The Girl And The Devil
Could there really be a "Miracle of Christmas"?
The Girl pondered the question...
What really puzzled her was the incongruity of the whole idea. Since Her Sacred Hooved was blessing her Just and Right followers, and considering no other divine entity could exist, how could even the idea of Christmas exist?
Surfing between 'Unconditional Belief' and 'Spiritual Diffidence' since her mission on Ch'a T'ing T'sao, otherwise known as the Tea Pot planet orbiting between Mars and Earth, The Girl had had her doubt about almost anything and everything. Christmas, however, had never seemed so closely linked to the crumbling foundation of her faith. Christmas used to personify joy and family as far as she could remember. Now, it rhymed more with a 'variable geometry' religion. How celebrating the supposed birth of a man symbolizing a long-forgotten religion could reconcile with conforming to the true faith of Her Holly Invisible Pinkness?
"...gda! Magda!" The man shouting her name sounded upset.
The Girl, slowly emerging from her deep thoughts, glanced at her tall, bulky, and overly annoying boss. Why keeping calling her with this dreadful name, she never got a straight answer from him. Captain Hollyster seemed to enjoy the cringe-worthy name and always used it since the first time they met, and he continued even after taking over the position of her superior.
The Girl had assumed many names, as many as the number of missions she had partaken in as a brilliant and successful investigator of the Intelligence Services. Serving the Church of the Invisible Pink Unicorn had always been a dream for her, but recently she found herself second-guessing her life choice.
"Magda! Are you listening to me?"
Mike Hollyster never liked being ignored. This time, however, he was more concerned than angered. Magda, The Girl, was seldom prone to inattention, even fewer moments of absence, and yet, it was probably the tenth time in the past couple of hours that he had to recall her to the harsh reality of life.
What plagued her, he could not think of anything remotely logical for her behaviour. He could not readily ask her point-blank if she suffered about her monthly lady-related bodily functions... Well... she did not behave as if her hormones had taken the better of her, though she was not herself today.
"Do you believe in miracles?"
Magda, still diving in her own fertile internal world, asked the man in a pensive tone.
The captain's eyes set on her, roaming her feature trying to decipher her thought. As brilliant an asset to the Service she was, she could be naïve at times, almost childish. Was it one of these occurrences?
"Magda... Well, I do believe in miracles... and you do, also, don't you? You just have to look at my father's attire to know miracles can happen. I could you explain all the miraculous pink appearing miraculously on his best shirts and more comfortable underwear? He is miracle-prone, a blessed man, loved by Her Holly Hooved Pinkness. What is your point?"
The Girl, still deep in her thoughts, paused a moment, her eyes far away. Then, with a shake of her head, she seemed to gather all her might into the present. Blinking once, twice, the muscles on her back assuming their 'working' position, she became finally alert, receptive.
"What about the situation around Ceres? You said the disappearances continued... even increased?"
All matter-of-factly, Magda was back and in control of her melancholy. Impressed by this drastic change, wanting to get the advantage of the return of the efficient investigator personality, Mike took no time to go back to the discussion. Finally, they would progress and devise the best plan of action possible in the short period they had.
"Three more in the last week. This time, the ships are bigger and have an onboard crew. The Consortium wants us to sort out things fast and silently."
Disappearing cargo from the mining fields on the asteroids around Ceres was already taking its toll on the Solar Consortium of Associated Mining, the company running the game on the Asteroid Belt. The cost of securing and guarding adequately the extraction facilities scattered across the Asteroid Belt was already impressive, the reason the Consortium took to explain the climbing price for the ore they produced.
The planned automation in the mining shafts started three or four decades ago had sure decreased the overhead and overall operation costs, though it left an open ground, some twenty square A.U., for the many rogues and pirates roaming the area looking for an easy life.
"Something's bothering me..."
Magda was going back deep in her thoughts. This time, though, it was all work-related.
