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"Code of Honor"
Rating: PG-13 Four Malcolm sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. He and Travis had spent hours combing through every piece of information they could find on Philippe’s and Paul’s movements in the past month. Rhianna had brought data from the Mayweather’s new ship, the New Horizon. Travis examined the transcripts of the Boomer meetings, while Rhianna gave an eyewitness account of those meetings. Malcolm got up and poured yet another cup of coffee. Why is it that no matter where it’s located in the universe, law enforcement ends up with the worst tasting coffee? He preferred tea, but the coffee kept him awake. Trip had gotten him hooked on genuine Italian espresso; he’d indulged in the occasional demitasse during Enterprise staff meetings. Now he was paying for it with caffeine addiction. He blamed Trip for it. All right. Let’s put the pieces in a coherent whole. He scrolled down his PADD and found the timeline of events they’d painstakingly reconstructed from documents, comm messages, ship logs and surveillance videos. The facts were there in glowing electronic symbols. June 7, 2158: Philippe returns to Alpha Centauri, with his new Trading Representative, Paul Mayweather. June 13, 2158: Paul attends meeting with Captain Thea Brunswicke of the Lysander and Captain Sandosh of the Vhrum. Brunswicke is the new Boomer rep, while Sandosh is head negotiator of the Alpha Centauri/Earth Boomers. June 25, 2158: Philippe travels back to Vega for consultation with Lady Asagawa, head of Asagawa Incorporated (previously Tanaka Enterprises) July 13, 2158: Series of meetings w/Boomers, led by Thea Brunswicke. Disagreement over compensation pay for additional cargo runs requested by EdML, Asagawa Inc, and Altairian Consortium. Settlement reached, but not to Boomers’ satisfaction. July 17, 2158: Philippe travels to Altair, visits with Altairian Consortium. Concerns of long-term effects of recent trading policies with Aldeberan and Vega. July 25, 2158: First retreat to Matre de Soleil, EdML estate in S. Hemisphere Aug 9, 2158: Series of meetings between Paul and Boomers on the Alpha Centauri/Altair route. Agreement on payscale and trading allowances made to everyone’s satisfaction. Paul goes directly to series of meetings between Earth and Boomers, re: security issues. Aug 11, 2158: Second retreat to Matre de Soleil (Philippe) Aug 17, 2158: Paul joins Philippe at MdS, as well as CSF Commandant Emil de Jeunier. Aug 27, 2158: Philippe asks Starfleet to send representative to help with disagreement, re: EdML, Boomers, Asagawa, Altairian Consortium, Aldeberan Consortium. Aug. 30, 2158: Stuart Reed (Starfleet ADM (ret.), Royal Navy ADM (ret.)) arrives on Alpha Centauri. Sept. 3, 2158: Meeting between EdML, Starfleet at MdS. Sept 5, 2158: Arrangements for sit-down meeting w/EdML, Starfleet, Boomers, Altairians. Sept. 7, 2158: Paul sets out for Altair on New Horizon. Flight plan indicates a planned rendezvous with Lysander, Vhrum and Avery’s Fern. Accompanied by MACO attachment and CSF guard. Sept 9, 2158: New Horizon reported late for rendezvous. Search commences. Sept. 12, 2158 : Comte de Jeunier reported no-show at meeting at CSF HQ. Search commences. No trace of Philippe, de Jeunier or Reed at MdS. Sept. 13, 2158: Alert sent to T. Mayweather and M. Reed on Enterprise. Sept. 15, 2158: Currently no word on missing people’s whereabouts. Foul play confirmed. “Malcolm, I think we just found something.” His head jerked up at Travis’s tone. The helmsman sounded exhausted, but there was a glimmer of triumph there. He got up and went over to Travis’s side; Rhianna got up from her chair and pushed Malcolm into it before he could protest. She shook her head and he closed his mouth. “Good boy,” Rhianna said. “Always listen to your elders and I say you need the chair more than I do right now.” “Mom,” Travis said as he rolled his eyes, but he smiled as he did it. That smile faded as he turned his screen towards Malcolm. Oneko, who lounged atop the monitor, merely hung on until it became still again. “Remember what I said about the cargo manifests Paul had sent me?” “You said you didn’t understand why Paul sent them to you,” Malcolm recalled. “Yeah, but now Mom and I think we know now. Heard of mertracel-blue?” Malcolm scowled at the word and Oneko made a questioning noise. “It’s a drug, popular with the Orion and Nausicaan pirates. Some Humans can tolerate it, but it gets toxic very quickly. Are you saying some of the Boomers were drug smuggling?” Travis shook his head. “Not directly. From what I understand, the stuff’s hard to make. Pretty labor intensive, which is why it’s so expensive. And I think there’s a whole laundry list of ingredients that goes into it--“ And he highlighted the pertinent items on the manifest