I hate hospitals. I didn't really know that until now. Until two days ago, I'd never been hurt enough to end up in one. But then, my insanely good luck couldn't last forever.
Here's what happened. While on call for the Navy, my fighter was scrambled to assist in the interdiction of the pirate ship Prospector, spotted in the Colorado system disrupting trade. I launched in a hurry, and moved to join the LNS=Washington and the LSF ship Chancellor in the fight. We went in guns blazing. I made a couple of good passes with my heavy "Magma Hammer" guns and Sunslayer torpedoes before the Prospector started paying attention to me.
It didn't take long for that to change, though... the pirate ship spun to face me and launched a salvo of missiles. I clicked the countermeasure dropper... nothing happened. Missiles still inbound, countermeasures not released. Well, no time to think... I punched afterburners and made an evasive roll, partially dodging the missiles' explosion. Once clear, I checked how many countermeasures I had left... None?! How did this happen?
I had been in such a hurry to launch that I didn't double-check my loadout. I found out later that the squadron quartermaster had removed them so that he could upgrade the dispenser, but hadn't gotten around to doing it yet. Somewhere in the landing bay shuffle, the unprepared fighter had been cleared for launch, and I was the lucky one who'd jumped into it.
Meanwhile, I decided to press the attack, hoping that the Prospector wouldn't realize I was a sitting duck for his missiles. I blazed in for a second pass, only to be greeted with another wave of missiles. I couldn't dodge them all... my Avenger shook, and I found myself emerging from the smoke on the other side with no shields and hull integrity at 50%.
I don't know what possessed me to make another pass, but I did. The pirate ship was waiting for me, and cockpit alarms screeched that another wave of missiles was inbound. I fired another torpedo and a burst of gunfire, then tried to dodge the incoming warheads. At least one of them landed solidly, though... the next thing I knew, I had already ejected. Thank goodness for auto-eject systems that work. There was a moment of anger, then of relief... then pain. I looked down, and was horrified to see that the lower half of the pod was crushed inward around my legs. I could feel them, but something definitely hurt... then I passed out.
I woke up here in Denver General Hospital. Apparently someone managed to get me back. The bad news I found out later was that the Prospector had gotten away. Still, all in all, I'm very lucky. Another couple of inches of escape pod collapse and I would probably be dead. As it is, I'll be able to walk again in a couple of days, and the docs say that in a couple of weeks I'll be good as new. But in the meantime, I'm bored stiff. Grey hospital walls and nothing to do all day (squadron paperwork doesn't count). I hope I can get out soon.
Something very strange is happening, and it is almost certainly bad. First, I'm still in the hospital, and I was supposed to be gone this morning. I checked the date last night! But when I walked, without any trouble at all, to the checkout desk, I was informed that I needed to stay longer for observation.
"Sorry, sir, we can't let you leave yet." the secretary said.
"But it's the 23rd!" I responded.
"Yes. You aren't scheduled to leave until the 31st."
"Are you sure? I checked it last night! I've checked it every day since I got here!"
"I'm sorry sir, but it says the 31st. See for yourself."
I looked... she was right. The form said the 31st. But I know what I'd seen last night. I tried a different tack.
"Look miss, I'm fine. Really. I'm ready to go. Whatever the form says, can I please leave now?" I pleaded.
"Cpt. Seldon, we can't allow that, I'm afraid." she responded. She seemed genuinely sorry, and...scared? Why? At any rate, I couldn't just run for it. The hospital was a bit too well guarded for me to flee on foot.
I returned to my room, dejected, and started parsing through Navy comm traffic again. Whaa? What was this? There was a personal message in my inbox... coded, with no sender and no address information.
Quote:Whisper Transmission:
Encryption: ONE TIME KEY; UNKNOWN
Target ID: Tannik Seldon
Comm ID: -DELETED-
Now you know why I left. You understand something is wrong, you feel powerless to stop it. Your fellows will turn on you, your superiors will doubt you, and the general populace will begin to mutter rumors behind your back; rumors of 'Traitor.'
