The Complete Razia Series, page 41
"You're right, I lied," Razia said, standing up, and yanking Lizbeth up with her. "But thanks for the information anyways!"
Before Delmur could say anything, they bolted out of the house, filled with more questions than answers.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"Alfr Jos was the other man in the pirate meeting," Lizbeth said, pointing to the account history displayed on Lyssa's dashboard. Unsurprisingly, it was sparse, as was the history of Krishna Harman next to it. "He's been giving marching orders to pirates for months."
"Jos told Delmur to take the cargo to a diner near S-6642," Lyssa said. "The planet where our friend Antica and her secretary are sitting in a single office building."
"So where'd the rest of the cargo go?" Lizbeth asked.
Lyssa chewed on her lip, deep in thought, and wondered about the supposed boss of Jos and Harman. "Do you think General State knows what's going on?"
"If it were Llendo, I'd say no way in Leveman's." Lizbeth shook her head. "But General State runs a tight ship from what I hear. I'd be surprised if too much goes on without him knowing about it."
"Why is he doing this though? If this kind of deal were to get out, people would be pissed," Lyssa said. "He's already going to win the election."
"That's what concerns me the most," Lizbeth muttered darkly. "Especially considering Delmur mentioned those contracts that Wedekind was hoping to get. There's already an arsenal planet nearby."
"Wait a minute," Lyssa said. "That's where they store—"
"Guns…" Lizbeth trailed off, catching onto Lyssa's train of thought.
"How much do you want to bet that Delmur was transporting guns instead of building material?" Lyssa said with a knowing smile. "That was a big tower on S-6642, you could store a lot of weapons there."
Lizbeth didn't share her excitement. "That doesn't make me feel any better."
"But that's two places where pirates are involved in the same activity," Lyssa said, ignoring the implications of pirates covertly transporting guns. "Not only that, but Delmur said he was working for Salazar. That's the same company that Relleck hijacked from—twice."
Lizbeth shook her head. "No, remember, it wasn't Salazar, it was a different company."
"I'm telling you that I remember Salazar."
"So you're saying the Universal Bank is wrong?" Lizbeth asked.
"No," Lyssa mumbled, sitting back in her chair, mulling over what Delmur had said, trying to fit all of the misshapen puzzle pieces together.
She was right that he had stopped transporting cargo because his job was completed, but that wasn't the end of it, was it? He had sent them over to Contestant.
"What about Cree Hardrict," Lyssa said suddenly.
"What about him?"
"Remember that Delmur said he sent Jos to Contestant to continue moving stuff," Lyssa said, typing in her dashboard. "And you said that Hardrict had been on your radar for months, right?"
"Yeah," Lizbeth said, unable to resist a small smile. "I would have been able to question him if somebody wouldn't have interfered."
"But he wasn't anywhere near S-6642 nor the capital," Lyssa said before snapping her fingers. "But he was moving cargo from a military planet."
Her fingers flew over her dashboard as she located her previous search history for Cree Hardrict. She drew up his bank account information:
Kayden, Bobby
Time of Transaction
Location
Amount
UT20015-04-06-23:98
Belvoir Supplies and Sundries
A-539
30C
UT20015-04-06-15:76
McNair Diner
B-725425
30C
UT20015-04-06-04:25
Belvoir Supplies and Sundries
A-539
50C
UT20015-04-05-90:15
Transport Station
G-279
20,000C
"See, he's barely even on G-279—" Lyssa did a double take to the transport station. "Hang on a second, that's the same transport station Relleck picked up his cargo up from!"
"Oh Leveman's, you're right!" Lizbeth gasped.
"Hardrict was moving something from A-539 to B-725425," Lyssa thought aloud. "And that planet was filled with boxes, just like that warehouse in the capital."
"A-539 isn't on my master planet list," Lizbeth said, flipping through the original government contract that started the investigation. "And neither is G-249."
"Hm…" Lyssa said, searching the internet for information on the military planet. She clicked on the first news report that appeared in the search results.
A-539 Exercise Bravo Considered a Success
200015-01-05 / A-539 | General Charles State announced the completion of a three month long military exercise on A-539. Members from the Universal Aquatics Elite Squad completed several live fire simulations resulting in…
"Live fire means…?" Lyssa said, knowing the answer.
"Real guns," Lizbeth said, chewing on her lip. "You know, military exercises are huge things—lots of cargo coming in, lots of cargo going out. The Universal Military is notoriously terrible at keeping track of equipment. Wouldn't surprise me if they had a couple thousand guns missing and they didn't know about it."
"So someone is amassing weapons on S-6642 and B-725425, as well as the capital planet," Lyssa thought aloud. "What's the connection? Both B-725425 and the capital are highly populated areas, but S-6642 is newly settled in the middle of nowhere."
"They're all near military planets," Lizbeth offered. "Maybe General State is funding his campaign with the illegal sale of weapons."
"Yeah, but to whom?" Lyssa asked. "Pirates don't use weapons."
They sat in silence, and Lyssa's mind began to spin out of control with wild conspiracy theories of why the highest ranking general and a presidential candidate would be secretly transporting guns—especially to the capital.
