Page 60 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

Normally they wouldn’t ask the names of their clients but in this case they were offered
voluntarily. It was an impressive list. Their cab arrived and the busboy loaded their luggage.
Morden tipped him and they got in. The ride to the Spaceport took them past the road
blocks around the Casino. The Forensic teams and the Emergency services were winding
down and the clear up squads were moving in. They made a sign of the Order to add weight
to their cover. The cab driver noted this and nodded. Since the blast all the Cab companies
had vowed to “go silent” past the scene until a decent time had passed. So their cabby was
observing the move as a mark of respect. As they left the urban area of the City and headed
out to the open road to the Spaceport he struck up conversation. The four of them chatted
about trivial matters till they got to the Spaceport. He helped them with their luggage and
left.

Originally named The Nelix Aeronautical Geo dome; Hellion Spaceport was really just
a complex transporter hub for the huge docking orbiter. There were some trading
establishments for travellers, toilet facilities and, for some reason that only the designers
knew, an indoor zero gravity swimming pool? That was currently the focal distraction of a
group of school children going on a field trip to some other world in the Trust territories.
The pool was undergoing maintenance on the gravity nullifiers. The technicians were
adjusting the field strengths of the generators. This was causing the normally spherical pool
to change shape in a way the kids found highly amusing. One of the teachers was taking a
vid of the proceedings. The distraction helped alleviate the boredom of the wait to be
processed and transported to the orbiter. The triplets turn came around and they handed
their passes and other paperwork to the staff. They did a cursory check and cleared them to
proceed. Morden had been right about the level of security here, what awaited them at the
orbiter was a little more complex.

On the orbiter; since they had their own space side arrangements, their luggage was
taken to a loading bay by direct Trans mat. They had further security checks and sweeps to
go through. All went well, the forgeries stood up to scrutiny. They were given their passes
and other documents and a boarding pass each. These electronic cards emitted an identity
code that would be needed for access to the Hyperspace Gateway of the Border. One would
be fixed to the hull of the Speeder. They would keep one and the other had to be with any
cargo or belongings. They also functioned as “Black Boxes” in the event of a mishap. They
went through the procedures of confirming the luggage was stored correctly and signing the
baggage crew’s dockets. On board and strapped in position they turned on the Speeder’s
guidance systems and locked them onto their assigned frequency. The procedure of filtering
into the traffic stream to the Border Gate was automatic. They just had to relax and let the
whole thing take place.

Two ships, one from the Unity Patrol and the other from The Black Guard were
monitoring proceedings checking all traffic in the stream. In front of the Speeder there were
three vessels, two Buraxin Trader luggers and a Tourist Cruiser, to their rear was another
Speeder and a little distant a slow Cryo carrier. These ships were generally used for
transporting seeding materials for Terraformers and Farm Colonies. It seemed to be having
some difficulty with its engines. They were close to the gate now and they changed their
beam to take them to a private Hyperspace corridor. Suddenly and silently an explosion
blossomed from the Cryo Ship. The effect was eerie; then they felt the field wave give them
a push. It took Marven all his strength to wrestle with the controls that had dropped into