Chapter 5 - Gaining an Assistant

The next morning, I was back in my office writing down some notes and trying to think of some ways I might get close to DECO without alerting anyone as to the nature of the investigation. I was concentrating on this when the AI spoke. "Sir, I have gathered some of the information on Ishtar which you desired."

I looked up as Sarah walked into the room. "What kind of information?" I asked.

"First, yesterday you asked about pickups where the group picked contained a name and there was no record of that person being picked up in their individual file. I have now identified one hundred people with such discrepancies in their records. The first pickups with this occur about fourteen days before the one containing James Rabb, the last occurs about twenty-four hours after his pickup," the AI said.

Sarah smiled as I nodded. "Well, that matches the number of one hundred colonists on Ishtar, so I think we have our list of colonists finally."

The AI continued. "Affirmative. The other item I discovered was a manifest for the Will-O-Wisp as it left the Earth system heading to Ishtar. It was filed with the Fleet Readiness department of N4 and appears to have been missed by the attempted purge. I have been able to match this manifest to the list of missing pickups. The name correlation is one hundred percent."

"Bingo!" Sarah said cheerfully. "Now the question would be, does Heidi's guess from yesterday match? Is there a possibility that the colonists were chosen because they were seen as un-trainable?"

There was a pause, during which Heidi joined Sarah and me in the room and whispered. "Mio and Mara are enjoying some time with the babies. They are so looking forward to children of their own that they will get to raise."

I turned to respond as the AI spoke again. "I have achieved approximately ninety percent correlation between the two CAP score patterns Heidi observed in the James Rabb pickup and the one hundred colonists believed to be on Ishtar."

"Huh? Explain," I replied.

"Looking at the CAP scores on the one hundred colonists and comparing them to the four that we first suspected were on Ishtar, there is a definite correlation. Fifty-seven of the one hundred show patterns similar to that of Ruth and Dennis. Another eighteen are very close to that of James and Yvette. The remaining twenty-three are similar to James and Yvette however in addition to the individualist thinking most show a much higher pacifism score on average," the AI reported.

"Why did you break down the groups like that?" Heidi asked.

"I was matching the scores with the location of the pods according to the ship's manifest which I discovered. The ship is like the smaller Aurora class ships in that it has a front and back cargo zone. James and Yvette were in the back, part of a group of twenty who I score as similar to them. The others in the back cargo area have scores that mostly match well with the scores of Ruth and Dennis who are also listed as being carried in the back part of the ship. In the front of the ship the division is twenty-seven to twenty-three. The difference in scores for the ones like Ruth is negligible, but the ones in the front who are like James do have a noticeably higher pacifism score."

I thought for a moment and then sighed. "That explains a comment I heard yesterday. General Montgomery said that he called James and was told that only a small fraction of the colony was still working on the mission they were sent to accomplish. I'd be willing to bet that if we did call we'd find that every one of the colonists working with James is part of the forty-three who match closely to him, and I'd be very unsurprised to find that the majority come from the back half of the ship."

"I wonder if he anticipated that," Sarah mused. "If Ruth and Dennis are as angry and hateful as Heidi thinks, and James anticipated that, it's possible he organized something while still in transit. I would have if I was in that position, although I'm not sure people would have listened to me."

Heidi laughed. "Who knows if James expected to be listened to? But we shouldn't be looking too deeply into that portion of the question. It's clear that the villain of the piece is back at DECO Headquarters, possibly thinking of the next group of candidates for his little experimental colonies."

"And if Ishtar succeeds he just might think he can get away with it again. He could claim credit and try to come out looking like a hero," I growled. "The fact that nearly four hundred people might die because of his actions means nothing."

"Three hundred fifty six," the AI interjected. "The records only show fifty children total."

Sarah looked confused as Heidi quickly counted on her fingers. "That's only six concubines more than the minimum? The CAP scores have to be mostly under seven," she said.

"Only Yvette Mimeux, Bertrand Russell and James Rabb have scores above a six point five. James has the highest score on the planet with his seven point two," the AI reported.

