There’s very little meat humans in these gym mats this HFY, but they’ve still had a significant impact on the setting, including here, far beyond known space. This chapter focuses more on the alien side of things with a return to Depot 15 and the revelation of something else at work within the Calnian Hegemony. There’s a snippet of the former below as a harried Elint tries to figure out which of his co-workers is committing sabotage at a level far beyond their years and experience, only to be faced with a new problems
For the full chapter and story, check out the link above and I hope you enjoy!
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Tinsay gestured at the screen. The work orders said that Sabein-Dresh had indeed visited Tireless and Effervescent and the time stamps matched. Everything in front of the intendant prelate contradicted Sabein’s account, but both of them couldn’t be correct. Someone had to be lying, but ultimately whoever it was was on this station. Whether they’d started the process themselves or just used minor and isolated network faults for some other agenda didn’t change that fact. Their adversary had to be here, but that left him with the exact same question that he’d been trying to answer for weeks.
Who?
The comm chirped.“Elint?”
He didn’t respond. “I want you to go through those orders line by line,” the young man told Tinsay. “Look for any discrepancy and any more of those problems you’ve encountered. If someone back-dated that work order, I want to know.” This might be telling a riiva to guard a henhouse; whoever was manipulating the depot’s files was an expert with software, which Tinsay was, but his instincts told him that it wasn’t her. Whoever was doing this was circumventing synth’s own checks and Tinsay didn’t have the experience or skills to be that good. He was the next logical candidate, but unless he had an alternate personality that was also better with software than he was, it couldn’t be him. That again left Sabein to be the one covering her tracks… but that still made no sense. So if it wasn’t him, it wasn’t Tinsay and it wasn’t Sabein, then what…?
“Elint!” This time the Off-worlder’s voice was sharper and more insistent. The confusion was gone, but in its place was a note of alarm.
“Yes, attendant?”
“Are there any servicers tasked here?”
Elint looked to Tinsay. She tucked her head back to confirm what he already knew. “No, nothing’s been sent from the depot to Pillar of Silver Leaves except your shuttle.”
There was an additional second’s silence before the woman spoke again, but when she did her voice was softer and quavered slightly, like she was asking a question she knew the answer to. “Is there anyone from Pledge of Sedulous Ascendancy assigned to Pillar of Silver Leaves?”
Elint checked his notifications. Tinsay-Wroeth did the same. They both came up negative. The only dispatch they’d received from Ascendancy was an automated notice of the vessels they were working on and a reminder not to interfere with their analysis. Pillar of Silver Leaves was not among them. “Not that we have logged, attendant. Why?”
Sabein-Dresh’s next comment was hushed as if she were afraid of it being overheard. “Because I think there’s someone else here.”
~
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