8 Sina 1117: Boilingbrook – Adar/Hinterworlds 0801 A9C9751-D 700 Na G0 II
We’ve got a full passenger load, and I’ve picked up enough Freight to finish filling up the cargo bay. So we’re good to go.
After breakfast, I wandered over to the starport to see how the Grayswandir was doing. Maintenance seemed to have been completed and a few stacks of cargo were sitting in the pad with us. I opened the bay and had the cargobots carry what was there inside. I trusted the computer to handle the load balancing. Saahna probably wouldn’t like it, but she wasn’t here.
Once that was taken care of, I looked through the ship. Everything seemed to be okay but, struck by an idea, I started looking around more carefully.
In both the crew lounge and the passenger lounge I found a disc identical to the one I had placed in the Uptown Downport. I frowned. How many more of them were there on the ship?
I pinged the ship’s computer. “Hey, Gray?”
“Yes?” Her precisely modulated voice came on. “How can I help you, Captain Kodai?”
“Did you see who placed these things here?”
“What ‘things’ are you referring to, Captain?”
I sighed. “There is a device under the table here and another behind the lounge in the passenger cabin. Did you see who put them there?”
“No, Captain. I did not. And my internal log files do not show anything.” There was a pause. “Both devices are emitting a radio signal.”
“Are there any others?”
Another pause. “Yes. One on the bridge and one in engineering.”
I cursed under my breath. “Thanks, Gray.” I pulled the disc free from beneath the table in the crew lounge, it was surprisingly harder to do than I expected, then went to the passenger lounge and removed the one I had found there. Next were Engineering and the Bridge, where I looked and eventually found those discs. I collected all four of them.
“Gray?” I asked again.
“Yes, Captain?”
“Start keeping our internal logs for a few weeks. Say four. And, notify me at once if you detect any kind of internal broadcast. Well, anything that isn’t coming from one of the crew or a passenger.”
“Of course, Captain.”
“Thanks, Gray.”
I made a final walk-around of the ship then left. Outside, in the bay, I saw a cargobot and stuck the discs I had removed onto one of its arms. It squawked in anger, but I ignored it and headed towards one of the bars surrounding the starport.
The place I wound up in was called the Singularity. It was a bit of a dive, even by starport standards, but I figured that might actually make it a better place to stay for a while. I sat down at the bar and, when they didn’t have an Imperial Boil, just ordered a Galactose Intolerance. Every place has that.
I pulled up my comp and idly flicked through it for a bit. Whoever had placed those scanners on the Grayswandir would, of course, know I had found and removed them. I’d have to sweep the ship again after we cleared atmosphere but before we hit Jumpspace. I’d just toss them out then.
I shrugged and pinged the crew, telling them to meet me at the Singularity tomorrow for the pre-lift meetup. It was as good of a place as any, and no one could complain about me dragging them across town again.
I stayed there probably longer than I should. And probably had a few more Intolerance than I should. I wondered again if Captain Anna had ever had to deal with things like this. Eventually, I wandered back to the room and recorded this. Time for sleep.