I nodded. "Easier to lose a low scoring citizen. Someone with a score of seven point five or more might show up on some personnel officer's list and they might ask what happened after the pickup. This way, there was much less chance of that. It definitely looks like it was a planned move."

Heidi was rubbing her forehead. "How many people do you think were involved?"

I shrugged. "Probably no more than three. I wouldn't really be surprised to find that only one person was involved in the move to create the colony. Any others are likely involved in the bartering with the training officers who wanted the undesirables kept away. Most likely they believed that the people they didn't end up with were just being sent to another post."

Sarah giggled. "Well, they were, only not one anyone knew about."

I was about to agree when the door chime rang. Mio shouted that she would answer it and as Sarah, Heidi and I looked at each other in confusion passed by the open doorway of my office. We could hear her greet someone at the door and a moment later she returned leading the young female lieutenant I had run into the day before in the halls of Borneo Headquarters.

The young lady looked at us and then threw me a sharp salute. "Lieutenant Jackson reporting, Sir!" She waited for me to return her salute, which required extracting my arm from Sarah's embrace, and then she walked up to me and handed a small sheet of paper to me.

I looked up at her, but she seemed equally confused and stood silently. Lacking an answer from her, I finally unfolded the paper and looked down at it. To my surprise it was handwritten and I read it aloud.

"Commander Nelson," it began. "Monty and I had a private meeting after your call. We are convinced that the Lieutenant Colonel in charge of training at Darling Downs was one of the instigators, and that he may have one or more sources within headquarters. I had one of my staffers check after you told me that James Rabb was listed as a marine volunteer. The rest of the pickup he was in all ended up in the most recent training command at Darling Downs, so we have reason to believe that our Colonel wanted his untrainables diverted. I should warn you that there is a high probability that the officer at DECO headquarters can expect to be stripped of all rank if he is caught. This will make the investigation rather hazardous and I apologize for sending you into such a dangerous situation. Like many of your other investigations, the criminals will be very jumpy if you appear openly. After some thought and a call placed by Monty to an old friend who works in Marine Logistics back on Earth, they have come up with a cover for you. You are going to be traveling to Earth to assist in the final training of Lieutenant Jackson as a new investigator for Internal Affairs. The story will be that Marine Logistics has created a training scenario involving several officers and non-coms who will pretend to be part of a ring that is falsifying procurement and shipment records to colonies in the Borneo district."

Lieutenant Jackson gasped. "Does this mean he just transferred me?"

I nodded briefly and then continued reading. "Please tell the lieutenant that this is not a punishment. We need more investigators and she has the scores for it. I believe only her youth prevented her from receiving the training during her initial deployment. Right now Borneo District is supposed to have received two new investigators from Earth, and I have reason to suspect that the little shell game with personnel that our DECO criminal played cost us at least one of the trained investigators we needed. Riflemen have always had higher priority, and one hundred troops lost without firing a shot leaves holes in the ranks of several battalions. We need to find out who managed to hide the one hundred colonists and create the faked orders that created Ishtar."

Lieutenant Jackson looked confused. "Wait! I know my brother's ship is being repaired at Ishtar. What does this mean?"

Heidi gave a motherly smile. "Norm was called in because Ishtar shouldn't be colonized. We don't know the whole story yet, but someone back at Earth managed to get one hundred newly picked up recruits put on a transport and taken to Ishtar, where they were dumped. At least that's what Norm believes right now."

I could feel the eyes of Heidi, Sarah and the lieutenant all turn to look at me. "It does appear that way. The pickup records have been tampered with and the personnel files for the one person we are sure is on Ishtar contain no information on him after his pickup. Even his pickup record is missing. Its like someone tried to make everyone on the planet vanish."

I could hear the whimper from the lieutenant. "Brian...."

"What's wrong?" Heidi said as she rushed over to catch the young lady as she slumped to the floor.

"Her brother is on a damaged corvette that showed up at Ishtar yesterday. She found out when the Admiral called the planet about the second report of a Sa'arm contact." I replied.

"Oh my," Heidi said as she gave the lieutenant a huge hug. "Do we know anything about how he is?"

