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The ship docked with a slight shudder several hours later. Jordan and I unbuckled, grabbed our packs, and followed the rest of the crowd out to the terminal. The line through customs was relatively short, and once we flashed our shields, we were ushered through immediately. We didn’t faff around afterward, either, instead heading straight for the exit doors.
Overhead, one of the suns was hanging low to the horizon, but the other one was higher up, giving us several hours of daylight still. Venetus was in a binary system, with two primary suns. During part of the year it offered longer daylight hours, which was a perk, but it had its drawbacks too. Since Arcadia Prime was in the same system, I was used to the strange temperature fluctuations and light variances.
We headed straight for the office. This facility was larger than the one on Lithios. That was because we were in Hilgard, the capital. Venetus was an independent world, which meant they weren’t part of a federation like the Alliance or the Conglomeration. They tried to stay neutral on most foreign relational issues, but IPF was not affiliated with any one federation or planet, and as such we were able to provide a large presence on the planet. It helped keep the peace, which was IPF’s main tenet.
The place was buzzing with people and chatter as we passed from room to room. We found the lift and went up three levels to where our unit was located. This floor was only slightly quieter than the main floor. Jordan and I went straight for our designated set of rooms, which consisted of three offices and two conference rooms. It wasn’t much, but we didn’t need much to function. I had worked cases in far smaller spaces.
“Carter, Blaze, you’re back finally.”
Agent Abbott spotted us first, looking up from his computer. He pushed his chair back from the table in the conference room, careful of his arthritis, and stood up. His face morphed into a smile, making him appear more youthful.
Jordan laughed and reached for his hand, giving it a shake. “Abbott. I see you haven’t retired while we’ve been gone.”
Abbott rolled his eyes and sank back into his chair. “Can it with the age jokes. You need to focus on making it to my age. I see you, you know. You’re at that age where you feel invincible.” He waggled a finger in the air. “It’s not true. That kind of thinking will get you killed quicker than a heart attack.”
I smiled at him and dropped my pack into a chair. “What’s your secret to living so long? Old or not, you can take a full retirement in a year. IPF isn’t exactly the safest career choice out there.”
Abbott smiled at me before rubbing a hand over his stubbly gray hair. “Shoot first and ask questions later? No, that’s not it.” He laughed at his own joke, poor taste though it was. “Always find partners you can trust. If you get put out there with people you can’t rely on, you’re going to bite the dust. That’s just the way it is.”
My eyes went to Jordan, and he nodded at me. I nodded back. As long as I had Jordan around, I didn’t need to worry about not having backup.
Officer Paige Michelson stuck her head in the door, glasses nearly sliding off the end of her nose. She lifted her hand to stall their progress, shoving them back up her face. “Boss?”
I smiled at her, though I shook my head at her appearance. Her bronzed hair was pulled back into a bun so tight it stretched the skin on her face, making her eyes appear more slanted than they already were. She was wearing an appropriate dress, but in a garish yellow color that washed out her skin tone. She was the newest member of our unit, and fresh out of officer training. She was our communications specialist, which meant she relayed information back and forth and was a whiz on the computer.
“Michelson, get the team together for a debriefing.”
Paige nodded, causing her glasses to slip again. She caught them as they started to fall off her face and she disappeared back out the door. Abbott visibly held back a comment as she disappeared, and I glared at him. He lifted his hands. “What? I didn’t say anything.”
“Yeah, but you were thinking it. Stop it.”
He didn’t deny it. He changed the subject instead. “You caught him, I heard.”
I nodded and reached into my pack to pull out my tablet. “Yes, we did. And we’ve got a lead. But I’m only going to say all this once, so we’ll wait until everyone gets here.”
It took less than ten minutes for everyone to assemble. Agent Karson and Officer Borski appeared first, dropping into their seats after exchanging greetings. Captain Tyson came in last, giving each of us long, assessing looks before sitting down at the table as well. Michelson came back and took a seat, though she continued typing away on her tablet. She always seemed to be doing something on that thing.
That was everyone, so I pulled up Claude’s file on my tablet and projected it so everyone could see it. I gave a short recap of who he was, how we apprehended him, and then what information he gave us.
Michelson frowned. “A flash drive? It isn’t a digital file?”
“No. Santiago was overly cautious and kept a hard copy only. He wouldn’t leave it connected to the net.”
Captain Tyson rubbed his mouth for a long, thoughtful moment, but didn’t comment. I looked at him until he met my eyes. “We need to go to Viridis and search his place and see if we can find it. There could be more than just the name of whoever hired Santiago on that file. The sooner the better.”
He nodded. “Your team should leave first thing in the morning. This sounds like a promising lead.”
Having gotten the permission I wanted, I turned back to the rest of the team. “Borski, call the spaceport and get everything set up. I want to be out of here at six tomorrow. Abbott, contact the IPF office on Viridis and let them know we’re coming. I want everything ready for when we arrive. We’ll need tactical and forensics teams, and transportation. Make sure we get what we need.”
Abbott nodded, making a quick note on his tablet. “On it.”
“Michelson, find out everything you can about that address. I want satellite pictures, infrared scans, property history, everything. Santiago was extremely paranoid, and I wouldn’t put it past him to have set up security measures. Karson, brush up on Santiago’s file and see if you can predict the kind of precautions he might have taken.”
Agent Karson was the profiler. He had a degree in psychology and specialized in reading people and seeing behavioral patterns. It was a unique skill to have, and I knew to play to his strengths. He might not be able to predict exactly what we would encounter, but he could give us an idea of what to look for.
I glanced at Jordan to see if he had anything to add, but he shook his head. I cleared my throat. “Keep this under wraps. If people ask, we found one of Santiago’s hideouts, but don’t mention the file. This stays as quiet as possible. If someone doesn’t need to know, don’t say anything. Got it?”
There were nods and murmurs of acceptance. Satisfied, I closed up my tablet. “Let’s get going.”
