Bio-T5

Version 7.0 Updated- 09 December 2018

Chapter 1

Somewhere, deep within the vast reaches of the New Eden universe, there exists a very small solar
system within which, there is a large unremarkable but inhabited planet, where some very unusual
items are manufactured.

Our story begins as a special order shell nears it’s completion in a very tightly controlled and
protected manufacturing plant, built specifically to cater to the needs of the various entity's, who
require unusual equipment to fulfill unusual needs.

A quality control technician commenced the standard inspection accorded to all of the special
order shells that came out of the very complex manufacturing facility. Using sophisticated
measuring and inspection equipment, she noted that the measurements were unusually good.
They were well within the tolerances and specifications set out in the extensively detailed blue prints.
They were pretty careful about this one she thought to herself as she scanned the data and then entered
a check mark into the pass box, thus giving the necessary clearance for the assembly to move on
to the next stage before shipment.

Automated equipment moved the shell to its next destination which would apply the special
labelling and Identification that was a requirement for custom shells such as this one. A
technician scanned the shell's job tablet and realized that this would be an unusual job. The
identification information was to be inserted deep within the material of the shells major
structural components using inter-crystalline molecular re-arrangement techniques normally
reserved for ships subject to extremely harsh conditions. The cost of inserting the identification
into the structure so that it could be read later, even if the item was badly damaged, was
extraordinary. Having gained clearance and confirmed that this was the correct process to be
applied to this shell, he punched in the cryptic sequence necessary to unlock the process and
the work commenced. Nine solar hours later, the job was completed and the exhausted technician
routed the Shell on to its next destination and was very releaved to see it go.
The final operation required the shell to be packed into a shipping container.
The shell moved on to an area that was reserved for special shipments.
There, technician’s carefully built a custom container to accommodate the newly finished shell.
It was then loaded into an S.R.T.O. container.
Stealth return to origin containers are the latest in anti-pirate hardware. These containers are
impervious to almost all known scanning equipment and thus don't show up inside the
transport ship when scanned. If the ship is destroyed, then the container goes into cloak mode
and can make its own way back to its point of origin at a modest speed without being noticed.
It has the added ability to piggyback any ship going through a gate without having to de-cloak.
The container also has a unique ability to withstand over 80 trillion hit points. Unfortunately,
there are very few S.R.T.O. containers available because it requires the decimation of whole
planets to collect enough of the rare trace elements required to build one.
The shell was carefully labelled as “BIO-T5” and safely tucked into its shipping container with great
care. It was then loaded onto a transport shuttle which took it to the station orbiting around the planet
where it was placed into high security storage to await the arrival of designated transportation to its
owner.

Chapter 2

Catsee, was busy wiping out an ugly little pirate ship when the message came in on the concord
side band hailing frequency.
At first he thought it was just another demand for him to submit his hauler to yet another ridiculous
customs search and was about to bounce it back at them as a distorted distress signal in hopes of buying
enough time to make a hasty disappearance, when he noticed the key phrase that indicated this was no
ordinary message.
He ordered his ship interface to switch to communications equipment group C and punched in the code
that would confirm his identify and start the encryption and decryption algorithms.
In this mode, eves-droppers would see and hear a boring conversation that was completely different
than what was actually being said.
Generally speaking, it was low level stuff, but effective within short time spans under relatively low
risk circumstances.
He had just finished, when the ship interface reported that the frigate had self-destructed and the pilot
was preparing to warp his pod out.
He immediately told the ship interface to harpoon the pod and hold.
The ship interface complied and a nasty looking double spiked harpoon streaked into the pod before it
could finish its warp systems check, and so, the crippled pod shut down and dangled helplessly on the
end of the cable attached to the harpoon.
Catsee wondered if it had nailed the scumbag pirate inside, as was usually the case.
“Monitor pod life signs" he said to the ship interface, "and report".
The ship interface responded, "life form temperature 98.9 degrees and stable. Blood pressure
60 and dropping. Heart rate 116 beats per Minute.

Catsee looked at the incoming message and whistled. He was to make all haste and report to
Dock Q717 and pick up cargo to be delivered. There was no destination mentioned. He knew
he'd get that information after he had picked up his cargo.

“Temperature 98.5 degrees and dropping, Blood pressure 0, heart rate 0." the ship interface
said.

“Ah good! That bastard pirate is dead. I won't be losing any time messing around torturing
the little prick” thought Catsee.

The pod capsule was scooped on board and the pilot’s carcass extracted and put into a homing capsule.
It was then launched to the EVE grave yard located in the backwater system of Molea.
The pod was ejected as trash after its memory, data and communications logs were extracted.
The whole operation took less than 2 minutes. A little longer than Catsee would have liked, given his
new mission status.

He entered the destination Dock Q717 into the ship interface and the hauler responded by
going into immediate warp. Catsee settled back in his comfortably padded chair. This will be
interesting he thought. It had been a long while since his last mission.

Chapter 3

Several weeks prior to the shipment of the shell, on the fringes of lawless space, there was a
gruelling fight between a roving band of pirates and a convoy carrying supplies to a system of
planets being mined and colonized in an attempt to bring civilization to an area notorious for
the lack of it.
The pirate bands had long been a thorn in the collective sides of the entrepreneurs who were
determined to achieve success.
As the battle raged on, the pirates were having second thoughts about the ripe pickings they
had thought to plunder.

Samantha Truobam, had been handpicked as convoy commander because she was a seasoned fighter
who knew how to make things very difficult for anyone attacking a convoy and had a reputation
for winning more than she lost.

This was no different even though some of the bigger haulers were taking a severe beating.
The majority of them were still mobile and intact. It helped that they had just recently been
fitted with projectile deflection plates and the shields had been set up with Nano mite
condensers which sucked the impact into a pin sized area and then dispersed the energy back
towards where the initial shot had come from causing a dense field to form, which also helped
to dissipate the next shot. In addition to the self-defence mechanisms of the main convoy ships,
there was also a contingent of fighting ships moving along with them. They were helping to turn
the tide and had saved many in the convoy from certain death.

The pirates were being beaten off and some of them were giving up due to the hopelessness of
the situation, Samantha began taking stock of her losses and looked for ships in need of
immediate help. Another reason for her past successes was that she liked to keep at least one
or two fully equipped medical ships cloaked at a distance from the main convoy. Although
many ships had to be ditched because they were dead in space and could not be repaired in
time to carry on with the main group, these medical ships were of enormous benefit in saving
those pilots who otherwise would have died strapped and connected to the inside their pods.
They would have ended up as useless clones, before anyone could get back in time to save
them. A major benefit was that the pilots experience was retained. A precious commodity in a
universe where finding good pilots to help protect ships on dangerous convoy routes, was
becoming more and more difficult. Ships were easy to replace and the medical ships had helped
to ensure she didn't have to replace too many pilots.

As she scrutinized the wealth of scanning data and noted the number of damaged ships, there
was a bright explosion near the rear of the convoy.

Damn she thought who was that?

Suddenly the scanning screen was interrupted by an automated distress message. The ship interface
quickly confirmed her suspicion that it had come from the exploding ship. It indicated that the
pilot had been ejected a mere microsecond before the blast had occurred and that the ejection
had been initiated by the ship itself after having detected that it was about to go into total
destruction due to the heavy damage it had sustained during the battle. The ship had been
carrying a load of concentrated oxygen and various other gasses which helped to explain the intensity
of the explosion.

Samantha centered her ship scanners on what was left and searched for the pod manually but
there was too much interference. It looked like the reactors of the ship had gone nova. She
quickly turned the scanning task over to the ship interface and punched in the sequence that
would force the scanners to look for life in the immediate area of the blast. At first nothing
showed up but as the scanning area began to get wider it became apparent that the pod had
been blasted onto a trajectory that would carry it into nowhere fast if it was not soon stopped.

At two hundred Kilometres, the scanners detected the pod and life inside but it was sporadic
and barely traceable. It meant the pod and its precious contents were likely to be very badly
injured. Samantha immediately checked to see who was closest to the pod and found a lumbering
orca within 50k of the pod. She worked furiously fast and ordered the orca to get a tractor on
the pod to prevent it from getting further away. She then dispatched the closest medical ship to
try and save the pilot. She dispatched the remaining medical ship to pick up several other pilots
who were not seriously injured but whose ships were clearly unable to support them for much
longer.

With the exception of the one explosion, there had been no major losses today. The
next task was to collect everything salvageable and distribute it among st the remaining haulers
and then start moving again.
Samantha did not care to linger too long in this particular area. The convoy had been very fortunate and
she didn't want to push their luck today.
 Chapter 4

Ralph Morgan had been wide awake on station and had spotted the pod coming his way even
as the order to get a tractor on it flashed on his screen. He had quickly brought all tractors on
line and targeted the pod. By now the pod was very near the fringes of the tractor beam range
and he selected them to maximum distance after feeding the pods identity specifications into
the ships material identification bank for the tractors. He quickly selected auto detect and
retrieve from one of several menu's. The orca's ship interface quickly located the pod and
energized the big tractor beams. The pod began to slow and the beams automatically
modulated and changed between each other to avoid pulling the pod apart as it was first
slowed and then gingerly dragged back to the Orca. Fortunately the pod's mass was pretty small
compared to the average rocks and storage cans the system normally dragged back to the orcas
holds. This effectively provided a little extra range and very likely saved the pod from becoming
a comet doomed to travel the universe until it burned up in some planet's atmosphere or more
likely, ended up on a long curve to the centre of some star.

The medical ship meanwhile had made all haste to the Orca's position and arrived as the pod
was coming within 100 meters of the Orca. A specialized team prepared to board the orca as
the pod was dragged inside. When the team arrived, they found the badly damaged pod upside
down and leaking onto the hanger floor. It would be necessary to neutralize the pods power
and stop the flow of fluids before they could attempt to extract the pilot. Time was the enemy
now. The leaking fluids and uncontrolled electrical system meant that the pilot was not getting
any life support from the pod which would normally administer anaesthetics, blood or drugs and
whatever else was needed to help keep the pilot stable until help arrived. The orca pilot
assisted by energizing a special gravity/anti-gravity unit he'd had installed to help with handling
the giant cans used to store the ore collected by the mining ships. This allowed the pod to
hover above the hanger floor and the medical team was able to access all areas of the pod
which helped to get it under control much quicker than otherwise would have been possible.

