As expected the Orarra government was not particularly helpful. Ahcal Jalsa had spent four hours being told that the matter would be under the jurisdiction of some other department until the planet's more senior authorities dumped the problem onto their local police force. This was not a helpful start since planetary police were usually relatively small organisations, their influence extending no further than the world's surface, having little to do with interplanetary issues. As the local expert he had expected no less.
The inspector who talked to Jalsa was clearly unhappy at being thrust into meeting with a Co-operative official, and began by insisting that there was very little chance of him being in a position to provide any information. To be fair to him his department had been quite thoroughly scrutinised at the time of the original incident.
"Then give me everything that you gave us last time," Jalsa told him. "And see if anything else has happened." The policeman gave him an exasperated look and passed the orders on through his intercom.
"Give me your number and I'll call you back when I'm done," he said. Jalsa did so and terminated the link.
It was whilst he was waiting that three of the group returned, having found nothing. Barbeth arrived back half an hour later.
"Some debris from the Constrictor definitely passed through here," she informed them. "It looks like the scavenger who found it had no idea what he was carrying and tried to sell it in the general market."
"Any luck in tracing the purchaser?" asked Kirrik, the Disian.
"Yes and no. She left for Tiriusri but never made it. She could have been the victim of a random pirate attack. Tiriusri's listed as a feudal state."
"It's an unusual place," Jalsa intervened. "It's much safer than most such worlds. The ruling family has a history of being keen on working for the planet and kept good order before it even became a member of the Co-Operative. I think such an attack could easily be more than coincidence."
"Perhaps." Barbeth continued with her information. "There's more alarming news, though. In amongst the debris was more than just pieces of hull plates and bulkheads. Nothing was complete enough to identify from a visual recording but there were several bits that could have been critical technology."
"We'll have to find out what as soon as possible," said Erain Kalangu, the final member of the group.
"All in good time," replied Barbeth. "Tiriusri might be the next place to look at, though."
"Chasing around after hints?" said Kirrik. "That didn't get us very far originally, and I can't see it getting us anywhere now. We need something substantial, as soon as possible, not just flying around to see what we can pick up."
Kalangu looked over at him. "So what do you suggest?"
"We've still to wait if Jalsa's police can dig out anything. Furthermore, we still do not have any idea who may be behind the whole scheme. Find that out, and we find the Constrictor."
"To find them we have to find the Constrictor," retorted Kalangu. "A vicious circle if you approach it in that manner."
"Only to a certain extent. So far nobody appears to be suspicious enough or powerful enough to be implicated. That leaves someone we don't know about."
This statement was considered more seriously than might be expected. In so large a universe the old rule "expect the unexpected" was the only reliable guide. Some powerful group, hiding their tracks and biding their time... It was not a completely unreasonable hypothesis, but one that would be very difficult to follow up on.
Kirrik continued, "I'm not suggesting that we waste time on pure speculation, but I would suggest we don't dismiss anything slightly unusual we might find."
From another room an "Incoming Message" tone sounded. Jalsa stood up. "Excuse me, please."
As expected the message was from the police. "There's one bit of information I've found for you," he said. "Garhan Jersisallam."
"Didn't him and his business vanish after the Constrictor's destruction?" asked Jalsa.
"Yes. No trace of him ever found, but about eight months later a James Tebay, an employee of his, appeared briefly. Boarded a ship with a few others who had arrived with him and left but to where I haven't any idea. There's no record on the people with him, but they must have been crew for the ship."
"What sort of ship was it?"
"I don't know. You'll have to check System Records," came the unhelpful reply.
"When exactly did he appear?" demanded Jalsa.
"Third of March by Co-op dating. I've nothing else, I'm afraid."
"Thankyou for being of help. Goodbye." The inspector looked relieved as he closed the link.
Jalsa hurried back into the main room where they had been meeting. "When did the scrap turn up here?" he asked.
"Second of March," Barbeth replied. She looked up at him. "What have you heard?"
"Another coincidence that probably isn't one." He told them the news.
"I remember the name of Jersisallam from the enquiry," said Kirrik. "He'd been suspected of dealing in experimental technology acquired by dubious means and selling it to those who probably shouldn't have it. We put in a lot of effort trying to find him but he's vanished completely."
"It looks like nobody put two and two together when this Tebay appeared," said Jalsa. He sighed. "That's the problem with the bureaucracy of this place. No two departments talk to each other that much and information from one has to filter through to another in its own time."
"I'll see what System Records has to say," said Williams. "We might as well head for Tiriusri, unless anyone has any better ideas?"
Nobody had. "We'll meet you at the ship, then," said Kalangu.
Williams caught up the the group as they were boarding the ship. It was a modified Ghavial, large enough to accommodate them and contain an impressive array of weaponry. As well as its two-man crew they had further accompaniment in the form of three Navy Iguanas, set up as heavy fighters with hyperspace capability. Whilst this flotilla was leaving the station Williams told the others what he had learned. Apparently Tebay had acquired a second-hand but well-maintained Fer-de-Lance Lightspeeder, a potent weapon in the hands of an experienced combateer. GalCop had no record of it either being destroyed or abandoned (although a deserted ship in deep space was never likely to be found again). What, if anything, could be found at Tiriusri remained to be seen.
There had been no record of the ship docking at any space station in the Tiriusri system. The most likely possibility was that it had destroyed its target and hyperspaced out again straight afterwards. There was a slim chance that the attack had been witnessed, though, and with this in mind Kalangu found himself with a pile of police reports for the day the missing ship disappeared.
After a couple of hours of reading about mostly inconsequential encounters he came across a statement that sounded a little more interesting. A police patrol had noticed two ships on long-range scanners, both moving erratically as if in combat. The distance had been too great to determine the nature of the vessels and it was all over before the patrol made it into range. The report noted that the slower vessel had vanished from scanners first, followed a few seconds later by the other one. When they reached the site they found the wreckage of a Cobra MkI and the particle residue of a hyperspace jump. The hull IR signature of the victim had been partially destroyed and no definite identification was ever made. Just another pirate incident, and GalCop hadn't made any more than a cursory look into it. Murder was a serious crime but unfortunately far too common to be fully investigated due to the tiny chance of success. Unless you were rich, famous or influential the officials were unlikely to pay your death too much attention if it didn't happen in front of everyone's eyes, and the best you could hope for was an "Offender" tag on your killer.