The pilgrim liner Metaphysical made its way through the depris field to Rochester base. It had been a long time since this ship had flown in Liberty. At the forward portion of the bridge in a long black coat Jack Crow stood looking out a large window as they approached the base. One of the bridge crew walked up and handed him a report. He looked it over and handed it back. Then he walked back over to the captain's chair where his old friend Stephen Cruz was seated.
"Any contacts since we've been in this system?" He asked the captain.
"Nothing but scrappers and a few freighters Jack. No navy or police contacts. The smugglers know to keep clear of us so we won't be seeing them."
"I can't believe I'm back in Liberty."
"Somebody had to come back here and deal with this. You've definitely got the experience playing their games."
"I never liked their games. I left for a reason."
"Well, we're about to dock. I'm going to stay on the ship for a while and get her ready for maneuvers in this system. I suspect we're going to be playing games soon."
"Ok, I'll go see about getting a ride to Denver."
"Are you sure you want to go planetside? You know the LN is not going to be happy about you coming back. If you step onto their turf, their bound to find an excuse to arrest you."
"Then I'll go there very quietly. No need to start making too much noise yet."
"They're bound to know you're here by now. There's going to be plenty of noise."
"I know how to deal with that. Get the ship restocked and get back in space. Stay off the grid and out of sight. I'll contact you soon enough for the next phase. When is Lije supposed to get here?"
"He left Gallia to come back for this little party, so it's going to be quite a trip. I'm not expecting to see him for almost a week."
"That's fine. We'll still have time to put everything in place." He turned to walk off the bridge. "I'll see you soon my friend. I've got a meeting to get to now."
He left the bridge and walked to his quarters on the ship. Retrieving a small bag and throwing in over his shoulder he walked down several decks to the airlock. Rochester was very much the way he remembered it. It was pretty much the way it had always been. There was always so much activity everywhere you looked, at any time of day. He walked through familiar corridors, finding his way to an old familiar gathering place. It was a large bar near the center of the station. There were several different sections and three different levels. He walked toward the back. The person he was looking for was sitting in a dark booth. He went to the bar, ordered a glass of rum and then sat down in the same booth.
"The large figure in the booth looked at him from across the table, "You actually came back."
"I heard there's going to be quite a party. I didn't want to miss it."
"There's only going to be a party if you are sending out the invites."
"I've sent a few actually. I'm about to send the grand one to the Liberty Government. They are going to be so thrilled to know I'm back."
"They'll be camping this station by tomorrow. That won't be good for business."
"I'll really don't care. I'll be gone by then."
"Where are you going to be?"
"You let me worry about that. Is everything ready on your end?"
"Ready as we can ever be. Most of my ships are hiding in the Pittsburgh debris field with a few in the Badlands. I've got scouts in Texas and California."
"Ok, you can pass information to me through my agents on this station. I've also got a few agents on the ground on Manhattan."
"You're really going all out for this one. What's going on?"
"I'm just going to nip this one in the bud. Polstari is not just hurting business for those around here. It also affects what I'm trying to do far away from here and I'm just not having that. If he wants to puff up his chest and make a big deal about this so be it. I'll show him just what a big deal it is and he'll wish he'd never heard of us."
"Ok, what do you want my ships to do while you're getting set up?"
"Pretty much what they've been doing. Just keep gathering intel. There are innocent pilots being harassed by the LN every day. Collect as much data on that as possible. Find out all you can about the people who own the ships the LN have been targeting. The atmosphere is pretty toxic around here right now. It won't take much to expose what the navy is doing here. They are going to have a much bigger problem on their hands than they ever thought they'd have from Junkers
Jack left the bar and immediately a Junker approached him. "You're really going to bring HIM into this?" The Junker asked him.
"What do you know about what I'm doing?" Crow answered him.
"I know who you just met with in there. He's no Junker and he doesn't always have our best interests at heart."
"Maybe not, but this time my best interests are his best interests. He stands to gain quite a lot from this. He'll help us, because he wants to see Polstari fall from grace as much as I do."
"That's your bag then. I'll leave you to it. What can I do for you in the mean time?"