"The route through Ceres wasn't supposed to be closed? The mining in this area had reduced drastically in the past two to three years. They were supposed to close more than half of the shafts. And the ore in this area is not really worth stealing. It's some pretty basic minerals used on local construction sites only... Nothing shiny enough for the Pirates to get their hands onto it..."
The Girl was seeing an incongruity in this case, an enigma she needed to solve.
"When are we leaving for Ceres?"
***
The installation on the Asteroid Belt had always seemed quite rudimentary to Magda. The place was far from a tourism destination. Under the many and small connected domes, the miners on the prowl shared the streets with drunk critters and ageing drabs. They were the forgotten of the system, being social or solar.
The gloom in the atmosphere was adding to the feeling of dread she had experienced since they approached Ceres. During the trip to the main post on the Asteroid Belt, Magda and Mike had reviewed the information about the case. Not much could be deduced from the spare details the Consortium had sent to them, which led her to think they were hiding something, something most likely big enough to anticipate some backstabbing.
All the small inconsistencies added together made the itch on The Girl's neck increase and intensify. Mike, on his side, did not look the slightest inconvenienced by the lack of transparency about the situation. As she observed her superior striding the street with the confidence of a man used to handling shady business and always coming on top.
The hole in the wall that was their destination reminded Magda the first time she met Mike. The mission that had her shipped all the way to Europa, the Jovian satellite, had been a turning point in her career, and in her beliefs. Something told her she should anticipate another life-changing experience in this hellhole. A flutter in the stale air surrounding them, the smell of trouble was all she could think about as they entered the dimly lighted den of perdition.
"The beer is not that great here, but it's still better than the stronger booze. I think they are just mixing some of the refused oil with the water from the shaft drains..."
Despite the dreadful taste of the warm beverage and the antagonistic gazes from the other patrons, Mike showed no visible concern. He just seemed to enjoy sitting there.
Magda's discomfort and stress level, however, was on the rise.
"It's always a pleasure to see you, Mike! Even better, when you bring your lady friend. Hello darling! Missed me?"
What could be worse than that, she thought as the honey voice rolled over her head.
Without an invitation from the two agents sitting on one of the darker sides of the bar, a tall, lanky man settled beside them. Shaggy red beard and long hair showing more an appreciation to simple life than a lack of care, he personified all Magda ever thought would be her lifelong nemesis.
"Fancy meeting you here, Redhook," The Girl tried to keep her shaking voice under control. "Can you perhaps explain, Mike?"
No doubt, the presence of the pirate had nothing to do with pure coincidence or one of those strange things in life. It looked like a setup, a prearranged meeting between the two men. Magda could only feel slighted.
"Don't fret too much, pretty lady," the pirate smirked at her, "I could not really confirm to Mike if I'd be around today... so, he did not really hide anything from you..."
"Keep it short, Redhook. What do you have for us?"
Mike sounded a bit annoyed by his friend's attitude, The Girl observed. Finally! He was not so relaxed and in control than he would have liked to make her believe, she thought. Interesting...
"What do you want to know, Mike?" All business-like, Captain Redhook, a known pirate, roaming the other side of the Solar system sometimes, and the law more often, looked relaxed, ready to answer any question that would be asked to him.
"What do you know about the shipment disappearing?"
"As much as you, I'd say. They are no real shipments from this part of the Belt. Those ships were to be recalled and dismantled. And there is no much extraction done from this area," the pirate paused, a questioning light in his eyes. "I guess you know the last vessels had been registered for a time by the Kuiper's Belt Corp..."
"When was the last record form?" Magda was starting to see the bigger picture.
"Well... I do think I remember... something around five days ago. You probably can find a vid track somewhere..."
"So..." The Girl's investigative instinct was in full alert, "the last ship had been sighted all the way at the end of the system less than two days before it disappeared in Ceres area... Interesting..."
Mike was listening to the two other going through the information the pirate was giving. Magda had a good mind and always asked the pertinent questions. That was the reason he had her on this case with him. Moreover, as her encounters with Redhook seemed to get more civil with time, she started to shed her naïve side to gain in common sense more and more.