But I know better. You are loyal and true, but not to the DoD and that makes you dangerous.
I want your help. I need your help. And to prove my faith to you, I will disclose a tidbit of information you should find very interesting.
Special Division Six, of the DoD, has ordered Governor Osorojo's execution. Perhaps someone should intervine...
How did he know? How did WHO know? And how did he want my help? And that part about Gov. OsoRojo...oh space.
I quickly scanned through more comm logs. Lots of crazy things happening.
Mark Kaine's ship suddenly out of power and drifting. Nobody's rescued him yet? Why? Harrison Gurney, found dead. "New Leadership" coming to the SA to fix the "tumultuous situation."
Me having my hospital stay mysteriously "extended."
A mysterious message warning of danger to the Governor.
Something's wrong. I need to get out of here. FAST.
Things have gone from bad to worse. I'm stuck here in Denver General Hospital. Again.
I almost got away. After writing my last entry, I jumped on my room console and started scanning Navy frequencies. I blessed my luck when I saw that the LNS Valhalla was in the area. I knew Admiral Adamson... this man, I thought, I can trust.. I opened a channel on the command frequency. Time was critical... there was a good chance that my conversation would be monitored.
"Admiral Adamson," I began. "This is Captain Tannik Seldon."
"Good Afternoon, Captain." he replied. "Glad to see you back in the saddle." Apparently, Adamson assumed that I was released by now.
"Actually, I'm still in the hospital." I replied. "They were supposed to release me today, but when I went to check out, they told me I still had another week. That's impossible, thoughl. I checked last night, and my treatment transcript had today as the release date."
"So what's the holdup?" He asked. I detected a trace of annoyance... why was I bothering him with this?
"Is this channel secure?" I asked.
"It is now," Adamson replied.
"Good. Something strange is going on, and I need your help. I think Governor OsoRojo is in danger, and I think I might be too." This last statement was a gross understatement. I was pretty sure then that I was in trouble, and now I know for certain that I am.
"Now hold on a second, Captain," Adamson asked, "what makes you say that?" I paused. I wasn't quite sure how to respond. I wasn't even entirely sure what made me so convinced. Would he believe what I had to say?
"You know," I heard the Admiral say after a couple seconds of silence, "now that you mention it..." I was flooded with relief. Apparently I wasn't the only person to notice that something sinister was going on. "I'll be at Denver in a few, and then we can talk."
Yes, we would talk. I didn't know what was happening. I had a few pieces of the puzzle, and it sounded like Adamson had a few more. If we got together, then maybe we could catch a glimpse of the true picture. And maybe we could do something. At the very least, we needed to warn the Governor. I don't know why, but I felt that the warning sent in the mysterious message I received was accurate.
But before any of that could happen, I needed to get out of this hospital. But the hospital wasn't letting me go. I took a deep breath and began.
"I need to get out of this hospital. Admiral, I know this sounds crazy, but I don't think they're going to release me soon. Maybe not at all. So here's the plan. I'll go down to the desk and double check with them to see if I can get an early check out. You storm in and arrest me. That should confuse them enough to give us time to get away." And then maybe we'll get a chance to solve this mystery, I thought. This is crazy. Is Adamson really going to go for this?
I could almost hear Adamson's eyebrows raising. "You think you're in that much trouble?"
"Someone is after me. But they won't move openly." I replied quietly. "Admiral, look at what's been happening the last few days. Gurney found dead. SA leadership called into question, then unceremoniously preempted. Kaine's ship goes missing. Call me paranoid, but think something is happening."
"We're coming, Tannik," Adamson replied. "Sit tight." I guess that means "ok..." I hope this works. This isn't exactly a well thought-out plan. But I don't have time for one of those. I headed back down to the lobby. I didn't have any posessions to bring with me... I had launched my fighter all those days ago without anything but my uniform, and it was all that I had now.
