With plenty of time to kill during my journey, I’d already decided to put it to good use. This connection between the To’uuk and the Eleexx had definite possibilities if we could exploit them, but before we could start ruining their day, I needed to know more. What was the nature of the relationship? What information had already been passed, and which way? What were their plans for the future? If we could answer those questions, we’d be well on our way to being a major thorn in their side.

I rubbed my hands with glee as I began my search, crawling my way through the ship’s computers and databases. A lifetime of experience had taught me to be cautious; one missed boobytrap and I’d likely share Mallus’ fate. Luckily, time was on my side, as an Avatar I’m not bound by corporeal limitations. Moving at the speed of light may be beyond my skills, but speed of thought is almost as fast, though I rarely operated at those levels. Not only is it physically draining, but you also pay a serious objective time penalty. In layman’s terms, the faster you moved, the longer it seemed to take.

Think of it as the Avatar version of Einstein’s Relativity equation.

Since the last thing I wanted to do was spend a century or so of objective time on a To’uuk cruiser, because Ugh, I kept the operating rate low. I’d still have plenty of time to search the nooks and crannies while we headed for the Epsilon Cassiopeia system; with any luck, I’d be just wrapping up when we arrived. Choosing a database at random, I cracked my virtual knuckles and got down to business.

It didn’t take long to stumble onto my first bit of intel. It seemed the conduit between the two species wasn’t simply for passing information, but for disseminating orders as well. I found the remnants of a message from the Eleexx striking a deal with the To’uuk, using them as a cat’s paw against another leg of the Troika, the Aggaaddub Hegemony, in exchange for advanced weaponry. That was actually a bit of good news for us, if the Troika was divided and fighting amongst themselves, we and the fledgling Alliance we were trying to foster could gain a firmer toehold. I filed that away for Chris, intent on sending it to her as soon as I located a secure transmitter. What was even more interesting was the proposed target: their shipyards at Gamma Pegasi.

At first blush, I didn’t see how they could pull it off. Those yards were well defended; with a squadron of ships kept on constant alert nearby. The To’uuk were serious players, no argument, but even they didn’t stand a chance against the Aggaaddub. Had the Eleexx decided they’d outlived their usefulness? Access to Eleexx technology was one hell of an incentive… it was an invention of theirs that finally defeated the Yīqún, after all… but even the best weapons in the galaxy were of no use to them if they were dead.

“It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.”

In the meantime, I had a few surprises of my own for my hosts.

By the time we arrived at Epsilon Cassiopeia, I was climbing the walls.

Look, the To’uuk just plain suck, okay? For one thing, they hate us with a passion, though Terra alone knows why. Their ships are fetid, dank cesspools, and worse, they seem to prefer them that way. They’re dangerously psychotic on a good day, and on a bad one, they’re a living nightmare. They’re big ugly evil bugs, and the sooner we shut the galaxy of them, the happier I’ll be.

So I’d put my time aboard to good use, preparing for their arrival and my departure. Longjump was nowhere in sight, though I hadn’t expected it to be. Just because it was fishing in these waters didn’t mean it tied them to a specific location. The Corsairs were pirates… excuse me, privateers... despite whatever airs they might put on in front of the other Clans. They raided vulnerable ships and stations for supplies and trade goods and then turned around and sold their plunder to any number of fences posing as legitimate entrepreneurs across the Arm. They followed the trade routes as well as wandered from the beaten path, so one never knew exactly where to find a specific ship at any given time.

I had a couple options.

I could send a message directly to the Longjump and request a pickup, though I dismissed that one almost immediately. Not only was I flying under everyone’s radar, including the Corsairs, but I’d have to use the commo gear aboard Bringer of Death and Suffering in order to do it. I could probably shield my efforts from the To’uuk, but there was still a chance they’d discover the message and start asking themselves who the hell was sending it. Not only that but doing things that way would put Longjump at risk, given the bug’s tendency to shoot first and ask questions never.

Option 2 was simpler. The system was inhabited, claimed by the Usuu, which meant there were assorted stations, satellites, and nearby ships I could transfer to while I waited for Longjump to show. I was certain I could find some way to amuse myself while I waited; Epsilon Cassiopeia might be a backwater, but it butted up against several nearby jurisdictions. Something was bound to turn up.

Unsurprisingly, the Usuu weren’t happy to see the To’uuk appear on their doorstep, with a pair of corvettes patrolling the system immediately altering course and moving to shadow the bug cruiser. They were both sorely outmatched, which likely explained why they weren’t attacking, though I knew they had to be squawking at the top of their lungs for backup. They’d do the job nicely.

I had refrained from making any obvious changes to the To’uuk ship, as I wanted to avoid their attention, but I had prepared a few surprises I could load up at a moment’s notice. As the corvettes drew closer, I went to work, activating the Eleexx conduit and warning them of a serious threat. The Bihi’ok were a mollusk-like species, one of the more hostile races towards both the Alliance in general and Terrans in particular. While not especially large in numbers or in terms of power, they were being quite vocal about their displeasure regarding recent events, and this seemed like an excellent opportunity to take them down a peg.

I’ve created quite a few forgeries and fictitious scenarios over the years, so putting together a portfolio that made the Bihi’ok look like a serious threat to the Troika was child’s play. I explained their hostility towards the Alliance away as a ploy to assuage their fears while they worked to entrench themselves as potential allies. Once in place, they’d make their move.

I peppered the report with enough facts, half-truths, and flat-out lies to get their attention, then with a wave of my virtual hand took control of the To’uuk communications array to send the message. I wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it, for reasons that will soon be made clear, and it didn’t take the bugs long to realize something was wrong. They began running diagnostics to trace the problem while struggling to override the signal, not that they’d have much luck in that department. Short of climbing out on the hull and ripping out the entire communications array, that signal would keep repeating until I decided otherwise.

