Jack Of All Trades (Erotica)

“What do you mean not ALL shipments are stopped during a lock down! What the hell do you think lock down means!!!” Major Ash yelled at the Terminal Administrator as they questioned her in the main boardroom of the Terminal building. Two police officers stood by the doors waiting to take the Administrator once she’d been questioned.

The clerk they’d spoken to had performed a miracle in locating his supervisor and got the codes for the lockdown. But when the Major arrived at the Terminal they discovered a dozen containers had been sent through the gates to a number of different destinations during the lockdown.

The clerk had grilled his supervisor’s secretary and bluffed she would be facing criminal charges for obstructing an order from Earth’s Security Council Force if she didn’t talk. She caved and told him her boss was having an affair with the Terminal Administrator. Triangulating on the Supervisor’s active but muted comm, they’d finally been found in a hotel across the street.

The Major would put in a good word for the clerk to be promoted into the supervisor’s position as that position would be opening up very soon as would the Administrator’s.

“Containers flagged as medical supplies being rushed to their destination due to medical emergencies like plague outbreaks cannot be delayed,” the Administrator insisted.

“Did you verify the destinations have officially registered these emergencies?” Gee asked.

“I don’t recognize your authority,” the woman belligerently answered the Altarian.

“Answer the question!” the Major yelled.

The woman jumped and looked at the officer. “It’s standard policy!”

“Only if the emergency is officially registered, which you must verify. Your policy is suspiciously incomplete.” Gee said and received a sour look from the woman.

“Well, even these containers are scanned prior to being shipped through the gate. No one could be inside the containers without being detected. Many have internal environmental conditions no one could survive,” she suggested.

“We will need to see these scans for the containers.” Gee said to the Major. “If we eliminate them then the Ambassador is likely still on Earth.

The Major gestured for the police to take the Terminal Administrator into their custody. There would be charges filed. At least she would be fired for incompetence. At worst she was looking at time for smuggling.

Once they had the room to themselves Ray flipped on the boardroom’s huge display wall. “Here are the scans. Only one of the emergencies was registered. The scan is clean. Medical supplies only. The other eleven went out to planets known for dealing in contraband. Someone in the Terminal may be working for smugglers,” Ray said.

“Put a bookmark in that issue for now. Anything anomalous in the scans? Any heat signatures from stowaways?” Ash asked Ray. He frowned and shook his head.

“Silver. Can you detect silver content in the composition of the shipments?” Bal asked.

Ray looked puzzled but ran a search algorithm against the scan values of the containers and one had a large quantity and a second had only a small amount.

“The second one. What was in it and where was it going?”

Ray pulled up the details. “It indicates it was filled with a growth enzymes. Used for manufacturing pharmaceuticals. The interior was kept at close to 170 degrees and almost zero humidity to keep the enzyme dormant. It was shipped to Rehm.”

The Altarians froze and glanced at each other in worry.

“Why silver and what’s significant about Rehm?” Ray asked.

“Ambassador Danner’s horns both contain pure silver in small amounts. Approximately the amount the scan detected. Rehm is a hub world like Earth but with fewer destinations. The Grellians, the Jhan Jnneg, the Dankerel Protocol… and the Allsa Komanae are all direct trade partners with the Rehm.” Gee said.

“The Grellians I’ve heard of and everyone knows about the Allsa Komanae but the other two are new to me,” the Major said.

“The Jhan Jnneg are hive mind insectoid race who cannot travel through the gates themselves. No one knows why but their mental link breaks once they cross the threshold of a gate and they become catatonic in a singular state. The theory is their consciousness is somehow bonded to their planet. The Dankerel Protocol don’t see any need to leave their world when others can come to them. Only on the rarest occasions will you see one traveling and rarely will it travel for long. No, we don’t know why they call themselves that.” The question died on Ray’s lips.

“The Rehm are facilitators for the others. Their entire society is based on acting as agents for the others. The Grellians are racists and restrict their interactions to their own kind and the Rehm. They do travel through the gates but will only interact with others when they must.

Gee sighed and had a sick look in her eyes. “The only race amongst these who might have an interest in Jack are the Allsa Komanae. He was attacked by one and injured it badly. Its companions stomped it to death. The abduction may be retribution from that event.”

Everyone was silent as the words sunk in. If Jack was in the hands of the Allsa Komanae his continued survival was not likely.

