Metal Boxes (40 page)

“That is a very long story, sir. A story for another time,” Stone relied. He handed his p.a. to the commander. “Please review the areas I have marked while we wait for the others to join us. That data should give you a very good summary of why this investigation must go forward, even as we go to the war’s front lines.”

“
Aye, aye, Captain,” The man said as he began scanning the data.

Stone said, “If you would all excuse me, I need to
go to the ready room. I need to change and freshen up a bit.”

Allie followed him down the short corridor.

“Major Numos is on the way, Captain.”

Stone grinned. “Thank you, Allie. You don’t need to come with me just to watch me change clothes.”

“Wrong, Captain,” Allie said. “As your security escort I need to check the safety of your ready room before you go in. I will stand guard on the hatch as long as you are in there. I will guard from the outside.”

Stone reached out to grab her hand but she pulled away. He frowned
, “Are you mad at me?”

Allie shook her head, but
she would not look at him. “No, Captain. But our personal relationship is over-”

“What!” Stone interrupted. “Why? What did I do?”

“You took over as captain of this ship, that’s what you did. My feelings for you have not changed one bit. But, I report to Major Numos; he is my boss. The major reports to you; you are his boss. That puts me directly in your chain of command and any relationship between us, except strictly professional, is extremely inappropriate. Got it, Mister Stone?”

“Crap! I didn’t think of that.”

Allie shrugged, “Captain, please don’t take this personal, but I have to think like that. Being a marines is my career; I don’t have a rich family to fall back on.”

“Okay. We will get past this as just as soon as I can. Maybe I should just turn us around and head back to
Lazzaroni Station?”

Allie shook her head. “Not on my account, Captain. There are
marines out there that need resupply.”

Stone nodded
, “Okay, Allie…Lieutenant, can you do me one favor, please? Check my ready room quick. I am going to wet my britches if I don’t get into the toilet in the next few heartbeats.”

He listened to Allie chuckling as she swept through the small ready room. She called all clear and let Stone rush into the room followed by Jay and Peebee. She stepped into the corridor closing the hatch behind her.

Stone used the facilities, washed up quickly and stripped. A new uniform was hanging from a hook. He changed as quickly as he could. But he stopped his hand just as he was about to hit the hatch controls.

He looked at Jay and Peebee. They looked back at him.

“Okay girls, what did I get myself into? I mean, I can’t take a navy ship into a war zone, not even an old warehouse ship. All I know about space warfare is what I see in the videos and maybe playing ‘Iron Commander’ with Jimbo in a vid-arena. And Jimbo beats me almost every time…of course, he cheats. Don’t look at me that way, Jay. Of course he cheats; just because I never caught him at it doesn’t mean he doesn’t. How else can he win every time we get together?

“Crap! Now Allie won’t even let me hold her hand until I am not captain anymore.”

Peebee slid closer and grabbed Stone’s hand in her mouth and held it.

Stone grinned and patted her head with his other hand
, “That’s right, holding my hand.”

He looked at Jay. “Now I have to go into another meeting and get yelled at by both sides. And you two haven’t eaten since we left Aunt Ruth’s, plus you probably have to
take a bathroom break as much as I just did. Hold on for a bit and I will see if I can get you over to Commander Wright’s tower as soon as I can.

“I wonder if they have a manual for what captains are supposed to
do. Yeah, Military Commanding for Dummies, that is what I need. Grandpa was always telling me about leadership and what to do when you’re in charge.

“So, when I start getting yelled at, you two behave yourselves and don’t eat anyone just yet
, okay? So, let’s go get yelled at.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Stone looked around the table in the conference room. He would have liked it if they had mixed up their seating, but Commander Melendez and Major Numos sat next to each other on his right. The light commander in charge of ship security forces sat next to Numos. The EMIS agents sat together on his left.

Melendez looked smug. Maggot was fuming
, barely controlling his anger. Bob and Jake were fiddling with some contraption. Numos was so unreadable he might have been made from stone. The light commander looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Allie and Hammer were nowhere to be s
een, but Stone knew a pair of marine guards and security forces stood outside both conference room entrances.

No one said anything for a few moments.

Finally Maggot started to speak, but Stone waved him silent.

Stone gave a small internal shiver. Each military officer in the room was better suited to command this ship than he.
Yet, it had fallen to him to command. He did not see any way out other than to resign and that was not much of an option. He could try and convince Maggot to replace him, but he doubted that the EMIS agent would find any officer tempted to turn tail and run away, now that they were on the way to supply the front line troops.

Stone thought, “No
, of course he can find an officer to run away. It is a big ship. But the man…or woman would be a coward if they ran away and would be unfit to command.”

Finally
, there was a knock at the hatch and it flew open. Hammermill held the hatch for Admiral Shalako. Once the man was in the room, Hammermill slammed the hatch shut again.

