Night Traveller (Gay Romantic Sci-Fi)

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine 

Lieutenant Oliver frowned at the man sitting opposite him in the tiny office. He was sitting forward, his elbows resting on the desk, his square strong hands clasped together, trying to convey his willingness to give the Lieutenant all the help he could. A lock of purple hair kept falling across his hazel eyes and every so often he would flick it back with an unconscious movement of his right hand. This morning he was clad in a white shirt on top of his favourite pale blue jeans. Although it failed completely to resemble formal wear, Oliver recognised that he had made an effort to dress more appropriately for the interview. At least this shirt wasn't transparent, although ... He realised he was staring at the Governor's well muscled chest instead of his face and glanced up hastily, frowning even harder. 

"You really expect me to believe you have no idea of your client's identity?" 

Callan nodded earnestly. "It's the truth Lieutenant. The contract was all done via wristcom, there was no need to meet the client in person. As long as I have the details of the ship to be escorted, and the account is valid for the credit transfer, that's all I need. In the case of a straight forward escort job, who or even what is inside the ship is none of my business. It's not unusual, believe me." 

As plausible as the denial sounded, Oliver was sure Callan knew more than he was saying. Still there wasn't much he could do about it, the man was the Governor after all, he could hardly call him a liar to his face. Trenwith was waiting outside in the Patrol Station reception room to see him next, perhaps he'd get more out of him. Yeah, right. 

Not that he was giving up, he still had a couple of leads to follow, the identities of the four dead men should be coming through soon, and there was always the chance someone would make an appearance to claim the ship before he turned it into salvage at the end of the thirty days notice. One thing was certain however, he wasn't holding his breath waiting for "Jian Chang" to contact him about making a statement. 

He stood up, ending the interview. "Thank you for your assistance, Governor," he kept his voice formal. "I'll see Trenwith now, if you wouldn't mind sending him in."  

For a second, Callan looked as if he was going to say something else, his lips had started a small smile, but he took his cue from the Lieutenant's brisk manner and rose as well. "Of course, Lieutenant." He went out and a few seconds later Trenwith came in.  

Oliver blinked for a second at the transformation. His hair was now a silky pale blond, emphasising the blueness of his eyes and making his features look finer, delicate even. He had a straight nose, thin, well shaped lips and small ears. More than several years younger than Callan if he was any judge, shorter and more slightly built, neat and elegant, in contrast to Callan's larger-than-life exuberance. Oliver studied him in silence for a moment as the other man seated himself. He had chosen to attend the interview in the dark green uniform that all AISS staff wore when on duty. He was all sober professionalism today, all signs of mischief carefully suppressed. He looked up and held Oliver's gaze. 

"How can I help you Lieutenant?" 

Oliver dropped his eyes first. Why was he having so much difficulty this morning concentrating on the task in hand? He cleared his throat. "You can start by telling me what happened after you left us yesterday."  

As Oliver had feared, Trenwith was unable, or unwilling, to tell him anything he didn't already know, other than the fact that the Sprite had still been on Kapunda when he returned to Asra. A quick check with the Kapunda port authorities revealed that the Sprite was part of a commercial fleet belonging to KowLoon Enterprises and regularly available for hire. In fact it had already been hired out by Ser Keating of the Tinto mining company, for a return trip to Asra that very day. Naturally it was fully sanitised between each charter. So much for that possible line of enquiry. 

Eventually he let Trenwith go and stood up and stretched for a moment, annoyed that his eyes had followed him out the door. He really liked that new look ... but he couldn't afford to drop his guard on his personal feelings, not even for an instant. That would only lead to a mess at best, at worst, professional suicide. 

He sat down again and opened up his console unit to check on the latest news. Hopefully there would be something about the four dead men he had in storage, that would keep him focussed. He had to concentrate on his job, he couldn't afford to get personally involved with either Callan or Trenwith, especially when he suspected that both of them were mixed up in his investigations. Patrol Ethics 101. He couldn't even be friends, let alone think of anything more. 

He sighed unconsciously, this celibacy stint was starting to wear thin. Maybe he should take a trip to Capella, he could do with a visit to the All Stars, have a couple of drinks off duty and pick up a cute stranger for the night. Someone that he could just have sex with, and never have to see again. He sighed a second time and ran his fingers through his hair, he feared it was going to be a long and lonely twelve months. 

XXX 

Ser Keating rubbed the tight spot between his eyebrows and sat back in his chair. His quick thinking last night had solved one problem but that didn't hide the fact that the whole situation yesterday had very nearly blown up in his face. Tinto might be the second biggest mining company on Asra but it was a small player when it came to mixing with the big boys on Burra.  

Poseidon was the biggest company on both planets and was the sole owner operator of a large processing plant on Burra just outside Kapunda. Only Lophat, the second largest mining company was big enough to also own and operate its own processor, the rest had to make do with sharing three independently owned plants at various locations around the planet. As one of the smaller companies, Tinto was well down the food chain when it came to prime time use of facilities and the best locations. Tinto tended to find itself all too often left with using the processor in the worst location and paying for it accordingly. If the deal he was working on came off, however, all that might change. 

XXX 

Jian Chang paced up and down the floor in front of his desk, unable to settle. He must have been crazy to have risked going in person but at the time he had thought it was the right thing to do. A deal of this nature needed the personal touch. He had very nearly been killed. If it hadn't been for Callan's crew he would have been. 

The war had suddenly got very personal. Someone was going to have to pay.