Living as a Salted Fish, No Snake on the Marshal's Wrist

Chapter 116: Seeds

The meeting began without issue. Taio Ru sat in using video conferencing along with the other ships' commanders.

"No one has said anything about me being part of the meeting. Did Jun De say something before I joined?" Taio Ru wondered. He really didn't expect things to go so well.

What Taio Ru didn't know was that Captain Long sang his praises after the last meeting. The man who was most against Taio Ru having anything to do with the Stargazer's repair was now the most vocal about his contribution.

"Now that everyone is present let's discuss the result of the additional scans aboard the Stargazer." Jun De said.

"Scans have found the location of 26 plant forms aboard the Stargazer. The locations are noted on these diagrams here." Captain Long explained. He continued describing each location and how it matched the external damage reports.

"What does all this mean?"

"We suspect when the cargo ship that was received from the Zergs exploded the contents were embedded in or pierced the Stargazer's hull."

"Are you saying plants were being exchanged? Impossible. Allowing even one Zerg plant into the Empire could cause irreparable damage. No sane person would willingly ask for plants from those damn Zerg." Commander of the Firefox exclaimed. He was finding it difficult to believe anyone would willingly betray the Empire with such vile methods.

"We can't prove anything. But the risk of contamination is high. All ships will be thoroughly scanned. Captain Long, have you been able to identify more information regarding the plants?" Jun De said.

"We are unable to approach without our equipment losing power or the men risking their lives. Even so, we were able to capture these." Captain Long said as he brought up images on the screen.

Taio Ru studied the images. They didn't show much, but they did resemble seeds. Seeds with roots sprouting out and embedding themselves into the power grid.

"What caused them to sprout? Do all they need is an energy source to grow? What about water, oxygen, or soil? Most plant seeds would have lost all viability and would have been destroyed from the explosion alone. But to survive and successfully pierce through the hull of a warship. How interesting." Taio Ru mused as he scrutinized the images. He was far more interested in the plants than the rest of the meeting.

"Earlier it was concluded that the plant material came from the destroyed package received from the Zerg. Given these images, can we assume they were trading something for plant seeds?"

"What do you think was traded? Have we gotten any information from the prisoners?"

"None, everyone we've interrogated claims to only be acting on orders. They do not know what they were exchanging. They claim they didn't even know they were meeting with the Zerg for the exchange until they showed up and sent out the prearranged code."

"What about the people they are taking their orders from? Who are they? What is their purpose?"

"They claim to not know. Saying they were contacted anonymously."

"Someone must know something! What about those damn pirates? Aren't they linked to the battle a few months ago? Maybe, just maybe the person behind the scenes is connected to the traitors we discovered?"

The atmosphere in the meeting grew dark and tense at the realization. Only Jun De and a few others knew the truth. That they were indeed connected and that the connection was the Empress.

...

The next two days were busy as they waited for help. With the ships overcrowding and the possibility of an attack at any time everyone was on edge. Everyone except the three little snakes currently playing ball in the grass.