I was shaking my head when the AI spoke. "I was able to insert a command into the DECO network to forward any reports the Ishtar AI made to Central Command. Four crewmen and two concubines were placed into medical pods shortly after the Nassau arrived. A Jackson is included in the four crewmen placed in the pods."

"There is no complete list of who was still alive?" I asked.

"Negative," the AI replied. "Some four hours later the captain of the Nassau, Commander O'Brien, was placed into a pod. His first officer Lieutenant Toms was already in a pod. It appears that no complete survivors list has been created."

Lieutenant Jackson sobbed. "Brian was the only Jackson on the Nassau. It must be him, but how bad is he?"

"I am unable to obtain that information," my AI said. "The Ishtar AI has not provided that information to DECO, and there has been no call to Borneo Headquarters with official news. The only word was that repairs had commenced and the crew was in treatment and would contact Admiral Himmel once they had time to prepare a detailed report."

Sarah giggled. "This is like some crazy international spy thriller. Worse it seems like the AI units are playing double agents. Who'd have thought I'd be part of this someday."

I sighed and shook my head, looking over at Linda who was smiling shyly. "I guess the news is good," she replied. "But what do I do now that I'm transferred?"

I returned her smile. "Well, we are investigating how Ishtar became a colony. It was not properly authorized. Worse, it appears that the officer who set this up planned on all the colonists dying before the colony was discovered. And as you have probably heard, the AI on Ishtar is quietly sending reports to Central Command without clearing them through the Borneo District Command first. My task right now is to discover who set up all of this and make sure he is brought to justice."

Linda nodded. "I can understand, but what do I do?"

I smiled. "Well, if the message we received was accurate, later today I should receive official word that I'm taking you to the Marine Command Ship Success orbiting Earth to conduct a training mission for you."

"A Marine ship?" Linda asked in surprise.

I nodded. "Yes. With how quickly everything has been moving and the fact that saving Earth does not look possible, the Marine and Naval commands set up a couple of Modified Presidential Class Carriers as mobile command posts. They stripped out the fighters and the support equipment and used the space to install offices for the various commands. It allows them to travel to other planets when necessary. Also it means they can jump from the Earth system when the Sa'arm finally arrive. Leaving any Confederacy technology behind for the Sa'arm to find is a major worry for High Command as its been proved that the Sa'arm are masters at converting captured technology to their own purposes. The Navy calls their ship Victory."

Linda nodded. "I still don't know what I'll do. I trained in communications and tracking. How can I take that and convert it to investigation?"

I was going to say more when Sarah started laughing. Not her usual playful giggles, but a full throated delighted laughter. Heidi and I turned to glare at her as Mara and Mio dashed into the room looking concerned. Sarah just took a few moments to regain control and then looked at the now completely confused lieutenant. "Sorry," my concubine said. "I shouldn't laugh but your question just.... Oh how do I say this..." Sarah fidgeted for a moment and then sighed and looked at me. "Damn, Norm, tell her a bit about yourself and what you've learned."

I was shaking my head as Heidi was now trying to stifle her own giggles. I gave a deep sigh and then looked at Linda. "What my concubine is trying to say is that most of my investigations are made possible through communication. Most of what I do is listen to people who might be involved in or know about the situation I'm supposed to be investigating. Eventually I gather enough information to present a report to the Admiral who ordered the investigation. You are a bit younger than any other investigator I've known, but I'm sure you can do the job well."

Heidi covered her mouth to cough and then looked at the still confused young lady. "Trust in Norm," she told the girl. "He has a bit of an advantage because he was a corporate trouble-shooter back on Earth, but if he thinks you'll be able to do it, he can train you. I've been with him since we were picked up two years ago, and I've learned quite a bit about how it works. If you are willing to watch people, you can learn to do the job well."

Linda looked uncertain. "I always thought investigating meant crawling through garbage bins, and sneaking around looking for little clues and pieces of evidence."

"Not really, and definitely not now, there are no garbage bins to look in," I replied. "Besides most of the crimes now involve abuse of others or hiding laziness. I find I spend more time proving that someone is not doing their job than digging in the trash trying to prove they are doing drugs. Most of it is watching people and knowing what people might be doing."

