Newton's Third Law Part 3

Posted on Tue Jan 25th, 2022 @ 3:42pm by Lieutenant Aiko Kato

Mission: Respite
Location: Cait

Quintus Anatolia was ever so grateful for the extensive network the company had in certain sectors of space. It was through this network that it had been flagged to him that he would likely have been arrested had he attempted to go through the regular customs channel arriving on Cait.

Apparently, he was in their criminal database as a suspect in a series of illegal activities. They were nothing major, but they were enough to draw unwanted attention and complicate his mission.

He had been in and out of Cait so many times in his earlier years. He could not recall his exact crimes...well that was not entirely true. He knew all of his "crimes". It was remembering the ones that went sideways enough to attract the attention of authorities that he had trouble remembering. They were so few and far between. However, he suspected it had to do with contraband. In those days, he had been just a minor player with the company and contraband was the lowest hanging fruit at that level.

How far he had come...

Given he was a wanted man on Cait, Quintus had been forced to improvise. He had smuggled on board a freighter owned by one of the company's shell enterprises. While he preferred to work alone, it seemed circumstances was going to force him to rely on others so as to minimize any undue attention on him.

He had already sent word of his impending arrival to the single contact that the company had on Cait. It was a testament to how disinterested the company generally was of this planet, even though it was a key Federation member world.

One guide was better than none, Quintus mused especially since he was potentially on the radar of the local security services.

As he beamed over to the safehouse that had been arranged, he was greeted by his contact- a young and well-muscled Caitian who stood several heads taller than

"Greetingssss..."he greeted. "I am Krussar. You will have to forrrgive me but I was not told yourrrr name."

"Exactly how it should be," Quintus replied dismissively as he took in the heat of his new surrounding, which made him instantly uncomfortable even after anticipating for it. He wondered if the environmental controls for the safehouse was broken and was going to ask a question when he realized the windows were wide open- no doubt the doing of his host.

Quintus inwardly sighed. He hoped he did not have to stay a minute more than he needed to on this planet. "Call me Mr. Black," he proclaimed as he walked off the transporter padd to survey the interior of the safe house.

In truth he was looking for any signs of danger and familiarizing himself with all the egress points should he need to make a quick escape.

A man in his position could never take too many precautions. Even within the company, there were those who wanted to see his demise and would not be shy to use an opportunity like this to orchestrate his end. Add on to that the fact that he was a wanted man on this planet...

"I take it you got my coded transmission?" Quintus asked as his gaze fell back on Krussar.

"Yessss, I have eyesss on your marrrk as we speak. She arrrrrived a little overrrr three hourrrsss ago. It ssssseeemsss that she is to have dinnerrrr with the station commanderrrr shorrrtly."

"The station commander?" Quintus asked, instantly suspicious. "Do you know why?"

"L'Rissssa, the companion with herrr, is the station commanderrr's daughterrr."

Quintus frowned. Strange...he had missed that piece of information. That surprised and concerned him equally. He prided himself in knowing all things related to a mission he was about to undertake. However, it seemed he had missed a crucial detail that had somehow escaped his attention.

He paused to ponder what this new detail meant for his mission. He wondered if this complicated the planned extraction but ultimately decided that even if it did, it was too late now. He was too committed now, and to go back empty-handed back to the company was not an appealing prospect. He also had a very limited window during which to complete the extraction before his target returned to the safety of a Federation starship.

So much for a simpler extraction Quintus mused.

"Your people know to stay out of sight and keep her surveilled at all times?"

The Caitian's whiskers flickered in mild annoyance, his head tilted slightly to the right. "Believe it orrrr not Misterrrr Black, thissss issss not my firrrssst extrrrrraction. My team knowssss theirrr assssignment."

Quintus nodded as if satisfied, although he actually was not. The missed intel bothered him but he had no choice now but to wait and rely on his "local guides". To go to the station to oversee things was risky. Going in public was also a risky endeavour, although there were ways to minimize the risk.

Still, it was probably best to only reserve such actions for when it was absolutely necessary.

"And you are sure she plans to come to the planet still?"

"Yesssss," Krussar responded. "We believe the dinnerrr will take place in the station commanderrr's home herre on Cait. I have someone monitorrring the house as we speak. We also have accesssss to her itinerrrrarrry and she just booked ssssevrral excurrssion in varrrrious parrrts of Cait forrrr the next thrreee days. We plan to initiate the extrrrraction durrrring one of these activitiessss, conditionsssss perrrrmitting."

Quintus nodded. That was acceptable, but he would have to see more of the operational details to be fully satisfied. He needed to know all of the activities, where they were located, the expected security presence at these sites, how public they were, the time of day the target will be visiting...

Quintus paused, reigning his thoughts in to compose himself.

There were too many unknowns and he was beginning to realize that there was something off about this mission that made him very uneasy. There were little details that had escaped his attention or last minute developments that had caused minor but significant pivots.

And now he was forced to rely on people he did not know or trust.

Such things were surely a bad omen for what was to come. If this were simply his decision to make, Quintus would abandon this mission, but alas, not completing this mission was not an option if he wanted to be able to face the company.

He brushed off his concerns for now as something he would address eventually. But before that, there was something that was equally important to address. "Come," he said to his Caitian guide. "Let's discuss the details of our escape plan."

"Gladly," answered the Caitian pleased to move on from having his skills being questioned...