Within 3 minutes, the pod had been stabilized and the experienced medical team began the
painstaking process of extracting the pilot or what was left, from the tangled mess inside the
pods outer casing. There was considerable damage and there had been electrical fires inside.
The pods fire protection system had kicked in and saved the pilot from being totally crisped.
Most likely as soon as the ejection sequence had begun. But it hadn't been enough to prevent
injury to the pilot. The body was trapped in the twisted and melted internal wreckage. One of
the medical technicians scanned the body and his initial equipment scans did not register any
life signs. "We may be too late" he said. As the technician continued with his final checks he
detected some weak brain activity. The other team members immediately jumped into action and
frantically worked to create an artificial life support system for the brain. The body cavity was
quickly opened up and the artery's feeding and draining the brain, were quickly severed and re-
attached to support equipment and then life sustaining fluids were pumped into the brain. The
heart was found to have been impacted and was pumping very little blood.

Less than 30 seconds after they had begun, the brain was attached and it slowly became more active
and appeared to be stabilizing.
"Just in the nick of time" thought the med tech. "and now, we have a decision to be made"
 Chapter 5

Samantha was breathing a sigh of relief as the last pirate ship started spraying gasses into the
void after having been hit with a torpedo from one of the Stealth bombers that had been
mercilessly pounding on it. One more salvo from a rifter finished it. The ship exploded and
vaporized. Then came the report from the Medical ship she'd sent to retrieve the pod pilot. It
indicated that the pilot’s brain had been stabilized but that the body had sustained irreversible
damage. There was a request for orders for the disposal of the pilot’s brain.

"Damn" she thought. She had two choices.

One was, let the brain die. The pilots clone would be activated and she'd loose the current pilot.
Two, let the brain live.

But to what end?

It would be sent home to it’s family and probably kept in a tank to keep it alive.
But with no useful purpose. With that thought on her mind, she accessed the pilot’s records
and checked over the information which indicated what the pilot wanted done with anything
salvageable should the worst happen. There was the usual donate the organs to science and or
any recipients that could use them. "Not likely going to happen with this one" she muttered.

As she quickly sifted through the files, she came upon a contingency final request data storage
file. Unusual and she had only seen a couple of these previously. She plugged it into a standard
reader tablet and entered the pilot’s identification number. The information spread itself across
the screen. It specified what to do in case the pilot’s body should ever become incapacitated
while the brain remained intact. “Well now, that's handy “she thought to herself. She noticed
that there was a sub file and she opened it up after providing the requested identification and
authorization, which was required whenever someone other than the originator opened up the
file. It provided very detailed requirements that had to be met before the brain was allowed to
live and also provided instructions on where to deliver the brain should those requirements be
met. Full payment of costs was to be accorded to the person's responsible for the correct and
intact delivery of the brain along with extra recompense should the task be done successfully
and expeditiously. “Oh I do love people who take care of these little details” thought Samantha.
"It makes my job so much easier". She immediately sent a copy of the "requirement pre-
requisites" details to the medical ship along with instructions on what to do with the pilot’s
brain if they could be met.
Chapter 6

When the medical technician received his orders, what was left of the pilot had been extracted
from the wreckage and transferred to the medical ship. He breathed a sigh of relief. He read
the requirements carefully and made some measurements and checks. Everything looked good.
This one, would be saved. It did not happen very often and he didn't like terminating people
even if they were better off dead. It also gave his team an opportunity to practice some of the
new methods being used to keep brains alive and in better condition, so that they could be
integrated more successfully.
Until recently, the common practice was to sever the brain from the eyes, ears and make the
brain stem very short. This of course meant that the brain was preserved with no sensory
perception and would endure a very short life, very much in the dark. With the advent of
research into the possibility of using brains to pilot robots and ships, much effort was going into
making brain survivors live longer and be more productive.

The med tech and his team discussed how best to extract and prepare their current patient from the
tangled mess that had been a person's head. The pre-requisites indicated that there was a requirement to
extract the brain with the eyes and ears totally intact so as to protect the optic and auditory nerve
endings from as much damage as possible along with anything else salvageable.

It was found that the vertebrae was intact only to where the pilots shoulder blades had been
and so the spine was cut at that point with a surgical laser which was designed to work like a
saw. The focal point was automatically adjusted from near too far and back again at a high rate
of speed. The net result was a very precise and clean cauterized cut. The idea was to preserve
as much as was practically possible so that all possible avenues could be explored in the
restoration of the brains sensory functions.

Next came the preparations for transporting the brain to its intended destination. It was placed
in a self-contained canister designed to give the brain everything it needed to sustain its life and
protect it from damage. The eyes were put in a dark solution to minimize light penetration and
the auditory nerve endings were encased in a special jelly like substance to help preserve and
minimize any sound they might pick up inside the canister.

When the med technician reported that the brain had been safely stabilized and was ready for
shipment, Samantha prepared a message as per the instructions found in the sub section of the
pilots file. She then sent it to its destination as a high priority message.

When the convoy had arrived at its destination and was safely moored in station, the cargo was
unloaded, repairs undertaken and supplies taken on board. Pilots were allowed station leave to
enjoy the pleasures and luxuries of living on station and a myriad of other activities associated
with the arrival of ships after long and sometimes difficult voyages. The bio container was
transferred to a much more elaborately equipped medical ship which had been in preparation
while waiting for the arrival of the brain.

Chapter 7

The I.S.L.D.M.S. - inter-system long distance medical ship, had been built and commissioned in
the Etherium Reach region and had been christened Synthia. When the bio to mechanical
connections had been completed, Synthia, was among the first successful attempts to integrate
biological entities with space going vessels. From within her shell, she had control of every
function onboard the entire ship. The ship was effectively her body.

Prior to her accident, Synthia had been a very successful doctor and had been doing intensive
research on memory preservation at the Amarr academy. She believed that it could be possible
to preserve a person's entire memory before they died. The notion in fact, had been the subject of
much intensive debate among st ethical and medical authorities in many regions.
Given her prior background, it was logical that the best fit would be something related to her
prior qualifications. The bio integration specialists had also figured out that if a person was
integrated into a system related to what they were most passionate about, then there would
likely be a much better chance of success and less probability of self-destruction which was a
constant problem and a very serious concern. Current success rates were less than 5 percent
and there was fear that bio integration programs would be cut due to the very high costs
associated with self-destruction and initial build as well as the low rate of success.

When the bio container arrived and had been loaded on board Synthia, it was immediately
taken to a special area and integrated into machinery especially equipped to handle the
replenishment of fluids and to do the checks on the plutonium 298 cells which provided the
power needed for environmental control inside the container. It also checked on the vital signs
of the brain and transferred the results of the total operation to Synthia’s processors for
analysis and storage.

Synthia perused the information and was mildly surprised to note that this one had various
peripherals still intact. Hmm she mused, if the bio-integration's specialists are successful, this
one will have visual and auditory input along with possibly a sense of smell if there's not too
much damage done. Ah but that's very unlikely. There's not many specialists that can successfully
perform even low scale brain integration, never mind something this complex. The success rate is low
and the cost would be phenomenal. So what's all the excitement about she thought. It's just a
run of the mill brain salvage probably doomed to failure.

Synthia accessed her orders and perused the instructions she had received regarding her new
cargo once again. She had been on a run to salvage what was left of a battle in the stain region when the
orders had come in on a top priority crypto link to change course for Kaaputenen in the Citadel
region. It had come as a welcome reprieve from the mundane task she was enduring with much
boredom.

According to her orders she was to dock and accept modifications to her ship. Modifications
which were totally baffling to her because they involved the integration of the med bays to the
hanger deck which caused considerable re-arrangement of cables, pipes, walls and even the
construction of a half way level between the two. It was all very quickly done and Synthia was
glad that it was not her having to pay for those costly modifications. If an engineer said that a
certain thing had to be done, it was certified and cleared and nothing was said about cost. It
was just done. This was a far cry from the usual red tape and other time wasting rigmaroles she
had to endure when she needed a refit or repairs caused by damage done by having to go in to
rescue pilots inside twisted wreckage or by unexploded live ammunition floating around and
bumping against her sides and detonating. It quite often took weeks to get anything fixed. That
in mind, she managed to squeeze in some long standing repairs and made them look like part of
the current process.

Having completed the modifications she was to await the arrival of a Bio-container which would
be delivered to her. She was to do everything to ensure the safety of the contents and nothing
was to be spared in keeping the container in perfect operating condition. Upon successful
integration of the container into the newly modified med bays she was required to send a
confirmation message and then make all haste to her new destination.

Synthia checked along her myriad of cables and connections and when she was sure she had
found the bio-container, she set about checking for the brains faint sine wave signals and found
the brain to be in a very calm state. That's good she thought. That meant the med team that
had put the brain into the container had done their job well and her crew had managed to
integrate it into her systems such that it was undisturbed. She accessed her processors to
analyze and compare the signals to known brain signal patterns expecting to see that the brain
was either sedated or asleep but it appeared to be neither. The brain was very much in an
awake and alert state. She ran a check to ensure that what she was detecting was correct and
could find no errors. But why is it so calm she wondered. After being dissected from its body it
should be showing chaotic patterns and high stress levels not to mention the issues associated
with sensory deprivation. Clearly her passenger was an unusual case and that immediately
piqued her curiosity.

Synthia had an urge to communicate with her new passenger but even if she had the authority
to do so, it would take considerable time to accomplish a suitable interface that would
accommodate communication between the individual and herself.

She decided to send a message detailing her discovery and ask for permission to establish
communications with the brain if possible.
Simultaneously, she began initiating systems checks and preparations for the long journey ahead.