Linda laughed. "Oh, that I can do. But when do we leave and what will we do once we get to Earth?"

Sarah took over at this point. "We don't know yet. That's part of why we have to go there. We know that someone with access to the DECO AI ordered records related to Ishtar hidden, so we need to get close and then find someone who might provide the names of the officers with access. Then we determine who was involved."

Linda looked surprised. "Is that all?"

Sarah giggled and pushed her chest out. She was dressed in a button-down shirt she had tied off under her breasts and a pair of cutoff jeans that looked painted on. It was not much different from the outfit she had worn the day she joined me in space, and after I had used the medical enhancements to firm and tone her body she was devastating when she tried to vamp someone. "Trust me girl. At most it might take us a couple weeks to get the information we need. It's not like the old spy and detective thrillers written back on Earth. There are no seedy and smoky bars where a well spent hundred dollars gets you access to a backroom and all sorts of secrets."

Linda nodded but then looked puzzled. "But, I thought the AI units watched everything and knew what we are doing at all times. Why not just ask the AI?"

"It doesn't work that way," I replied. "The AI units are great at collecting the information, but they don't always recognize what events are important. Also as we've already seen in this case, it's possible to get an AI unit to join in the conspiracy if you know the instructions to give it. They won't destroy records, but its possible to hide information in their databases and then put alerts in place to warn you that someone is looking for the missing information. In this case we have an AI hiding the evidence of the original orders and probably not even aware that we need the information. It's a bit hard to ask one of the conspirators directly. Therefore we need to get close and listen for someone to say something that helps us figure out who was involved."

"Is it always like that?" Linda asked. "That you can't really just ask the AI to give you the information?"

Heidi nodded. "I've been with Norm for two years now. If the AI can simply be asked, they won't call him in. But when you have intelligent and ambitious people involved, fooling the AI seems to be one of the first thoughts they have. The criminals Norm investigates are smart enough and paranoid enough to anticipate the standard surveillance the AI does and either thwart it, or attempt to turn it to their advantage."

Linda looked more upset. "But I thought the CAP testing was supposed to ensure that no one was like that ever "

"And that's what we have in this case," I replied while interrupting Linda, who scowled at me for a moment. "Its obvious that whoever ordered the creation of the colony on Ishtar planned to make the AI a fellow conspirator, and issued orders that take over its standard reporting and give him a warning if anyone notices. That's why we have to visit DECO Headquarters. I expect we'll leave tonight. So you might want to go warn your household that we will be gone for up to two months or so."

"Two months?" The lieutenant asked.

"Sure. Its about two weeks travel each way in a fast transport, and we can't arrive and show any kind of priority for investigating without alerting the very people we are going to investigate. I always plan for an investigation to take up to four weeks, although I hope we can solve this one in fewer," I said. As soon as I finished I turned to Sarah. "Sarah, go put a shift on and spend the rest of the day with your babies. You'll be with me this time."

"Her? Why?" the lieutenant said in shock as Sarah gave me a quick kiss and rushed out of the room.

Mara had entered the room and surprised me by speaking. "Because sometimes in an investigation having a concubine is perfect. Many sponsors will say things in front of a concubine without thinking about the fact that they have an audience. Sarah could prove valuable in getting close to the criminal simply by hearing the right thing being said."

The young lady looked confused again. "But...."

Heidi laughed. "Don't think Sarah is upset by it. She wasn't kidding about being a former hooker. I worked at the diner she would often meet her customers in, and I talked with her occasionally on slow nights. The life she had before she was picked up was brutal and hard. She hides it well, but her devotion to Norm there is complete now. If she can get information he needs by taking a source of information to bed and spreading her legs, she'll do it."

We heard a giggle and turned to see Sarah standing in the doorway holding her two children. "I'll hunt down Norm later and have him take me again, because I truly am his. I've done it before. And the best thing is that in the two years I've been his and helped in investigations, I have not once cum while in bed with another man. I have every time he takes me afterwards though. It only makes me need him more."

I smiled and stood up to hug Sarah. I had shifted slightly to take Solange from her so she could walk over to the couch when the AI spoke.