“We need to report but first we need to follow the lead to Rehm. Bal and I will go alone. I understand your authority does not extend beyond Earth.” Gee said calmly.

The Major looked at the two black Altarians and admired their bravery but she’d be damned if she’d let them step into what could be a trap and was at minimum very hostile territory. Besides, Ambassador Danner might not have been in the hands of the Allsa Komanae if she’d listened to Gee in the first place.

“I’ll be going with you as a private citizen to assist in the search and rescue of the Ambassador,” she said.

“I will too. Leo and Maxim have always wanted to visit Rehm, right boys?” Nann grinned and the grins they gave her in return were just a little blood thirsty.

“Ray, I need you to find the source of the contract. It’s possible Maury Levine grabbed the Ambassador for his own purposes but he handed him off to parties unknown who somehow had connections to get him through the security of a major Gate Terminal. Follow the money. Also, have the local authorities find the transport that got the Ambassador to the Gate Shipping Terminus. Find me evidence of his presence. I’ll need that report when we get back,” the Major ordered.

Ray breathed a sigh of relief as his tech skills would be useless to them on Rehm. While he was skilled at using his weapons his favorite was his brain. He nodded to his boss and caught Nann’s smirk. He flipped her the bird.

“Are we going to be able to get through Rehm’s Gate Terminal with our weapons?” Nann asked.

“How much will you need to carry?” Bal asked.

Nann frowned sadly at her rail gun and stepped out of the augmentation suit. She looked to Ray and he linked it to his terminal and walked it over to stand behind him. Maxim handed Nann a slim rifle from the pack at his feet. She took off the barrel and snapped it in place against the stock.

Leo and Maxim both showed their compact assault rifles which matched the one the Major was carrying.

Bal and Gee nodded. “You can carry your ammo in your pockets but we will carry the weapons through. You’ll get them back once we are outside the terminal.”

The team looked at the two agents in surprise.

Gee and Bal held their hands out for the weapons. The Major was first to hand over her assault rifle which disappeared inside Bal’s gown. Nann gave her the slim rifle and that disappeared as well. Bal’s gown now only looked a little bit more bulky than before. Gee took Leo and Maxim’s weapons and everyone confirmed they had sufficient ammo in their pockets.

They had to move so they nodded to Ray who was already lost inside his digital world and headed to the Commercial Gate Building. The Gates weren’t any different than the passenger ones except for size. They ranged from large to huge depending on what was being shipped.

They marched directly up to the Custom’s desk. A Tik was operating the cargo gates as these were large enough to allow for military invasion, something the sentient mechanical race would not allow with the Gate Network they administered, managed, and maintained. Tik’s resembled large chrome garbage cans except for their sensory bands, metallic, retractable tentacles, and their ability to fly courtesy of their internal antigrav. There was a tense moment when the Tik passed a scan over the two Altarians. It paused before it spoke with the security agents.

“Greeting Gee and Bal! I am Jerrican. What is your destination and purpose of your visit?”

“We are on a search and rescue mission for the Altarian Ambassador Jack Danner who was abducted. We have reason to believe he was smuggled through this terminal in a transport container delivered to Rehm,” Gee stated calmly.

“The scans of all recent containers did not register illicit passengers,” the Tik responded.

“The container in question had environmental conditions to hide the passengers.” Gee held up her comm to show the Tik the ID for the container. “If you scan for silver you will find silver content which is a reasonable match to the silver on his horns,” she finished. The Tik interfaced with its terminal using one of its metallic tentacles.

“The silver content and composition is an exact match to the records the Tik have for Jack Danner, born of Earth and resident of Altaria. Good luck in your search. Gate one is being directed for Rehm.”

The others relaxed and followed the two Altarians to the huge gate.

“What a relief! I was sure the Tik detected the weapons!” the Major sighed quietly.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

“It did. Our gowns do not shield against Tik sensor sweeps.” Gee responded just as quietly.

The Major stared at Gee in shock. “Then why-”

“The Tik are the most civilized beings in the Network. While they are mechanical in nature and have lifespans beyond any organic species they value life more highly than any other. That said they are also highly practical and ethical beings who know when to look the other way for the greater good. Our mission is just and righteous. The Tik have recorded Jack Danner’s history and while they will not participate they approve of our mission,” Gee explained.