I approached the lobby desk again, and put on my best smile for the lobby secretary. She saw me, recognized me, and glared. Fine. It didn't really matter, all I needed to do was keep her busy until I could be "arrested" and rescued. If I'd timed things correctly, Adamson should be here any minute.
"Listen, miss, I'm sure that I was supposed to be out today." I started. "It must be a mistake in your paperwork. The secretary sighed.
"No, Mr. Seldon, we don't make those kinds of mistakes."
"The heck you don't!" I exploded, despite myself. I regained composure, then continued. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I'm sure it's not your fault. Is there anyone I can call about this?"
"No...I don't think there is." the secretary replied curtly. "You should just go back to your room and wait." Wait for what? I wondered. I was sure I didn't want to "wait" and find out.
"Anytime now..." I mumbled to myself. THe secretary looked at me quizically. Blast. "I mean, uh, anytime now..." I searched for something to say.
BAM! The lobby door slammed open. It was Adamson! "Tannik Seldon, you are under arrest."
"What?" the secretary said. A burly officer grabbed me and placed me in handcuffs. "But he's not supposed to be discharged..." the secretary mumbled.
"You have the right to remain silent," Adamson said to me, then directed a stern "Stay out of this" to the secretary. He continued reading me my rights as I was shuffled toward the door. "Sergeant, get him to the shuttle as quick as possible. If he resists, stun him." No problem there.
As we boarded the shuttle and took off for the Valhalla. "Sorry my guys were so rough," Adamson apoligized. "We had to make it look convincing."
The shuttle flight was short... we landed on the Valhalla a couple of minutes later. "Thanks Admiral," I said. "Now let's go find the governor. Find me a terminal and I'll download a copy of the message I received."
Adamson didn't reply for a second. Then he said quietly, "Sergeant, take Cpt. Seldon to the brig."
No. NO!
"Uh, Admiral?" I asked, dreading the response."Just how convincing does this need to be?"
"Don't fight it, Tannik." Adamson said quietly again. "I'd hate to have you hurt."
"WHAT!" I yelled. "I trusted you!"
"And I hope that you still trust me..." Adamson replied.
"We'll see," I said bitterly.
"...but I can only trust a few people," the Admiral finished. "Now march, mister."
"Yes. Sir." I saluted angrily, then let the guard escort me to the brig of the Valhalla.
The next couple of days were terrible. I never saw Adamson during that time. I didn't get any news. No natural light. No company. Just the terrible anticipation of what was to come and the gut-wrenching feelings of betrayal and helplessness. Why was this happening to me? Why was I being systematically rendered powerless to do anything at all? For all I know, the Governor never got my warning. Adamson's last words haunted me... "and I hope that you still trust me." I didn't know who I could trust anymore. One of the few I was sure I could trust had betrayed me.
After a couple of days that felt like weeks, I found myself escorted out of the brig and into the shuttle. I was hardly surprised to find myself stepping onto the grounds of Denver Hospital a few minutes later. I numbly followed my escort back inside, where I was led to a room, different from the one I had had before. I had no energy to fight, no will to resist.
I don't know how long I sat there, my head in my hands. Would it even matter at this point if I demanded a lawyer? None had been provided yet, and I didn't hold out hope for one coming in the future. Nobody seemed concerned now with my legal rights, either as a Navy officer or as a citizen. Nobody had told me why I was coming back to the hospital. I'm still very much a prisoner... I've just been moved.
I found out today the supposed reason why I'm here. Apparently, I've been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and am scheduled to start electroshock therapy tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm confined to my room... a robot delivered my breakfast this morning. How very caring and personal.
I've got to get out of here. But how? My room is windowless and guarded. The room's computer console is highly restricted, and won't let me do anything except read news. That, at least, is useful. Disheartening, though... nothing but bad news and scandal about the South Alliance...all of it suddenly appearing out of nowhere in the last week.
I'm convinced that somebody, somewhere, is trying to discredit and destroy the SA. But who? And why?