"Get me to Denver."
"Why the blazes do you want to go there?"
"The man I used to be grew up there. I can disappear there. I'll be safe there at least until we get this thing moving. Besides, they'll be looking for me in space, not on the ground."
"You'll have to be in space eventually if you want to pull off a plan like this."
"Yes I will, but by that time Polstari will have far more to worry about than chasing my hide around."
"What are you going to do?"
"It's already been done. I wrote a plan for this. It's been in place since Tinkerbell was in charge around here. We've tweaked it a bit over the years, but we've never had to use it. They just don't realize everything Junkers have been through to get where they are now. If there's one thing we know how to do it is survive. We can move into the shadows while everything else goes to hell around here. Polstari will have his hands so full that he will forget looking for me and every officer in the LN will be cursing his name."
"Would you really do that?"
"Did you really just ask me that?"
"Yeah, ok. Well, I do a civilian gunboat docked here that can take you to Denver. I guess that will get you off the grid for a bit."
"It will indeed. Lije will be here by the end of the week. He's bringing my old salvager, but a few new friends."
Jack Crow sat behind the pilots of the gunboat as they pulled away from Rochester. He was busy with the communication terminal replying to the latest complaint from the Liberty Government.
The Junker flying the ship called back to him. "So, you're an ambassador now?"
"Not my first choice, but if it makes Trenton's job a little easier then I can do that. Besides, it will help me protect some of my other business interests. I'd rather be spending my time in other places, but as long as Polstari wants to play this game, I guess I'll be here."
"Why did you advise Trenton to pay that fine? You know they will never live up the terms of the agreement."
"I'm counting on that. If he decides to play nice, all this will be a waste of time."
"You actually want him to start camping our bases with their fleet? This stuff never happened when Hale was around."
"That's because Hale knows how to play chess. Polstari is far to impulsive to take the time to think what happens next. He will be focusing on our bases in Liberty. Now we know exactly where to find him and his forces. We know where they will be and now we know where they will not be. Besides that, my new title gives me other responsibilities that are going to create a good deal more work for he good admiral."
A lone salvage frigate plowed through the dark of space at top speed. It was going to be a long flight from Gallia back to Liberty. The captain sat as his chair on the bridge staring out into space. He didn't really want to be going back to Liberty, but he was glad to be getting out of Gallia.
Elijah Tallwood had been in command of this ship for many years now. His crew knew him well and respected him despite his background and they worked well together. He had at one time been a captain in the Liberty Navy. He commanded his own ship on the fringe of Liberty space. His was never a particularly promising career, but he was happy being in space.
Early in his career he had a junior officer named John Simon. Simon was nevere cut out for this work and Tallwood often wondered why he joined the navy. Simon had several of his "business ventures" on the side. Basically he was stealing from the navy and anyone else he could to set up his own operation. Tallwood knew what was going on and allowed it because Simon saw that he was taken care of for his trouble. It all came to an end when Simon was killed in a mysterious shuttle explosion.
A few years later, Tallwood found out that John Simon had never been aboard that shuttle. He used it to disappear and was now living under the name Jack Crow. By this time he had become the deputy arbiter of the Junker Congress. He offered Tallwood, or "Lije" as he was known the chance to come command a salvage frigate for the Congress. The pay was much better and the work was a bit more exciting. He liked working for Crow. He became a personal agent of Crow and one of the best sources of intel he had.
Now his old boss had a new job as ambassador in Liberty and was asking for his help. This would mean Crow needed him to do some sneaking around locating sensitive information for him. Tallwood was getting on in years and definitely getting ready to retire. He had grown quite wealthy though in Crow's service and was willing to repay the favor this one last time. He was also somewhat familiar with how the navy operated as was Crow himself so they would work well together for this unique challenge.
