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“Greetings, Captain,” the pre-recorded voice said. “I am Vice Director Silva, and I have important information for you.”
Brooks felt his heart nearly skip a beat. He knew who Silva was – one of the leading members of Sapient Union intelligence.
Brooks had never seen the man before; his height could not be told from the screen, but his face was broad and average, creased with deep lines, his hair a distinguished silver. He did not seem like he’d stand out in any situation – certainly a plus in his line of work.
“We have concluded our study of the data and hardware you recovered from the colony of New Vitriol. From it, we were able to determine several key details.
“The mercenary going by the name Hoc Rem is now under the alias of Joh Dak – and we have strong evidence that he is currently in Gohhi.”
The man’s face clenched, his next words delivered in the same calm, precise manner, but a sense of displeasure entered into them, even if vaguely. “While we have assets in the system, none are in a position to pursue Rem at this time. In addition, we have evidence that the man’s life is in danger. He is connected to several deeply-embedded criminal enterprises on the behalf of his masters, and he has made many enemies among the locals. We are unsure of the precise nature of the threat against him, but have a high confidence that an attack against his person will be launched soon. Even if Rem survives, he will flee, and we will lose a golden opportunity.”
Silva paused, nodding towards Brooks. “You are given clearance to send in a Response Team to locate Rem. If possible, you are to bring him in – alive. We will not permit him to go unpunished, but you may tell him that we are willing to commute his sentence – and protect him from his enemies. With any luck, this will be enough to get him to come willingly.”
Brooks felt a roil of emotions. Hoc Rem had bloodily killed in front of Brooks’s eyes, and tried to kill him and members of his crew in several different ways during their time on New Vitriol.
Only luck had prevented that. The man was dangerous.
Silva had a few final words.
“Under no conditions are your personnel to engage in open conflict. The repercussions would be more damaging than they are worth for Rem’s information. We have a team inbound who will assist in this, with cooperation from some elements of Gohhi’s true power structure – including an information broker who goes under the name of Vermillion Dawn. As time is critical, we will need to know his location if we are to stand a chance of taking him alive.”
The man leaned back in his chair. “I have heard that you are capable, Captain Brooks. I hope it to be true.”
The message ended, and Brooks leaned back to consider his plan of action.
There was much that Silva had not said – such as who it was that Hoc Rem was working for, or even what form of criminal enterprises he might be involved with. There were thousands of factions in Gohhi, ranging across the political spectrum, and across every known religion and philosophical system. Among many were extremists who might be willing to kill a man like Rem if he crossed them.
And some of whom would want to kill him, as well, Brooks knew. His history with the place had been from many different angles, and sometimes it had been messy.
But he felt a genuine sense of excitement, as well. Gohhi was a place that was ever in flux with time, and many things would be different from what he had known. But he still knew how her heart worked; the way power shifted and flowed, the ways the money moved, and the ways a life might be taken. Most importantly, he knew what sort of people would know all the names of the current players.
He was going to be busy.
Other Terrestrial 
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