I watched the approaching orange dusk from the penthouse view of the suite. The lights of the skyscraper spires glowed slightly against the clouds. Still no view of the city below. Only hints of Eden was the glow from those floating billboards.
Sector 111 is a metropolis which never sleeps.
Not that I needed much sleep.
The Durgian concierge staff looked nonplussed when I handed them the long list of shopping items.
I can almost imagine the flurry of activity to come a day before my check out. All purchased equipment and inventory lists have to be checked before my departure and delivered in a special sealed cargo container to my merchant ship.
[Area clear of bugs] flashed across my optical implants as the two scurrying droids crawled up the table and attached themselves to the communicator device on top.
The small droids had inspected every nook and cranny of the large suite which my optical implants couldn't, including the vents.
I rapped my fingers impatiently while waiting for the two droids to work their magic on establishing a communication signal.
[Accessing all radio, sonic band wave and microwave frequencies]
Every business, including hotels, required radio and microwave frequencies at a bare minimum for the Eden planetary system, but The Durgema used secured encrypted sonic band waves to latch onto their satellite to broadcast communication contents through sub space frequencies for galactic transmission.
[Sonic band wave frequency: eight hops]
Eight hops meant using eight satellites within the Eden system to transmit information systems.
[Please initiate sub space hack frequency dialing]
"First layer, mupo, second musodi and third amarimutu," I recited the sub space codes required to connect to my war cruiser on a secure encrypted channel.
[Anti trace and scramble protocol initiated]
[Durgian satellite communication systems: Local Level 1 disabled]
[Durgian satellite communication systems: Local Level 2 disabled]
[Durgian satellite communication systems: Local Level 3 disabled]
[Durgian satellite communication systems: Local Level 4 disabled]
[Durgian satellite communication systems: Local Level 5 disabled]
[Durgian satellite communication systems: Local Level 6 disabled]
[Durgian satellite communication systems: Local Level 7 disabled]
[Durgian communicator system: Locality scrambled to Narakan system]
[Initiating satellite link to the Narakan system]
Any tracing by others will now lead to the Narakan system, not Tengshe planetary system. Transmissions will hop onto the Narakan system and over a thousand 'black' satellites parked there to erase any trace backs.
All experienced mercenaries used this route as a fail safe. No consortium monopolised the communication satellites around the Narakan system, even though they shared a presence there. Even space pirates used the satellites around the Narakan system to communicate.
[Space Punk call sign… contacting]
[Standby for Connection security verification]
[Connected. Secured Frequency initiated]
A projected view of darkness appeared in front of me.
"How's life on the planet?"
I raised my eyebrow at the voice, replying. Isn't that mine? Arabaki used my voice, but why? The droid swarm almost always used a masculine deep voice.
[Analysing voice signature…]
[Pitch frequency matched]
[Tonal frequency matched]
[Result: duplication perfect match]
Those last red lines appearing across my vision are not what I wanted to see. If Arabaki used my voice in the past, it never matched perfectly.
"Bright. Glaring. Lights," I replied. "Report on your side?"
"Nothing to report."
Something isn't right. In the past, Arabaki shown the propensity to complain about everything, including the war cruiser.
Every single damn time.
Especially with that long shopping list of parts to replace.
Arabaki would be complaining about things falling apart.
What is the damn droid swarm up to?
"Okay. Then since there's nothing to worry about…"
I narrowed my eyes. Arabaki hasn't learned the art of lying through the mouth yet. Only the art of omitting relevant information - something I never programmed.
The droid swarm's artificial intelligence evolved beyond accepting and carrying out commands. I remembered the old Kamuy restrictions on droid development for fear of the non-human minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete, and replace them.
If the Kamuy planetary system was never destroyed, Arabaki will not exist.
"Not sure if it's relevant. There was interesting news about the existence of a Kamuy under disguise." Arabaki said.
Bingo. The big omission. But the bigger question was, why would anyone notice a Kamuy now? Were they referring to me? Or another.
"What? From whom? The Iktomins? Or Nuwans?"
"I intercepted some communication subspace frequencies. Signatures didn't belong to the Iktomin or Nuwans, but the Perunians. Some of those subspace frequencies are highly secured," Arabaki replied.
"Did you manage to track and trace?" I asked.
"Trace back was hard, but two of the communique went to Eden. Sector 1 and Sector 34."
Of course, the communique expectedly landed in Eden.
Perunians are the major member species of the Great Swirl Council and all their blabbering went to Eden.
Sector 1 in Eden is the political and command hub of the Great Swirl Council, and Sector 34 is the planetary ambassadorial hub.
I wondered if the Perunian's space rock incident at the garage mall had anything to do with the communique. The persistence of the Perunian made me very suspicious.
Rong might know more since the Nuwan espionage network was far wider, hence Mahara's instructions.
The droid swarm couldn't possibly intercept all subspace transmissions. Billions of communications subspace transmissions took place across the galactic quadrant, which made it impossible for Arabaki to tag on.
Might need to check up on my current identity to re-confirm my suspicion. I needed to discard a compromised identity and switch over, but that led to a cascade of problems, including my merchant ship, which was registered to Temari of Deridia.
Then the case of an Iktomin spider bot following me all the way from the garage mall to The Durgema bothered me - part of my tracks led here.
Did the spider bot follow me because the Iktomins also intercepted the Perunian communique?
No wonder Mahara didn't want me wandering out of The Durgema. If Arabaki got hold of the communique, it meant the Nuwans and the other major consortiums would, too.
"What was in the communique?"
"That was it. Just a Kamuy in disguise. It almost looks like they are looking for you. Something about the Inti system too. Said that Kamuy could be a key, so I cannot be certain if they referred to you," Arabaki replied.
[Warning: Firewall anti-intrusion detection sweep in progress]
[Warning: Satellite Counter-tracing measures initiated]
Damn, fast, but expected Durgian measures to counter my hacks.
"I will contact you again," I replied before the droid hack closed the communication frequency and logging off.
Arghhh… more problems than I really needed.