lists. “I didn’t think about it, either,” Rhianna confessed, “then something Thea Brunswicke had said came back to me. She said that some distributors from Altair and Vega had upped the production of certain chemicals; she was worried about safety on the cargo ships, but the Consortiums were pretty stringent on how these things were transported.” Malcolm murmured as he went through the list, “These chemicals are also used in fuel production and colonial infrastructure, aren’t they?” “Yes,” Rhianna said, “which is why they aren’t usually considered dangerous by themselves.” “It’s only when they’re combined that it gets nasty,” Travis added. “I can’t believe Philippe may have been involved with something like this, but these manifests that Paul sent me are pretty indicative of the increase in the chemical production.” “He might have suspected something,” Rhianna agreed. “And tried to find more information—“ “—which was why he called my father,” Malcolm concluded. “He’s had experience in this sort of operation with Her Majesty’s Defense Department.” Travis nodded. “All right, we have a theory. What’s our next step?” “I’ll go to Matre de Soleil. That’s the last place Philippe and my father were reported to be,” Malcolm answered. “Rhianna, can you arrange a meeting with Thea Brunswicke and Sandosh?” “Shouldn’t be a problem,” she reassured him. “In fact, Thea wanted to know when you arrived at Alpha Centauri so she could talk to you and Travis personally.” “Good. Travis, if you could talk to them first, they might tell you things that they won’t tell me, since I’m not a Boomer. I’ll get back from MdS as quickly as I can.” “Sounds like a plan,” Travis said. “How ‘bout—“ “—you two call it a night and have something to eat. I’m sure you boys are famished.” Rhianna reached between the two of them and turned off the computer screen. “Now, no protesting. If you’re planning on jet-setting across the planet, Commander Reed, you’ll need a full night’s sleep and at least a good meal.” Malcolm opened his mouth, but a frustrated yowl interrupted whatever he was going to say. Oneko twisted her body from atop the computer monitor until she gazed at them upside-down. She hissed and glared at them with the scorn of a cat whose dinner was considerably late. “Yes, ma’am,” Travis said, choking back a laugh. Hours later, after two healthy helpings of “Mama Mayweather’s Stew”, a piece of pineapple upside-down cake, and two glasses of excellent red wine, Malcolm drowsed in the guest room of Rhianna’s house in Cochrane Commons. Oneko snuggled on the pillow next to him, where Hoshi would have been, had she been there. And he dreamed... He was quite young, maybe in the second or third form of school, and Maddie was just a baby. He’d come home from school to hear his parents in a quiet but intense conversation. Malcolm was surprised his father was there at all; ever since Father had accepted a new assignment for Her Majesty’s Royal Navy, Malcolm rarely saw him. Neither of them noticed as he crept closer to the open study door. He couldn’t hear clearly, but Father kept repeating the word “blue”. Then he said something about the headmaster of a nearby school; the man had done something terrible, so terrible, that it made Mother cry...quietly, not bawling like a banshee, but it struck Malcolm as terrible because Reeds never cried. And Mother rarely cried in front of Father, for he found it distasteful. But Father didn’t reproach Mother this time. In fact, he seemed to understand the reason. “Those lads,” his father repeated, in a soft voice. He’d never heard Father use that tone before, and it made him shiver. If the Angel of Death could speak, perhaps he would use that tone. “Those lads were bright; now their minds are gone, irretrievably gone, Mary. A ‘minor trifle’, they called it. It’ll be hushed up, of course, considering their parents. Utterly disgusting.” “Oh Stuart—“ Mother wiped her eyes, but her voice sounded normal. “I vow to you, I won’t let anyone do that to our children. Not Malcolm, not Maddie. If anyone tries to interfere with my son, steer him off the path, the bloody git will answer to me, so God help me. Malcolm shan’t be like those unfortunate lads. Reeds do not stoop so low as to poison their bodies and minds like that and anyone who tries to influence a Reed otherwise deserves the worst.” “I completely agree, Stuart.” “You will mind Malcolm while I’m gone. I fear for our lad’s safety in this world, Mary. We must protect him in any way we can.” “Of course.” Tears streamed down Malcolm’s face, though he was wholly unaware of them. Oneko raised her head, her green eyes like a beacon in the darkness. She shuffled noiselessly over to Malcolm and laid directly next to his head, and purred her comfort for as long as he needed it. |
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