I know those men. They are, to a man, brave and honorable defenders of freedom. I still find myself respecting Admiral Adamson, even though he betrayed me. He was probably fed the garbage about me having Schizophrenia and believed it. Can't say I blame him... I was pretty desperate when I contacted him, and I probably did sound pretty crazy.
So what do I do next?
I keep my eyes open. And I don't give up. I still don't know what exactly is happening, but I'm not dead yet. There must be a way out of this hospital, and a way out of this maze of lies, confusion, and death.
Shortly after my last log entry, a doctor came in and drugged me up with something, I don't know what. My memory gets pretty fuzzy for a while after that. I remember an old doctor coming in, and putting me on a hospital gurney. There was a lot of yelling and screaming. After that... I remember waking up in a cyrogenic tube. The same old man was pulling me out, but this time he wasn't dressed as a doctor... I fought back. I didn't know what else to do. I was desperate and not thinking straight. I don't remember if he said anything or not. I managed to break free of him, or he let me go. Either way, I found myself in some kind of cargo hold. There was a small ship in the corner. I had seen one like it before...
"Does this thing have Stealth capabilities?" I yelled, even though I knew the answer. This was it! With this, I could get back to the Aedos before anyone could stop me. I ran as fast as I could toward the ship. The old man yelled at me to stop, but I ignored him. I thought that this might be my only chance for freedom, ever again.
Looking back with a clear mind, I regret my hastiness. But then, I acted fast, running purely on survival instinct. I jumped in the ship, and figured out how to launch it. Hmm... no exit. Well, I could deal with that too. The old man was no longer in sight, and I armed one of the missiles mounted on the tiny ship. I aimed at a bulkhead as far away from myself as I could find, and fired... the missile lept off the launch rail, and tore a massive hold in the side of the cargo bay. The blast knocked the ship into the nearby hull, and then the entire cargo bay just disintegrated, the results of explosive decompression. I flew out of the hole and into the darkness of the surrounding nebula. The ship that had brought me here engaged cruise and disappeared into the night. Apparently, the old man had managed to disengage the cargo segment before I blew a hole in it.
It didn't take too long to get my bearings and lay in a course for Planet Houston. My head was a bit clearer now, and as the adrenaline wore off, I started to think again. Who was that old man? What did he want with me? Somehow, I got the impression that he had actually rescued me from the hospital. But why?
Way to go, Tannik. Someone finally rescues you, and you thank him by clobbering him over the head with a pipe, stealing his ship, and blowing a hole in the side of his cargo bay.
The worst part was that I could have gotten answers if I had stopped to think. And now, I had none.
I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. So very many unanswered questions.
A short while later, I was in orbit above Planet Houston. Nobody had approached me... apparently I had been right. This was a stealth ship, a one-manner used to slip individuals into places unseen. What was that old man doing with one of these? My imagination pondered this question as I slipped into the atmosphere and began my approach to Houston Spaceport, where the Aedos was parked. The lights twinkled in the night ahead of me, and the columns of flame from spacecraft thrusters reminded me that space commerce knows no sundown.
Suddenly, a warning light flashed! My gut plummeted. Hull breach in the engine compartment. It was minor, but I knew that it would grow. A tiny crack had developed around the H-fuel storage area, probably when the blast from the missile ripping through the cargo bay slammed the ship into the bulkhead. Since then, it had continued to grow, expanded by the force of the H-fuel seeping through it. The crack would continue to widen from this force until the fuel decompressed explosively. At best, I would be dead in the water. At worst, something would spark and the fuel would catch fire.
Normally, this kind of thing is easy to fix. You land, empty your fuel tanks, and repair the problem. But I didn't have that luxury. I couldn't risk being arrested and sent back to the hospital again.
Fortunately, the docking bay occupied by the Aedos was roofless. I had a rough idea where it was, but it still took me a few minutes to locate. Just as I did, another alarm sounded. The hull breach was starting to reach critical levels.