Chapter 8

Catsee gave his ship interface the command to enter the last gate in his journey to pick up the
cargo at Dock Q717. He also input a command to come to a full stop on the other side of the
gate and wait out the standard gate cloak time and then initiate immediate Ship cloak 1 micro
second afterwards and then drop 5km in the Z axis with reference to the gate position.

He had a suspicion that there would be company waiting to check him over as was always the
case when he entered this system. With a little luck he could avoid going through the usual
scrutiny that was zealously provided by the local authorities.

As the ship settled into the commanded position, Catsee looked at his scanners and saw
nothing aside from the huge jump gate and various peripheral support units. He began to
breathe easy and was about to set course for Dock Q717 when the scanners went blank and the
ship interface reported an outer hull pressure drop.

Catsee was about to issue evasive commands but stopped suddenly and instructed the ship to
ignore all sensor input for the next 10 minutes. Previous experience with this system had taught
him that nothing in his bag of tricks would get him out of what was about to happen. He was
sure that his ship was triangulated between at least 3 tractor locks and that the local authorities
were about to drop in through the roof. He settled back into his chair and waited.

Less than a minute later a large round hole appeared in the ceiling and a storm trooper came in
and landed on the deck, the sound of metal cleats punctuating the entrance.
A nasty looking weapon was immediately pointed at him and a harsh, deep male voice said,
“Don't Move”.
Eight more Storm troopers came in after him and quickly did a thorough check of the
entire ship and then stationed themselves in various positions throughout the vessel.
A tenth trooper came through the hole and approached Catsee in his chair.
This one was different from the rest.
She had a special backpack unit that was fitted to her form and it moved in unison with her body.

“Can't you people just knock?” He asked.

"No that would be impolite, state your name and identification number " She said.

Catsee then realized that this was not the usual check and without hesitation he complied.
Catsee, I050201SC029R01.

She looked directly at his face and then pointed two fingers at him and two storm troopers
quickly moved in and pointed their weapons at him.

She raised her arm and Catsee felt himself being lifted out of his chair and tipped into a position
horizontal to the floor. He couldn't move a muscle and would not have tried anyway.
The first storm trooper had after all, said not to move and he was inclined to take the request very
seriously.

He was then scanned from head to toes and back again. The trooper then re-scanned his hands
and his eyes. She scanned his wrists and both ankles. She then searched the remainder of his
body for a microchip that very few people knew about and fewer still could say they had one.
She located it in his scrotum with a special device designed to activate the chip and then initiate
a data upload. Upon successful completion of the upload, a download inserted a confirmation
code causing the chip to shut down and deactivate. Had the download not occurred or had it
been false, the chip would have self-destructed by dissolving into Catsee's blood stream.
All the collected data was then fed into various devices in her form fitting body pack to be
analyzed.

Have you been placed under duress and or tortured? She asked him.
No, he replied.
Have you been compromised in any way?
No, he replied again.
Say the complete alphabet and then the first 10 decimal numbers starting with Zero, she told
him.
Catsee complied and when he was finished she again submitted the collected data to the
backpack to be analyzed.

She then raised her hand and Catsee returned to the upright position. She lowered it and he
felt himself able to control his movements again but remembering his instructions from the
storm trooper, he didn't move.

"Walk to the bulkhead, turn around to your left. Walk back to this spot and don't move." She
commanded in a no nonsense tone of voice.

Catsee complied to the letter and when he was done she again entered the collected data into
the backpack analyzer.
When the results showed up on her virtual display she studied them and said, "Identification
confirmed".

The Storm troopers immediately came to attention and saluted Catsee.

"Welcome back Sir",
“The Chief requests that you attend his office as soon as possible.”
Thank you Trooper. Tell the Chief I will meet with him as soon as time permits.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Please arrange to have this entire ship thoroughly checked for parasites before it docks.”
“Yes Sir”
“You may leave.”

The storm troopers quickly went back out the way they had come in and the opening was
closed as though it had never been there.
Catsee went over and knocked on the panel where the hole had been and shook his head.
Amazing gizmo's they have to play with these days, he thought.

At that point the ship interface declared that the outer hull pressure was normal again and that
docking control had indicated that the ship was to stop at way point 30 before continuing to
Dock Q717.

Catsee confirmed and the ship interface complied by automatically setting course for the
way-point. Upon arrival, a scanning bay was set up and the ship was subjected to a parasite
scan. Parasites came in various flavours and Catsee was curious to find out what kind had been
attached to his ship by the pirate he'd killed.

When the scan was done, docking control informed him that there were two parasites attached
to his ship. One to the forward scanning array and another one on the rear scanning array.
They were class FU-200' drones designed to capture a ships location, and after a specified
period of time transmit it back to its originator. They were however, fairly short range from a
galactic point of view. So typically, if the originator expected the victim to be going a long
distance, they would have the drones attach themselves to antenna arrays in order to boost
their range.

Catsee asked if they had sent their data yet. Docking control checked and determined that the
drone timers were only about half expired and therefore had not yet sent their data.
"Attach them to a communications shuttle and autopilot them to the Paragon Soul region."
Catsee instructed.

“That was easy” thought Catsee, and then his suspicion radar suddenly kicked in. Maybe too easy.
He asked docking control to do another scan. This time checking every part on the ship against
its unique intra- crystalline identification.
It was expensive but he had to be certain that there were no further parasites on board.
An hour later docking control informed him that there was one part on the ship that had no
identification embedded into it.
"Bingo" thought Catsee.

Docking control sent him the location and a 3d picture of the suspect part. It looked like an
antenna attached among st the rest of the rear antenna array assembly and it blended in very
well.
"We will have to remove it and have it analyzed to determine what it is because it's not showing
up in the normal scans", said Docking control.

“No” “ don't do that” said Catsee.

Have a parasite specialist team come and check it out first.
I want the best team there is on this one.

Catsee had a suspicion that this was no ordinary parasite. Whoever went to the trouble of
putting two decoys on his ship to hide a parasite that did not show up in normal scans was very
unlikely to use anything that would easily submit to a normal identification under the usual
circumstances, he mused.

When the specialist team arrived and examined the parasite, they were unable to determine
anything unusual about the antenna other than it definitely did not belong to the ship. It was
not in the ships drawings and it had no identification markings on it. There was nothing unusual
showing up on their scanners either. It just looked like a normal antenna.
Catsee was still suspicious. He sent out an urgent message and ordered the team not to remove
the parasite just yet.

Chapter 9

CatchCaan's ring phone buzzed on his finger distracting him from the view pane he was
watching. He raised his hand and looked at the ring. Now who the hell would be calling me at
this time of day he muttered. He tapped the ring lightly and said, Hello?
There was a pause and then the ring buzzed again so he had to tap a second ring to invoke a virtual
video screen to view the message. The message that came up on the pane indicated that he was to be
picked up within 15 minutes and taken to an undisclosed location and that his expert opinion was
urgently required.

CatchCaan raised his bushy white eyebrow and said, “but I'm retired damn it.”
He was about to invoke a virtual keypad to refuse the trip but another message came up with a
single word that caught his attention. All thoughts of argument vanished instantly, he put the
keypad away and dumped the message and tapped the rings again, turning them off this time.
Crap, no rest for the weary he muttered.

CatchCaan quickly packed a rucksack with a few tools he normally carried on business trips
which he had to dig out of the bottom of his closet. He stepped out of his modest dwelling and
waited out the remaining minutes for his ride.

An automated station shuttle picked him up and CatchCaan soon realized that this shuttle had
priority over all other station traffic and it was moving fast.
“No surprise” he thought.
“When they need help, they usually need it now and not later.”
He wondered what all the excitement was about this time.
It had been a very long time since he'd been called out like this.
He'd retired about 50 years ago after 80 years of intense service. But his knowledge and unique skill
were very difficult to replace. They had tried to find several suitable apprentices for him to train but
the potential replacements had all gotten themselves killed on the job.
He’d given up after the last one grounded himself on a 10 Terra-Watt laser combat drone power
supply. The kid had vaporized instantly leaving a few bits of hamburger and blood spray all over the
nice white walls in the room.

The shuttle soon had him delivered to the space dock and as soon as he arrived he was quickly
ushered into a well-appointed and very fast ship. Very soon he was looking at Catsee's hauler
from his seat window. Now there's an interesting tub he thought to himself. A modified Iteron
V. His practised eye caught the unusual harpoon launcher and the modified communications
arrays. He also noticed the engine modifications. On a hunch he picked up a set of binocular
magna viewers and had a close look at a particular nameplate installed just under one of the
many port holes on the hauler. Ha, and this one has inter crystalline identification as well.
Clearly not an average hauler. He took a closer look at the communications arrays and noted
that most of the assemblies had been manufactured in the Tash Murkon region. He also noted
that the engines appeared to be above average warp capability. So what else he wondered.
“Ah.. warp scrambler, webifier, and probably T2-425mm Auto cannons under those side cargo
doors. Hmm and a covert ops cloaking device as well. I wonder how that was accomplished?
Oh and a burst jamer mark VIII. That thing must have a range of well over 100km. And what the hell?
That looks like a harpoon launcher. I’ll bet there's other goodies in that thing too. How very interesting.
Someone has an expensive hobby apparently.”

As soon as CatchCaan had transferred over to the hauler he was immediately greeted by
Catsee.

Hello Mr. Caan. My sincere apologies for such short notice. I am very grateful that you have
come. I trust that arrangements were made such that you had a very short trip?
Yes my trip was very expeditious. Indeed it was by far the fastest trip I have ever made on a call.
And might I inquire as to what your name is?

CatchCaan was intensely curious about who had, on a moment's notice, managed to have him
extracted out of retirement, gained priority status over a very busy station's transportation
network, provided high class very fast transportation and was driving a very unusual hauler.

"My name is Catsee and I am the skipper of this hauler vessel".

“And a very interesting hauler vessel it is too” thought CatchCaan.

Over dinner, Catsee explained the situation and what had been done up to the present.
You made a very sound decision not to tamper with the parasite Said CatchCaan. One never
knows what sort of surprises these things have to offer the unwary. I'll need to take a very close
look at this parasite. But not with the usual array of scanners.
The parasite team have likely used them all and apparently come up with nothing.
Yes indeed, and what do you have in mind? Catsee asked.

