Chapter 33

“Captain Baker,” Tracy interrupted them as she walked over to them.

She had just climbed down from the pod’s ladder. She handed a flexipad to the Captain.

“He was telling the truth, Sir, if his timeline is correct, and so far, I can’t see any real discrepancies. The pod’s lid is painted as if it were part of a wall. It also has the impression of a seal on the edges. That’s consistent for that model ship.”

“This read-out from the pod verifies his time of entry. It also verifies that the pod had less than ten litres of water, well below recommendations for radiation protection.”

“The oxygen cylinder was either empty, or they had to use it. Mr Walker said the helm was hulled. If that happened before they got into the pod, they would not have had sufficient air and would have needed it.”

“The previous diagnostic, run some twenty hours before, states the air on board at that time was barely twenty percent and contaminated. It was down to twelve percent when he opened the hatch.”

“The CO2 scrubbers are missing from the pod, so they would have been lucky if they had enough air for another hour or two before they died, asphyxiated by carbon monoxide.”

“The diagnostic also shows that the thrusters were inoperative, and so were the comms. I checked and found that no maintenance had occurred in years. The mess inside also indicates the disrepair had existed for a while.”

“The men couldn’t call for help and had no way to reach atmospheric entry, even if the pod broke free. I’m amazed the clamps let go, as there is significant rust where one was attached to the pod. The seal must have been leaking on it for a while.”

“That pod can’t have been serviced properly in years. If Captain Walker hadn’t rescued the men when he did, they would be dead.”

“That still doesn’t prove they were pirates,” Yarram stated emphatically.

While Captain Baker agreed, the others looked less certain.

“Ah, here you all are,” Rod said as he entered the room wearing a spacesuit but not a helmet.

He grinned at Zeke. “I love that little ship. You’ll have to take me for a spin in it sometime.”

“Report, Detective,” Captain Baker barked irritably.

“Yes, Sir. To keep it simple, we recorded twenty significant breaches in the hull of the derelict ship. Three of them in the helm. I’m amazed those men even managed to get into the pod. The only air they would have had was what was in the tanks.”

“What about the missiles?” Baker asked, not really caring about the men.

“Two, old-tech heat-sinkers. Thankfully, they are not nuclear. We believe there were three. You could see one had been recently removed from the rack. There were no markings on the missiles. They had been sanded and repainted.”

“It will be difficult, but we should be able to identify them. As for the launcher, it’s a mangled mess. Something big hit it. It must have come straight through the hull deployment doors. Not that they exist anymore, just the hinges,” Rod shrugged.

“So, he couldn’t have put it in place before we got here?” questioned Baker as he stabbed a finger in Zeke’s direction.

Rod snorted, “Hardly. That launch bay had been added after the ship was built. I’d say several years ago. They hadn’t painted all the welds inside the ship very well. It was a rough job. I took a sample of the rust to date it.”

“Plus, I’ve been through Zeke’s ship before. He let me prod and poke and peek at everything. It was fresh off the assembly line. It is still immaculate. Considering the modifications, he has done since, he hasn’t had time to build a launch bay, and we couldn’t find one from the inside or the outside.”

“What modifications?” Yarram asked suspiciously.

“Well, he replaced the R&R unit with a better one. Upgraded the size of all the collector bottles, added more in his radiation collector room, and added more energy storage for his R&R unit. I guess there is more radioactive material in orbit than reported.”

Zeke nodded, “We had to upgrade Raul’s ship too.”

“Who do you sell the radioactive materials to?” demanded Captain Baker.

Zeke grinned, “Your mob. It’s in my contract. I’m not allowed to sell it anywhere other than Morpheus or Armstrong stations, even if I collect it from another space. So, are you happy now?”

“I am not a pirate. I’m just a man trying to meet the contract I have with UNSEC and the ESC to clean up the space around Earth and to try and save people in trouble in that space.”

James said, “I read your contract, Zeke. You and Travis Marsh did a good job of getting exclusive rights to salvage in the Sol System. What I want to know is how you got them to agree to you having the same rights as an UNSEC Chief Justice when investigating criminal acts performed in space?”

“What?” chorused several shocked voices.

Zeke shrugged, “I impressed a few people.”

“That can’t be the only reason?” Dusty said suspiciously.

“I’m under oath, so it is the only explanation I can give you. If you don’t like it, complain to your bosses.”

“So, why did you let us carry out this farce if you could have pulled rank and just told us to bugger off?” Tracy asked, a little bewildered.

“Because someone sent both of those ships here to bother me. I needed corroboration as to the deeds done. Someone with enough clout has used blackmail or threats to force an UNSEC Captain into committing several crimes.”