Stone and the other military officers stood at Shalako’s appearance.

Stone thought “He is an admiral and may not be guilty of anything. But, whether he is or not, the rank deserves my respect.” He glanced at the EMIS agents who remained seated. “Still, if Shalako is guilty of ordering someone to try and kill me, then I have just been polite to a murderer.”

Stone gestured to the other end of the table to an empty chair. “
Admiral, if you please?”

Shalako shook his head. “
Midshipman, I am an admiral. I do not sit at the foot of my own conference table. Since I am not used to being summoned by a lowly midshipman, I will stand.”

“I apologize for the tone of the request,
Admiral,” Stone said as he tried to smile. “I meant it to be a request for you join us, certainly not a summons.” He stepped away from the chair at the head of the table. “Please Admiral, take this chair. This meeting will benefit greatly from your advice.”

Stone walked around the table to stand behind the chair at the foot of the table. He could hear his Grandpa’s voice booming in his ears that all things were negotiable and giving up a small concession early wo
uld not weaken a strong position, but it might make the weaker side relax until you bring the house down around their ears.

“If everyone would please be seated
,” Stone said. He watched while the military officers settled into their seats, then he took his seat last.

Bob leaned over to Maggot, whispered something in his ear and pointed at a readout of his p.a.
Maggot read it and grinned.

Stone continued to sit without speaking. It was
not a negotiation tactic. He just didn’t know where to start.

Finally Shalako said, “Why am I here? Is this some kind of sick joke or is it the start of my inquest?”

“Admiral,” Stone said, “the Periodontitis has set the original ordered course for the Hyrocanian front. I asked you here for your input on preparations and your advice on what we might expect to find when we come out of hyperspace.”

Shalako looked skeptical. He glanced at the
EMIS agents.

“Of course, you are still under investigation and everything you say is being recorded
,” Stone said. “I would expect you to avoid incriminating you-”

“Ha!” Shalako exploded. “You honestly expect me to believe you called me here to ask advice when you know well and good I ordered that idiot Vaarhoo to
take care of you?”

“
Admiral,” Stone said, “I assure you I haven’t seen any evidence to that and-”

“You haven’t seen the evidence, but I can assure you, that your pet
E.M.I.S. agent has seen it. I am under no illusions that everyone had their p.a. shut off or that some security camera didn’t record my conversation with Second Lieutenant Vaarhoo.”

Maggot grinned and nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Stone stared at Shalako, “You mean you really did order Vaarhoo to kill me?”

“Of course I didn’t tell him to kill you
,” Shalako snorted in reply. “You are a young pup and none to bright at that. No one would listen to you anyway. All I meant was for Vaarhoo to take care of you, to wipe your recordings, to plant evidence to implicate you, to blackmail you, or anything to shut you up. The idiot decided I meant to kill you. So, there you have it.” He looked at Maggot. “Someone have their p.a. recording?”

Maggot nodded. “Yes
Admiral, Vaarhoo had his personal assistant recording your conversations. He said he was recording just to cover his rear end. He said he was just following your orders. I really think he was recording so he could blackmail you later. Either way, you are implicated in murder and attempted murder. Plus, Bob here tells me he has already locked in evidence proving you are guilty of theft as well.”

“Speaking of
that,” Stone said. “Bob, what is that gizmo you keep fiddling with?”

Bob patted the machine in front of him. “This is a Mark Nineteen Stroke Alpha Gamma Dot Thirty-Two Investigator
and Forensic Accountant. It can seek out, record and analyze data. It can also communicate with any E.M.I.S. office on any space station independent from the ship’s systems, when we are in normal space that is. It is shielded from intrusion, tampering and has its own power supply, also it is completely independent of the ship’s systems.”

Jake spoke up for the first time. “We can, in fact, download all relevant ship
’s records and intercept personal assistant data from anyone on board we choose. Of course, assuming we have legal reason to suspect the individual has been acting in a criminal manner within the scope of the Emperor’s Writ. For example, we have the admiral’s signature on a disposal form for an empty container that we can prove was not actually empty at the time of said disposal, and that the admiral knew it was empty. Since said action is within the scope of the Writ we can strip all information from his p.a. as well as all of the data from the ship’s recorders related to his activities.”

Bob said, “
We also found information where Admiral Shalako was involved in a sexual relationship with a subordinate, an enlisted rating, against said rating’s expressed will. That information is not within the scope of our writ, however it was found within the confines of a legal investigation and as such it will be part and parcel of an ancillary investigation.”

Melendez spat
, “Admiral, you did what!?”

Bob cleared his throat
, “Commander Melendez, please do not jump to conclusions about the admiral.”

Shalako was staring at the table. He would
not meet Melendez’s glare.

