Hapes
Zate Gunnang stood before the massive hanger. His arms crossed behind his back, he watched his men work. Every single piece of Contractor Seven, the Commonwealth Freighter that had exploded between Hapes and Gallinore, could be found here. Most of the remains, especially the hyperdrive and other components were charred blacker than a Sith Lord.
Investigator Gunnang was a rare breed. Starship accidents were quite common place, but it is not often that a ship just explodes for no particular reason, especially Commonwealth government vessel. Rigorous inspections and a dedicated mechanic corps made such an incident rarer than even Investigator Gunnang. This seemed to be a unique situation, one that raised questions.
Thirty people had been killed. None of the bodies had been recovered. They were atoms now. Contractor Seven had been carrying a team of masons who would be constructing a Commonwealth governmental building on Hapes. The ship had also been carrying their equipment. Families of the victims had been informed. No details have been given out yet. They would be no press releases until Investigator Gunnang and his team had some duracrete answers.
Doing a self taught (Zate had flat fleet) yet perfect about face, Zate made his way to a temporary work station. His second in command, Brent Sicle, was meticulously cataloguing every single component in the hanger. Another contingent of his staff was doing an exhausting search of any piece literature remotely related to the vessel. This ranged from a repair log to the ship’s cargo and passenger ledger. Even a compilation of the ship’s mission reports for the last five years could be found among the mass of flimsiplast.
Zate was finding this entire investigation disturbing to the point that it was unnerving. It was just too similar to the events that transpired at Fondor. He had taken part in that investigation as well. Hired by the family of one of White Nova Line passengers to get a second opinion free of any Imperial manipulations, his investigation had been very revealing. The accident was not caused by a faulty hyperdrive regulator. INS had put quite the spin on the story.
“Have they found the hyperdrive regulator yet?” question Zate.
“No, Investigator Gunnang. It was completely incinerated. We found something else though. There was a fragment of the casing of a Merr-Sonn TB-47 time bomb imbedded in a bulkhead fragment.”
“Oh shit… Did this ship stop anywhere between Etti-IV and Hapes?”
Brent scanned his datapad for the information. “Gallinore, sir.”
The trail was running cold among the wreckage on Hapes. “Pack it up. We’re going to Gallinore.”
Gallinore – Ritz Security Desk
“Wait! Rewind it!” ordered Zate to the holocam technician. “Zoom in on that man’s face and try to run a match to anyone on the crew ledger.
“No matches.”
The holocam feed showed a brown haired man making his way out of the restaurant. The feed switched to a camera outside of the lobby. The man could be seen crossing the street and out of the corner of the camera’s field of view, entering an employee entrance to the Gallinore Transit Authority.
“Run it through all available databases. You have my permission to run it through the god damn sex offender database if you have to. I need a match.”
“No need, that’s Adrian Thaedin. He’s fragging royalty.”
“That’s definitely a match. Did you get the Transit Authority holovids Brent?”
“No sir, the suspect or an accomplice had them removed.”
“Then we need to have a talk with Ms. Ans’suta.”
Gallinore – Royal Police Station Alpha Seven
“We know that you went out to dinner with Mr. Thaedin, but we also know that your relationship with him was beyond romantic.”
The Gallinore Transit Authority employee dabbed her tearing eyes with handkerchief.
Unable to even speak due to almost paralyzing fear (she had never been in trouble a day in her life), she simply nodded.
“Ms. Ans’suta, do you realize that I have enough evidence in my datapad to indict you on thirty counts of murder in the second degree?”
The flood gates opened, and the women began to cry uncontrollably.
“Sweetheart, you’re a nice girl with a perfect record. If you cooperate with us, I can make that all go away.”
The young woman was so scared that she could barely sit up straight. He hands were shaking uncontrollably. She had dropped her wet handkerchief to the cold duracrete floor of the police station. Zate bent down to pick it up.
“We’ll give us some information honey?”
She nodded, still unable to speak.
Later
“Brent, I want you to forward all of this information about the Contractor Seven incident back to Hapes. Send it to who ever is in charge on Relephon too. I think we have enough evidence to get this son of a bitch expedited.”
“Yes sir.”
“See if we get some people out here too. You and I have service pistols, but I want some boys packing a little more heat. Also, we need a liaison with the Hapan Police and military. See if you can take care of that too.”
“Yes Investigator Gunnang.”
