Chapter 7 - Our Arrival

Unfortunately, our arrival at the Marine Command Ship in orbit around Mars alerted all my paranoid instincts that someone believed that we might be investigating something. Our reception was far too formal for a single commander and his protégé, and we were immediately informed that a Major Dupont was waiting for us.

I did not know the man, but the instant he walked up, all my instincts went into overdrive. The man's unit insignia on his right arm indicated that he worked in Naval Procurement, and he mentioned that he was greeting us on behalf of his commanding officer General Clayton.

The Major appeared earnest so after a quick glance at Linda to warn her I spoke to the man. "Thank you for the greetings. It's nice to find someone waiting for me when I arrive on an assignment. However, I thought Colonel Newhart was going to be my primary contact. After all this is merely a training session for the Lieutenant here."

Major Dupont appeared a bit surprised by the news. "Only training?"

I smiled. "Yes, the Borneo Military District did not receive a replacement investigator they had requested so they asked me to train Lieutenant Jackson here. We have an arrangement with Colonel Newhart to run an investigation exercise on some of his inventory protocols. Is General Clayton his superior?"

I noticed that Major Dupont appeared flustered and uncertain by this news. "No. General Clayton works in Procurement. He's currently in charge of making the decisions on what ships should be built and where they should be allocated."

Linda did a delightful job of appearing completely confused. "I thought that was all controlled by the AI? After all can't the AI keep better track of what's going to be available? Especially with pickups and training still ongoing."

Sarah grabbed me from behind. To anyone watching she was cowering in fear, but I could sense her muffling giggles into my back as the Major stammered. Finally he came to attention and looked right at me. "Nevermind that. If you are here for an exercise you should check in with your regular contact. However, the General is interested in how investigators go about ensuring that regulations are met. Would it be possible to schedule a meeting during your stay?"

I nodded to the man. "Definitely, however you are right that I do need to find Colonel Newhart. In the original plan it was supposed to be a surprise inspection and I want to see if he wants me to show up after breakfast and demand that his staff produce their reports."

Major Dupont offered a final nod and then walked off. Linda stood by me holding her breath until he turned the corner. The instant he did I sighed and spoke again. "This is for the local AI. Per the Internal Affairs directives I want all recordings and video of Lieutenant Jackson and myself be placed into quarantine for the duration of our visit or until this order is superceded by a higher ranking investigator.

Linda gasped and looked at me. "What?"

I looked at her. "Its standard policy during an investigation. As I've explained during your studies the AIs are wonderful tools but they have absolutely no understanding of secrecy. Without the ability to issue that command Major Dupont and others could simply request that the AI track us and if he was a conspirator he'd know all about our investigation."

"Wow," Linda said her eyes widening in surprise. "But couldn't an investigator use that directive to shield himself from an investigation?"

Sarah giggled. "That's a really dumb thing to do. There's a couple catches to that directive and getting caught abusing it is the worst career suicide possible."

Linda looked over at my concubine who was now standing next to me and lovingly holding onto my arm. I lifted one of Sarah's hands to my lips for a brief kiss before turning to my protégé. "She's not kidding. There are some backdoors allowing other investigators to override the protocol if they are conducting an investigation, and discovery that you are using it to commit crimes means you are immediately assigned to investigate the nearest Sa'arm infested planet with no backup, pickup or weapons. I know of only one investigator who tried it and the video of his final investigation is as gruesome a sight as you'd ever want to see."

Linda paled, but said nothing so I asked the AI to give us directions to the stateroom we would be using during our stay and alert Colonel Newhart that we had arrived.

The walk to the room was thankfully brief. Sarah dashed in and threw herself onto one of the two beds as we entered. I was going to ask her if she wanted something to eat when I heard a shout from the hallway through the still closing door. Linda and I turned to see a young sandy haired man halting just outside the room.

"Door!" I shouted. The AI obediently stopped the closing of the door and it slid open soundlessly.

The man stepped inside and I was surprised to see the rank insignia of a Colonel on his shoulders. I snapped to attention and saluted. The man just laughed for a moment. "Stand at ease Commander. I might be a Colonel, but you are here on an investigation and not part of my chain of command. I just figured I'd get the preliminaries out of the way."