Jack Crow walked out of the spaceport and into the streets of Planet Denver. It had been more than ten years since he had set foot on his home planet. Because of the circumstances of his leaving at a young age, it was not safe for him to return for a long time. Now, everyone believed the boy who fled decades ago before he could be implemented in a murder was dead. Jack still kept a low profile, but it was good to be home. If he had to come back to Liberty, at least he could be here. He walked to the edge of the spaceport town. There were garbage collection sites that moved trash in from the surrounding cities and then off world. He walked into one of the offices. There was a crew of Junkers overseeing the trash collection for the site. As he walked up to the counter he pulled out and ID badge and showed it to them. Jack watched the man behind the counter as his eyes widened at seeing his ID.
"Arbiter Crow, what can we do for you."
"You can start by not using my name again. I'm just Jack right now. I need a transport out of the city."
"We can handle that for you. I've got some small hovercraft here we use for running errands, rather low profile craft. Will that work for you?"
"That will be perfect. I'll need one for a few days."
"Ok, I'll have one brought up now."
Jack surveyed the landscape as he glided over the trees. He never spent much time on the surface of any planet since he first left home to go into space. He much preferred space, but this was different. This was home. He moved well outside the limits of the larger cities. He could see traces of small settlements in the mountains. That's where he was headed. He guided the hovercraft to a large house overlooking a valley. As he landed on the property a familiar face came out of the house to greet him.
"So you really did decide to come home. How long are you going to be here this time?"
Jack walked up and greeted the man. His cousin Jonathan, ten years younger than him. "I'll be here a few days. I just need to lay low for a bit and pull a few things together."
"You're always welcome here. It's your money that built this place after all."
"How have things been here?"
"Things have been very quiet. We don't get many visitors. We go into town when we have the need. Other than that, we enjoy what we have here. "
"Good to know. I need to use our communication array for a bit. There are some messages I need to send."
"It's all yours. We can sit down and catch up after dinner."
"Sounds good to me." He walked into the house and sat down at the communication station. He pulled a small device from his pocket and plugged it in and it immediately began setting up his own encryption. He logged into a Junker Congress network that would carry his signal, but conceal his location. As he skimmed the messages that had been left for him, one caught his eye."
Jack,
You left Rochester a little too soon. Doc Holiday showed up here if you can believe that and he's asking for you. I told him I'd try to pass a message on to you on his behalf.
M.
Doc was on Rochester? That was an interesting twist. Jack couldn't remember Doc ever coming there before. He quickly composed a message to his old friend and sent it off. This just kept getting more interesting. So much was changing here in Liberty and now this.
After Dinner, Jack sat on the back deck of the house with his cousin looking over their vast property. It was good to be home again. He hadn't spent much time here in recent years. It was time to change that. Now however, he had to be leaving again.
"So, you're leaving already?"
"Yes, my ship should be in orbit soon."
"This was a quick visit."
"I'll be back soon. I promise. It's good to be home. This might even be a good place for me to hole up for a while. No one else knows about my connection to this place and no one will ever find me here. "
"We're glad to have you here. It always makes things exciting."
"Thank you for that. I'm heading out first thing in the morning, but I'll see you all again soon."
Jack stepped into the executive lounge that sat above the bridge of the Metaphysical. This is where most of his high level meetings too place. It was also the place he came to just relax and the ship moved through space. They had just cleared their mooring at Planet Denver and he was now headed back to Rochester. No more low profile. His ship was out in the open and he'd be visible for a while. He'd probably even have to start spending time in his old office on Rochester base.
The captain of the Metaphysical came in and sat down on a couch across from him. "So Jack, back to Rochester already. What do you think Doc wants?"
"I have no idea, but I'm dying to find out."
"I hope there's not trouble again."
"Doc's always got trouble these days. It's when his trouble becomes our trouble that life starts to really get interesting."
"I understand you've been talking with the new Junker group that's arrived at Rochester."
"Not really. I've spoken to a few of them in passing. JT has been dealing with them more than I."
"How do you feel about them being there?"
"How am I supposed to feel. They think they're taking the lead and asserting themselves. What they're actually doing is taking on a dirty job I never liked. Let them have it."
"Where do we fit in to that?"
"We fit in by getting rich while they take the brunt of some of the local politics for a change. I'm looking forward to running my own business without too many distractions."
"How long do you think that will last?"