As carefully as I could, I eased the ship into the docking bay and started descending. There she was beneath me! The Aedos, just as I had left her, maybe slightly dustier and rustier. I moved to the side, and was only a hundred feet off the ground when alarms blared again. The ship had decided to initiate emergency engine shutoff. Unfortunately, it hadn't considered that this was an extremely bad time to do so. I felt a sickening lurch in my stomach as the small craft fell the last 100 feet with no power to hold it in the air, a captive to gravity. A second later, there was a loud crash.
Somehow, the impact didn't blow up the ship. I was at least right side up, and the well-designed landing gear absorbed a good deal of the impact force in a well engineered but extremely noisy way. I hit the manual cockpit release latch, slid it open, and dived out of the ship. I didn't have much time. Even if the ship wasn't about to explode any minute, someone was bound to have heard the crash and come to investigate.
I ran to the Aedos, unlocked it, and jumped in. Power on, shields up. As I spooled the engines, I saw through my cockpit a group of guards running in through the door. As I lifted off, a few small laser blasts bounced off the shields. Poor guys, I thought. They must think someone stole the ship. I grinned a bit at the irony, then my grin ceased as I thought of the timebomb of a ship I'd left in the docking bay. I hope they get clear in time...
But there was nothing I could do about that. I engaged full power and blasted full speed out of the atmosphere and into the sky. I nearly cried as I saw the stars appear in the deepening black from the cockpit of my own ship. I was free again, at last! A thousand questions haunted me, but I had the most important thing.
I made for Freeport 2, the nearest destination where I could dock and feel safe. Once I've had some rest, it's time to look for answers.
Things could be better, but they could also be a whole lot worse. They're definitely better than they were before.
My search for some answers has been rough so far. While on Freeport 2, I made contact with Admiral Adamson. I was relieved to find out that he hadn't planned to release me back to the hospital, and hadn't thought me crazy either. As it turned out, his hand had been forced. Apparently I'm not the only one that's had strange things happen to them. I was hoping he had some more answers, but he didn't.
I did find out that there were apparently some quiet orders to have me taken back into custody ASAP. That's no surprise, but It looks like I'm a fugitive for the time being. As much as that hurts, I'd rather be a fugitive than a captive. I have the Aedos, and she's good enough to keep me free.
Anyway, with the fact that I was wanted in mind, I couldn't communicate with Adamson too long. It would be very bad for him if anyone found out. So without further ado, I set out towards Bretonian space. I'm currently in Cortez, trying to figure out where to go next.
I also found out something else. Literally hours after I was rescued from Denver Hospital, the entire place was destroyed. The Liberty government hasn't released details, but the reporters who saw the scene say it looked like the work of Phantoms. I don't think it was a coincidence that I was rescued just before that happened, but it creates even more questions. Who rescued me? Was I rescued by the phantoms, or rescued from the phantoms? In either case, why?
I wish I knew where that old man who got me out is. He would know.
I'm not sure what to do next. I can't go home to Liberty without being arrested. I want to find answers, but I don't know where to look. All I can do is wander around places and people connected with these strange events and hope that something falls into place. Part of me wants to simply disappear, but I don't think that I can evade whatever is happening forever. Somehow, I need to face it.
I know they won't leave me alone. So I'll let myself be found... and I'll be ready. Whoever comes.
I spent a few weeks wandering around Sirius, looking for answers (and, truth be told, a fight). But they never came, and after a while, the urgency died. I found myself wandering back to the only place I have ever felt truly at home and at peace, and that's where I've spent the last few months.
In that peaceful place, the burning for answers had died down to just an itch. I had come to terms with the idea that answers might never come. But a few days ago, some unexpected news arrived. The news networks in Liberty are oblivious to a lot of things, but even they noticed that something was up a few months back when Denver Hospital was mysteriously attacked and dozens of people working for the DoD simply ceased to exist. They've been bugging the government for answers, the government has been denying everything... the usual. This article intrigued me though... it was the first time I'd heard the press directly accuse the government of hiding a conspiracy. Apparently someone in the Liberty press had been digging, and successfully. I smiled when my name was mentioned... my disappearance was one of the unanswered questions the press had.