CatchCaan reached into his pack sack and picked out a cylindrical object and put it on the table.
There was an elaborate design engraved into it. A simple tap on a small square within the
design and the object began to transform into an elaborate looking device. I call it the looking
glass, said CatchCaan. It's better than the technical name which only sounds correct if you say it
when you’re drunk.

Catsee was amazed. He had heard about these devices but had never seen a real one. Rumour
had it that it was capable of “looking through” any kind of material and providing the user with
much data in the process.

CatchCaan picked out another device and activated it by twisting both ends of the Tritainium
case. He pulled out the contents which appeared to be some sort of material which was
growing in size. Noticing Catsee's curiosity, he explained that it was a light weight space suit.
That was the simplest way to put it. It was an item he liked to keep handy since he was never
sure when he might require it.

Having donned the suit he filled the ample pockets with most of the remaining items in the
pack sack and went to the exit to the communications array where the parasite was located. He
checked to make sure he had a connection to the ships network in case he might need some
external information to add to data stored in the looking glass. He stepped out through the
clear shimmering wall barrier onto the outside deck. Using a link to the ships data centre he
viewed a diagram of the communications array assembly. The parasite was not hidden and was
easy to find by comparing the components to the diagram. It looked very much like an antenna
which gave CatchCaan pause for thought. If it was an antenna drone it would have been
identified by the team given that they were fairly common pests used by pirates to amplify the
effects of any EW drones that needed a little extra boost to help incapacitate their victims.
This was something else. He measured the device and did a calculation to determine the
resonant frequency if it were to be used as an actual antenna. The resultant number did not fall
into any of the known pirate or concord bands. But it did fit into a band that CatchCaan had
seen used long ago when early attempts at sub channel covert communications were being
investigated. He then did several visual scans at differing magnifications. An investigation of
the mount showed that the device had been micro-welded into the ship's hull. Hmm, that
could be bad news he thought. Then he mapped the exact position and orientation of the
antenna in relation to the ship. As an afterthought he dug out a small multi-spectral laser and
attached it to his visual scanning device. He ran it up and down the antenna structure being
careful to cover the entire surface area of the device. Having finished that he went back inside
the ship both for replenishment of his suit supply and to study the data so far collected.

Catsee had been monitoring the whole procedure and marvelled that someone would actually
do a physical investigation in a universe where it was all done with scanners and other very
capable detectors. Well, apparently not all things could be done given the fact that his ship had
been infested with something that thus far, had eluded the best parasite detection- identification
team in the region.

As CatchCaan worked his way through the collected data he began to paint an interesting
picture regarding the nature of the parasite. The fact that the antenna like assembly was
welded into the ships structure, was an indicator that it had also very likely penetrated the
ships power systems using self-boring tendril like power conduits that wormed their way
through the ships structures seeking the magnetic waves produced by current passing through
electrical circuits. A successful penetration ensured a steady supply for the power hungry
parasite.
A visual examination of the material the parasite was made of, confirmed that it was made of
the standard building materials with tritainium being the principal metal. Under very high
magnification CatchCaan noted that the alloy was of a very dense structure which was unusual
since most alloys were usually blended for strength and light weight.

The multi-spectral laser yielded some interesting information. There were 50cm sections that
reflected specific portions of the light spectrum and there were speckled reflections in a spiral
trace around the circumference of the top half of the antenna like structure.

CatchCaan studied it all for a little while and finally he said to Catsee,
"This parasite is sucking power from your ship for its own use.
This can be confirmed by doing a check for current consumption in the ships power logs.
It has several hundred multi-spectral cameras watching something on this ship.
It is transmitting all of this information on a little known band, which was once used by clandestine
operators to pass highly classified traffic to the various Caldari, Amarr, Minmatar and Gallente
governments and various other factions.
Whomever planted this parasite on your ship is very serious about seeing something important because
it's an extraordinary method of covert observation not to mention that there are very few places in this
galaxy that could manufacture this little item.
The equipment to de-multiplex the multitude of complex signals at the other end is just as
extraordinary.
Where ever the other end happens to be."
You should know that removing the parasite will cause the ships power to be shorted to its
structure because the tendrils that feed the parasite also act as protective insulation until the
parasite is removed. The only way to remove the tendrils is to remove the parts of the ship that
they have penetrated necessitating their detection which, at this point, has not been
accomplished.

So how do we get rid of this thing? Asked Catsee

It can be disabled by covering it with a lead shield. Removing it is clearly out of the question at
the present time. It will need to be done at the next major overhaul of this vessel after it has
been totally powered down and the tendrils properly scanned and mapped. The next
transmission should be modified to block our little inspection so that the originators are kept
ignorant of its detection and compromise.

CatchCann logged a few more fine details about the parasite, provided the ship interface with
the necessary data with which to modify the parasite transmission and supervised the lead
painting of the parasite which was completed by specialized maintenance personnel brought in
from a local planet
.
After Catch Caan had been properly thanked by Catsee for his services, he was afforded the
same high speed courtesies getting home as when he was called out. His cat met him at the
door to his dwelling, very happy to greet him upon his return. Later as he was checking his
personal accounts, his eyebrows went up when he saw the remuneration that had been
deposited for him. He initially thought that an error had been made however a check with the
system indicated that it was correct and that the deposit was for services recently rendered.
Well that's just great he thought. I don't even know who the hell I was working for. There’s a
great deal more to Mr. Catsee and his ship than meets the eye apparently. Parasites like that
one are not set up by people looking to spy on simple cargo shipments. In fact, they only show
up in very unusual high profile ships. He looked to his cat and said, “I may yet get another call.

Chapter 10

When Catsee was satisfied that any and all parasites had been properly taken care of, he set
course for Dock Q717. A tad late he thought but it had been a worthwhile check. He was glad
he’d called CatchCaan in. If that parasite had been able to transmit any information about the
cargo he was about to pick up it would not have gone well.

As the huge station came into view, Catsee requested permission to dock from the system
docking control authorities and was in turn asked to provide identification and the number of
the dock he wished to enter. After he had provided the information, he noticed 3 battle cruisers
which had been quietly parked and apparently minding their own business, slowly move into
better positions that provided them with unobstructed views of his ship. Some of the special
equipment that he had on board also allowed him to see that there was a loki blending into the
station background just above dock Q717 and two Tengu’s and a legion were also very close
by. He had no doubt that there was other security lurking around keeping a very close eye on
him and the station and everything else for that matter.

Docking authority gave him clearance to Q717 and informed him that he would be contacted by
the local dock controller and brought in under auto pilot control. Catsee politely thanked
docking authority and was immediately contacted by a very pretty voice informing him that his
ship would be brought in under station control and that he could expect no delay.
“That’s good” thought Catsee. Delaying ships during docking was expensive and ships sitting
still around the station caused traffic issues. That and he did not relish wasting any time just
sitting around waiting to dock.

As the Iteron V was brought into Dock Q717 Harry Martin waited impatiently to deliver the message
he had been tasked to give to the Iteron’s skipper as soon as he set foot on the docking bay.
This was not to be an obvious message transaction. Rather, Harry was a shipping master and
he would have the skipper sign a tablet which would normally contain the usual do’s and dont's
related to normal docking routines. Instead the tablet contained information for the
skipper’s eyes only. It would be very brief and no one would suspect it was anything other than
a routine briefing to an incoming ships skipper.

When the hauler was finally docked and Catsee stepped outside of his ship, the docking master
greeted him in the usual way with the usual paper work. He would have passed it off without
bothering to read much of the typical greetings were it not for the small flashing square in the
upper left side of the tablet screen that Harry had given him to sign his acknowledgement of
the station regulations on. Whereupon he played the part and using the special stylus provided
with the tablet, he opened up the message by tapping off the tick boxes in a specific order.
The message informed him that he was to kill some time on the station before he attempted to
meet with the chief and that he was to be especially careful of anyone asking about his next
destination. Catsee interpreted that as, you are the bait and you’re being watched and you
might have to save your own bacon if anything happens.
“Well aint that just wonderful” he thought.

Without skipping a heartbeat he took his time and finished reading the tablet. He thanked
Harry and complimented him on such a clean and apparently well-organized docking facility
indicating to Harry that he had locked out and dumped the message.

“It’s not often that I don’t have to shovel my way in” and they both laughed.
“Yes, I know what you mean” Harry said. “We keep a very clean facility here and I’m sure you
will enjoy yourself during your stay with us.”
“That’s good to know and thank you” said Catsee.

“It looks like I’ll be spending a little more time here than I thought” he mused to himself.
He made his way to a vehicle rental and picked up a long range station cruiser with extra charge
packs on board. Never know when he might need those.

The station was fairly new and was very well mapped. Not at all like some of the older stations
that were put together in sections and the only people who knew the layout of the whole
station were those that had been with the station since the installation of the first module.
Catsee used the vehicle information system and selected what appeared to be a good place to
get a drink and a good meal that was close to a nice captains quarters hotel. Nice because it
had no red light indicator icons around it. No point in messing with the station ladies this time
around and he needed some rest. Catsee had not rested since before he had received the
message to pick up the cargo.

The remainder of the day went by with no surprises.

His meal was very good and the accommodations were more than adequate.
Consequently he had a good night’s rest and in the morning he felt much better.

He checked in on his ship and discovered that there had been an intrusion into the cargo bay
during the night. No surprise there he thought. As he watched the high resolution video
provided by various specialized cameras placed in strategic areas of the ship, he saw someone
dressed in black tights with a black hood and face mask who appeared to be female, place an
object behind a bulk head and then leave the ship through a hole they had made to gain
entrance to the ship. Then the hole closed leaving no trace that it ever existed.
That’s interesting he thought. Seems that someone is into some after work, late night activities.

Catsee sent a message to Harry warning him about the intrusion and the possibility of a bomb
plant and then sent another message to the station security people passing along in the
process, the video his ship security system had captured of the intruder.
He then went on a tour of the station just to see the sights until he got notification that he
could go to visit the chief.

