Chromium

Chapter 18.2

First draft

Ten hours later, the Nostromus had finally returned to Daxum and Omen, Dia and Rodriguez were on their way to the brig.

"How do you want to play this?" Omen asked.

Dia halted, regarding him curiously for a moment. "This is your field. Why are you asking my opinion?"

Omen looked at her seriously. "Fanning asked for you, not me."

"Yeah, but he was one of your men, wasn't he?"

Omen shook her head. "No, actually, he wasn't. He answered directly to Reyes. I would've never hired someone like him."

Dia raised a brow. "Someone like him?"

"Fanning is..." Omen paused, hesitating, seeming to make up his mind. "You could say that like most pirates he is an opportunist. At least that's how he presents himself."

Dia couldn't help but recall the look on Fanning's face when Reyes ordered him to destroy the battlecruiser. Granted, all pirates were eager to give the Empire a bloody nose, but Fanning was different.

He was the only one who actually enjoyed killing for the sake of killing.

Dia narrowed her eyes. "Do you think he was faking his personality to fit in?"

Omen nodded grimly. "That's what I'm afraid of. I think that Fanning is not what he pretends to be."

"How so? Wait..." Dia paused, remembering something. "is this related to the smuggling ring?"

"In part, but mostly it's my intuition talking." Something indescribable flashed through his eye. Regret, maybe? "To tell you the truth, I have always thought there was something wrong with Fanning, but I had no evidence."

"So, why are you telling me this now? What changed?"

"Now I know that Fanning is related to the Spider. Besides, the fact that Fanning asked specifically for you is suspicious." 

Dia nodded silently. That was a good point.

"I'm pretty sure" Omen continued, "that Fanning knows more than he lets on."

Dia opened her mouth, then closed it, hesitating for a while. "Sorry Omen, but have you considered that maybe he's just bullshitting us?"

Omen was pretty calm. He didn't look offended by her inquiry. "I doubt it. Smuggling antimatter is a capital offense. The fact that Fanning is still alive means that someone was protecting him from the Syndicate's retaliation."

Dia frowned. "But from what I heard, the Syndicate couldn't get rid of the smugglers because that would mean admitting that someone managed to cheat the system."

Omen snorted. "True, the Spice Lords couldn't get rid of the smugglers without admitting that the rumors were right. That's why they waited until things quieted down before making their move."

Dia opened her eyes wide. "So what, they just got rid of them? And no one noticed?"

Omen shrugged. "Public opinion is short-lived, corporal. I can assure you that everyone involved in the scandal disappeared a long time ago."

"Everyone except Fanning." Dia sounded a bit calmer this time.

Omen nodded. "As I said, someone was protecting him. Someone powerful."

"The Umbra?" She asked quietly.

"Or the Spider. Maybe both." Omen's expression turned somber. "But yes, I'm almost sure he was working for the Umbra."