"I assume," Hollyster interrupted the discussion, "that you have an explanation for the uncommon speed this ship had travelled from one point to the other of our Solar system."
The pirate only stared at him with intensity, wondering how long it would take his friend to get the answer himself.
"Okay..." Mike found his answer. "Do you have it on a map, maybe?"
"Better than that," Redhook answered with a grin, "I came the way just behind the cargo. It gave me a bit of sport, but nothing for my ship and my crew... really..."
"What are you guys talking about?" Magda was confused by the exchange.
"Better than telling you... I will show you! If you think you can trust a pirate, that is." Redhook looked amused at The Girl.
***
The sight was frightening. The gigantic mouth opened, swallowing anything that dared cross the space in its vicinity. Beyond, the unknown, the void, frightening yet enticing. Magda stood at the helm of the pirate ship observing the maelstrom hovering on the dark side of Ceres.
"How come we were not informed of the formation of this wormhole?" Magda was upset at the idea the Church—the almighty government she dedicated her career and her life in the service to—could have kept hidden the presence of this shortcut through space so near Earth.
"Well... you see, lady... not all things are coming from your Hooved Goddess. Your Unicorn, all pink and invisible she is, is not responsible for all the creation, whatever you believe. I thought you understood that the truth could be different since your time on Ch'a T'ing T'sao." Surprisingly, Redhook sounded concerned. He really liked her and would have liked her to be less set in her beliefs and faith.
"Do you mean this is not a sainted creation of Her Hooved Pinkness but a hole torn in the space fabric by the devil, or, you know, the noodly monstrosity you believe in?"
"Devil? Really? What do you think happened here? A horned beast from Hell came and created a wormhole to link this Asteroid Belt to the one on the outskirt of our system?" Despite his words, the pirate was amused at her reaction. Moreover, she was not too far from the reality of the situation.
"That will do, Redhook! Can we proceed or do you want to continue your discussion?" Mike was getting tired to hear those two's incessant discussion about true faith and beliefs in entities similar though as different as they were.
The pirate obliged his host, taking the position at the helm and directing his vessel toward the gaping mouth.
"Get settled, and try to focus on a single point."
Crossing an uncharted wormhole could be a bit hard on the middle and ear and the stomach... not talking about the structural integrity of the ship.
The pirate ship advanced slowly, reaching the opening. Once inside, the laws of gravity ceased to exist. The surge of stimuli took over all her thinking capacity. Magda could only seat and try to remain conscious. Around her was a symphony of distortion, the walls wobbling and dancing in shimmering light and a deafening mix of grinding structure and sweat lullaby was going crescendo. The most disturbing, however, was the impression of out of body experience she endured.
The Girl awoke from her trance-like stillness as suddenly as it took her over. The ship had completed the crossing of the wormhole without any apparent damage to its structural integrity. There was much to say about pirate ships, but they were solid sound beasts.
She observed the void of the outskirt of the Solar System. She never thought she would feel blasé. The sight was so similar to the one they just left. How long it took to journey, she wondered. The time was relative, even more in this situation as they had sled along a fold in the space-time fabric of the Universe.
"Are those two planetoid Charon and Pluto?" Magda asked Redhook. She never had been in this part of the System, but she remembered some of her geography lessons.
"You're right. We will be setting route to Charon. We can refill and you can look for answers," the pirate added, looking at Mike.
"Is the base managed by the consortium?"
"Yes. They have few shafts, but it's mainly surface mining. It's not as interesting as on Europa, but they got ice extraction. Mainly local distribution," Redhook explained.
After the vessel landed, the two agents and the pirate headed toward yet another hole in a wall. Here, the gloom experienced on Ceres was replaced by crisp air and somehow brighter light, a reflection of the iced water surface of the planet. The proximity of the Edgeworth was still oppressing, more than the Asteroid Belt felt, and the combined mass of the many rocks with the immensity of the Universe on the other side added to the pressure Magda could feel through her bones.