The station had many different things to see because it catered to many different industries.
There were all kinds of different types of weapons and ammunition being manufactured as well
as many ship related systems and modules to feed the ships that were being assembled on the
lower levels of the station.

In some areas there were commodities such as tobacco, various drugs, and crop related items such as
grain and farm animals being traded.
In other areas, raw materials from different planets and moons were being processed into commodities
such as station fuel or items used in construction of new stations. The station was also used as a central
gathering and launch point for items being shipped to the various regions of the galaxy.

There were areas which housed the extensive repair shops required for the many damaged
ships which arrived every day. Medical facility’s provided clone bays and centres for disease
control and surgical bays for the many casualty’s that occurred as a direct result of the many
wars constantly erupting due to inter racial and religious conflicts which had century’s old
history behind them. For a fee it was possible to have the dead cremated in the fires that
smelted the ores which were mined out of asteroids on a constant basis. In all, the station was
a very busy place with many thousands of people living in permanent residence on the station
to keep it running.

Around lunch hour, Catsee received a message from Martin indicating that the hauler had been
isolated and that security were now removing the item that had been left by the mysterious
person the night before. They were also checking for any other surprises that may have been
left behind both inside and outside of the ship.

“And I’ll bet that’s not all they find” he mused.

He received another message on his ring phone indicating where he was to meet the chief. It
was not the usual place one would expect to meet someone of the chief’s status. A3152 was in
a very high security area usually reserved for high profile activity. He groaned at the thought of
having to go through another scrutiny by the local security people.

He dropped off the rental car and waited for his expected transportation to arrive which was
due in about 5 minutes. The shiny black cruiser arrived on time and after a quick identification
process, he was comfortably settled in the rear seat with two security officers and on his way to
his destination. When he arrived at A3152, he was escorted into a building that looked more like a
fortress.
Indeed, it was in fact the next best thing to a fortress. The walls were made of special alloys
designed to stop projectiles of any sort and could dissipate incredible amounts of laser energy with
little or no damage. The building itself was designed to withstand a full dreadnought assault. It also
had the unique ability to keep conversations inside and keep conversations outside with zero
leakage.

When they got to what looked like a simple box on the wall he was instructed to audibly count
to 20 which he did. The box came to life and instructed the security detail to carry on with their
normal duties at which point the Wall in front of him suddenly became a door. The box
instructed him to place both hands on the door and stare directly at it.

Catsee complied and the door opened to allow him to enter. Then the door closed and became
a wall again. He was in a room with a single illuminating source and he knew he was likely being
scanned. “Describe the item embedded in your scrotum” Boomed a voiced from somewhere
above.

“Identification chip” Said Catsee.

“The number has been logged and matched to your voice, palm and retina scans. You may
enter and be seated.” Said the voice.

Another door opened and Catsee walked into the adjoining room and sat down on a bench
attached to the wall on his right.

Catsee waited another 5 minutes until another door opened.

A very short man greeted him and asked Catsee to follow him.

Catsee complied and the door closed behind them. They travelled down a long walkway that
ended in a staircase. They climbed two flights of stairs where upon they entered a transport car
which took them down a very long tube. Catsee could not be sure if they were going up or
down or sideways. It was a very fast ride.

When the car finally reached its destination the two passengers disembarked into a large open
room that was elaborately decorated and there was a receptionist seated at a desk with
multiple consoles.

She looked up and said, “Hello Sir, the chief will see you very shortly. Please avail yourself of
whatever refreshments you prefer and I will call you when he’s ready.”

“Thank you” said Catsee.

Catsee looked around and saw what looked like a small restaurant.
“Some refreshment stand” he thought.

A serve-bot popped up out of the floor in front of the entrance way into the refreshment area and
asked him what he preferred.

“Food? Beverage?” Asked the serve-bot.

“Beverage” said Catsee.
“Hot or Cold?”
“Hot coffee please”
“Yes sir, hot coffee sir right away sir” said the serve-bot

The robot scooted off and 2 minutes later brought back a cup of hot coffee and placed it on the
table that Catsee had seated himself at.

“Cream and honey please” said Catsee.

The robot opened a compartment in a hutch next to the table and brought out the requested
items and placed them on the table in front of Catsee.
Catsee then built his coffee, tasted it, smiled, and waved the serve-bot on its way.

He enjoyed his coffee as he admired the huge round aquarium that was in the middle of the
refreshment area. It was embedded into the floor and stretched about 20 feet up to the ceiling
and had large bubbles floating up through multi-coloured light shafts.
There were little creatures living in underwater habitats that would jump onto a bubble as it
was created and ride it up to the top where the bubble would pop and they would float down
to the bottom and repeat the whole performance again.

Catsee watched in fascination until the receptionist called his name and he had to leave the
show to meet with the chief.
The receptionist took him into a very large office.
“Catsee is here to see you Sir.” She said.
“Thank you Alindee, You may leave.” Said the chief.
“Yes sir” she said.
As she left, the huge doors closed silently behind her.

Chapter 11

The chief was sifting through information zipping rapidly across two very large monitors and he
motioned Catsee to have a seat in a very comfortable looking chair.
Without hesitation, Catsee moved to comply with the request.

Abruptly, the chief broke his concentration on the monitors and looked at Catsee.

“It’s been a long time since our last meeting “said the chief.

“Indeed it has. And there must be something of importance going on for you to drag me into
your office.”

“You could say that,” Said the chief. You see, there’s been a pirate attack on a hauler convoy and
several ships were destroyed.

“There’s nothing special about that. It happens all the time.” Said Catsee.

“Ordinarily yes, however, this one is very unusual.” Said the chief.

“A hauler pod was ejected just prior to an explosion and was saved from embarking on a long trip
through the galaxy. A medical team got to the body in time to save the brain thanks to a quick thinking
orca pilot named Ralph Morgan.”

” To add to the cacophony of incredibly fortunate events, the convoy commander, Samantha Truobam,
went through the pilots personal files and came up with some special instructions for disposal of the
brain should it survive and meet certain criteria.”

“It turns out that the pilot has volunteered to undergo integration into a ship, chosen and funded by
someone who wishes to remain unidentified, should anything happen to his body and his brain is
saved.”

“This pilot has photographic and encyclopedic memory and can fly any ship that has ever been
produced. He also has a history as a covert operative and is knowledgeable about most, if not all,
telecommunications protocols, the equipment to produce, transmit, receive and decript encrypted
messages. He can do 10 figure multiplication and division in his head. And that's only what we know
about. Apparently, he’s a bit shy when it comes to divulging everything he knows and what he can do
or for that matter, what he’s done”

“So why was he flying a hauler of all things”? Asked Catsee.

“We’re not entirely sure.

He may have been on a covert mission of some sort or, he may have gone into some sort of depressive
funk when his girlfriend Synthia, was killed in a catastrophic construction accident at the Jita shipyards
and was just goofing around and wasting time on long hauler voyages trying to work off his grief.”

“ As near as we can tell, he doesn’t know that Synthia was successfully integrated into an I.S.L.D.M.S.,
Which incidentally, is currently carrying the bio-container protecting the brain in it, to the integration
location.”

“Well that has marvellous implications.” said Catsee.

“Yes, it does. It means that we now have real support and motivation for a ship integration
candidate and also this one still has his eyes, ears and olfactory senses intact. With his
abilities, it makes him an excellent candidate for covert and clandestine activities as well as an
all-round excellent drive anything pilot.” Said the chief.

“And many other things as well". Said Catsee. "Does this synthia know who she has on board?”
“No, not yet. Synthia has asked to be allowed to attempt to communicate with the brain
because apparently, she has detected that it is very much awake and aware despite the trauma it has
endured. But we have not yet answered her on this one. It has yet to be determined “when” a
good time to do that would be.”

“Also, Synthia was doing extensive research on human memory preservation after death.
She believes it can be accomplished.”

“Wow”, “If that’s true and it can be done, then we have an opportunity beyond belief here.”
Said Catsee.

“Exactly” said the chief

“Hmm...” mused Catsee. "If we wait too long before allowing contact it might not go well later
on. Also, there is going be a need for specialized individuals to provide for the maintenance end
of this. We can’t have people we’re not sure of or unqualified, looking after Synthia and the pod pilot.
Also, there will be unique equipment and other requirements. Oh, and what’s the pilot’s name?” Asked
Catsee.

“Tom Horton” said the Chief. “He’s from the Minmatar region.”

“Tom Horton? Minmatar? A bone head!

Now where have I heard that name before?
A coffee house perhaps.” Catsee mused.
"A bone head purely in the physical sense".
"This boy can think, And he has a backer with the deepest pockets in this half of the galaxy.” Said the
chief.

“Successful bio-ship integration's are rare but it looks like this one may have a reasonable
chance if that’s the case. Any Idea who the backer is?” asked Catsee.

“I have no idea. This person is totally anonymous. All information transactions are third,fourth,fifth or
whatever party.
Attempts to come up with that information have led to no-where’s vill".
"And I have to tell you, that's totally UN-comprehensible".
"We have an intelligence network second to none and we still don't know who it is".
"There are only a handful of people who have pockets that deep and most of them are bad news".
"Fortunately so far, this one has not been proven to have any ulterior motives or political agenda’s that
are typical of these kinds of people".

“indeed.” Said Catsee.

“ And there is of course one small detail that has yet to be determined. We don’t know
if this Tom Horton wants to be part of our organization. He’s volunteered to allow himself to
become integrated, but perhaps not quite the way we have in mind. He will have to be briefed
and then asked. And to make things more difficult, Synthia will also have to be brought on
board as well” Said the chief

“It seems there’s always a catch or two. Where will the integration take place?” Asked Catsee.

“In the Tartoken III – Moon 3 – Genolution Biotech Production facility. Quietly of course.” Said
the chief.

“That’s a good choice. They have talented people there. And who is going to do the integration?
This will obviously not be an easy one. In fact, I understand that there are very few people who
are even moderately successful with standard integration never mind audio, visual and
olfactory of all things.” Said Catsee.

