Chapter 25

Early the next morning, they identified the first vessel of the day, a Meryd freighter named the Galofero, transitioning from the outer approach corridor into Shiro Station’s primary traffic pattern.

“Sir, I’m picking up some strange interference patterns bleeding off that Meryd hauler’s lower hull,” Baker said, indicating a freighter that had just come into the station’s sensor range.

Innes moved to stand behind Baker’s station, studying the readout. The Galofero was a medium-sized cargo hauler, much like half the ships that came through the station. The interference could mean a dozen things: a faulty power coupling, a degraded mag field, or even cargo that generated its own electromagnetic signature.

It was impossible to tell for sure without a closer scan.

“Where’s she headed?”

Baker pulled up the filed route. “She’s plotted for that mining platform out in the belt before making the jump over to Hokkaido.”

That threw a red flag for Innes. It was the same pattern as the Bani Beryn.

If he were following Captain Barrett’s orders to the letter, he would scan the vessel and let it go through, just as he had with the last one. But, after talking to Sage, Innes decided he wasn’t going to sit on his hands and let whatever plot was happening in this system continue unimpeded.

He’d spent the day working with two of Jun Hua’s station engineers to modify the scanning equipment on the assault shuttle using the shielding profile from the Pioneer Spirit’s secret compartments as a baseline, calibrating the scanners to detect the presence of something like that, with the thought that it would be easier to detect the shielded compartment than the thing inside the compartment.

The engineers had warned him that the detection wasn’t perfect, maybe seventy percent reliable, but it was better than nothing.

And if he was right, seventy percent was enough to justify what he was about to do. Well, according to the old rules.

“Signal the Galofero to break pattern and move into a holding position for a full inspection,” Innes said. “Launch the shuttle with a boarding party immediately.”

Baker’s hands stopped over his console. The order would have been routine under normal circumstances, but everyone in the operations center knew about the new directives.

“Sir?”

“You heard the order, Chief, get them in a holding position and prep the shuttle for the boarding party.”

Baker nodded once and began transmitting. The Galofero’s icon shifted on the display, veering away from the main traffic lane toward the designated holding area. The shuttle launched from the bay three minutes later, carrying ten personnel.

Innes watched the approach on the tactical plot.

“Shuttle’s begun its preliminary scan,” Baker reported.

Innes waited. The shuttle would complete its circuit of the freighter, scanning every inch of it. If it was what Innes was almost certain it was, they would be radioing back momentarily.

“Sir,” Baker said, almost on cue. “The shuttle is reporting a shielded section on the port side of the lower deck.”

He’d gotten enough of a sense of Tan that he was almost certain that was what he was going to find. The man thought he was smarter than everyone else and that the rules didn’t apply to him. His attempt to bribe Innes had shown that. He was brazen enough that, after getting the last ship through, he would start bringing them in back-to-back now, feeling like he was untouchable.

He was about to be very disappointed.

“Signal the team to move in and begin the boarding and inspection process.”

Baker turned from his console. “Sir, are you sure?”

“I’m sure about this, Chief, so let’s move.”

Baker held his position for another moment. He was a good man and he could see the noose Innes was sticking his neck into and clearly wanted him to reconsider.

But Innes was already well aware of what he was doing.

“Do it.”

“Aye, sir.” Baker turned back to his console and transmitted the order.

The boarding and inspection took forty-seven minutes. Innes followed the reports as they came in, each update building a picture of what the Galofero carried. The inspection team worked compartment by compartment, methodical and thorough, until they reached the lower deck.