Tired, almost exhausted, she followed the two men silently. Here and there, she got a glimpse of the people on the street. They made no secret of being interested in the group. The agent kept an eye on those who seemed most interested in the newcomers.
As they entered the shady bar, Redhook guided Mike and Magda toward the back of the establishment. The beer was as insipid as it had been on Ceres. The waited a couple of minutes only before men started to fill in through the door. The Girl recognized few from earlier, those most intent in following every movement and trying to get hold of what had been said.
"Fancy seeing you there, Redhook!" One man approached them, a bulky little ugly one. 'Are you here to renegotiate our agreement?" He asked, worried.
"Don't worry, Jeff, I'm just here for some info... and a bit of sport, perhaps."
"What type of sport?" The ugly one asked still a bit edgy.
"Nothing much, my friend. I'm just looking for some fun... perhaps a race?" Redhook glanced toward Mike as if asking for his agreement to pursue. "And perhaps the loser could give something to the winner... but do not worry, I will not take your ship!"
"Why do you believe you could win, Red? I'd let you know I got me a new gadget that surely will let me win any race against you," the smaller man smirked at the red-bearded.
"You know, Jeff," the pirate patronized him with a small smile, "I wouldn't count too much on your so-called gadget. Sure, it can open some way for you to win a race, but are you sure your ship can handle the pressure?"
"What are you talking about, Redhook?"
"You know well the wormhole technology is still not stable. How you believe you can use your generator without any side effect is what I don't understand. Didn't you lost your last two shipments to Ceres?"
The man, Jeff, looked confused, then the light came to him and he finally understood what the pirate was hinting. He had already said too much to pass it as a blunder, and he was pondering how much had been revealed.
"Mike," Redhook addressed Hollyster directly, "Jeff, here, is an independent cargo dweller. He works mainly for the Consortium, and sometimes he supplies them with unknown origin goods... They don't really look too closely to the information on the shipment documents. I do believe you have some questions for him..."
With a grim look, the agent turned to Jeff. The pirate had blurted all this without much diplomacy, so there was no need to be subtle.
***
"I am not sure I understood all completely," Magda discussed with Redhook while her boss interrogated Jeff. "The guy is shipping illegal, or contraband ore through an unofficial wormhole. The Consortium knows the goods are not traceable but still purchase them. Am I following?"
"So far, so good, pretty lady!"
"Okay... so, basically, the Consortium is making its margin on goods they do not exploit directly but pass them as if they did. If so, why did they asked us to investigate the disappearance of the cargo? Would they have kept it silent, they could have continued with their little traffic."
"You know, Magda, what I don't understand is why you didn't ask the more important question, yet..."
The Girl looked at him pensively. "Do you mean, why did I not ask where and who provided them with the generator? This thing is nasty. All holes are supposed to be recorded and approved by the Transportation Agency. And here, we got some rogue shortcut through the system. Who has the technology to make it as big and stable as what we crossed earlier?"
It did not take long for Mike to obtain the information needed. The answers he received were however puzzling. According to Jeff, the generator had been provided by the monks in Ch'a T'ing T'sao, the Teapot planet orbiting between Mars and Earth. What was strange was that the man had been approached by the monks themselves. He had not been the one actively asking for the support of their technology.
They had tested the wormhole, proved its stability and started shipping some containers. However, as cargo was crossing over, they disappeared before reaching their destinations. Until now, Jeff had no idea how this could have happened, as his ship had followed those cargoes and they just vanished before his eyes.
This situation warrants more investigation, Magda thought. They had received their answers, but they led to more questions.
"You know what this makes me think about?" Redhook asked his two companions. "There is this place I grew up nearby, on Earth. There is an old bridge. The legend says that the bridge has been built by the Devil in exchange of the soul of those who crossed it..."
"The Devil" Really?" Magda mockingly asked the pirate, remembering the discussion they had on Ceres. This legend rang true, though, to her ears. It was as if the Consortium had passed a contract with the devilish monks on Ch'a and in exchange, they sold their soul, they lost their ore... There was a lesson to learn from this vaudeville-like case...
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