Star Law: A Marshal Cole Series

Chapter 28 (b)

Gaulle entered the deck where the observatory and the library were. Rather than enter the observatory, he turned into the library. Unlike the libraries of old where books lined shelves, this library had work stations, desks with alcoves, long tables and meeting areas. For those who actually wanted to read a print book, there was an iNan to nanufacture one. A surprisingly good number still read books rather than implanting the text. The simple truth is that it was possible to be awash in words even with an internal AI processing it. The imagination failed and the joys of reading were lost.

The brain was complicated in most species and simple pleasures made for a healthier mind. Cybernetic implants were important for sorting material, translations, calculations and navigation. They were a storage base for information and facts. However, learning was something that covered many senses and for this reason, some people read a book or a padd, some were listening to a reading and participating in a discussion in one of the side rooms. Still, others were sitting motionless tapped wirelessly into a port while the library connected to them and provided patrons with what they were looking for. Polite society usually dictated if you were in cyber that you use a work station so that you were not staring blankly at people.

The library was about one third filled with people. Gaulle heard a book discussion quietly going on but otherwise there was no sound aside from air circulating and the low thrum that the ship generated. This was the location of the dead drop as arranged by Diaz.

They had agreed not to meet or communicate directly given the dangers. However, Gaulle needed to be apprised of everything so as to assist from a distance. The drop site had to have a fair amount of traffic and be accessible but not so busy as to make it impossible to retrieve messages. They had mutually agreed on the long table at the end of the stacks. There were no chairs there and it was generally used to sort material.

As expected, there was no one near the table as Gaulle approached. He discreetly looked about and then walked up and slid his hands underneath and ran them along until he found a thumb drive. He detached it and pocketed it and moved to a carrel. Once cloistered, he took the drive and it wirelessly connected to the padd he brought with him. The encrypted message was voice relayed to the comm in his ear. He hit play.

"There is still no sign of Orion Ruskovich nor of Petr Goroshenko," began Diaz. Gaulle's jaw tightened but he listened on. "I have reason to believe that the Marshal's people have set a trap aimed at catching one of the two. My instincts tell me it is aimed at Goroshenko but what would lure him out of hiding and specifically to that place is unknown. The nature of the trap is also unknown but it appears that they are aware of the Russian's apportation abilities. You might know better than I what would ever trap him."

Gaulle was alarmed. A trap. He made a mental note to have Diaz look into where and what the trap is. Was it just for Goroshenko? For people with psi in general? His frustration grew about just how in the dark he was. The death of both Chen and Singh left him without the resources he relied on to get good intelligence.

"As mentioned, Orion Ruskovich is still hiding and is quite good at it. Adisa and Adjani are methodical trackers but without their third brother they cannot triangulate. The girl may be able to shield herself in some way from their psi detection. In any case, our young Africans might find it a challenge even if they do locate her. The last time resulted in the death of their brother."

Gaulle remembered. He had pulled on the leash of Adjani and Adisa a few times in part because they could recklessly end up dead. Orion Ruskovich was not to be underestimated. He could use them to drive the girl but she had proven herself hard to eliminate.

As for Goroshenko, he had not been heard of since his last report. He had a few hours before his next report was due. The man had a knack for self preservation and had many aliases. Even the name Goroshenko was a nom de plume. Still, it was not good that he had drawn the interest of security and especially the Marshal. If the man knew what was good for him, he'd disappear into one of his aliases and make himself scarce save for reports till arrival on Hawks. If not, then Diaz was to make sure he caused no trouble. Of Strasser and Ngyuen, he was confident they would remain hidden as they always did.

I recommend that we keep Adjani and Adisa on call. Keep them off patrols. We'll use encrypted comms relayed through you. We don't want them to know anything of me," said Diaz. He was right. It was better to have him still working outside the group. "When things happen, they will happen quickly. At the moment, I suspect the trap is being baited and when that happens, we will not only know where but when it is to happen. This will be the last dead drop till further notice. Expect one ping on encrypted comms at that time and then standby for further information."

That was it for Diaz's report. It was already re-writing itself even as Gaulle considered the words he just heard. Not for the first time he wished Singh and Aubrey Chase Chen were around to consider a strategy. He was supremely confident in himself but missed other viewpoints more than he thought possible.