When Zoners get nasty...

[Sombs]

With the words of Elijah Bishop and John Mayer lingering in his mind, it kept the OSI Advisor sleepless. The PDA with the data was still there, lying in the shelve of his nightstand. Knowing it was there was like a constant reminder of the entire situation. Lying in bed, usually with his face to the lava lamp, the blue wobbly mass moved up and down, and every time it moved down, his gaze went to the nightstand, knowing the damn PDA was there. A PDA filled with data that could be a good reason to lose his job if anyone would find out. The thought of deleting all the data was tempting. He had a good life with OSI. Two Whales and a Conference were under his command. He had a nice apartment on Canaria and personal quarters on each OSI installation, even on the Vista. And he had to put in a lot of effort to get the position of an Advisor, which was just one level below a director. There was a chance of becoming a director with the completion of the Nichols Upgrade Project.

But on the other hand, what use has that title when the Lane Hackers continue with their work against OSI without repercussions for their acts. There was only so much OSI itself could do. The negotiations with them have failed. And escorts had a tendency of being useless when the pirate usually opens fire at the transport first. Two torpedos, enough to bring down any Whale. And the fact that OSI's escort wing wasn't nearly as skilled as any pirate didn't help either.

No. They not only pirated OSI for a very long time, but also started attacking their transports. Piracy was one thing. Killing OSI personnel another. The line was drawn, they crossed it.

Again Kyu moved to Liberty, visiting Planet Manhattan and the Trenton Outpost. His ship remained at the very usual parking spots, waiting for people to pass by. People that hopefully had some information he was looking for. For the second time, he met Elena Voigt, a young lady with dyed hair. A Freelancer. A cheerful person, smiling most of the time, which admittedly loosened his tongue. He told her about what he was looking for and what he knew so far, and in the end, they came up with a deal. She would bring two of her friends, and together with Kyu, they would follow the hints Bishop and Mayer gave him. The next day, at 16:30 Sirius Standard Time, they would meet up at Trenton again and move out to scout the Magellan system, and later the Galileo system. And they were expecting resistance, because the Lane Hackers surely wouldn't allow anyone to simply find their bases.

Thus, he contacted a good friend and asked him to borrow a little toy.