“All we
know at this point is that it was a sexual relationship with a subordinate enlisted rating against the rating’s stated will,” Bob said. “The Mark Nineteen is still collating related data. However, the original crimes take precedence, so we haven’t polled the enlisted rating’s p.a. as yet. Until we do so we cannot state for sure whether it was simple harassment or rape.”

Melendez shouted, “Shalako, you old bastard! Who was she?”

“Um, Commander Melendez, at this stage that question is entirely inappropriate,” Jake said. “The rating in question is a victim as far as we can tell. As a victim, his identity will be kept confidential until we can verify whether he felt pressured, whether he felt forced, or whether he was just playing hard to get.”

Bob nodded, “We are having some difficulty with the original charges.
Our starting point is Captain Stone’s allegations and the data provided by his p.a. But the Mark 19 is coming up against a blank bulkhead. We assume the data on his p.a. was damaged when the admiral ordered Lieutenant Vaarhoo to wipe the data.”

Stone shook his head. “This is way off the topic I wanted to discuss
, but let’s clear the air since the admiral brought it up.”

He swiveled his chair to face Maggot
, “Agent Storovitch, this is your investigation. Please let Commander Melendez or Major Numos know if you need anything to further the investigation.”

Maggot said. “I need to go to
Lazzaroni Station and lock this vessel down.”

“That isn’t going to happen
,” Stone said.

“And that places you in violation of the Emperor’s Writ
,” Maggot said. “This is an attempted murder case. Hindering this investigation makes you an accessory after the fact in the conspiracy to commit murder. That is punishable by death, just as if you did the killing yourself.”

Stone grinned. “Cool! I get to be guilty of conspiracy for trying to murder myself
and then I get put to death for it.”

“This isn’t a joke, young man
,” Maggot said.

Stone laughed, “No
, it is not. On the other hand, I would be in violation of navy orders if I do not take the Ol’ Toothless to the front.”

Commander Melendez nodded
, “Yes Captain, I would see to it you were tried and found guilty for deserting your post in time of war. That is a clear violation of the Emperor’s directives and also carries a penalty of death. This is quite a conundrum for such a young midshipman.”

“A what, s
ir?” Stone asked.

“
A conundrum is two completely true, but completely opposite statements or courses of action,” Melendez answered.

The
admiral laughed. “Hanged if you do and hanged if you don’t. Sorry Agent, but even I see the joke in Mister Stone’s predicament. Well son, I will see you on the gallows.”

Stone laughed and shrugged. “Maybe and maybe not,
Admiral, we will just have to see. Or I can just explain it to the Emperor the next time I see him.”

The
admiral laughed. “See him? The Emperor wouldn’t deign to see my case on appeal, much less some puissant little midshipman.”

Stone shrugged. “I don’t know about that. He did tell me the last time I was there that I should come back the next time our ship was close. I think he was just being polite since Grandpa is his godfather. Whether he does or not-”

“Your grandfather?” Shalako sputtered. “Who are you, Mister Stone?”

Before he could answer, Maggot said, “
Admiral Shalako, you and your lackeys just tried to kill the next head of the Stone Freight Company, the largest privately owned corporation in human space.”

Stone shook his head. “That doesn’t matter
, or it shouldn’t matter, whether I come from a rich family or a poor family from some backwater farming planet. It is true Grandpa might have the resources to hunt you down wherever you went to hide and a poor family might not, but that doesn’t make the murder any more bad, um, worse, or worser. Crap! You know what I mean!”

“Murder is murder
,” Numos nodded.

“Exactly
,” Stone said. “And as such I expect Agent Storovitch and his team will investigate my attempted murder very strenuously regardless of my family ties. So Bob, what kind of bulkhead has your Mark Nineteen come up against?”

“For starters all of the containers in every disposal location have been taken off ship. Those locations are completely empty
,” Bob said.

“Of course they are
,” Shalako said. “Why would we haul trash when we are going into a combat zone? It was disposed of back at Tamvor Station through proper channels. You don’t have any physical evidence?”

“We don’t need the actual evidence
,” Maggot replied with a shrug. “It would have helped, but we can convict you on the data alone.”

“Still
,” Stone said, “would it help to have a storeroom full of the crap they were passing off as navy goods?”

Bob and Jake both nodded as if their heads were on strings.

Stone typed a few commands into his p.a. He looked at Bob. “Try this location.”

“Wait
,” Jake said, “that isn’t even a valid storeroom number. It isn’t on any of the ship’s manifests.”

“No
,” Stone grinned. “When I found these containers I had them sent to a special storeroom I threw together. You know the warehouse bulkheads are malleable metal, right? We can have the ship change the size and shape of each storeroom to fit the contents. I had the ship build a storeroom, put the stuff in there and then I removed all of the doors and hatches. I hid the location with a personal pass code so no one would know it was there. Even the crew I used to put it there didn’t know where it was, and without any hatches, even if they went looking for it they wouldn’t find anything, just blank bulkheads.”