707 707 How Did They Know
In the aftermath of the explosion, Max focused all of his thoughts on trying the determine if anyone on the station knew more about the mysterious ship or the vessel that they had been decommissioning before it exploded.
They might have been busy with other things before, but now that both ships had been destroyed and every warning alarm within two planets was blaring, it was the perfect opportunity to look for spies and sailors who knew a bit more than they were letting on.
The obvious place to start was with the crews aboard the other ships along the docking rings since they had access to sensors and would have seen the ship leaving with enough time to get a warning out to bring in another ship to attempt to retrieve it.
The timing was a bit too coincidental for Max’s liking. There was no way that anyone knew they were going to jettison that vessel into a star, and they had to either be very close or use a portal to get here on time.
Max’s suspicion was that they were tipped off by another vessel and had come by portal to somewhere nearby and then made a quick Warp Jump to get close enough to try to do their extraction before anyone stopped them.
A quick scan of the thoughts of the workers aboard the vessels at the dock turned up all horror at what looked like a tragic accident, so Max moved to the people aboard the station.
That proved to be a bit harder to sort out. The crew with security clearances knew about the infestation on the ship, so the Klem infestation was in their thoughts, but Max didn’t find any of them who weren’t shocked by the incident with the other ship or any who seemed to know about the second vessel at all.
“Boss Archibald. Can you bring up the reports of anyone who had a sudden incident on board in the last hour? Deaths, unconsciousness, anything that would hide unwanted thoughts from an Illithid.” Max asked as he continued to scan the minds of the people on the station.
“To avoid anyone learning that they had tipped off the pharmaceutical company? I will get right on it.”
Both men frowned as they worked, while Nico’s face was blank as she searched through the computer logs and sensor feeds of the ship for anything suspicious.
“I’ve got two.” The Boss announced a few seconds later, only to be cut off by Nico.
“Make that three. There is a crew member passed out in the lounge next to the security office as well. He injected himself with something just after the ship started to move.” She added.
It could be an addict, or it could be that someone did exactly what Max suspected and knocked themselves out to avoid mental examination in the immediate aftermath of their actions. The drugs would make things blurry during the moments before they took them, so once they woke up, their thoughts would be muddled and not about whatever information they had given.
It wasn’t proof, but it was enough to put them on the suspect list.
The Boss was more upset that one of his workers was passed out high at work than about the chance that they might have taken a bribe to pass information, and Max knew that either way, the man was about to have a very bad day, so he focused on looking for more signs of unusual thoughts.
There was a small cluster of grief from the family of a dead staff member who had already learned that they had been killed in a cargo unloading incident today, but they weren’t thinking of anything but that.
Then Max found a mind that was suspicious for its lack of concern and not for its worry. He focused more closely and found a hint of amusement at the whole situation and the “Med Corps,” as his mind called them, getting killed in an accident.
“Floor 32, Room 173. Sitting drinking Rum. He knows who the second ship belongs to.” Max informed the Station Boss and the others standing around them.
They didn’t ask any questions, and Max sensed when the thoughts went vague as the room filled with sleeping agents. He had briefly considered an injection, but his thoughts faded too fast, and then Max could sense that security officers had entered the room and were grabbing him to take him into custody.
It was all very smooth and well practiced, and they made sure to strip him of anything potentially dangerous before moving him, including the small box containing a syringe which Max had sensed him trying to grab before he passed out.
They would determine what it was later, but for now, he was secure, and they could question him once he was conscious again.
ραпdα -n૦νe| , c૦m
This was a big clue as to how the Klem got into Alliance Territory, even if it was for research purposes and not an intentional spread of the infestation. For all he knew, they might have opened a Portal, and a wave of pods came through, so they panicked and shut their mouths about the whole incident.
Nearly anything was a possibility, but the way they had spread after arriving here was much more concerning, and he wasn’t sure if this medical company was involved in that part or not. If it was an experiment gone wrong, or possibly right, depending on their intentions, it would be even more problematic than a simple nefarious plot to destroy a handful of worlds.
“Should we let them sweat for a while until we can get an Illithid here to question them, or would you prefer to do it the old-fashioned way?” The Valkia Black Market Boss asked with a smile once he got the confirmation that everything was in order.
“We can do one better. I can read minds almost as well as they can at close range. So, we can interrogate them the old-fashioned way while they can’t lie to us.”