Chapter 34

Zeke had to stop in the hallway and smile when he heard Dusty speaking.

“You sure know how to piss people off, don’t you, Yarram. This time, you have bitten off more than you can chew. Zeke is not a man you should wish to tangle with.”

Yarram snorted, “He doesn’t frighten me. I have friends in high places. We will get that contract squashed, and then we will see how tough he is. He is stealing our resources for Mars.”

Dusty’s laughter bounced down the hallway. Zeke decided he would sit in comfort while he listened. He blinked to his helm and had Freya relay the vid from Hercules’ hold.

Zeke got the vid up in time to see and hear Dusty say, “Do so at your peril, Yarram. Zeke has more friends in even higher places than you. Did you know that he is Mars’ golden boy, and he can do no wrong?”

“That his inventions and investments are why they cut half their imports from Earth and doubled their exports to the Sol System over the last four years? Why did you think the governments of Earth were so happy that Queen Lee gave them access to Terra?”

James chipped in, “Yet, as Martian-centric as Zeke is, here he is in Earth space doing a job no one else wanted to do. Certainly not your government, that’s for sure.”

“We have all heard the Sol Government’s views on just how expensive and dangerous it would be to clean up Earth’s space. Totally ignoring the cost to shuttle crews, their passengers and the freighter crews who hit that shit.”

Dusty took back over, “Did you lot know that Zeke is using that junk he collects to make what he calls Pedz and Padz? Or that he is selling them to Terran settlers for half what they would have to pay for the current devices known as Mads and flexipads? They are of higher quality, too.”

Rod replied, “Don’t remind me. On Monday, we had to quell a near riot on Armstrong Station when the locals learned they had to have a boarding pass for a settlement ship to Terra to buy them.”

“Thankfully, Arthur Rose agreed to sell them for a slightly cheaper price than their equivalents if a pass wasn’t produced. He sold out on the first day. Luckily for many of the locals, only one settlement ship was leaving. I had to back-order mine.”

“He is just taking jobs from Earth and other settlements still loyal to Earth,” Yarram interjected.

Dusty countered, “Get real. You’re just trying to protect big businesses. Do you think the governments of Sol will get the people’s support when what Zeke is doing becomes common knowledge?”

Surprisingly, it was Tracy who said, “I saw a talk show on the SBC the other day. It was after UNSEC announced that someone was finally cleaning up the space around Earth. My friends and I were so relieved to hear that announcement.”

“The show was inundated with calls and emails from people all over Sol wanting to know who, so they could thank them. Many people had horror stories of near misses, being hulled and even the deaths of family members. It scared me a lot. I nearly didn’t come on this trip, even though I was ordered to.”

“Exactly,” Dusty agreed. “Yarram, do your people honestly think the other governments and the people of Sol will thank you for stopping Zeke? I know you’re more politically savvy than that. They will be voted out tomorrow if they openly support your views.”

“As far as I’m concerned, Zeke has acted with honour, integrity and within his rights. He has given us copies of his log and Raul’s. We have the vids of his actions, conversations, and samples from Baraz’s ship and pod. I believe we have enough evidence to convict the pirates.”

“No, we need the logs and to inspect Captain Evina’s ship,” Captain Baker objected.

“Then why didn’t you get them and do the inspection when your people went to the ship, Captain?” James asked.

“Um, well, the pilot deemed it was too dangerous to try and dock the scout ship with it. It’s tumbling and turning. Bits of the ship were still being flung off.”

Dusty huffed, “So, who do you expect to board that ship?”

The Captain replied triumphantly, pointing to Hercules, “Zeke has this ship. I believe he designed it to do exactly what we need to do. We can confiscate it so my people can go in.”

To his surprise, Tracy giggled. “Oh, yeah, I want to see Zeke’s incredulous look when you lay that one on him. I know darn well what I’d tell you, and I work for you.”

“I also wasn’t the one you personally accused of being a pirate and promising to bury in Luna’s prison. Yeah, good luck with that idea, Sir. Anyway, we haven’t interviewed this so-called Captain Evina or her crew yet.”