been so important to the farmer. He wondered how many more people Tug would eventually share his knowledge of Earth with. These people had no understanding of their true origins. They had myths. They had stories. They had legends. But no truths. In some small measure, Nathan felt he had done this world a bit of justice.
Nathan stretched and took in a deep breath. The air was different out here in the country night. It was still thick and humid, and it still smelled of molo. But the smell of machine oils and thrust exhausts and all the other aromas one usually found amongst civilization were absent, as were the sounds. It was quiet out here, almost too quiet. On Earth, there were always sounds. Even in the wilderness, there were always the sounds of hundreds of creatures big and small, as they went about the business of life. On this reformed moon, however, those creatures were almost non-existent, as were their sounds. The silence was… peaceful.
He looked about the compound, spotting Jessica a short distance away, squatting on the ground as she assembled the tight-beam comm-array dish used to communicate privately with the Aurora.
“Jess,” he called, walking out to meet her. “Contact the ship yet?”
“Just getting ready to.”
Nathan walked the last few steps over to her. “You get a good look around?”
“What makes you think I was looking around?”
“Why do you think I made you my security chief?”
“Cuz I was one of the few people on board that you actually knew by name?”
“What did you find out?”
Jessica stood up, having finished assembling the array. “There’s something not right about this place,” she said.
“What do you mean, not right? It looks pretty normal to me.”
“Yeah, it does. But I found a few things that don’t add up.”
“Such as?”
“Such as why is there only one vehicle? You’d think with this many greenhouses there would be more than one vehicle to haul his harvest to market.”
“He can only drive one vehicle at a time, Jess.”
“He must have help from time to time. Otherwise, why would he have a bunkhouse out back? Even if he was the only driver, you’d think there would at least be a trailer.”
Nathan thought about it for a moment. Jessica had a naturally suspicious mind, which is why she was perfect for the job. “Maybe it gets picked up?”
“Maybe. But there’s more. Considering the amount of harvest he should be producing, you’d think he’d be a little wealthier. Either he’s stashing his money away, or he’s giving his crops away on the cheap.”
“That just makes him either a smart businessman, or a really bad one.”
“Okay, then how about all the emitters?”
“Emitters?” That got Nathan’s attention.
“They’re implanted into the sides of the sinkhole walls all the way around the compound, nearly up to ground level.”
“What kind of emitters?”
“Couldn’t tell. But they’ve got to be either shield emitters or some kind of sensor scattering field.”
“Maybe they’re just to repel insects?” Nathan chuckled.
“Yeah, right. Laugh it up. But, you know that damaged fighter of his? The one he supposedly scavenged over the years? Well it’s not as damaged as he led us to believe. It looks old and beaten up all right. And it’s obviously been in one hell of a fire fight. But Vlad thinks the battle damage is recent. And get this-he also thinks it’s still space-worthy.”
“I thought he said he sold the reactor to buy this farm?”
“Maybe he did? Maybe he replaced it later? Maybe that’s what he spent all his money on? But the ship’s got two, now, and they’re both still good. Vlad thinks you could light them up and take off in minutes.” Jessica waited for Nathan to poke holes in her final report.
“Okay, that is odd.”
“And one other thing, Nathan. The markings on the ship. I’m pretty sure they’re the same ones I saw on the uniforms of that boarding party we fought off down on C deck.”
“Are you sure?”
“Five-point star inside a circle. Kind of hard to mistake. I think that’s a Ta’Akar fighter in there.”
“He did say that there were mass defections amongst the troops. Maybe he was one of them?”
“Or maybe he’s a spy?” Jessica suggested.
“Okay, that’s a scary thought,” Nathan admitted.
“To be honest,” Jessica admitted, “it doesn’t add up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean using this farming gig as a cover. For a spy, it’s a lousy choice. You spend far more time on the farm than in town. And when you are in town, you’re stuck in a street market? Not gonna gather much intel that way. But then again, maybe he’s not supposed to. Maybe he’s just here in case they need an operative.”
“You’re not making me feel any better, Jess.”
“I recommend we keep a watch during the night, just to be safe.”
“Agreed. Update the Aurora. I’m going to go and have a look at that ship for myself.”
“We made contact with Tobin,” Cameron told Jessica over the comm-link. “Claims he was subjected to a surprise inspection of his ship by the port authority and had to shut down his comms for awhile.”
“You believe him?”
“Sounds logical enough. But he was off the air for several hours. Seems like a rather lengthy inspection. But he agreed it was safer for you to spend the night there rather than raise suspicion with a late night pick-up, especially after the surprise inspection.”
“Okay then. We’ll check back in four hours. Nash out.”
Cameron motioned for the comm officer to close the channel. The landing party had been gone for eight hours, which was considerably longer than any of them had expected. And now they were going to be gone at least another fourteen hours. It had been relatively uneventful, with the harvesting operations running smoothly. The workers had already ferried three full loads of ore to the surface to be sold at market, which Tobin assured her was enough to pay the harvesters their fees and expenses. And since the workers intended to continue through the night, they would have more than enough to pay for the food Nathan was purchasing the next day.
“Kaylah, it’s going to be a long night, and you’ve got a lot of traffic to monitor. So why don’t you take a break, maybe take a catnap or something. I’ll cover your station until you get back.”
“What about you, sir?” Kaylah asked. “You’ve been on duty just as long.”
“I’m good,” Cameron assured her. “I don’t sleep much anyway. Besides, I’ll crash out in the ready room when you return. Now go, before I change my mind.”
“Yes, sir,” Kaylah said as she rose to take leave.
Cameron sat down in Kayla’s place, taking a good long look at the sensor display. It was a sea of contacts-a mixture of rock and ice, interspersed with ships of various sizes. The smaller ones, probably harvesters, were darting about, while the larger sat in or near the rings as they waited for their harvesters to feed their holds. It was a mass of confusion and very difficult to track with so much activity. She shook her head, making a mental note to herself-if Kaylah was going to double as their sensor officer for a time, she was going to need some additional training in how to better configure her displays. She immediately began color coding the contacts, assigning green to non-threats and orange to contacts to be watched. There were only two contacts that warranted a red color, both of which were local patrol ships owned by the family. They had both been patrolling just outside the rings the entire time. Cameron could not determine their intent, but as they were the only vessels with any significant offensive weaponry, they would have to be watched at all times. Cameron knew that if either of those two patrol ships got close enough to get a good look at them, they would quickly realize that they were not a Volonese cargo ship. That was a possibility that she didn’t like to think about.
Ensign Mendez sat on a packing crate along the side of the hangar bay, observing the harvesting operations. His eyelids were drooping, his fatigue evident as struggled to stay alert. Marcus, the harvesting crew foreman