“There is a search going on for someone with the requisite skills but it is turning out to be very
difficult to find anyone suitable. There is a person named Flint Tidal-Bomb who is said to be
particularly adept at this sort of thing but he lacks proper credentials. He’s shown no one any proof
of primary education or other documentation, never mind proof of advanced brain integration surgery.
We’re not really sure why. You’d think someone with that kind of knowledge and skill would want to
be properly recognized. Instead we get rumours of incredible ability” Said the Chief.

“That’s risky.” Said Catsee.

“The empire would have a shit fit if they found out we’re allowing him to practice. He’d be up for
quackery, and we’d be in for a serious quagmire of grief.”

“Yes, it would certainly be a situation less than ideal. I’m working on finding out what his real
education is. There has to be some pertinent records somewhere.” Said the chief.

“Well lets find out if he’d be interested in doing the integration and if so, get him tested and check
his references/acquaintances and then if necessary, have some documents created to show where he
learned to practice medicine and do brain integration. That would help to keep the empire watchdogs at
bay and maybe even keep the integration legal.” Said Castee.

“Yes, that, and perhaps we can arrange it such that the integration never happened in so far as
empire is concerned”. Said the chief

“ That is an option” Said Catsee.

The screen oh the chief’s desk gave an audible beep and he looked at the flashing message being
displayed.

“ Good news. My initiation of a quiet search for Mr. Tidal-Bomb has proven fruit-full and according to
my sources, he is currently in the metropolis region.”

“I hope he’s not perusing any of those bars out there. I hear they can be rather rough” Said
Catsee.

“If he is, our agents will soon extrapolate him from any predicaments, preferably whole and
intact. By the way, that parcel that was placed inside your ship turned out to be harmless.” Said
the chief.

Surprised, Catsee said, “Oh really?”

“Yes, it was planted by one of the covert operations team students. There is a training course
held here on station occasionally. They like to target incoming ships. It appears that someone
has failed to do so without being detected. Bad for the student.” The Chief Smiled.

“Perhaps not” Said Catsee. There might be something else. The box was blatantly obvious and
was most likely a distraction for something else more interesting.” And it was Catsee’s turn to
smile.

The chief raised an eyebrow, “Good point, and if security has missed it I’ll have them strung up
outside with nothing but a breather mask on. If a student can fool them, then what else hasn’t
been detected? I’ll have dock security go over your ship again before and after the cargo is
loaded.” Said the chief.

“That’s a good idea. And I’ll have the ship do a self diagnostic and check the ships security
system for indications of anything unusual.” Said Catsee.

“Fine, and your cargo will be loaded as soon as we’re sure it is safe to do so. We’re taking extra
precautions with this one. You will take the BIO-T5 to Tartoken and deliver it to the clone
facility manager. Ben Dagart is his name. He will provide the “safe to deliver or not” signal and
under no circumstances should you make the delivery if you feel even the slightest suspicion
that something is not right. BIO-T5 cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. It has a few
special features, one of them being universal junction connectors. The S.R.T.O . container has
been set with the default origin as a different one than here. You can access that location using
the usual access code should you happen to need it. The container has also been fitted with a
destruct mechanism that will vaporize it and its contents, within 1 second should the need
arise. You can use your personal triggering method and code. As soon as the brain is integrated
with BIO-T5, I’ll need you to help find and assess suitable candidates for ongoing support and
maintenance. Not an easy task let me assure you. One of the major reasons ship integration
fails is the lack of good support people. Either they don’t have a clue what they are doing, or
they don’t care enough to take good care their charge.” Said the chief.

“ I was not aware of that” Said Catsee. The popular belief is that the brains get depressed and
go suicidal.”

“ That is a very rare occurrence and is usually associated with damage caused during the
removal of the brain from the cranium as well as poor skills on the part of the surgeon. The
suicide “excuse”, serves to help keep the funders from getting nervous and bailing out.” Said
the chief.

“I see. Said Catsee. “So I’m going to have a difficult time putting a suitable team together. I will
have to have to call on some old friends for assistance on this one. Good people are very
difficult to find ever since the fiasco caused by the intergalactic governments attempt to equip the outer
regions with Brain Gates.” Said Catsee.

“ Be sure to clear them through this office before you bring anyone on board”. Said the chief.
We don’t want to be compromised because of failure to do proper security clearances.”

“I’ll Keep that in mind” Said Catsee

“Excellent”. Said the chief.

“ I will send authorization to Synthia to go ahead and attempt contact with Tom as soon as I can
get confirmation from the Psych’s that it won’t cause any undue harm” Said the chief and he
pushed a button on his console.

The Doors to the Chiefs office opened as silently as they had closed and Alindee hurried in and
ushered Catsee out.

As Catsee worked his way out of the fortress like building, he put some serious thought into
who he would contact regarding maintenance people for Tom and Synthia. They would require
some very skilled and experienced people to look after their needs and training.
He could only think of one reliable person who might be able to help him select the right
people. He would have to enlist the aid of CatchCaan again.

Chapter 12

Flint Tidal-Bomb woke up with an unusually wicked headache.

“Way to much pleasure venom to drink in too little time” he thought to himself.
He searched around for the bottle of antidote and found it in the pocket of his jacket and,
after carefully extracting the correct dose, he injected himself.

Very soon he began to feel much better as the headache dulled it’s way into nothingness.
He turned on the viewer in his watch and opened up the virtual screen until it was big enough
to read a full page at a time. He scrolled through his files until he found the one that had an
interesting write up on the trials and tribulations of using phellian mould glue to attach micro
neurons to nerve endings in hope of making a connection that wouldn’t inhibit the ability of the
micro neurons to fire at full speed. Flint wasn’t satisfied that the glue would hold long enough
for the connection to heal and make a satisfactory connection. And he was of the
opinion that there had to be some sort of buffer in place that would allow the signal to be
absorbed into the nerve ending without bouncing and causing echo problems. As he was
working his thoughts deeper into the subject, there came a heavy knock at the door.

Flint jumped up and rushed to the drawer beside his bed where he kept his sidearm. He had
just picked it up when the door came crashing in and a very heavy set man came in behind it.
Flint rolled across the bed and came up with the gun pointed directly at the mans head.
“Hold it right there” flint said.

The man came to a dead stop and growled at Flint “I want more for the P.V. and I’m here to
collect”. He said.

“I don’t owe you anything Bowman you Stupid fleabag. I paid you more than it was worth.
One more step and I’ll pop your brains, now get out” Said Flint.

But the man wasn’t about to abide by flint’s demand. He ducked down and rushed in while firing his
own weapon, nicking Flint in the shoulder. Flint fired back breaking the mans fore arm and
spraying bits of flesh and bone back towards the door where someone else was coming in.

Flint didn’t have time to figure out who it was because Bowman’s inertia had carried his bulk across
the bed into flint, and pinned Flint to the wall. Bowman managed to pull out a knife with his good hand
and was about to slash Flints throat when suddenly his head exploded and painted the wall behind Flint.

Flint disentangled himself from the bloody mess and stood up to look at the stranger in the
doorway who was putting a rather nasty looking weapon back under the folds of his black coat.
In fact, everything about the man was black from head to foot.

“And to whom do I owe my life this morning?” Asked Flint.

“That is privileged information and is of no concern to you. Please confirm with photo I.D. that you are
one Flint Tidal-Bomb” Came the answer.

“ Who wants to know? Asked flint.

“I do” Said the man in black as he pulled out his weapon again and levelled it at Flint.

“Well I must say, I’ve never been so Popular in such a short space of time. Yes I’m Flint Tidal-
Bomb and please, do put your weapon away. I’m really quite harmless.” Said flint nervously as he
proffered his identification card to the man.

The man looked at Flints ID. card and then gave Flint a long stare as if taking in every photon
emanating off of Flints face. Finally he returned the ID. card to Flint and said, “Good, your getting the
idea, please wash up and pack all your belongings. You will be coming with me. My friend will ensure
that your shoulder and this mess is taken care of post haste. There is someone who wishes to meet with
you.” Said the man in black

Flint was incredulous. “You expect me to just pack up and accompany you and your henchman
here to wherever, upon your request, after blowing Bowman away?” said Flint.

“ Certainly” Said the man in black.

And as an afterthought he said,
“Look at it this way. If we had not intervened in your little discussion with what is now a nasty mess
on the other side of the bed, you would likely not be in a position to be going anywhere except
into your grave. And probably unmarked at that. Please accompany us willingly or we will take
you unwillingly. You have 5 seconds to make your choice.”

Clearly Flint was in no position to argue and he was quick enough to realize that something was
up. Otherwise why else would someone he didn’t know want to take him anywhere. Bowman
was dead so there was no one else interested in him here that would want to cause him harm
for any reason that he knew of, so he capitulated and said. “OK fine, I’ll go willingly. Take me to
your leader”.

“Thank you. A very very good choice. And please, flush the P.D. along with the antidote. You would be
wise not to inject anything else. It has been cut several times and is much less than pure which explains
much of your severe headache when you woke up this morning.” Said the dark figure.

“Now how the hell did they know that?” Thought Flint.

Flint was quickly patched up and he began packing all his belongings. He checked to make sure his
watch files were still intact. They were new files he had picked up from the office of a now dead
surgeon on a popular station in the metropolis region. The surgeon had been killed by a disgruntled
anti-brain integration activist who didn’t have the smarts to realize that he’d killed a specialist who had
phenomenal knowledge about Brain integration techniques stored in his file system. Flint had
only caught on because he recognized the surgeons name in the media when it was reported
that he’d been killed. Flint had gone to his deserted office in the wee hours of the morning to
see if he could find any useful writings that the surgeon might have left behind. Flint was always
looking for more things to add to his own knowledge. He was startled and amazed when he
found a link to an immense file system with writings of many other surgeons from around the
galaxy. Some of which, served to augment and confirm his own suspicions and beliefs about the
“intricacies” and “how too's” of the various brain integration techniques.

Flint was moved very quickly from his room and taken to a transport hub where he boarded a

tunnel car which had been waiting. They then travelled at high speed to a space dock where a
space bus was being readied for immediate disembarkation.