"Maybe there's something else," Lizbeth said, sounding as if she was on the same train of thought as Lyssa. "Can you check to see who owns the B-7 planet?"
Lyssa switched applications to the Academy planet database and searched for the purchase history of B-725425.
NAME
B-725425
DISCOVERED
19978-06-10
DISCOVERED BY
B. ABELLO
DSE854794
SOLD
19978-06-12-03:27
SOLD TO
COBB PLANETARY SERVICES
AMOUNT
5,000C
SOLD
200012-90-98-89:45
SOLD TO
WEDEKIND PLANETARY SERVICES
AMOUNT
2,500C
"Wedekind Planetary Services owns both planets," Lizbeth said, sounding a little less nervous than before. "Maybe they're behind all of this."
"So safe to say that we should probably look into them next…" Lyssa smirked. She searched the internet for Wedekind, unsure of what she was searching for. She scanned their webpage, but nothing of interest caught her attention. Until she moved to the "about" section:
Wedekind Planetary Services (Est. 20012) includes subsidiaries Salazar Shipping, Mason Dining Services, and Secure Solutions.
"Secure Solutions!" They exclaimed at once, sharing a look of surprise.
"Wedekind owns the company guarding Relleck's guns!" Lizbeth said.
"And the company that hired Delmur!" Lyssa replied, blinking and narrowing her eyes at the date of establishment. "And how in Leveman's Great Vortex does a planetary services company have three subsidiaries when they're only a few years old?"
"I don't follow," Lizbeth said.
"Most planetary services companies are formed from existing companies, because it takes a lot of capital to buy and colonize planets," Lyssa said. "So for this company to be only three years old, to own all of these planets, to have purchased all of this material, and to also have three subsidiaries? That seems off to me."
"And they're offering the pirates fifty million credits for hijacking ships," Lizbeth said. "And they've been paying at least some of it; you remember the size of Delmur's mansion."
"So it sounds like they got a windfall of credits from somewhere," Lyssa said, turning to the Universal Bank to search for the company's financial history.
But nothing could have prepared her for what she found.
WEDEKIND PLANETARY SERVICES
Time of Transaction
Location
Amount
NO RESULTS
-END OF HISTORY-
"That's odd," Lizbeth remarked. "Maybe…maybe it's just a different name in the Universal Bank? Does that happen?"
"Not usually," Lyssa said, chewing on her lip. "But let me try looking for the subsidiaries."
SALAZAR SHIPPING
Time of Transaction
Location
Amount
NO RESULTS
-END OF HISTORY-
SECURE SOLUTIONS
Time of Transaction
Location
Amount
NO RESULTS
-END OF HISTORY-
"Ok, that is definitely unusual," Lyssa said. "Because I know that Salazar and Secure Solutions are paying people."
"How difficult is it to remove transactions from the Universal Bank?" Lizbeth asked in a quiet voice.
"Impossible unless you're…well…Jukin," Lyssa said.
Lizbeth nodded, absorbing this information.
"I don't want to jump to that conclusion," Lyssa said quickly. The idea that someone could be removing transactions out of some nefarious intent, and not simply because they were an immature little…that was almost as concerning as the guns. "Maybe you're right. Maybe they were bought out or renamed. Maybe, if I can find the original purchase receipt for S-6642 in Dorst's transactions…"
She opened the planet database and searched for the purchase history of S-6642 again.
NAME
S-6642
DISCOVERED
20012-08-03
DISCOVERED BY
D. PEATE
DSE2474786
SOLD
20012-08-27-10:50
SOLD TO
WEDEKIND PLANETARY SERVICES
AMOUNT
45,000C
"Look, see," Lyssa said, pointing to the timestamp. "I bet we can find it."
She left that window open and searched for Dorst's account in the Universal Bank. Lizbeth said nothing as Lyssa flitted backwards in the transaction history, until she reached the time frame when the transaction would have occurred.
PEATE, DORST
Time of Transaction
Location
Amount
UT20012-08–27-23:98
ODYSSEUS STATION CAFETERIA
S-864
150C
UT20012-08-27-10:76
ODYSSEUS STATION CAFETERIA
S-864
150C
UT20012-08-27-10:10
ODYSSEUS STATION COFFEE SHOP 54
S-864
25C
UT20012-08-27-09:85
ODYSSEUS STATION CAFETERIA
S-864
150C
"Where is it?" Lyssa gasped, standing up. She compared the time on the planet sales receipt and the time stamp on Dorst's transactions. The Wedekind planet purchase should have been right between the cup of coffee and dinner at the Academy cafeteria.
"So, about that removing transactions theory…" Lizbeth sounded as if she already thought it a foregone conclusion.
"That's…that means that whatever is going on, someone very high up must be involved," Lyssa said, remembering what the bank manager said about her inheritance. "There's no way Wedekind could have removed their own transactions without help."
"I think we've already come to that conclusion," Lizbeth nodded, looking as nervous as before. "But we need to find out where the money from Wedekind is coming from, or what the name of the company really is. We need to find that missing transaction."
