Chapter 13

The pilot was running through the assault shuttle’s preflight sequence as Innes climbed the boarding ramp, passing the seven Marines assigned to this inspection, and made his way up to the cockpit, taking one of the secondary seats behind the pilot.

This was Innes’s second inspection run since taking command. He had decided several days ago that occasionally accompanying the boarding teams would give him a better understanding of how searches were actually conducted.

He’d been taking pains to check in on all of his people and get a better idea of their tasks firsthand. Most of this would not be directly helpful once he was back on board the Illustrious in the tactical section, but long-term, his goal was command, and this kind of firsthand experience was something he did not want to pass up.

Especially this early in his career.

His first trip had been a routine inspection of an independent trader carrying agricultural equipment to Hokkaido. Although there had been several flags on the initial scans, the actual inspection hadn’t turned up anything, and they had been in and out in under an hour.

Innes settled into the seat. He looked over the ship queue he could see on the plot over the co-pilot’s shoulder. A Meryd-flagged vessel, an independent trader, and a cargo hauler registered to House Gervais were all awaiting inspections, but he was only going on this one.

It had been a coin toss between the independent trader and the hauler registered to House Gervais. Either would give him the insight he wanted. The only one off the table was the Meryd-flagged ship. A direct visit by the detachment’s commanding officer to any Meryd ship could appear targeted, especially if they did find something, and would be precisely the kind of incident Captain Barrett had instructed him to avoid.

He preferred to play it safe and leave that inspection to Lieutenant Roberts, so if they did find anything, the Meryd couldn’t come screaming about targeted harassment.

Actually, the House Gervais ship was probably the least problematic, although the reason for that annoyed him. House Gervais was a member of the Centrist coalition, which his father led. It would make anyone looking at the situation who didn’t know Innes’s feelings on family politics, discount any sort of political motivation for him being there.

He didn’t expect to find much.

The initial scan of the Centauri class freighter had noted an unusual mass distribution that deviated from the profile on file. This was one of the most common flags they saw, and so far, there had never been anything found on the inspections of these ships.

According to Chief Pierce, this was one of those things that could happen: crew moving cargo around or even some kind of displacement during gating.

Not that he wasn’t going to keep checking. The regs said it required an inspection each time, which meant the inspections would continue.

Even if everyone knew they wouldn’t find anything.

The shuttle lifted from Shiro Station’s deck and slipped through the atmospheric barrier into open space. Innes reviewed the Pioneer Spirit’s manifest and registration details as they navigated toward the vessel’s parking orbit. The hauler was a standard Centauri-class freighter, one of the more common mid-sized freighters seen throughout Concordian space, with a cargo capacity of twenty thousand metric tons and a crew complement of eight. Her registration showed twenty-three years of continuous operation under House Gervais colors, with no significant incidents or violations in her service history.

The transit took fourteen minutes. The Pioneer Spirit grew from a distant speck to a recognizable hull, her running lights marking the standard navigation pattern required for vessels awaiting inspection. The shuttle pilot opened communications.

“Pioneer Spirit, this is CDF inspection shuttle requiring docking for customs inspection. Please verify.”

A pause, then a response crackled through the speaker. “Inspection shuttle, this is Pioneer Spirit. Acknowledged.”

The pilot adjusted his approach vector. Innes watched the freighter’s hull slide past the viewport as they maneuvered toward the airlock, noting the vessel’s well-maintained exterior and the House Gervais crest painted prominently near the bow. Whatever else one might say about the Gervais family, they took pride in their fleet’s appearance.

The docking collar sealed with a muffled clunk, and Roberts led the boarding party through the airlock into the Pioneer Spirit’s main cargo hold. Innes followed at the rear of the group, positioning himself as an observer. The space stretched nearly the full length of the vessel, stacked with secured containers bearing shipping codes and manifest tags.

A man waited for them near the cargo ramp. He was the ship’s captain, given the insignia on his jacket. He was in his mid-forties, with slicked-back black hair and a weathered complexion.

“Lieutenant Roberts, Concordian Defense Fleet. We’re here to perform a customs inspection under section twenty-seven nineteen of the Republic Charter.”

“Captain Fournier. Everything’s in order, I assure you, but please take whatever time you need. House Gervais has always cooperated fully with the Navy.”

Roberts nodded and waved the six Marines with him toward the interior of the ship. Innes had watched his team drill on inspections, something they did every few days, and he’d been impressed with how quickly and efficiently they moved through the ship, each man knowing his job and what he needed to do.

This time was no different.

Innes was happy to see Private Brooks among their number. The private was running a hand sensor over the hull as he took steady, even paces down the port side of the cargo bay. For as nervous and young as he’d looked during their unfortunate run-in, he was very sure of himself now, bolstering Innes’s feeling that he’d made the right call about the private.