CHAPTER 36 LEE
LEE HAD to pause his investigations into the Segura base while he ground through his training sessions the following morning. But that didn’t stop his mind from keeping up a running discourse as the hours slugged by.
They had a window of opportunity here. A window between when Placement applications were due, and when the Commander would realize something was off and start asking questions.
If they were going to do anything about finding Segura and evading the General, they would have to move soon.
Which meant time was not in their favor.
There had to be something they could find.
Something within the Commander’s mainframe notes or from the other known dark radiation operations that could help them narrow their search parameters.
He knew this should discourage him, to have it all stacked up against them.
That was likely the intention. But on the contrary, it only fed his need to find something more.
After grabbing a quick lunch, he slipped up to the Hideaway, slinging his bag over one of the tables while he waited for Kat to get out of a one-on-one she’d been harangued into after her trainings.
The Greatest Romp You’ll Ever Find: if I’m not out in 30 send help!
He slipped his holoblock out, casually opening up to the flagged folder in De Zolar’s files that contained the Commander’s mainframe notes. If he could just find some sort of clue in here…
Processing the Commander’s notes was slow work and dry as moon dust. A lot of what he was finding were technical formulas and data streams of which he could only handle bits and pieces at a time.
It was imminently clear Commander Blanche had been working down a theory.
But at this point, it was unclear where the trail ran cold…
He paused when he came across the radioactive signature again. The proof of which, according to the word of the General, had been the nail in the coffin.
Gaia’s team had claimed on multiple occasions that they were aware of the risks—which always brought him back around to the conclusion that there must be more to the story.
More that his squadron hadn’t had a chance to understand and explore that day.
But how far would those ripples carry? And would they be enough to alter their fates?
Because the magnitude here mattered. It was the difference between extending life and taking it. Dreams and chaos. Between throwing away past notions to fight for what mattered more.
He was digesting the formula of yet another coded experiment when a set of boots came up behind him. The owner’s gait was much too heavy, too steady to be Kat…
Zane cleared his throat. “You’ve got your head down. Working on anything interesting?”
Before Lee could even think to hide the hologram’s content, Zane had slid into the opposite chair, scooting it around until he also faced the pages Lee was working through.
“Those are delta-grays,” he accused.
“They are,” Lee confirmed. There was the General’s condemning evidence, right in the open. But instead of trying to hide the file, he sat back. Let Zane make what he would of their latest extra-curriculars. Zane already knew he was way past applying for Placement, anyway.
“These are from their mainframe,” Zaid said evenly—and cool enough it was obvious this facade was about to snap. Lee didn’t tease it by confirming or denying. Instead he waited. “How do you have these?”
“Special favor from our favorite Commander’s secretary.”
With barely concealed irritation, Zane leaned down to pull his holoblock from his bag. And in the work of but a few seconds, he had it open to the hub. “Copy those over.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Lee said.
“There are pages and pages to get through. It will take you ages.”
With a brief nod, Lee started the transfer.
Zane had opened the first of the mainframe notes before he spoke to Lee again. “You should have asked for help. I told you I’d come.”
“I didn’t want to drag you in with us,” Lee said, running his hand through his hair. “You’re even more high-profile than us these days with your dad and all.”
“I’m already in it,” Zane shook his head. “I never left. I don’t know if I can.”
And that Lee understood. He’d been battling it for months. And rather than debate or tell his fellow Gamma, void, his friend, what he was or wasn’t capable of, Lee let him in.
He explained everything they’d uncovered of the Commander’s involvement and the General’s plans to go after Segura.
He explained about the base they’d heard mentioned, and what they expected to find there.
But he kept his and Kat’s personal plans a secret.
One—because they were still being formulated.
And two—they really didn’t need that getting out ahead of them.
Rumors of their plans would only complicate things.
And thankfully, Zane didn’t ask what they planned to do with the base location.
Yet. Not as he set about trudging through the next page of the Commander’s mainframe notes.
Lee had started down a new page when Zane flipped his hologram towards him. “What do you make of this formula?” Zane asked, highlighting a grouping of symbols two-thirds of the way down the page.
Lee scrunched his brow, leaning in closer.
“Verinity? I don’t recognize that symbol next to it, though.
