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I was still unsure how to deal with the information in the letter from Alaska. Brubacker was unavailable and I didn’t know anyone else I could turn to. The scale of the scandal overwhelmed me. And then I got a message from Hermieoth. He needed my help, fortunately with something I felt competent in.

Hermieoth’s terrapin was gone. Confiscated. Hermie had no chance of getting it back. He didn’t even know exactly where his spaceship was. He only knew it had to be somewhere in the Hurston planetary system. Unfortunately, he had to back up the data stored in the on-board computers and then delete it.

I saw only one way to help him. A communications network that spanned Hurston and its four moons. A network that we would set up and control to connect to the Terrapin computers. Fortunately, I had found out that there were forward operating bases with powerful antennas and communication systems. We could use these. Theoretically. In practice, that meant we had to fly to the bases, install our own modified computer boards in the communication systems and set up a subnet. But we didn’t know what to expect there. Could we just march in or were the bases guarded?

First we flew to the moon Arial. Stanton’s star was high in the sky. Its light was dazzlingly bright and drove up the surface temperatures. The air shimmered. We cautiously approached the base through the yellow toxic landscape. Black smoke rose from two huge gray exhaust structures. Between them were storage racks, containers and a few buildings. Towering over the facility was the large main antenna – our target.

Hermieoth had drawn his weapon. Everything had been quiet so far. There was no warning on our approach, no defensive fire from turrets, but we had no idea what to expect at the base. There was only one thing I had expected, the heat, and luckily I had the heat protection suit on. Hermieoth was only wearing light armor and was already starting to complain about the high temperatures.

When we reached the smoking chimneys, we looked carefully around the corner. There was some kind of gate into the storage area, with a platform on top. In the shimmering air, I could barely make out what was on it. Then I recognized it and whispered to Hemrieoth.

“There’s a machine gun. So there are defenses.”

“I can see it. But I don’t see any guards,” he replied.

Slowly we walked on. As we entered the storage area, we saw that the containers and buildings had already suffered badly from the effects of the weather. Everything looked old, rusty and a bit run-down. We found rockets in one container, but without warheads.

“Could be that the main part of the facility is underground,” Hermieoth suspected. “Maybe they’re all down there.”

“Then let’s hurry before they notice us and crawl out of their holes like spiders,” I said in a warning voice.

Then I noticed the graffiti on the exhaust system.

“Take a look. It says ‘fight back’. And more scribbles. Looks like someone was here who has something against the plant and its owners. Maybe there were fights here.”

“I don’t think so. There are no signs of fighting anywhere,” Hermieoth said

I finally found a place where I could install my modified circuit board. As quickly as we had arrived, we were gone again. Our next destination was the moon of Aberdeen.

If Arial was the glowing hell, then Aberdeen was the apocalypse. The dense atmosphere made for poor visibility even during the day. But at night it was more than scary. In the dark brown atmosphere, everything was only dimly visible. And to make matters worse, the temperatures were over 200 degrees Celsius. This base was similar to the one on Arial. However, instead of smoking chimneys, there were spherical gas tanks. As we left our spaceship, Hermieoth drew his weapon again. Careless as I was, I assumed that there were no guards here either.

Despite the poor visibility, the communication antenna was clearly visible. However, it took me quite a while to find a place where I could install my circuit board. Suddenly, Hermieoth called me on the radio. His voice didn’t sound good.

“Zero. I have to get back to the ship. The heat is getting to me. It’s too much.”

I looked at the temperature display. 224 degrees Celsius. Without a heat protection suit, I’d be in trouble too. However, this thing was damn heavy and with the thick gloves it wasn’t easy to install the circuit board.

When I was finally finished, some light crept over the horizon. The bony remains of dead trees could be seen in the distance. They stood there like skeletons, silent witnesses from a time when the moon still had an intact ecosystem. From a time before Hurston Dynamics used the moon as a testing ground for its anti-matter weapons.

We made our way to our next destination on the moon, Magda. Again a similar facility, but with trapezoidal silos. This time we firmly assumed that there were no guards and landed on the landing pad. Without any further safety precautions, we got out and walked to the communications antenna. As I walked past an open container, I stopped abruptly.

“That’s not possible,” I said in surprise. “There are pallets of drugs there. That’s E’tam. I’m going crazy.”

“There’s more here,” I heard Hermieoth say a few meters away. “Maybe they’re growing this.”

“Hurston Dynamics is growing E’tam in a forward operating base? Why would they do that?” I asked doubtfully.

But then I remembered the effect E’tam had on humans. Side effects include hyper awareness, cognitive enhancement and hyperfocus, which has made it popular with students and workers. It made sense. Hurston Dynamics was able to increase the performance of its workers and exploit them even more. But then why was the trade officially illegal? The answer was also obvious. Profit. If Hurston Dynamics were growing E’tam themselves, they were surely selling it to the workers and making money. It sucked with this mega-corporation.

After the circuit board was installed, we installed another one on the base on the moon Ita and flew last to the forward operating base ‘Rico’s Remains’ on the planet Hurston. This was also similar to the others and had silos. ‘Rico’s Remains’ was located in the savannah of Hurston. Brown sandy soil, green grass and trees dominated the landscape. It would have been almost beautiful if it hadn’t been Hurston and the sky covered in dirty brown clouds.

As we walked through the grass, some of which was shoulder-high, Hermieoth said.

“No one has been here for a long time to cut the grass.”

“You’re right,” I added. “All the bases of operations seem pretty abandoned to me anyway. Have they been abandoned for a long time? There’s even grass growing on the landing pad.”

“I’ll have a look around,” Hermieoth replied.

While I was installing the circuit board, I heard him on the radio.

“So the doors are all locked. And not only that. The terminals on the doors are offline.”

“Mh,” I thought for a moment. “If everything here is offline, hopefully our plan will work. If the communication system is also offline, it’s all for nothing.”

“So it has power. The lights are on,” Hermieoth replied.

“We’ll see,” I said doubtfully. “Let’s get back to Everus Harbor. On board the White Rabbit, I can log into the subnet and, if all goes well, connect to your Terrapin. If everything works.”

A few minutes later, we were on board my Star Runner in the scanner room. I aligned the data dish and searched for the frequency of our installed subnet. All I could receive was noise. Then there was a spike in the signal. Just as I was about to log in, it was gone again. From the scanning chair, I couldn’t find the peak again. I pushed the control panel up and stood up. Mumbling to myself, I went to one of the computer terminals on the wall. I changed a few parameters in the communication software. Hermieoth stood next to it the whole time and watched patiently.

“There it is,” I called out happily. “What’s the registration number of your Terrapin?”

“Hold on, I’ll send it to you,” Hermieoth replied.

“Got it. I’m in. OK Hermie. Sit in the chair and log into your computer.”

Hermieoth squeezed his armor onto the scanning chair, then said.

“I need you to help me break in.”

“No need, I’m already inside your ship,” I replied. “It’s like sitting in front of the computer on board your Terrapin. Just log in and get started.”

“Indeed, it works. Data download in progress. 20% … 40% … 60% … 80% … Done. Got everything. Now let’s delete it.”

Relieved, Hermieoth stood up, opened his Mobiglas and checked everything again.

“It worked and the data is stored with your friend from Crusader Industries. They should be safe there. Thank you Zero. I’ll transfer some more money to you.”

“You are welcome. Money is not necessary. You know that. One hand washes the other. The opportunity to return the favor will come.”

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)