A sheep among wolves
10 Feb 2024Haraldsen
Commander Haraldsen leaned back in her chair and sipped her coffee, enjoying the view of the starry void from the bridge of the Tear of Raxxla. The heavily customized carrier, her pride and joy, was drifting through the void with a massive cargo of tritium, destined for a Federation outpost in the LHS 3447 system. Or so her most recent contract said. In reality, Haraldsen had other plans for the precious fuel. Plans that involved only her very own hefty profit. She smiled at her first officer, Melody Singh, who was sitting next to her, monitoring the status of their cargo."Everything is going according to plan, boss," Melody just said. "We've managed to divert about 8,000 tons of tritium from the Federation contract to our own black market storage facility. No one has noticed anything suspicious so far."
"Excellent," Haraldsen said. "That's several hundred million credits in our pocket. Money for nothing. And the Federation won't even notice the missing tritium. They have plenty of it anyway."
Melody nodded and returned her smile. She was Haraldsen's loyal and trusted partner in crime. She had been with her since she took command of the massive carrier that operated on the fringes of civilized space. Together, they had pulled off many daring and profitable schemes, exploiting the loopholes and weaknesses of the major factions.
"They're too busy dealing with the Empire, the Alliance and fighting Thargoids. They don't care about some remote outpost in the middle of nowhere."
Haraldsen chuckled. "That's why we love them. They're so easy to cheat."
"I'm glad you're happy, boss. You deserve it. You've worked hard to make this carrier a profitable enterprise. And you've always taken good care of your crew."
Haraldsen waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, don't flatter me, Melody. That's the beauty of being an independent carrier. We don't have to play by anyone's rules. We can make our own deals and alliances. And we can cheat anyone we want."
Melody grinned. "Speaking of cheating, how's the handsome captain from the ERS carrier Emerald Dawn? Did he enjoy the 5,000 imperial slaves we sold him recently?"
Haraldsen winked. "Oh, he enjoyed them very much. He didn't even notice that they were of questionable origin. He is probably still busy admiring their obedience and how it benefits his own agenda."
Melody laughed. "And he didn't notice that you forged the ISA registry either. He was too trusting of your charming personality and your fake credentials."
Haraldsen shrugged. "What can I say? We are good at what we do. And he was too hurried to check the details, don't forget the premium he was willing to pay. He just wanted to get his hands quickly on some labor for his operations."
Melody shook her head. "And we just happened to have a carrier full of it. It's been like stealing candy from a baby..."
They both laughed and clinked their coffee cups. They were in a good mood, and why wouldn't they be? They had pulled off several successful heists in the past few months, and had amassed a fortune in credits. Haraldsen and Melody were living the high life, and nothing could stop them.
Or so they thought.
Haraldsen was about to finish her coffee when her commlink beeped. She frowned and tapped it.
"Haraldsen here. What is it?"
"Ma'am, this is Lee from the communications department. We have an urgent message for you. It's encrypted and marked as priority one."
Haraldsen felt a surge of curiosity and alarm. She rarely received such messages. And when she did, they were usually bad news.
"Send it to my personal device. I'll check it right away."
"Yes, ma'am. Lee out."
Haraldsen frowned and checked the message. She read the title line and felt a cold sweat on her forehead. It said:
**I know what you did. Pay me or I'll expose you.**
Her expression changed to one of shock and anger.
"What is it, boss?" Melody asked, concerned.
Haraldsen showed her the message. It was from an anonymous sender, who claimed to be working for the system authorities. The message read:
"I know what you did with the ERS carrier Emerald Dawn. You sold them 5,000 Imperial slaves outside Imperial space, and you forged their ISA registry. You knew those slaves were not legal. They were kidnapped by pirates from various planets and stations. I have proof of your crime, and a copy of contract data that another 10,000 Imperial slaves of your cargo were to be delivered to Azimuth Biotech. I'm not afraid to use this data. If you don't want me to expose you to the authorities and the Emerald Dawn, you'll have to pay me a hefty sum. 500 million credits, to be exact. Transfer the money to this account within 24 hours, or else. You have been warned."
Haraldsen clenched her teeth. She had thought she had gotten away with a quick profit, but apparently someone had found out and was blackmailing her. She cursed under her breath.
"Who is this bastard? How did he find out? How did he get my contact information?"
Melody shook her head. "I don't know, boss. But this is bad. Very bad. If he goes public with this, we're screwed. The authorities will hunt us down, and the Emerald Dawn will want revenge. They won't take kindly to being duped by us. And surely hardly anyone will like the fact that we had to erase the memories of a few Imperial slaves with the most dubious origins, even if the Azimuth technology used for this purpose meets the highest standards."
Haraldsen shook her head. “At least the latter shouldn't be much of a problem. The use of this technology is almost impossible to prove. There will only be a few unexplained cases of memory loss.“
Melody frowned. “That’s unlikely. Considering that the remaining 10,000 Imperial slaves were to be delivered to Azimuth Biotech, it won’t remain a secret for long. More sooner than later someone puts one and one together and starts asking very uncomfortable questions about this connection. Our little extra income could turn out to be a very threatening failure.“
Haraldsen slammed her fist on the table. "Damn it! I won't let this happen. I won't let this scum ruin everything we've worked for. We have to find him and stop him. And make him pay for his audacity."
Melody nodded. "I agree, boss. But how do we find him? He's hiding behind a fake identity and a secure channel. He could be anywhere in the system."
Haraldsen smiled wickedly. "Don't worry, Melody. I have an idea. A very clever idea. We'll use his greed against him. We'll pretend to comply with his demand, but we'll trick him."
Melody raised an eyebrow. "How do we do that, boss?"
Haraldsen explained her plan. "We use the tritium. We set a trap. We pretend to pay. We tell him to meet us at a certain location. A remote asteroid. We'll bring the tritium there. But we'll also bring some explosives. And a remote detonator. When he shows up, we'll blow him to bits. Along with the evidence. And our fighters will deal with any surviving witnesses."
Melody shivered delightfully. "That's brutal."
Haraldsen shrugged. "It will work, I've done it before. That's how we roll. We don't take any chances."
Melody nodded. She liked the plan. It was ingenious. "That sounds like a plan. But how do we know he will fall for it? How do we know he will come?"
Haraldsen smirked. "We don't. But we'll make sure he does. We'll send him a message. We'll tell him we're very scared. We'll tell him we'll pay. We'll tell him we'll do anything he wants. We'll make him think we're weak. Thus we will make him even more greedy. We'll make him overconfident. We'll make him stupid. And then we'll make him dead."
Melody laughed. She felt a rush of adrenaline and a thrill of excitement. She was ready to follow Haraldsen into battle. "You're a genius, boss. I like it. Let's do it."
"Let's do this, Melody. Let's show him who we truly are. We have a blackmailer to deal with. But he is just a sheep among wolves. And we are not going to be merciful."