” Verinity was found in plenty throughout their galaxy, he’d looked at a map covered with it just days prior.
And it was one of the leading components in present energy advancements, although he’d never seen it used in the context of neutrinos…
“Maybe for their energy cells?” Although that didn’t make much sense, it seemed redundant.
He watched as Zane flicked down to another page. “Wait, wait, wait, stop there.”
A single term was circled, beneath yet another equation. Its name scrawled in a barely legible note.
Verinity. They were onto something then, at least from what the Commander had gathered. Lee wished for the nth time that he could have seen their mainframe directly.
“I’ll keep an eye out for more of them,” Zane said, returning back to the page he was working down.
The energy component was still scrolling along the neurons of his brain as Lee reached the end of another page. He was mentally preparing to start in on another when his hyperband buzzed.
The Greatest Romp You’ll Ever Find: so, u guys want me to give u space or what?
Lee only had to glance around in a couple of directions to locate Kat, where she leaned up against the green juice bar on long legs. Her vanilla-blonde ponytail brushed the counter behind her as a drink was set down at her elbow.
Smiling to himself, Lee sent back a reply, stealing a glance back over as she looked down to read his message.
Lee: whatever you want, starflower
A broad grin sparked across her lips, before it was swiftly interrupted by the recycled straw of a green juice.
Zane tensed across from him as Kat joined them, stealing the extra chair away from a VL’s table next to them.
“He helping now?” Kat directed a thumb towards Zane.
“Yep,” Lee said.
“What would your daddy say?” she tsked, shaking her head all disappointed-like.
“I’d say, to the fuck with him,” Zane challenged, dark eyes flashing. Then he relaxed a little, sinking his eyes back down to his holoblock. “He’s off again to the De Myra Solida grouping—that is, if he didn’t already return to prep for the General’s latest council meeting or whatever.”
“De Myra—” Kat said, brows coming together. “We were just there.”
“Twice,” Lee said, slowly, sitting up a little higher in his chair.
Zane looked up, glancing between them. “I had one out there this past month as well...”
“He’s had us testing for dark rays with the sample matter we collected out there. I wonder if they’ve sent anyone else out there recently… Has your dad mentioned that particular grouping before?” Lee asked.
“I honestly couldn’t say.” Zane frowned. But Lee looked back at Kat, her shoulders perked up where she now perched at the edge of her chair, positively bursting with curiosity.
“There is obviously dark radiation present. We confirmed that ourselves, making it a viable candidate. That also explains how it would have been able to remain undetected this long…” Lee mused.
“One of the engineers that was onboard Segura, when he mentioned the base, he also mentioned their transports and needing supplies,” Kat recalled, eyes growing distant, like she was recalling the memories from onboard the ship. “Do you think there’s a shadow market out by De Myra?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Zane said. “He doesn’t usually mention details, but I’d wager that’s where a lot of Dad’s audits have been. I read they were looking into recent transactions…”
“Having a base in close proximity to a shadow market and the more active star systems would have been ideal for someone like Segura. Someone who was looking to avoid a public transaction but still be able to find and afford parts like that…” Lee said, considering.
He glanced between them. Could it actually be so simple as this? Locate the shadow-markets and they would lead them to their base?
“So then here’s a question,” Lee said, slowly. “How much of this has General Narron already realized?”
The General was already using their radiation signature to try and track them down once more.
The fact that Segura had managed to escape notice last time was merely a fluke, an asteroid-sized fluke, and one the General’s scanners would likely be searching for this go-around.
And with all the funding reallocations and auditing team onboard, monitoring imports and the shadow markets, they were lucky he hadn’t found them yet.
Elbows collapsing down against the table with that fresh reminder that time was not on their side, Lee sifted through all he knew about the star systems in the area.
“If we really are considering the De Myra Solida grouping and its surrounding systems as potential base locations, we can already cross off a couple of the planets,” Lee said, sitting up again, and glancing first to Kat, and then over to Zane.
“Which narrows down our search—by a decent range.”
“Not to mention we are quite friendly with most of our Gamma year. I know of at least one more who will be only too eager to assist us with narrowing down our search.”
As Lee met her gaze once more, Kat grinned, positively cat-like.
Her eyes glittered. “Let’s see what damage we can do.”