Star Law: A Marshal Cole Series

Chapter 29 (f)

Marshal Garner Cole slipped into position on the second level outside the stern entrance to Central Plaza. The pressure doors remain closed. The work crews had finally cleaned up the fire damage from earlier, however, the air scrubbers would be working for some time to come. The smell of smoke was still present as it seemed to stick to surfaces as a constant reminder of the death and destruction that happened.

Night time lighting was in effect although Central Plaza never slept. The casino, restaurants and assorted entertainment were now geared for evening activities. Things were still subdued and that probably would continue till they arrived in system at Hawks. The ship was already due to begin a braking maneuver in the morning just outside the Kuiper-class belt before entering the outer planetary ring. As they slowed, the cargo attached to the bottom of the ship would be released and retrieved by the mining colonies based there. It was in the belt where the process of building the components for a larger spacestation for the planet Hawks would be nanufactured.

The cargo attached to the underside of the ship was separate from the cargo bays inside the ship. In essence, it was a barge with a few dozen containers in it that could attach and detach to a liner accordingly. When connected to the ship it was indistinguishable from the liner's superstructure, even adopting the same colour scheme on its skin.

The detached barge was slow and cumbersome and navigated only with thrusters. It wasn't particularly sophisticated and had only rudimentary computer programming. It didn't even warrant an AI. The barge and containers were unloaded and utilized by the various mining colonies. The containers themselves were filled with equipment and supplies. Generators were always needed as well iNans and other nanufacturing devices. Mining explosives, drilling parts, vehiclesand EVA suits were packed in abundance. There was enough CHON in the asteroid belt to supply fuel, food and water but more sophisticated machinery, computers and supplies were needed to extract it while supporting a resident population.

The main reason for mining in the belt was that rare earth elements were easier to find and extract in space than on many planetary bodies. Many mature intelligent species often were compelled into space for resource needs. Various elements were mined and processed for shipment back to asteroid orbiting the planet Hawks. There they would be used to continue to transform the entire asteroid into a nanufactured station using nanites to re-engineer every atom.

The nature of the Dark Adder cloud meant that FTL drive engines were useless. You could not enter or exit hyperspace within the navigational field. Communications were also blotted out. Under normal circumstances the Niagara would have dropped out of warp outside the Kuiper Belt, deposited its cargo and then proceeded in normal space to Hawks. There didn't seem to be a natural wormhole within the system itself although the search was on. In the absence of that, an FTL gateway would likely be constructed to counter the cloud and gravitational forces of the system.

Cole thought about this and the unique situation it put him and everyone on the ship in. Communications remained out and would be till they neared the inner planets. The ship, despite the danger it'd endured and was now likely to face. He had asked about the possibility of bypassing jettisoning the barge and proceeding straight into the system. That just wasn't on apparently as the docking was set for the Niagara sans the barge. Moreover, the belt was depending on the barge's arrival as the mining community was at a fragile hardscrabble stage. At some point, they'd be very rich but at the moment it was a very difficult life where setbacks often resulted in people dying.

No, the trek towards the inner planets would have to proceed accordingly.He felt the case was about to break wide open but he had only a number of days to solve it. And he still had no idea how he was going to be able to do so without further bloodshed or how to prove it in court.

Cole's position on the second deck of Central Plaza was well chosen with an excellent line of sight into the soon to be opened stern entrance. He assembled his weapon, a projectile dart rifle with a fast acting sedative concocted by Doctor Kripisov. A person hit a dart would be out before they hit the ground. Using a pulse energy weapon with stun settings was considered and dismissed as it might mess with the Faraday cage power settings. As soon as the dart was fired, the trap closed and they'd have their prisoner. Settling into his sniper's perch, he looked around to see who else was about this late. He didn't expect to see Orion Ruskovich but knew she'd be nearby and probably virtually undetectable. There were dozens of people out, some near the pressure doors as the clock ticked down on their imminent opening. Even more people were just out of sight on the main Central Plaza deck. It had not escaped him that the trap for Goroshenko might attract other players. To that end, he was waiting to hear from Gunter Volks and his security team about any late arrivals to the party.