Hale's Moon

Aug. 31 - Hale's Moon

The retrorockets on the X-313 slowed my descent to the grey rocky surface.

If the remains of Zenobius are bought before I can secure them, they will be of no risk while they remain hidden out on the Rim. They will have to be moved to the Core and be authenticated to be of any use to any claimant or extortionist.

They will have to be moved.

I decided to start with an established settlement, one with lots of transshipment, with local law and safe storage. I decided to start with Hale's Moon.

By the time I arrived in his office, the Sheriff Gallagher Aeon was gathering his militia. He was actually still off-world at the time, using a holographic projection to communication with the locals in the square. It seems there had been a robbery at the general store. A local matter. Nothing that I planned to become involved with.

When he had a moment I introduced myself, reminded him that we had met briefly once before, and told that I was investigating the sale of forged antiquities that could possibly pass through his area. He hadn't heard anything. I gave him my card and left him to his business.

I still wanted to check in with the local administrator as a matter of professional courtesy. She was, however, unavailable. So I went for a short walk to view the terrain.

Suddenly as I neared the landing pad, Deputy LilyBell Snoodle passed by travelling low and very fast. I'm not sure what else to say regarding the Deputy. Let it suffice to say that whatever she is, she is not a cat.

She circled back and I had a chance to ask her what had happened. It appears that the fugitive had returned to the scene of his crime, saw the citizen militia gathered and quickly ran off. He was armed.

Deputy Snoodle passed me a copy of the wanted poster. I looked closely at the photo of the wanted man.

Time seemed to stop.

The thief, the man himself, InupThoret Yuhara, meant nothing to me. It was the markings on the wall behind him in the picture that held my attention.

During the recent raid on the Angel of Mercy Medical Research Facility, our security cameras took one particular photo that revealed the same markings on the wing of the craft used by those responsible for the attack. It was my only solid lead on that file.

[file photo]

"Deputy?" I asked carefully.

LilyBell Snoodle stared blankly.

"What are these markings behind him?" I asked.

"Nuffing," replied LilyBell. "You gots to ask Gallagher. Lily not know nuffing a bout Dharma." She smiled simply.

"Dharma?" I said quietly. "That's an interesting word."

Others rushed up. First, Jai Raghilda of the Trade Association then others. Finally, Sheriff Gallagher Aeon arrived and took charge of the situation. He was a slender man with dark hair and a beard.

After greetings and a matter of lost cigars being added to the list of stolen goods, I asked the Sheriff, "Have you enough manpower to do a perimeter sweep on the settlement?"

"Unfortunately no," he replied. "This is a big moon. The guy seems to have just disappeared. A lot of places to hide on Hale's."

"Perhaps low flying recon then a sweep of the mines," I suggested.

"If you could organise that it would be great," said Sheriff Aeon, "I do doubt you will find him though."

Captain Griffen Shinn muttered somthing under his breath then stopped talking.

I scanned the surrounding buildings then asked, "Do any of these structures contain secure holding areas that could hide such a man?" The reason for my question went beyond the immediate situation. I was thinking again about the remains of St. Zenobius.

Captain Shinn chuckled a bit and Ms. Raghilda looked at Sheriff Gallagher.

"Not that he could gain access to," replied the Sheriff.

"And what is your total complement of security personnel?" I asked.

"Well, the town look out for each other mostly," said the Sheriff, "Seems the thief hit the store at a quiet time."

These are a proud people I thought. "How many boots do we have on the ground?" I pressed.

"What you see here is what we got at the moment," the Sheriff answered.

I nodded, my questionning at an end. "Very well. He can't have gotten far."

"Unless he has a ship," corrected the Sheriff

"Yes," I conceded

"In which case he could have left the planet by now," added the Sheriff.

"Wouldn't the frigate in orbit have noticed that?" asked Venice Ditko.

The Sheriff and I were thinking the same thing. We both answered word for word, "There are ways past the frigate."

Venice Ditko looked between the two of us as we said the same thing at the same time, "Creepy," she whispered.

The Sheriff continued, "He could alternatively have flown to the other side of the moon by now

"Yes, in a low flying craft." I had a thought, "Do you have access to the control tower?"

"I do indeed," said the Sheriff.

We left the informal militia and together climbed the control tower.

A check of the system indicated that a low flying aircraft left the area about ten minutes earlier. It was out of range and with no clue as to our quarry's hangout, it was clear that we would not find him today.

-----

"You're a bit far from home, Major. How can we help you?" The Mayor of Hale's Moon, Seana Kawanishi, looked up from the flatscreen on her desk.

"I am here investigation reports of the sale of forged antiquities," I began.

The Mayor managed not to laugh. "Excuse me? Forged antiquities? Here?"

I explain that I thought there was a possibility that they would pass through Hale's Moon.

"So tell me," she asked,"What's SIU's interest in forgeries?"

A quick one, I thought. Most don't catch that.

I explained a little of Zenobian custom regarding legitimate claims to power. "I will be working alone but hope to continue liaison with your local Sheriff," I added.

"She already talked to me about it," came a voice from the stairs. It was the Sheriff.

He addressed the Mayor."I just popped in to tell you the store is clean and open again for business."

"We met once before on my first trip to the Moon," I explained.

"Shiny," said the Mayor." If you're on top of it, Gallagher, I'm good with it. And good. Folk depend on the place."

"Lucky we had extras of everything in storage," added Gallagher.

Once he left, I turned to the Mayor. "A good man, your Sheriff," I remarked.

"Aye. That he is."

"Efficient," I added. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, I left her office. I had one more place I wanted to see.

I stopped by the crime scene. Like the Sheriff said, the general store was now cleaned up and restocked with goods: toilet paper, beer, chewing gun, t-shirts. It simply added to the surreal nature of the recent turn of events that I found myself surrounded with boxes and boxes all stamped with the Dharma Initiative logo.

"Sheriff..." I asked as he joined me once again.

"Yeah?"

"The wanted poster," I began, "the markings on the wall behind your fugitive are the same as on these boxes."

"It's from a security cam picture," he explained, "inside the van he stole."

"Dharma Initiative?" I asked.

"That's right," he answered, "A charity organization helping 'lliance war veterans."

I nodded. "So the security camera was where?"

"Outside the herald office," said Sheriff Aeon, "He destroyed the cam but the last picture was wirelessly sent to me."

Others came into the store. Soon afterward, I left Hale's Moon.