November 2940
Terra System
Specialist Omi Sakamoto couldn't believe her eyes. Her journey over the past eight years had been tough and down right frustrating at times but the final pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together. Dead end after dead end continued to plague her search for the murderer of Alexis Stormfury until now.
Matthius had given her free reign over the operation and she'd taken that literally. Setting up monitoring programs on communications for all of Ballistic Logistics top brass, She had learned a lot of interesting details.
From Director Cortez's penchant for over supplying the fleet to one magical night between Director Winters and Matthius that had unexpectedly produced a child in 2936. Young Kate was quickly whisked away without mention to Matthius. Omi was still on the fence about revealing it to her boss, but right now she had more pressing matters.
Almost everything she'd learned from the taps was of no consequence towards her objective. She had a few leads that took her to Spider and one or two that took her to the research centre in Kallis, but those turned up dead ends. Then last year in June, she'd finally gotten her first break in the case.
A communique from Commander Cole Ruiz to Director Sundavold. The two had little to no contact with each other, which was odd in itself but Ruiz's communique contained nothing other than a date. The communique itself didn't yield results, but it pointed her into watching the movement of both men. Looking back into the past, she quickly noticed a pattern. There was little to trace on their movement but the anomaly of black holes in both their whereabouts for a week each year that aligned almost perfectly was too much for coincidence. The pattern had started sometime back in 2924 and was ongoing. Add that to the fact they had consistently went out of their way to avoid communicating with one another.
Unfortunately, the secret meetings between Ruiz and Sundavold had varying dates and times. Usually corresponding with some event that might keep a good portion of the top brass busy and unaware of their absences.
Omi really had no other options, but spending the last six months on Spider disguised as a clerk within her own organization's base. Countless hours of research had finally paid off. Using her access, she was able to get access to Ruiz's private flight planning. All of this had led her here to this moment.
Perched on the Balcony two blocks down, she could see Ruiz and Sundavold standing on the top floor penthouse balcony. The two were smoking cigars and sharing drinks by the lavish pool.
Reaching down into her bag, Omi pulled out the Parabolic listening device. Pointing it at the two men she sat and listened.
"Have you contacted your agent here on Terra?" Sundavold moved towards the end of the pool with a raised hot tub and minibar.
"Yes, I've done as you have asked. This makes the third task I've completed for your organization." Ruiz belly ached more than he intended.
Sundavold entered the hot tub. Pressing a small comm panel on it's side.
"Yes sir" A voice responded.
"Send in the entertainment." He ordered.
"Yes sir, I'll send for the girls."
Sundavold pushed back and floated to the far edge of the hot tub. "Relax, you're payment is coming. By this time next year, you'll be fully in charge of Ballistic Logistics and we'll bring you into the fold of our organization. It's really a win-win for both of us." He took a long drab from his cigar. "Now, come, enjoy the entertainment I've planned for us."
Almost on queue ten exotic women with heritage throughout the verse entered the private balcony. Several entered the pool and a few headed towards the hot tub.
It had taken quite a bit of credits for Omi to reach this point, but she knew Matthius wouldn't care. The information she gleaned from this conversation was priceless. Who was this organization Sundavold was working for? How had he remained unnoticed for so long? Why would Ruiz help him? So many questions yet unanswered.
She started to pull back the listening device when she felt a tight grip on both her arms. Turning to either side, she saw two men dressed in formal suits and with muscles that surely weighed as much as herself.
"Sir, we have the mouse." One spoke into a walkie.
"Make sure the cat gets it's meal." She heard Sundavold's voice respond.
With that, the two men lifted her up. Omi kicked and struggled, but the two men held her with ease. In unison, the duo pushed her up and over the balcony. Tumbling ten stories to the ground, the secrets of the evening would remain just that.