"Well, this new Junker boss will learn soon enough how big a bite he's really taken. He'll probably back off a bit when that happens."
"I'll just follow your lead on that one old friend."
"Fine. I'm going to take a nap. Call me when we get close to Rochester."
Jack stepped once again into the executive lounge of the Metaphysical. Waiting for him were his friends, Elijah Tallwood and Stephen Cruz. He looked at Elijah, "You're off your ship. How will they ever get along without you?"
Elijah gave him a smart look, "They have a cloak. They also have a damn good first officer. I think they'll do fine. In fact, I could retire tomorrow and the ship would still serve you as well as it is now."
Jack answered quickly, "You're not retiring yet. If I'm still here and back to work, then you're here with me."
"I'm older than you Jack."
"Yes, but admit it, you love it out here."
"You are right about that. I will probably die in space rather than on some planet. Enough of that however, you know why I'm away from my beloved Ocracoke and now sitting here. How was your meeting with the new guy?"
"It was very enlightening. He is indeed an interesting character and will bring a great deal of new life to everything we are doing."
"Does he really wear a mask all the time?" Stephen asked.
"It appears he does. He exposes his mouth to take a drink, and I suppose to eat. Not at all what I expect from Junkers."
"How so?" Elijah asked him.
"The mask makes him high profile in a way. When I walked in, he was sitting at a table in the middle of the goram bar. Everyone was watching him. I couldn't tell if that was his intention or not, or if he really likes that. I suspect he does. The point is, everyone was watching him and taking note of what he was doing. I moved our meeting to our usual place, but I suspect the damage was done."
Elijah looked back at him, "There is something to what he's doing there."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"You know, he could walk back into that bar without the mask after you were gone, or even while you are sitting there and no one would know it was him. That's a lower profile than any of us have."
"Maybe, " Jack answered, "but what is he going to do with it. He can't conduct business without giving himself away. Everything he does as the leader of the JM is incredibly high profile. It's more attention than Junkers usually have."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Stephen told him.
"It is a bad thing Stephen. We aren't meant to be in the spotlight. That's why I feel the way I do about their pirating activities in the border worlds. Let's forget the fact that they sometimes rob our allies, people who bring cashflow to the Junker economy. Let's just look at what they are doing in general. They are quite open about pirating. How long before that comes back to bite us all? Sure, I've looted enough traders in my time. We all have. However, aside from a few odd Hogosha, and the rare unlucky Samura transport, no one who lined my pockets ever went away knowing that he had been robbed by a Junker. That's why I'm still here. That's why we're all still here."
Elijah leaned in a little closer, "The real question is this Jack. What are you going to do about it?"
"Not a damn thing."
"I don't hear you say that often."
"He's a Junker. We take care of our own. We will support what they are doing. If they cause harm to Junkers, they will answer for it, but we will not create a Junker civil war. Not under any circumstances will we be the cause of that. It won't come to that anyway. I understand him now. I see what he is. He thinks he knows more than he does and that's just fine. I thought I knew a lot more than I did when Tinkerbell first recruited me and even when he promoted me to deputy arbiter. This guy will get where he needs to be. If not, then he won't last long and it won't be any of our doing. He was pretty dishonest about one thing though. He claims not to have allies. You know as well I as do that he would not have survived to where he is now if that were true. Still, I can 't blame him for not wanting to give that up. Lije, do you think you can find out who he's dealing with?"
"Did you really just ask me that? Of course we can do that. Let me get back to my ship and we'll get it all set up."
"Glad to hear it. On another note, my meeting with Doc went well. He's got some interesting new projects. He's trying to relocate a lady doctor friend of his from Gran Canaria. They need a place to establish a new clinic."
"Let me guess, you already have a role in that."
"Not directly, but there will be plenty of work for Junkers. We need someone to help coordinate with this doctor and help her get what she needs. I'm guessing you're going to be a bit too tied up for something like that."
Elijah answered him. "Probably, but that sounds like something that is right up Mac's alley. You should give her a call."
"That's actually not a bad idea. I haven't talked to her in a while. Let's she what she's up to."