章 28: Bait
I entered the cockpit, where I was given the comms headset.
"This is Commander Kagan."
"Commander, this is the Grand Admiral. Congratulations on successfully completing your mission. I have-"
I couldn't handle my curiosity, and interrupted the Grand Admiral.
"Completing my mission, sir? I thought-"
"I am sure you have a lot of questions, but don't worry. I will explain everything in a moment." he said. "But before that, I will give you your next assignment."
"Which is?" I asked. I was stuck in this ship until we arrived at Earth, so my 'next mission' couldn't possibly be something more interesting.
"There is a crew member named Frank Dyson in Flight 17. He has been transferred from Flight 09 during the rescue. Locate him and kill him."
"..."
"...Commander, did you copy?"
"Let me confirm." I said. "You want me to-"
I couldn't repeat what I had in my mind loudly, when someone could hear me. I turned to the man accompanying me in the cockpit, and asked him to get out. He left me alone in the cockpit.
"You want me to locate Frank Dyson and kill him. Is that correct?" I asked.
"That is correct." he said. "C-O-R-R-E-C-T." Admiral spelled the entire word to me to prevent any misunderstandings.
"Copy that, Admiral." I said.
"No delays." he said.
"No delays." I repeated after him. "But Admiral, what was my... previous mission all about? Despite-"
"Ah..." the Grand Admiral said. "That needs some explaining obviously."
"I am listening."
"Before the war was declared, the intelligence agency had launched an operation to expose the Federation agents who had infiltrated our government and military during the cold war. Our security forces could find and eliminate most of these threats, but some agents we haven't uncovered earlier were apparently informed of this 'purge'."
"A poor execution of plans, and lack of counter-intelligence." I commented.
"You could put it that way... Anyway, when we found out about this, we no longer had the element of surprise by our side. So, in order to eliminate the remaining threats, we had to use... what should I call it... 'baits'."
"Oh my..." I said. "You mean... Flight 09!?"
"That's one of them. We allowed the agents to pass through the regular security; but, we tasked an intelligence team lead by Mr. Braun to let the chaos unfold in a controlled manner."
"Isn't that very risky? Why didn't we just arrest them on point?" I asked.
"The intelligence agency knows more than we do." the Grand Admiral said. "Such events often lead to chain reactions which in turn exposes more infiltrators. Before the breaking moment, we did not know about the backstabbing pilot-in-command or the betrayal of the team. It turns out the Federation was a bit ahead of us this time. If it wasn't for your quick thinking, we could've lost the diplomatic convoy; but then, that's the nature of those things."
"The remaining Federation agents will hide even deeper if they hear about this event." I said.
"I am sure they already did." Admiral said. "...since that Frank guy is still alive. It is safe to assume he already notified his friends."
"I will get rid of him as soon as possible." I said.
"A few words before you go." said the Grand Admiral. "If Mr. Braun was successful, you wouldn't need to handle all this on your own. Not only you succeeded in your own mission of protecting the envoy, but you have done invaluable service to Republic intelligence. We are thankful."
"It's my duty." I said.
"Godspeed, Commander. Grand Admiral Rashid, out."
I put my hand on the holster to check the gun Braun had given me. After that, I got out of the cockpit to find more about Frank Dyson, and check Nuan's status if possible.
In the corridors, the transferred passengers were trying to find cabins to stay. Since this was a diplomatic mission, the ship was not booked to full capacity, so it wasn't particularly hard to move people between cabins. But still, this had caused some inconvenience for everyone.
I approached one of the pilots who were trying to help out. I held him by his arm and pulled him away from the crowd a little.
"Commander?" he was a bit confused.
"Did you see anyone by the name 'Frank Dyson' around here?" I asked him.
"No." he said.
"Where is the commanding pilot?" I asked him.
"He is just across the corridor." the co-pilot directed me. I walked to where the commanding pilot was, and pulled him away from the crowd as well.
"Did you need something, Commander?" he asked.
"Did you see anyone by the name 'Frank Dyson'?" I asked him.
"Oh, he was sent to the infirmary. He was injured during the rescue." he said.
"Thank you, that will be all." I let him go and started walking to the infirmary.
I got inside. In the infirmary, there were a bunch of people. They were all former passengers of Flight 09, which was not surprising.
A nurse saw me and came by.
"How can I help you, sir?" she asked.
"I am looking for 'Frank Dyson'." I told him. Seeing that I was a security officer, she answered.
"There, on the third bed."
I walked up to his bed and he noticed me approaching. He opened his eyes and looked at me.
"Do I know you?" he asked.
"Do you?" I asked back. He laughed a little bit.
"Do I?"
The nurse was watching us from the distance, clearly weirded out by the conversation. But I knew what I was doing, and Frank... He was most probably aware that his true identity was discovered.
"What is your name?" I asked him.
"Fred." he said. "What is yours?"
"Kartal." I said. We both started laughing. We both knew we were lying.
"What now, hero?" he asked me. "I am disabled, I have no weapons. You don't kill unarmed people, do you?"
The medical staff were watching us with some obvious concern. I turned around and closed the white curtains between adjacent beds.
"We are in interplanetary space." I told him. "It isn't anyone's territory, and there are only the laws of anarchy here."
"This ship is Republic territory." he said. He was right. I was outsmarted. Or... was I?
"Is it still a crime if there is no one to witness it?" I asked him.
"I don't like your voice." he said.
I had my gun holster standing just next to his arm. If he wanted, he could pull it out with relative ease. I was aware of it, yet I kept standing there.
It eventually happened. He tried to pull my gun out, but instantly, he was electrocuted to death.
The gun Mr. Braun had given me wasn't a standart Navy gun, it was truly a work of art.
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