Zate Gunnang stood before the massive hanger. His arms crossed behind his back, he watched his men work. Every single piece of Contractor Seven, the Commonwealth Freighter that had exploded between Hapes and Gallinore, could be found here. Most of the remains, especially the hyperdrive and other components were charred blacker than a Sith Lord.
Investigator Gunnang was a rare breed. Starship accidents were quite common place, but it is not often that a ship just explodes for no particular reason, especially Commonwealth government vessel. Rigorous inspections and a dedicated mechanic corps made such an incident rarer than even Investigator Gunnang. This seemed to be a unique situation, one that raised questions.
Thirty people had been killed. None of the bodies had been recovered. They were atoms now. Contractor Seven had been carrying a team of masons who would be constructing a Commonwealth governmental building on Hapes. The ship had also been carrying their equipment. Families of the victims had been informed. No details have been given out yet. They would be no press releases until Investigator Gunnang and his team had some duracrete answers.
Doing a self taught (Zate had flat fleet) yet perfect about face, Zate made his way to a temporary work station. His second in command, Brent Sicle, was meticulously cataloguing every single component in the hanger. Another contingent of his staff was doing an exhausting search of any piece literature remotely related to the vessel. This ranged from a repair log to the ship’s cargo and passenger ledger. Even a compilation of the ship’s mission reports for the last five years could be found among the mass of flimsiplast.
Zate was finding this entire investigation disturbing to the point that it was unnerving. It was just too similar to the events that transpired at Fondor. He had taken part in that investigation as well. Hired by the family of one of White Nova Line passengers to get a second opinion free of any Imperial manipulations, his investigation had been very revealing. The accident was not caused by a faulty hyperdrive regulator. INS had put quite the spin on the story.
“Have they found the hyperdrive regulator yet?” question Zate.
“No, Investigator Gunnang. It was completely incinerated. We found something else though. There was a fragment of the casing of a Merr-Sonn TB-47 time bomb imbedded in a bulkhead fragment.”
“Oh shit… Did this ship stop anywhere between Etti-IV and Hapes?”
Brent scanned his datapad for the information. “Gallinore, sir.”
The trail was running cold among the wreckage on Hapes. “Pack it up. We’re going to Gallinore.”
Gallinore – Ritz Security Desk
“Wait! Rewind it!” ordered Zate to the holocam technician. “Zoom in on that man’s face and try to run a match to anyone on the crew ledger.
“No matches.”
The holocam feed showed a brown haired man making his way out of the restaurant. The feed switched to a camera outside of the lobby. The man could be seen crossing the street and out of the corner of the camera’s field of view, entering an employee entrance to the Gallinore Transit Authority.
“Run it through all available databases. You have my permission to run it through the god damn sex offender database if you have to. I need a match.”
“No need, that’s Adrian Thaedin. He’s fragging royalty.”
“That’s definitely a match. Did you get the Transit Authority holovids Brent?”
“No sir, the suspect or an accomplice had them removed.”
“Then we need to have a talk with Ms. Ans’suta.”
Gallinore – Royal Police Station Alpha Seven
“We know that you went out to dinner with Mr. Thaedin, but we also know that your relationship with him was beyond romantic.”
The Gallinore Transit Authority employee dabbed her tearing eyes with handkerchief.
Unable to even speak due to almost paralyzing fear (she had never been in trouble a day in her life), she simply nodded.
“Ms. Ans’suta, do you realize that I have enough evidence in my datapad to indict you on thirty counts of murder in the second degree?”
The flood gates opened, and the women began to cry uncontrollably.
“Sweetheart, you’re a nice girl with a perfect record. If you cooperate with us, I can make that all go away.”
The young woman was so scared that she could barely sit up straight. He hands were shaking uncontrollably. She had dropped her wet handkerchief to the cold duracrete floor of the police station. Zate bent down to pick it up.
“We’ll give us some information honey?”
She nodded, still unable to speak.
Later
“Brent, I want you to forward all of this information about the Contractor Seven incident back to Hapes. Send it to who ever is in charge on Relephon too. I think we have enough evidence to get this son of a bitch expedited.”
“Yes sir.”
“See if we get some people out here too. You and I have service pistols, but I want some boys packing a little more heat. Also, we need a liaison with the Hapan Police and military. See if you can take care of that too.”
“Yes Investigator Gunnang.”
