning my patrol. There was an oddly long pause, then a voice:
"Copy."
Where had I heard that voice? It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it. It wasn't, however, the voice of the Mississippi dispatcher, and a glance at my comm board confirmed that my signal was going somewhere else. Was this some sort of Lane Hacker trick?
"Who are you?" I asked. "And how did you get onto this channel?"
"We've been watching you, Mr. Seldon," the voice responded. "I would not be the one asking questions."
This was odd. Whoever it was, they knew my name: well, that wouldn't be too hard for a Hacker to figure out. And that almost-threat: I wouldn't put that kind of bravado past them either. Hackers are as cocky as they come. Well, he'll want to talk. And I'd let him talk: while I contacted Houston on an alternate frequency and coordinated to arrest him. To my consternation, my other comms were all jammed. This guy was good: I could still trace him myself, at least. But to do that, I needed to keep him on the line.
"Look, I'm guessing you're some hacker. If I were you, I'd log off before you get traced and thrown in jail. A life of crime isn't worth it, pal."
I winced. Not the best words I could've chosen, but they'd have to do. For several seconds, there was no response, but the channel stayed open. It seemed to be coming from somewhere near planet Houston: I found a trade lane ring and made my way in that direction. Come on, hacker, I thought. Stay on the line. The comm channel suddenly crackled to life.
"Mr. Seldon, we know what you found. What you found in the Aedos."
What is this guy talking about? At any rate, he knew way too much about me. I've "found" lots of stuff in the Aedos, and a lot of them could spell trouble, especially...oh space.
"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." Only partially true. The sinking feeling in my stomach told me otherwise.
"She's a fine ship, Mr. Seldon. I felt sorry when I had 3 holes drilled into her."
WHAT? A week ago, I have someone board my ship without permission to see if it was stolen. Lucky for me, they didn't find the evidence they were looking for. Now, someone else is telling me they've messed with my ship. I bristled: nobody messes with the Aedos. Was he trying to tell me that I'd been bugged? The Voice spoke again before I could respond.
I don't remember his exact words, but he told me that I had been tracked to The Planet.
This was bad. Somebody knew I'd been to a place whose secret I had promised to preserve. Well, the Planet isn't a perfect secret. There are all sorts of rumors, but most of them are far enough from truth to keep it safe and secure. Still, I felt guilty for having betrayed a confidence, even unwittingly. But to who? The voice spoke again.
"You know too much, Mr. Seldon."
"Too much for who?" I snapped over the comm. "Look, you still haven't explained who you are or why I should believe anything you say."
Bingo, I thought. My scanners showed a ship dead ahead, in high orbit over Houston. The signal was coming straight from it. The ship came into scanning range...
Navy? The ship's transponder broadcasted that it was a Liberty Navy ship! The ID codes were even all in place, and those are nearly impossible to fake. Even stranger was the ship itself: a sleek black fighter of a type I'd never seen before, armed with weapons I wasn't familiar with but that were clearly powerful enough to dust me effortlessly. Comms chirped to life again.
"Well, Mr. Seldon, I'm glad you can read my transponder signal. If you want answers, follow me."
Well, here was a pickle. I'd tracked this guy down, only to find that I'd placed myself at the mercy of his clearly superiour ship. Follow him? He had me practically hostage...I had no choice.
"I don't suppose you'd tell me if I asked where we're going?" I said.
No response...I'd have to take that as a no. We flew away from Houston for a while, then the black ship suddenly stopped and turned to face me. Those strange shiny weapons, meters away from my ship, were making me very nervous.
The voice said, "The Department of Defense has decided that you know...too much."
That floored me. This guy was claiming to be from the DoD? That's impossible! They're the good guys! The good guys don't DO things like this!
"This is the end of the line," the voice said.
That did it. I was out of there. I hit my burners, speeding past the dark ship, then started diving and spinning wildly while my cruise engines spooled up. Strangely, I didn't detect any incoming fire, but that didn't matter. Whoever this guy was, it sounded like he was planning to execute me. I could hardly believe it when I made it into cruise unscratched and started speeding towards Houston. If he had been planning to kill me, why didn't he fire? A quick scanner check showed that I was being followed, and a comm transmission gave me an idea why I was still alive...for now.
The voice demanded that I tell him about the Planet.
Ah. He wanted information, whoever he was. Well, he wasn't going to get it. There are some secrets that I'll keep even from the House and people that I love. I'll save them from themselves if I have to. And a strange man threatening my life and abusing my Aedos was most definitely not getting anything out of me.
Suddenly, the black fighter dropped out of cruise and fired. A pair of cruise disruptors sped towards my Avenger. I dropped several countermeasure charges... fortunately, they worked. By the time that fighter got his cruise engines spooled up again, I would be out of range, safe for now. An irritated voice reminded me that I wasn't in fact safe at all.
"Mr. Seldon, I'll be in touch with your superiors. Expect repercussions."
"Good," I responded. "I trust them."
A couple of seconds later, my comms flashed to life again, but not from the mystery man this time. I was being hailed by the LNS Thunderbolt! Finally, a ship I knew with a captain I trusted: Captain Rhaegar.
"Hello Commander," I said.
"Hello Commander," he said. Wait, that's not right... I'm no commander! Who was he talking to? "Do we have combat ops coming up?"
"Yes," replied the voice. Oh space. Rheagar was reporting to this guy... maybe he really was DoD... OH SPACE. What did this mean? My head spun. When I recovered, I realized that the Thunderbolt was trying to talk to me.
"What just happened?" Rheagar was asking me.
I spent the next several minutes explaining to him what I had just experienced. He seemed genuinely concerned, and agreed that something was not right. However, he also confirmed that the mysterious man's credentials checked out completely.
"If you go missing for more than a day I'm coming after you," Rheagar said. His tone was joking, but I could tell that he meant it.
"Much appreciated."
Once I landed, my first instinct was to find a place to hide where nobody could find me. But what if I was being followed? All in all, I thought, I'd be safer in my ship. Maybe. Who was this guy and what did he want from me? What about the Planet was so important to him? That puzzled me the most. It couldn't be the location he was after: if he'd been tracking my ship, he knew it already. I've been thinking about my conversation on the Planet with Leroy Fenning, but nothing stands out.
Wait... what if my ship wasn't ever tracked at all? What if it was only a bluff? Possible, but how likely? At any rate, not a risk I'm willing to take. As soon as I get the chance, I'm going to get my ship scanned for tracking devices and have them removed.
![[Image: aedos_mini.jpg]](http://students.cs.byu.edu/~sushi/aedos_mini.jpg)