The last paragraph of the blurb surprised me:
Further muddying the waters, an inside source informed us that the aforementioned Tannik Seldon, previously captain of a Liberty Navy fighter squadron, has been quietly granted an official pardon and an honorable discharge from Liberty's armed forces, despite having been mysteriously missing since the attack on Denver Hospital. When questioned, Government officials denied all comment on the matter.
A pardon and honorable discharge? Well, that was unexpected. Good, though. It meant that it would be safe for me to travel through Liberty space again. More importantly to me, it meant that someone had officially acknowledged that the whole affair wasn't my fault, and that I'd simply been dragged into it somehow.
Or was it a trap?
A couple days later, I entered Liberty space through the California jumpgate. I'd left the Aedos in a safe place... if this was a trap, I wasn't going to make it too easy. But I had to know, and coming back to Liberty was the only way I could find out. The cramped cockpit of the starflyer was torture after the cabin of the Aedos, and I was relieved to see planet Manhattan coming up ahead of me. I exited the trade lane, and before I could do anything else, a police patrol was alongside me.
"Mr. Seldon?" one of the pilots asked briskly.
"That's me," I replied, all my limbs tense in case I needed to make a quick getaway.
"Welcome back to Liberty, sir. There is a man who would like to talk to you. He told me to inform you that you would want to see him...and that if you didn't, you would be allowed to leave unmolested."
I relaxed, but I was still a bit suspicious. On the other hand, I had been offered the freedom to leave. And I'd already come all this way...
"Take me down, officer."
A short time later, I found myself in a government office. The man behind the desk stood up to shake my hand, saying "Tannik Seldon! It's good to see you. My name is Henry Dartmouth. Please, have a seat. I know you have a lot of questions. Unfortunately, I only have some of the answers." I nodded, but didn't say anything. He continued.
"I'll start with what we know. We know that a group managed to infiltrate heavily into the Liberty Department of Defense and cause all sorts of havoc. We know who they are, and we have got them. Yes, Seldon, we have the parties directly responsible in custody."
"Directly responsible?" I asked.
"These people were well trained, well equipped, and well informed. They must have been working for somebody. Unfortunately, we don't know who for sure. Liberty has her share of enemies. Whoever got the infiltrators into the DoD knew what they were doing. The bad news, Seldon, is that they are still at large. And they want their men back. They've already tried three times... fortunately, they haven't succeeded. Not yet.
"We'll come back to that. You've probably figured out that the reason the infiltrators worked so hard to get you and to make you look insane is that they saw you as a threat. You knew something about them, and had just enough disrespect for authority and recklessness to make them uneasy."
I grinned broadly. "Thanks!"
"Actually, we wanted to thank you. You caused enough of a disturbance to bring our attention to the matter before things got too out of hand. Unfortunately, we weren't fast enough to prevent them from locking you in the Denver Hospital."
"So it was you who rescued me?" I asked, excited. It made sense!
"Actually... no." Dartmouth said. "We're still not sure who rescued you or why. It's one of the answers that I'm afraid I can't provide for you."
Blast. I knew a bit more, but still not as much as I would have liked. Well, you can't have everything... and I'd never expected to get this much. Dartmouth suddenly looked pensive, then spoke.
"At any rate, Seldon, we owe you. We've already granted you a full pardon, and an honorable discharge from the Navy. I'm afraid we can't accept you back into official service. There's a medal, too, but it's one that will have to be kept quiet. We'll make it public someday after this whole mess is over. And there's a something I've been ordered to ask of you, but I can't do it! At least not without telling you everything first."
I nodded. His candor went a long way with me. My faith in Liberty had been greatly restored by the knowledge that good guys were still ultimately running the show. "Go on," I said.