"Norm, I have just received a message from General Montgomery. He says that Borneo command has received an urgent request to send the courier ship to Earth. He wants you on the courier since it will be running at full speed and can have you at Earth in a week," the AI said.

I winced. When a courier runs at that speed it has to put so much power into the jump that none of the functions used to make the trip comfortable worked. It might drop the journey time to one week, but it would be a miserable week. "When would we leave?" I asked.

The AI replied. "The data on the Ursus battle is still being compiled and Admiral Himmel is briefing the Major who will be going to Earth to make the official report. The courier is expected to leave in two hours."

I sighed. "Well, Sarah, make it a quick goodbye with the children." I turned to Linda. "Linda, we won't have time for you to return to your home. If you write something quickly, Heidi can walk it to your pod."

"From here?" Linda asked.

Heidi nodded. "Norm allows us to exit the pod freely, and we don't abuse the privilege. Don't worry I'll be in no danger."

Linda looked dubious, but I had the replicator produce a pad and pen and handed them to her. Mio quickly led her to the dining table before my concubines demanded a short cuddle as part of the parting ritual.

The cuddle had just started when a chime from the AI cut the moment short. "Norm, I have a signal from the Borneo AI, contact has been made with the Frikat AI, and we were able to identify the concubine who came back on the Will-o-Wisp. Her owner is off-planet, but his home planet is Frik and the concubine has been installed in his quarters. We are breaking a couple of informal regulations here, but the Frikat District Command has agreed to allow a very brief conversation, and the call just went through.

"What is her name?" I asked.

"Brenda," a voice replied. "Oops, Matt keeps reminding me that as a concubine I'm supposed to let citizens speak to me, but I've never been good at that."

Heidi and Sarah both covered their mouths for a moment and Linda actually giggled. "I don't mind too much," I said. "I don't have much time anyways. Brenda, can you tell me much about James Rabb and the colony on Ishtar."

"Which part?" Brenda asked sharply. "The fact that there is one, or the fact that thirty of the apes we had in our half of that damn colony ship had all the self control of sociopathic serial killers high on PCP?"

"Ouch," I muttered. "So there were problems during the trip out?"

Brenda sighed. "Matt and the Sarge finally ended up camping out in the pod with all the rabbits for most of the trip out. The AI refused to confine the apes to their pods, and anyone caught in the halls was asking to be beaten. Sarge was keeping track and at least five concubines died on the trip out in the back of the ship. The front looked to be as bad, but he didn't pay as close attention because the pacifists up there refused to help him."

This confused me, and Heidi seemed to catch that. "Wait! Some of the people helped him?"

The response took a moment. "I couldn't really say helped him. It was more that James and a few friends of his decided to plan for what to do once they landed. Sarge and Matt were both impressed. They had an enclave separated from the rest created, complete with an independent command post and defenses. They even set up a couple of pods for recreation. Sarge joked that he wants to retire there someday."

"Don't they know that it's a death trap?" I asked.

Brenda sighed. "James definitely does. He had few illusions even back on Earth when I lived with him. But he's a fighter and survivor. He's going to keep trying until there is no hope and then drag himself back to his feet for one final charge into the great darkness."

I looked at Linda and Sarah who both nodded. "We need to get the one who ordered this," Linda said quietly.

"Agreed," Sarah said.

I sighed. "Brenda, thanks. You gave us a bit more information and now we can be sure what's going on now. Good luck with your new home."

Brenda giggled. "It's not as much fun right now since my sister concubine isn't much for cribbage, but I'll get by."

The AI interrupted. "Sorry, I had to cut the signal. Any longer and the call would have to be logged, and it's possible that someone is monitoring the records. Meanwhile, you need to hurry to reach the courier ship."

Linda, Sarah and I stood up quickly. My ladies offered each of us a kiss, including a rather provocative kiss between Mara and Linda that had all my girls giggling. Linda just gave Mara a look and after a wink at me swept my concubine off her feet for an even more passionate kiss before heading out the door. Sarah and I followed Linda out of the pod shaking our heads and listening to Mio mutter something about being careful what you offer as Mara slumped to the floor.