"Leveman's Vortex," Lyssa sighed, sinking into her chair. "Short of marching into General State's office, I don't know how we can get it. When I asked about my missing inheritance, the manager said that I needed approval from the officer leading the investigation. And then it would be another ten to twelve weeks before they could retrieve it from the archive."
"So a manager can expunge the data," Lizbeth said thoughtfully. "Or at least, we know of one manager who has that ability."
"What are you thinking?"
"I think we need to head back to S-864," Lizbeth said. "Only this time, let's take your ship instead of hiding on a transporter."
***
"Dr. Peate!" The bank manager looked awfully nervous to see Lyssa in his doorway.
"Hello again," Lyssa smiled, helping herself to a seat in the man's office, Lizbeth following on her heels and taking the other seat. Lizbeth made a point to close the door, which seemed to make the manager even more nervous.
"Who's this?" the man asked, nervously.
"L—"
"Our family accountant," Lyssa smiled. Lizbeth muttered something about being able to make up her own alias, but Lyssa stared firmly ahead at the nervous man in front of them.
"O-oh?" the manager stammered. "Well, what can I do for you?"
"I'm actually here on behalf of my brother," Lyssa said.
"Captain Peate?"
"No, one of the other ones," Lyssa said. "Dr. Dorst Peate. He's a fellow DSE with me at the Academy and he's asked me to help him prepare for an Academy audit."
"I'm sorry, a what?"
"Every five years, the Academy selects a subset of scientists and asks them to provide a full audit listing of their planet excavation history," Lyssa said, lying through her teeth. There was no way the Academy could manage something like that. But this bank manager didn't know that. "It's incredibly arduous and difficult, lots of paperwork, very expensive…"
"I bet," the manager said, obviously waiting to see how this would impact him.
"It also includes a full listing of receipts for planet sales," Lyssa said. "And, it would seem as though the Universal Bank has failed again to live up to its sterling reputation."
"O-oh?" he stammered, and Lyssa saw the sweat appear on his forehead.
"Yes, a planet sold by Dr. Peate to a company called Wedekind Planetary Services seems to have just…disappeared from the Universal Bank records, even though there's clearly a record of the sale in the Planetary and System Science Academy."
"Oh, well of course we would be happy to look into it," he said, but Lyssa could see something behind his eyes. "As I mentioned before, it will take some time to retrieve the file in question from our Universal Bank archive, and we will need to ensure that the transactions were not removed for an investigation."
"Yes, of course," Lyssa said, leaning forward. "You know, I'm curious about this archive. Can you tell me more about it?"
"I'm sorry, Dr. Peate," the manager tutted. "Unfortunately, the location of our archive is secret. We would not want to compromise the integrity of our accounts."
"I think it's a little late for that," Lizbeth interrupted, pulling out her badge and placing it on the table. "Sorry, girl. Got tired of him stalling."
"And who are you?" the manager said.
"Agent Lizbeth Carter with the Universal Beings Union Intelligence Agency, Major Crimes Directorate, Insurance Fraud Division, Piracy Branch," Lizbeth said without missing a beat.
"You need a shorter name," Lyssa muttered.
"And what does the Intelligence Agency have to do with Dr. Peate's accounts?" the manager said, sitting back and no longer looking as nervous as he did before.
"It fits a pattern of systematic removal of transactions in the Universal Bank," Lizbeth replied. "Many of which happen to be in accounts owned by known pirates."
"My dear Agent Carter, pirates have ways of getting around our system," the manager said. "Multiple aliases, that sort of thing."
"What about whole companies?" Lizbeth pressed, looking as on top of her game as Lyssa had ever seen her. "Wedekind Planetary Services, to be exact. Appears as though there aren't any transactions at all. But as my associate said here, there's obviously a record of the company in her databases."
"Then the company simply does not exist," the manager said.
"Why would a company exist in the Planetary and System Science Academy and not in the Universal Bank?" Lizbeth smiled, clearly enjoying this back and forth.
"Because the Academy obviously keeps shoddy records," the manager said, his voice raising a bit.
"That or you're removing transactions," Lizbeth said.
"I do not have the authority to remove records," he sniffed, but his voice was unsure.
"You removed mine," Lyssa reminded him.
He gritted his teeth. "When the Universal Bank is told to isolate accounts by the Universal Police, we must comply—"
"Who within the Universal Police has the authority to make that call?" Lizbeth asked.
"Captain Peate," he replied haughtily.
"Seems odd for such a lowly captain to have such power over the stability of the Universal Government," Lizbeth said with a knowing smirk. She reminded Lyssa of a cat about to pounce. "In fact, I looked it up. Only a high ranking official in the Universal Government can make that call, not Captain Peate."
"I don't know what you are insinuating!" the manager exclaimed.
"I'm insinuating that you're lying," Lizbeth said simply. "Covering up for Captain Peate, or even his boss General State. And believe me," she leaned in closer, and Lyssa was impressed by her threatening face, "if I find out that you're doing either, you will fry."
