The Unchipped

Chapter 16

Lieutenant Talon was shocked to see Commander Vagar appear on the screen. He had met the Commander once before when he had earned his commission. It was a brief handshake that excited him yet looked habitual to Vagar. Still, he fondly remembered the occasion and fostered dreams of one day achieving enough to become part of the Commander's staff, possibly a commander himself.

"Command Vagar," Talon said, adding a slight bow of his head. It was a struggle to look and sound professional when surprise was paramount. The boat rose on a particularly large swell causing him to grasp the edge of the console to not appear as off balance as he felt. "It is an honor to..."

"At ease, Lieutenant," Vagar said, flicking his hand to ward off any more official pleasantries. The abruptness of the movement frightened Talon. "It has been brought to my attention that you have made a query...." Vagar looked down at something below the camera's range. "Of a Caleb Parrington and a Samual Rothard. Inform me as to the reason why."

Talon's heart sank into his stomach. He had blundered into a disaster of his own making. "A brief interdiction, sir," Talon replied.

"An unreported interdiction," Vagar accused. His scowl added a thousand wrinkles around his eyes that traveled upward into his brow and faded into a bald head.

"An oversight, sir," Talon said. "I have been given orders to search every vessel for a woman, query the occupants, and send them out of the area if she was not found. That was done, and in my desire to return to the task quickly, I neglected to log the interdiction. I will remedy that immediately."

"Neither of these two are Aragonians and have no license to visit our shores," Vagar said. "Is it your understanding that you alone possess the right to decide who visits our shores?"

"No, sir," Talon said. Fear began to scrap along his bones. "I...well...the query returned that Mr. Parrington was due some leeway, his father...."

"I am aware of who his father is," Vagar interrupted. He paused momentarily and looked down at something below the camera. Talon suspected he was put on mute as Vagar digested whatever he examined. Vagar's eyes returned. "Describe what you found on the boat."

Talon felt queasy. Perhaps the game console had been a trap. "I was doing the interrogation, Commander. Specialists Damon and Fischer are the ones who searched the boat. I can assure you, they did not find...."

"Get them," Vagar ordered. "Now!" he added when Talon hesitated.

Talon nodded and triggered the ship's intercom. His order for Damon and Fischer to move on-the-double to the bridge echoed through the ship. He turned away from the screen to await their arrival and grab some respite from hiding his growing fear. He silently cursed his greed. The game console was worth a year's pay on the black market. Now, it was only worth prison, or worse. He prayed to the fates that Damon and Fischer would be loyal enough not to mention the console.

"Sir?" Damon said as he and Fisher walked onto the bridge.

Talon spoke quickly to preempt the Commander and give the two specialists a heads-up about what was already in the open. "Commander Vagar has some questions about the search of the vessel we interdicted an hour ago. He wants a description of what you two saw during the search." Talon hoped the two had interrupted his expressions properly. It wasn't easy to pass on the desire for silence about the game console with only facial gestures. He turned to the screen. "Specialists Damon and Fischer, sir."

What followed was an in-depth interrogation of the search. Talon first described the vessel, including its visible logo - Swiftwater 2200x. There were strange pauses every so often as the Commander looked down, examining another screen or something. There must have been a schematic of the boat available since the Commander began asking questions as if he had seen the layout himself. Every nook and cranny was questioned, including the hold hidden under the bed. Talon was relieved when Damon correctly described the contents of that hold, proving he had searched it well. Fischer was busy describing the exterior compartments, most of which Talon had also observed.