I relaxed and nodded to him. "Thank you. I have with me Lieutenant Jackson, who is my trainee. Do you have any plans on how you wish to conduct this exercise?"

Colonel Newhart shook his head. "What exercise? Commander Nelson you can't actually expect your cover excuse for coming here to hold, do you? This is one of the two headquarters ships for the entire human part of the Confederacy. There is no group more aware that there is a shortage of investigators. Heck, I already know that the head of your department was surprised to hear that you were showing up. His biggest concern is getting Fleet Admiral Tucker and General McCoy to finally agree on where your organization fits into the TOO."

I laughed. "They still arguing over if we qualify as part of Logistics or Information?"

Colonel Newhart nodded. "And you can expect a visit from him later tonight. He won't ask what the actual investigation is, but I can say your arrival has stirred up a hornet's nest. Several Colonels and Commodores seem convinced you are here to investigate them. Even a few Rear Admirals and Brigadier Generals have been jumpy since your courier broke out of jump and announced your arrival."

Linda actually giggled at this. "And I thought I was here to train in investigation by reviewing some of the inventory records for the Marines."

Colonel Newhart looked over at her and I could see his respect for her increase. He stood there quietly for a moment and then nodded. "Fine, we can do that. Tomorrow at oh six hundred local come down to my office and we'll have you play bull in a china shop with my unsuspecting minions. You won't find them all that unsuspecting though. Every department must know of your presence and will be on alert for whatever you happen to investigate. But I'll allow you to keep to your cover even if I don't think anyone really believes it."

He turned and walked to the door of the room. The AI sensed his action and the door slid open to allow him to exit. Once he had left, the door slid closed as I sat down next to Sarah who was playfully kissing my neck. Linda noticed as she took a seat and looked at me. "What do we do now?" she asked me.

I smiled as I lifted my bag and pulled one of the three PDA units I had the courier replicate just before we broke out of jump. "That is simple," I replied. "If we ask the AI any questions, the act of asking is something we cannot hide, so to start with I'll have this unit download a bunch of data from the AI, including a complete breakdown of the current command structure from Fleet Admiral Tucker and General McCoy down to the newest ensign stationed in Earth Orbit. I'll also have the PDA download all ship traffic logs for the system in the last six months. It won't give us the ability to see what orders were given, but we can put together a list of names, and once I download, this PDA will cut itself from the network, so no one is sure what exactly we are looking for."

Linda looked surprised. "You are that paranoid?'

Sarah gave me another kiss on the cheek as she watched the PDA begin the operation I had just described. "Yes, he is. And it works. Hayley was part of one investigation that only lasted two days because the officer committing the crime Norm was investigating became convinced by the downloads that he wasn't a suspect. He tripped himself up almost immediately."

There was a long wait as the PDA filled its memory with the data I had requested. It was a massive amount of data, but Internal Affairs PDA's had the capacity for far more. During the download Linda fidgeted some, but Sarah was used to this process and maneuvered behind me to massage my shoulders as the system processed the information transfer. Finally last of the data was transferred and I could smell smoke as the transmitter in the unit immolated itself to prevent any Trojan programs from sending signals back to the ship AI. Linda gasped as a few faint wisps of white escaped the unit.

"What is that?" she said.

I smiled. "Standard Internal Affairs PDA trick. It uses a network link to download the information, but the instant it's done with a download it destroys the hardware necessary to link. It basically is now isolated from the network and I can browse the information on it without fear of anyone eavesdropping. Once I finish this investigation I have to allow a replicator unit to repair the PDA and insert a new transmitter."

Sarah giggled and patted the bed next to me. "Come over here Linda. Normie here might be keeping his promise to leave you unmolested, but you need a massage."

I had been browsing the basic information about DECO. There were a few entries regarding directorate level meetings and open issues. I opened the recent one and sighed.

"What is it?" Linda asked.

I leaned the PDA so she could see it. "Being in the Borneo District we tend to forget just how ugly the politics among commanders can be since we have a smooth operating command. This here is a report of a recent directorate level meeting. The head of DECO Miles Chandler has been promoting some changes to the command structure, which would give him authority over the Navy, and Fleet Admiral Tucker has been fighting him. Internal Affairs is usually slotted into the Naval Directorate, so if we get caught investigating officials in DECO and fail to prove our case..."