The bugs were getting a little frantic, so it was time to make my move. The Usuu corvettes were finally within range, and while they were certain to have screens and firewalls up to prevent unwanted guests, I had a few tricks up my sleeve that would gain me access. I picked my target and locked it in, wrapping my gestalt up in protected layers as I slipped into the outgoing message stream and leapt clear of the To’uuk ship as I triggered my last little bombshell.

… emphasis on the bomb part.

The ship exploded in a fireball that was quickly snuffed out, leaving nothing but an expanding debris field in its wake. The corvettes quickly backed off, eager to put distance between them and the explosion while they howled to their superiors for instructions. I was already settling into my new digs by then, my former hosts already nothing but a distant memory.

Look, if you’re expecting me to shed a tear over their deaths, don’t bother. They deserve everything coming to them a dozen times over; I was just glad to be a part of their comeuppance. Terra knows they’ve killed plenty of Terrans over the years, and while some races might eventually come over to our side, the To’uuk never will, not with their built-in hostility. At least their deaths served a purpose; not only did it give added credence to the fairy tale I’d sent to the Eleexx, but it also did a fine job of covering my tracks and helping to protect our unofficial travel service. Win, win, win.

Now firmly nestled in the memory banks of the Usuu corvette, Watchful Defender, I perused their files looking for anything interesting. There’s wasn’t much, unfortunately; some reports of smuggling in the region, a notation regarding Tu’udh’hizh’ak fleet movements that warranted a follow-up, a government memorandum informing all personnel to avoid any mention of the Alliance for fear of provoking the Troika, standard stuff really, but buried within the tracking data was what I was really searching for, any mentions regarding the Longjump. She’d been last seen in the system a week ago, flagged as a likely Terran commerce raider.

Look, it’s not like it’s a secret. Everybody knows how the Corsairs make their living. It’s possible it’s one of the things the other races hold against us, but hey, a man’s gotta eat. I’m in no position to judge anyway, especially when you consider the debris field marking Bringer of Death and Suffering’s final resting place. I’m a lot of things, but I’m no hypocrite.

A week since its last sighting was encouraging. Corsair ships didn’t follow regular patterns for the same reason nobody else did; predictable patterns were a death sentence to a privateer. Still, that gave them plenty of time to find a suitable spot and grab an unsuspecting fish, board and plunder them, then haul their take back to some place relatively safe like Epsilon Cassiopeia where they could unload their goods for a tidy profit. Patrol vessels like Defender would examine their cargo carefully, searching for signs that they were transporting stolen goods, but if they hadn’t learned by now how to forge a customs stamp, they were in the wrong line of work.

It didn’t take me long to sift through their files. I toyed briefly with the idea of logging into their planetary data net, but that would mean risking my exposure. For a system out in the sticks like this one, it just wasn’t worth the risk. Instead, I tweaked the mainframe a bit, ordering it to nudge me if any updates regarding Longjump appeared in the system.

With my alarm now set, I settled down for a nice long… and well-deserved… nap.

It was almost two weeks later when Defender’s security network alerted me about Longjump. I yawned and stretched my arms, brewing myself a cup of coffee…

… okay, look. I don’t actually need to take naps; I don’t need to yawn or stretch, and I obviously don’t need caffeine. I explained this already, it’s somewhere between a coping mechanism and an affectation for us Avatars, but for simplicity’s sake I’m framing my tale in a context you can understand. You get that, right? We can move on now?

Excellent.

Quickly bringing myself up to speed, I saw why I’d been awakened. Longjump was back in the system, and Defender herself was moving to intercept for an inspection. According to the records, they’d danced this dance before, and each time the Corsair ship had heaved to and stood by to be boarded. Assuming they held true to form... and I saw no reason why they wouldn’t... I could be digging through their system, searching for evidence within the hour.

It turned out to be closer to two hours, but once the corvette hailed them, they complied with their demands. It was the smart play, and it was obvious Defender’s crew was smart. The instant they docked, I transferred over.

… no, I didn’t blow them up. Sheesh.

I ignored the boarding party as they began inspecting the ship’s cargo and started feeling my way through the mainframe. Looking for forty-year-old data was a longshot, and I’d known that from the start, but now that I was here, I was hoping it would help narrow my search, though I soon realized my mistake. Even if a specific location’s memory was more recent… say, from less than a year ago… had likely overwritten older data, information that with a great deal of painstaking work might be revealed. With a sigh, I rolled up my virtual sleeves and got to work.

One nice thing about being an Avatar is that we don’t need food or rest, allowing me to focus my complete attention on the task at hand until it’s completed. I examined packet after packet, but the few files that contained scraps of information from that time held nothing useful for me. It was frustrating, and I was kicking myself for wasting a trip when I stumbled onto something that left me scratching my head.

I’d found bits and pieces of data from the Earth mission, but nothing that pointed to any involvement of Mallus with the tragedy that took so many lives. Most of the relevant data had been purged long ago, and while I was able to reclaim a few odds and ends, there was nothing here that could aid my investigation… until I stumbled across an odd data file tucked away in a Life Support executable folder. I almost missed it, until I realized it had absolutely no business being there, in fact it should have crashed the local system anytime the folder was accessed. That it didn’t immediately aroused my suspicion, so after taking every conceivable precaution I could think of, I opened the folder and peered inside.

What I found astounded me.

It was an audio file, recorded immediately after Maggie had sabotaged Engineering to save herself. The file’s date-stamp confirmed it, and after running an analysis I determined it was Mallus himself who’d recorded it… but what he’d recorded made no sense at all.

“Hush, little baby, don't say a word

Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird.”

“And if that mockingbird don't sing

Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring.”

“And if that diamond ring is brass

Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass…”

… what the hell?