Flint was placed on board in the custody of two new men he’d never seen before. They too
were dressed completely in black. The bus left the station and went into warp for a short period
of time and then dropped out into a black void.

Or so it seemed. Another ship uncloaked and before flint was even aware, he was transported
into the new ship. Two men were there to meet him and as soon as they had scanned the
identity chip which had been placed on him and confirmed who he was, the order to go into
warp was given. Flint Tidal-Bomb was in for a very long journey.

Chapter 13

CatchCaan was enjoying the fabrication of a fine sandwich for he and his cat as he watched the local
news cast on the flexible thin film monitor which he had temporarily wrapped around the paper towel
roll that was obediently hovering near the kitchen cupboard door. He did that ostensibly to keep the
monitor dry since the cat, Filbert, liked to jump onto the water button next to the sink and take swat’s at
the water stream coming from the tap.

He was about to admonish his cat for making a watery mess of the counter when he heard the news
caster mention something about charges being brought upon a youngster for knocking out the power
conduits powering one of the city’s major multi-layer intersections. This had brought ten of the twelve
intersections crashing down. Fortunately no one was hurt as it was a national holiday and traffic was
minimal.

Apparently, the youngster had been seen experimenting with something unusual at the site and the
police naturally assumed the kid was the culprit. As there was no evidence of any explosions,
authorities were examining the site trying to figure out what the kid had been doing. The power
conduits of multi-layer highway intersections are supposed to be tamper proof and also be able to
withstand considerable damage before collapsing.

“Hmm. Experimenting eh? How very interesting” thought CatchCaan.

CatchCaan thought about the whole scenario as he and Filbert munched away on the very fine
sandwich he had successfully managed to create, despite filberts antics.

‘If this kid can do that kind of damage just experimenting, I wonder who he is and if there’s more to the
story. It might be worth while to inquire and just see what that story is.” He said to Filbert and nobody
in particular.

CatchCaan tapped his ring to gain access to the 3D phone which popped up in front of him as he lay
back in his easy chair. He provided the alpha numeric s of the party he wished to call when the phone
system prompted him to. There was a delay as he waited for the party to pick up.

“hello?”

“Hi Joe. Hows things?” Said CatchCaan.

“Same old Catch, Whats up? You never call unless you need something.”

“Oh, nothing special. I’m just wondering about that kid that supposedly pancaked the intersection this
morning.
Have you heard anything about it?” asked CatchCann

“You sure don't want much do you?

Well, the kid is being held at the local constabulary and from what I hear from my little birdies, they
don't have anything on the kid but they are looking real hard.
Probably looking for someone to take the fall as they have no other suspects.
There's no evidence, just circumstantial stuff. No proof the kid had anything to do with it.

“That's a good thing. Anything special about the kid? Asked CatchCaan.

“ It kinda figures that you’d ask that. So your still looking for your replacement?

“ You know I’m always looking Joe. This one kinda caught my attention on the local news cast today.”

“ Well the only thing of interest is the kid hid some kind of device right under the cops noses before
they packed the kid into the wagon.
A real small gizmo of some sort.” Said Joe”

“ Thanks Joe. Can you get me the Gizmo and some info on where the kid lives?” Asked CatchCaan

“ Sure thing, I’ll put Ralph on it and you should have it this evening. Hey, let me know if it turns
positive. ”

“ OK, but that may take some time Joe. It’s not an easy road to pick up on.” Said Catchcan.

“ That's fine. Just don't kick the bucket before you get one trained. We’d have a tough time without
your knowledge and skills Man.” Said Joe.

“I won’t. So relax Joe. Take care and keep yourself alive, eh? Bye for now.

CatchCaan closed the link with another tap of his ring and said to Filbert, “lets hope this one has some
positive potential” as he cleaned up the remainder of his awesome sandwich and ordered something
interesting to drink from the replicator.

Later, as promised, Ralph called and told CatchCaan where he could pick up the “gizmo” and also gave
him the kids address and some other info. It would be a few hours yet before the cops would release
their suspect because the kid wouldn't give them a name and was demanding release or a lawyer.

CatchCann thanked Ralph and made a call to someone he knew, who would step in as the kids lawyer if
necessary. He then started checking out the info Ralph gave him.

CatchCaan went through the school records and discovered that the kid was an early high school drop
out. He also went through the kids media history and discovered considerable references to technical
library’s and a large number of hits on various educational institutions.
There was an attempt to access several interstellar ship building company’s which were of course,
denied as they were not open to the public.
There were also hits on many different manufacturing facilities. Most of the inquiry’s were directed
towards the theory of operation of various modules and sensors.
There were many requests and confirmation receipts for sample items, from various electrical,
electronics and mechanical engineering company's.
“ Now why, would a young high school dropout be poking around, into all things engineering?” He
thought.

Catch could see that based on the communications network records, that the kid had a small network of
friends with similar interests.
He checked for a criminal background but there was nothing of the sort on record and nothing to
suggest that there might be.

He then decided to check out the kids home life.

This kind of snooping usually revealed all sorts of information about the person such as their habits,
likes, dislikes and all things dark and light.
Catchment had used this sort of information in the past to help weed out potential candidates. Quite
often, there were issues with drug addiction and associated habits or criminal activities which were
immediate dis-qualifiers. Sometimes there were allergies and other medical problems.
One person had an allergy to certain metals and couldn't be physically exposed to them or their skin
would dissolve into puss. Others were too timid and unable to handle the dangerous aspects of high
powered equipment. Some just had very poor attitudes and were prone to being compromised.

Catch was looking for just the right someone and that someone had proven, thus far, to be very difficult
to find. It was possible that this individual might have the unique ability Catch was looking for in a
potential candidate. Certainly, some of the markers appeared to be present in this individual.

CatchCaan’s curiosity was indeed piqued.

Chapter 14

On his way to the kids home, Catch made a stop to pick up the device that the kid had hidden
while being arrested by the police.

As he looked it over, it first appeared to be a conglomeration of micro circuits glued onto a substrate.
It had an unusual looking power source and what appeared to be two micro-strip antenna's.
“OK so its a radio” He thought.
“but why two antenna’s? Not a radio?”
And suddenly, it dawned upon him what the device was and what it was capable of.
“ Sooo thaaat’s why the Intersections dropped. It sure wasn’t because the power conduits dropped,
that’s for certain.”
He wondered why only 10 of the 12 intersections had dropped.
The device was not tuned correctly perhaps? Didn’t finish the job? Maybe not the intended result?
Many different possibility’s passed through CatchCaan's mind as he made his way to his new
destination. That being the site of the demolished intersections. He had to confirm his suspicions before
visiting the kids home.

When Catch arrived at his destination much of the rubble had been cleared and some of the new
intersections were being moved into place. The city maintenance crews were quickly making repairs
but catch had no problem finding what he was looking for.
He found a small pile of rubble and bent down to examine some of the pieces.
Catch found what he was looking for. All the broken edges had a very fine powdery residue on them
that was barely discernible to the naked eye.

“No doubt about it”. He thought.

“It’s some kind of resonator device.”
It was an incredibly dangerous item and Catch was amazed the kid was able to build and make it work.
Many prominent scientists had tried and failed miserably. Some had, while testing their creations, died
horribly.
The theory was sound, simply make an item resonate at its own frequency and it will dissemble into
pieces. The trick was to confine it to one particular item. On the useful side, it made for a great
demolition tool. On another more sinister side, it was a deadly weapon. One could theoretically
demolish entire space ships or, for that matter, a whole planet. Great for resource collecting but not so
good for the inhabitants.

“No small wonder that the kid had hidden the device from the police.” thought Catchment.
Although, I doubt they’d be able to figure out what it is.

One of the maintenance workers came over and advised Catch that he should stay clear of the rubble as
they were about to clear it out.

Catch thanked the worker and made his way to a public transportation portal.
He stepped into a comfortably furnished pod which had unfolded itself from a storage port, when catch
had stepped onto the platform, then dialed his destination into the console and sat down.
A four point seat belt automatically wrapped him into the soft material of the seat and the pod
whooshed away at great speed.

It was not long before CatchCaan reached his destination. The kids home was located in one of the
many bedroom community’s spread throughout the vast station.
The Seat belts released Catch and the chair pushed him upright so that he could stand up and he
stepped out of the pod which folded up and moved into an empty storage port to wait for its next trip.

Catch then stepped up to a hover pod kiosk and gave his payment authorization to the kiosk robotic
attendant which looked and acted like a real human. Only the small flashing digital readout embedded
into the temple of the attendants face gave any indication of its true nature.

A short range hover disc then zipped up to the kiosk and Catch stepped on and spoke the address he
wished to travel to. The disc hummed, extended a shimmering force field around Catch, rose up to the
standard pedestrian transportation level and Catch was whisked away. The hover disc’s only purpose
being to deliver its passenger safely to his intended destination.

The area was low to middle class and most of the accommodations were in good condition.
“This is good, the kid lives in a fairly decent area” thought Catch.
He walked up to the main entrance and looked for the kids apartment number.
The selection was formidable and he opted to have the intercom system do the search for him.
The button automatically lit up for him to push, which he did, and was immediately told to wait while
the tenants were summoned.

A young voice answered the call. “you are not recognized, who are you?
Catch identified himself and said that he was there to speak with the family.
The intercom then asked him to provide proof of ID and Catch put his wrist up to the sensing device.
Several seconds passed by and the intercom said “identification confirmed”.
The young voice then said that he could enter and go to the top floor where a robot would be waiting to
escort him.

A glass door opened with a hiss and catch entered a nicely appointed foyer.
There were padded arm chairs and a glass table with fresh flowers in a crystal vase centred upon a
multi-coloured tugnisian carpet.
“Pretty plush for middle class” thought catch.

