Commander Garrick Karn of the Alliance military walked out of the airlock and onto the Mandrake, seething at the arrogance of Marcus Fenig. He may have a bank to hide behind, but he still intended to put out an alert on the ship to make sure Fenig was watched. Despite his insolence, Garrick was at least confident Fenig wasn't the Whisper. The Mandrake had been patrolling in and around the New Pacific system for weeks now; they had even taken to stopping ships at random, but the fugitive always seemed one step ahead.

At least Garrick was out of Fenig's disgusting ship and back onto the pristine chrome-clad walkways of the Mandrake. He found something reassuring about the order on this ship, with how the panels lining the walls of every corridor provided tailored information to whoever looked at them, and how the floor was so shiny he could see his reflection. Even the crew they passed gave nods of respect--Garrick and his unit owned the best record out of everyone on the Mandrake for stopping and searching suspected ships. He followed the rest of the squad back to the equipment room, changed out of his armour and back into the navy uniform of the Alliance Navy.

"An odd one there, Commander," Zahra Okoro said while adjusting the collar on her tunic. "He is up to something."

"I'd bring him in if the regs allowed it. Still, if he so much as puts a toe out of line, we'll be ready Garrick said, hoping Fenig gave them the chance--any excuse to make him pay.

"Still no where near catching the Whisper though," Fabian muttered and threw his jacket down.

"No, but we will," Garrick said, not that he believed it unless things changed. He didn't like the term 'Whisper', but it described all the Alliance knew about the fugitive. Garrick did the zip up on his uniform. "I want you ready to move in two minutes," he called out to the squad. "The captain is expecting us to give our report on the search."

Shaw, Okoro and Fabian quickened their pace and soon Garrick was leading them through the ship towards the bridge. The sight of a bridge of an Alliance warship never failed to make the hair on Garrick's arms stand up; the scale of the firepower controlled from the panels this room, the speed and sheer power of this warship. The room was as an amphitheatre, with the commanding officer's chair at its base and banks of consoles spread around each level, all facing a large viewport which spanned the entire height of the room. At the moment the screen showed a view of the large satellites of the lanes that propelled the ship along on the way to another jump gate.

He dreamt of the opportunity to serve as captain, though to get there, Garrick needed to prove himself--for that, he needed to capture the Whisper.

"Ah, Commander, welcome." Captain Chi-Young stood from his chair at the base of the bridge to face Garrick and the rest of his unit. "Thank you all for joining us." The Captain's hair was growing greyer around his temples, a perhaps sign of stress. In Garrick's opinion, Chi-Young wasn't cut out to be captain. "This way please." Chi-Young gestured towards the briefing room off the side of the bridge. "The Admiral wishes to join us."

Garrick felt his chest go tight.

Chi-Young led them across the far side of the bridge and into the Admiral's ready room. Garrick remembered with crystal clear clarity the first time he met Allison, then only a Lieutenant. He had saved Garrick's life, but why the Admiral was taking an interest in his unit today, he didn't know. Since Garrick transferred to the Mandrake, he had only once been in the same room as him, let alone spoken to him.

Allison looked up from his tablet and stood to welcome them. He looked much older than when Garrick first met him on his homeworld. His hair too was greyed and thinning. Above all, he looked weary.

"Thank you both for joining me," Allison said. His voice was the same baritone Garrick remembered. "Good to see you again Mr Karn, it's been a while. Tea?"

"No sir, thank you though." Garrick's chest swelled at the offer. He remembered me.

"Anyone else?" Allison looked around, steaming teapot in hand.

"If you're offering, Ben Chi-Young said, and sat down on the opposite side of the desk to Allison.

"Please, everyone, take a seat." Allison gestured to the other empty seats.

Garrick obliged, sitting straight backed and at attention with Fabian and Okoro on either side. Ramsey sat behind.

"You can all relax." Allison smiled. "I wanted your opinion on something."

"Of course, Admiral," Garrick stammered.

"I'm sure you have a view on our recent efforts to catch the Whisper"--they all nodded--"Good, well given the recent attack, the Secretary General has ordered a rethink of our strategy, so I've been meeting with all those taking part in the current operation to conduct an evaluation."

Garrick frowned. "The Whisper struck again, sir?

"The incident isn't public knowledge yet," Chi-Young said. "Too many attacks means the public might lose confidence in the Alliance's abilitary to maintain order--especially since the recent secession of Caxis."

At the mention of Caxis, Garrick clenched his fist at the thought of Marcus Fenig. The arrogance--

"Is something the matter, Commander Karn?" Allison raised an eyebrow at him. "You can be honest here, I don't mind what you say.

"Sorry sir, just going over the stop we made earlier today of a Caxian national. It's... frustrating not be able to get near the Whisper."

"Understandable, I share the same frustrations, but what would you do? This latest attack was on a convoy carrying caxeal, and I need not tell you how much of a shortage there is of that medicine since the secession."

"Sir, to be frank our current operation seems to me to be a waste of effort. Despite travel being concentrated around the gates and lanes, there's been no sight of the Whisper, and we've stopped over a hundred ships. This strategy isn't working, but the latest attack might give us a hint of how to proceed. Am I right in assuming that It's not just this attack where the Whisper has gone after shipments of caxeal?"

"Not all of them Chi-Young said.

Garrick asked, "but enough for a pattern?"

Chi-Young shrugged but didn't disagree.

"In that case Admiral, my proposal would be to leak news of a shipment of caxeal, and set a trap." Garrick watched Allison's face for any sign of approval.

"A trap." Allison gave a wry smile. "I like it."

"A system like the Vale would work," Chi-Young said. While Garrick didn't appreciate him trying to get in on his idea, the support was welcome. "There's only one gate, meaning one way in, one way out, The Vale is also a plausible destination for any shipment given the shortage."

"That would work." Garrick said, needing to regain some initiative. "In an ideal world, you would use two ships, one in the Vale but out of sight, and another to follow in through the jump gate after the attack has started. The trick will be how to signal the second ship to enter the system without communications."

Allison and Chi-Young shared a smile. "Well, Commander, you have the job"--Allison stood to signal the end of the meeting--"I want a worked up proposal for the Vale operation by 0700 tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir, thank you." Garrick swelled with pride, but he tried to keep his outward expression professional.

"Good, don't disappoint me."

"Thank you, Admiral. I won't let you down." Garrick stood up and tried to not show how his hands shook with excitement, though he had no doubt about his own ability to get the job done. He let the others in his unit file out of the room before following, but as soon as he crossed the threshold and onto the bridge he heard Chi-Young and Allison talking.

"The second ship is an interesting idea. Wonder how you would pull it off Chi-Young said.

"That's Commander Karn's problem. As for the ship, I know just the vessel, and I've been meaning to keep a closer eye on them for a while."

Garrick hurried away from the doorway, eager to avoid the impression he was eavesdropping. But what ship did he mean? Why did the Admiral want to watch them?