"The infiltrators are still here, but here isn't safe. We need to move them far away, preferably without whoever sent them knowing about it. We can't let them be recovered by our unknown enemy: they know too much and are too dangerous. On the other hand, we can't just kill them. Something strange has been done to them biologically, and we need time to investigate. As it is, they'll die anyway in a few weeks: I doubt they were ever meant to survive long. But we have neither the facilities or the security we need here, and the enemy has fantastic resources.
Our plan is to move them, of course. We're planning a shell game. We'll have a several high-security prison liners and armored transports with full escort, all moving in different directions. Our enemy will expect the prisoners to be aboard one of them, but won't know which. Here's where you come in: you'll be taking the prisoners yourself. The ship you brought is perfect: a small, nondescript civilian craft that only a madman would transport prisoners in. So while they're trying to figure out the shell game, you sneak out the back with the marble."
I nodded, then grinned. "I'll do it." The idea of personally removing these scumbags behind the backs of their masters was the best news I'd heard all day.
Dartmouth breathed a sigh of relief.
That night, my starflyer quietly left Manhattan, just like thousands of others. A couple of pirates took potshots at me, but they were easily evaded. The journey was smooth, and the prisoners were safely delivered to a high-security prison in a neighboring house. I'm currently on my way back to Liberty space, deuterium in my hold and satisfaction in my gut. There are still bad guys out there, but the good guys have won this battle.
I think I'll stick around Liberty for a while. The Aedos can wait a bit... I want to enjoy being in my first home for now.
A week or so ago, I received a message from the Zoners. They were offering to hire me as a trader. The terms were good, so I accepted. Besides, I owe a lot to the Zoners: I think they're the one organization in Sirius that I am truly loyal to. So I hitched a ride on a Zoner X-shuttle back home, launched the Aedos and have been spending my time since trading Deuterium for weapons and engine components.
A lot of engine components, actually: I wonder what the Zoners are planning to do with them. I'm not the only one, either, and I've heard some strange rumors and conjectures on the Freeports. Some say that the Zoners are building a battle fleet and that the end of their neutrality is imminent. Several claim that the Zoners have found a new planet to colonize. A few pilots from Interspace Commerce claimed that the Zoners have some sort of inside knowledge about a coming shortage, and one guy in a bar even swore that he saw a partially built sleeper ship.
Nobody's convinced me one way or another yet, but something is going on. But whatever it is, I'm on their side.
One thing is clear to me, though. Zoner neutrality is definitely not as solid as it used to be. I may be officially working for the Zoners, but that certainly hasn't stopped pirates who want my blood from coming after me. I've been authorized to return fire to defend myself, of course, but official policy is pretty hazy beyond that. And if the Zoner leadership want me trading for them, they're going to have to put up with the fact that I am going to defend not only myself but any traders or friends around me. I won't just stand by and watch them die.
Yesterday I received a distress signal while traveling through the Cambridge system. It turns out that an enterprising pilot had gotten himself into a mission contract that was more than he bargained for: instead of fighting off some Mollys in New London, he found himself fighting a wing of Corsair Legionnaires near the Leeds jump hole in Cambridge. To his credit, he had managed to destroy most of the wing after several hours of fighting, but had run out of ammo and was stuck in a deadlocked fight with the last Corsair fighter. With my help, we managed to finish him off.
Hope the guy learned his lesson: always read the WHOLE contract before signing.
I've just heard about the disease that's been plaguing a group of Liberty Rogues. Nobody knows for sure where it came from, but it's been causing them a lot of pain and suffering. Blast. Well, I guess it's time to start running humanitarian aid to Ames Research Station: that's the central point for redistribution. As much as I hate what those pirates do, I know they have families too and I can't just let them suffer and die without helping at least a little. And who knows? Maybe an outpouring of universal generosity will convince some of them to rethink their lifestyle. It's never too late, right?
![[Image: aedos_mini.jpg]](http://students.cs.byu.edu/~sushi/aedos_mini.jpg)