On the other side of the foyer were 3 elevators and catch picked the middle one.
He said “open number 2 please” and the middle elevator door opened up allowing him to step inside.
Catch then instructed the elevator to go to the top floor.
The elevator interface responded with “ top floor confirmed, please wait”

Catch felt the elevator begin to move and pick up speed as it made its way to the top of the building.
When it had reached it’s destination its came to a slow stop and the doors opened to reveal an area even
more richly appointed than the downstairs foyer. There were statues of people he didn’t recognize and
in the middle was a unicorn with 6 legs standing on its hind legs with its face pointed up towards a very
fancy chandelier which was lit up and rotating. Bright shadows emanating from the chandelier were
casting beautiful animal shapes in a scattered fashion all about the room.

The floor beside the elevator doors opened up and a bell bot popped out and greeted Catch.
“hello Mr. Caan. Please follow me”.
The Bell bot spun around and moved towards one of several hallways that led away from the elevators.

Catch complied and it was not long before they came upon the doors to the apartment he wished to
visit. They were twin doors with large shiny brass handles and very well built. There was a number pad
above the handles for key less entry. “The pads likely have finger print identification.” thought catch.

The bell bot signalled their arrival and Catch could hear faint chimes inside. The door opened
to reveal a woman, a man and a young girl standing side by each in the doorway.
“Mr. CatchCaan” said the bell bot.
And it immediately disappeared back down the elaborately decorated hallway.

“Hello” said Catch, “My name is CatchCaan and this is a very nice building you live in”.
“Yes, we like it” said the man.
“Why are you here? Is it about Sid?” Said the little girl.
Catch looked down at the little girl, “Well yes, I’ve come to inquire about Sid. He seems to have gotten
himself into a little bit of a pickle.”

“Yes he certainly has” said the man.

“Well do come in. My name is Velma and this is my husband Paul and my daughter Missy” Said the
woman.
“ Thank you” said catch, “I’m pleased to meet you.”

Catch stepped in and was greeted by a very luxurious dwelling. Crystal was every where and the
ceiling was one big continuous display screen through out the entire home. At present, the ceiling in
each room was changing to a different colour.

The doors automatically closed behind them as they moved into the living room where catch was
offered a place to sit and Paul called up a serving bot to take their preferences for drink and snack
refreshment.
As catch looked around, the ceiling let loose with a starburst that spread across the entire room.
When all were settled and enjoying their drinks, Velma asked Catch what his interest in Sid, their son,
was.

“Well,” Said Catch, It appears that Sid has been doing a little experimenting with devices best left to
the people better equipped and able to handle them. He’s managed to take down some
Ah...infrastructure and the authorities are trying to pin it on him as being the culprit.”

“Yes that seems to be the gist of the matter” said Paul

“I have no idea how they could possibly implicate Sid. I mean, he’s always building something or other
but honestly, how could a kid who drops out of high school manage to take out a multi-level
intersection specifically designed not to fall apart?”

“That is an interesting question. Does Sid do much tinkering or like to build gadgets or anything else of
that nature?” asked Catch.

“All the time” said Velma. “In fact, he dropped out so it wouldn’t interfere with his projects. He’s
always messing with something or other. His dad had to put his foot down when he tried to drag a mini
tractor beam into his room. There was no way we were going to let him mess with that inside our
home. He could have ripped the entire place apart with that thing.”

“Indeed” thought Catch.“And I wonder where in the galaxy he managed to find and get one in the first
place.”

“So he does his tinkering in his room?” asked Catch.

“Yes he does and he sometimes uses my room too” said Missy.

“Oh? And what for?” asked Catch.

“He sometimes fires up this laser thingy and needs a longer distance to bounce it off a mirror in her
room” said Paul.

“ In his own words, “I need it to attain a specific angle and also to get full multiple phase rotation””
Said Velma.

“ I see” Said Catch. “ Can I examine his room? I’d like to get some idea of what he likes to ah.. work
with”
“ Certainly” said Paul. Who touched a button and a console popped up in front of him.
He touched several buttons and a virtual screen showed up in front of Catch.

A very clear picture of a room full of items Catch would have expected to see in a mill-rite’s repair
shop. It was complete with parts shelves, work benches and could easily have been some place deep
within the bowels of a manufacturing Station, became visible to him.

“He certainly has a large room” said Catch.

“ You can use your eye’s to move around the room” Said Paul.
“We went with the eye movement control option since it was included as part of the deal if we bought
the whole package.

“ Thank you” said Catch.

As catch moved the view around the room he saw some pretty amazing things considering the age of
the individual who inhabited it. There was test equipment that looked like it belonged in the dark ages
but clearly had been modified and all kinds of communication devices, motor controls, various flavours
of processors, sensors and other gadgets were laying all over. There was a work bench with plenty of
tools, some of them exotic and some not so exotic. The walls all had pictures of Titans on them and
Catch noted all four ship flavours were present. Minmatar, Gallente, Amarr and Caldari. The ceiling
was currently showing an ongoing ship battle of some sort and there were schematic drawings of
modules everywhere. There was some very new stuff as well. “ most likely the results his efforts at
getting samples from various company’s” thought Catch.

“ Very interesting” said Catch. “Does Sid do all this himself?”

“ He quite often has his friends over and they usually have some project or other going” said Velma.

“ Listen” said Paul, “I hope your not here to get Sid deeper into trouble over this freeway collapse thing
are you”

“ Oh most certainly Not!” said Catch. “Quite the contrary. I’d like to get him out of his present
predicament and put him on a much better path. Does Sid take any courses or is he in college or the
empire university or anything like that?”

Paul’s face went into a very grouchy scowl.

“No” said Velma. “He left high school, he said, because it was boring and a waste of his time. He
spends most of his time working on his projects and scouring the network for whatever he can get out
of it. He’s very stubborn about it.

“ I understand” said Catch. “I’d like to have a chat with Sid if I may. I think that if he can be persuaded
to undertake further education, his abilities could serve him very well and perhaps my own aims as
well.”

“ Well good luck talking to him” Said Missy. No one has been able to convince him that any education
is worth anything to him.”
“Yes,”said Velma. “we’ve all tried to convince him to go back to school but to no avail. We’ve pretty
much given up on him.”

“ And what Exactly are your “aims” Mr. Caan” said Paul.

“ Well you see, I’ve long since retired from service, although I do occasionally rise to the surface as the
need requires. But there hasn’t been a replacement found to take my place and like you, in your
predicament with Sid, I too have just about given up hope of finding a suitable candidate before I age to
the point where I cannot properly train a suitable individual.” said Catch.

“ And you think Sid is a candidate?” Said Paul

“ I think Sid may be a potential candidate. He shows many positive markers but I’ll need to talk to him
to really be sure. And even then, some of the stresses and requirements of the job may not be up his
particular alley. Many have tried and all have failed and in some cases they have failed terribly.”
“And of course, he needs to be a willing candidate.”

Catch made a mental note of some of the more interesting items in Sid’s room and
motioned the display to go off.
It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared when Paul had enabled it.

“With your permission, seeing as Sid is still under age, I’d like to meet with him to get a better idea of
his potential and if he’s willing, send him back to a special school, one perhaps better suited to his
particular talents.”
“And rest assured, if he gets through it and graduates, then he will have acquired a much better
education than even the Empire university could give him. Also, he will have an opportunity to serve in
a position that will pay him well and provide him with many fine benefits. If he’s as good as I suspect,
he won’t have much trouble accomplishing it.”

“ That’s the best news we’ve had about Sid in a very long while” said Velma
“Yes indeed” said Paul.
“What about his girl friend” Said Missy
“What about her” Said Catch
“She does the same things he does” Said Missy.
“Seriously?” thought Catch “whats her name?” He said.
“It’s Annette.” she said.
“Is Annette. in school?” asked Catch.
“Yes” Said Velma “although, she’s very bored with it and she usually makes a bee line here after school
so she can help work on whatever Sid happens to be messing with.
“So Annette. likes “messing” with things as well?” Asked Catch.
“ Oh yes she does indeed, in fact, her father complains about her room looking like a shuttle repair
garage all the time.” said Paul.
“ I see.” said Catch. “Perhaps she would be interested in the same program I have in mind for Sid.”

“ First things first though, Sid needs to get free of the police before he can do anything else.” said
Velma.

“ Right you are and I can assist with that if you have no objections” said Catch.
“ No, absolutely none” Said Paul. Go right ahead. I have not had any success talking with the police.
They are dead set on getting something on him even though it appears they have nothing.” said Paul.

“ Thank you” said Catch. “now if you don’t mind, I must take my leave as I have much to accomplish,
now that I have your permission, to assist Sid recover from his predicaments. The sooner he gets out of
that police station the better.”

“Certainly” said Paul. “Velma will show you to the doors. Missy call the bell-bot for Mr. Caan please.”

Catch was shown to the doors where the Bell-bot was waiting for him. He said his good by’s and
followed the bot down the hall as the doors closed behind him.

On the way to the Elevator Catch noticed that the bell-bot had been modified with a camera chip that
was barely perceptible under normal lighting but the bot had passed near a bodzillian spider plant that
was taking on some afternoon ultraviolet light that caused the Glue holding the chip onto the Bell-bot
to glow. “It seems Sid is keeping an eye on the neighbours” thought Catch.

Catch did some thinking on the way down in the elevator.

Was it possible that he actually had two potential trainee’s?
Well, never mind. They’d have to get through a very intense schooling and then survive the practical
tests before he’d get excited about it.

He did more thinking while whizzing along on the hover pod. He’d need to arrange to have Sid
released from custody. Hopefully Joe was right and the cops don’t have anything substantial on him.
It sounded like Sid might be a Challenge to convince. Sid, and his girlfriend, would probably be
difficult to impress given all the goodies they had stashed in his room. If his parents had a better
understanding of what was in that room they’d be calling in concord to remove it in a big hurry. The
tractor beam was a pretty mild issue in comparison.
Perhaps a tour of Mr. Catsee’s hauler would be helpful. He certainly had some interesting modifications
and additions they might appreciate. He’d also need to find out more about Annette. It appeared that
she was unusual compared to most girls her age. He’d put Joe on that task as well. The more detail he
could learn about these two, the better.

Catch returned to the public transportation portal and parked the hover disc in its slot and jumped into a
pod after providing it with the necessary instructions. There was much to prepare and think about on
his return journey.

Chapter 15.

To be continued.........