Linda gasped. "Not a good career move, I'm betting."

I could see Sarah hug Linda from behind and I nodded. "At least we can most likely eliminate General Clayton."

Linda looked confused and pulled the PDA from me. She obviously was asking it for more information on the General and finally burst out laughing. "You mean he's the head of the Naval Standards Board? He has nothing to do with our investigation."

I shrugged. "As Colonel Newhart said. Our arrival probably set off a whirlwind of paranoia. After all, the reason for our visit was not made clear."

Linda nodded and kept my PDA, obviously reviewing a number of entries. I thought to take it away, but Sarah jumped off the bed and ran to the replicator. Once there she knelt in front of it, smiling cheekily.

I left Linda to her explorations of the data and followed Sarah over to the replicator. We ordered a hearty and greasy dinner before retiring to the small table in the back of the stateroom to eat.

It was nearly two hours later before Linda joined us carrying a tray of food. She found Sarah and I playing double solitaire. Shaking her head she asked Sarah to slide over so she could join us.

Sarah did and looked at the young lady. "Found anything interesting?"

Linda nodded. "Yes, but if anything I'm more confused now. At least I've got an idea of three groups to check out."

"Three?" I asked.

"Three," Linda stated definitively. "Obviously DECO is involved, which puts it in the hands of Jennifer Gates, who is currently in charge of their Earth Pickup Department. She has several subordinates who might have been in position to be involved. The second is Rear Admiral Vincent, who is the head of the Assignments department in Personnel part of N4. I checked and he does have some former US Army commanders working under him, although I didn't take the time to find out if any knew Colonel Yarnway. The third is another Rear Admiral from N4. Rear Admiral Evans from Fleet Readiness."

Sarah seemed puzzled. "Why Naval officers if the Colonel was a Marine and everyone on Ishtar was supposed to be a Marine?"

Linda smiled. "Two reasons. First, I found that due to the constant warring between DECO and the DNO, as well as the limited Marine budget, it's easier for the Marines to allow the Navy to handle all personnel issues surrounding pickups. Its only once training begins that the Marines gain control, although they rely on the Navy to move transfers."

I nodded at that and put a hand out to warn Sarah not to protest. "She's right. In Borneo, General Montgomery wields a lot of power because of his personality and the fact that Admiral Himmel likes him, but the two major powers in the directorate are the Navy and DECO, the others tend to be subordinate. I can imagine that the Navy is using that to establish a lot of priority during pickups, especially if someone hasn't declared a preference between Navy and Marine. That's why saying this is a Marine command post isn't exactly accurate. This ship contains most of the Earth centered departments while Victory handles most of the combat departments. Its just that the marines have been so tightly tied to pickups that its easier to call this the Marine Command Post."

Linda giggled. "And there is issue number two I discovered. Its hidden in some meeting minutes from about six months ago, but Miles pushed through a change to the CAP testing policy where anyone with a CAP under eight who did not immediately express a preference would be allocated at pickup. It appears that the other groups all agreed with the decision. Because of that the Navy gets first choice of most military volunteers."

Sarah looked puzzled. "But what about the other directorates?"

I smiled. "Miles is well known for being a bit elitist about CAP scores. He only accepts people with high scores, and in general refuses to allow any real military protocols in the directorate. It's become a bit of an issue because the fleet auxiliary was originally the Naval Reserve, but Miles managed to have them shifted to his command nine months ago. There have been accusations that units have gone rogue since then, but Miles won't call in Internal Affairs. The other directors are in charge of industry and intelligence and have little influence at this time."

Linda nodded. "So that's what we have. I did see one more name we can look into, not as a suspect, but perhaps as someone we can pump for information. DECO has a personnel allocation department, and the person in charge is a Traci Milosevich. I suspect that Traci might be someone who can get access to the DECO records we need."

I laughed. "Good work trainee. We'll have you making arrests within a week."

Linda agreed and then stood up to allow Sarah to slide out from next to her. I gave the lieutenant a final nod and then slipped off to follow Sarah to bed.