The Data Traders

Guild Data Integrity

In order to maintain an Interstellar trading system, it is vital that the distributed databases that the Guild trading system is built on remain stable and accurate at all times. For this reason, all Guild ships MUST comply with Guild technical standards at all times. System updates MUST be applied as specified in the update instructions. Any ship found to be lax in implementation of system level updates will be removed from the trading system until they come into compliance.

Excerpted With Permission

Data Trader’s Handbook

Copyright 3250, Interstellar Data Trader Guild

Back to Upsilon Irridini was almost a full month. It gave the traders onboard plenty of time to talk and discuss what they would do next. As Leo reviewed their planned course to UI, he remembered his experience on buoy six. He turned to Ollu. “Do you really believe Craig that the Guild has glassed planets before? I’ve never heard that.”

Ollu put down the pad she had been examining. “I don’t really know. Craig tends to mix fantasy and reality a bit but I don’t think I’ve ever caught him outright lying to us before.”

“True.”

Leo fiddled with his pad for a moment. “So, were those Guild assassins we ran into on buoy six?”

Ollu put her pad down. “I doubt it. Much easier to hire that type of work out.”

“But you think the guild was behind it?”

“Yeah, it makes sense. If you are willing to take out an entire data ark to keep a secret, why not hire a team to be sure there is no trail of breadcrumbs pointing to the device?”

“So, what are the odds that the person we’re looking for is still there?”

“Not great, but what else can we do?”

Leo had another thought. “Is that why Thorsten specifically asked me to take Ramona with me? To get her out of the way?”

Ollu sighed. “Well, if they wanted her dead, they could achieve that several ways. Doesn’t seem likely that Thorsten would intentionally send her into a system with a known Quantum comms design running around.”

Leo nodded. “True.”

“Probably he just wanted to see what would happen. The masters don’t really think Raeburn is a threat anymore, just a curiosity.”

“But we’re about to MAKE them a threat, aren’t we?”

“Well, yes.”

“So, do we really want to do that?”

“No.”

“Basically, our choice is to run away or to destroy the guild.”

“But how do we do that, we don’t have epsilon.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. In some ways, knowing epsilon exists makes making a new epsilon much easier.”

“How so?”

“Well, we know that the vulnerabilities are there. We also know that they’re pretty basic architectural problems or the Guild would have fixed it by now.”

“How do we know they didn’t?”

“Vishnu is pretty confident.”

“Yes, but he seems like a nutter.”

“A very skilled and competent nutter.”

“OK, fair.”

“One thing that I’ve been struggling with for months is the way the ship was rigged to blow. Everything else the Guild has done has been super logical once you know what they know. However, blowing up an empty ship that they’ve already hidden doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah, if you assume the same folks who we met on UI-6 were the ones who took the ship, then they could have just gone back for it.”

“Probably that was their plan, eventually. Just fly it into a star.”

“So, it was really just parked there temporarily while they cleaned up the records in UI.”

“Yeah.”

“So, why booby trap it?”

“Exactly.”

“They were under orders.”

“Orders for what?”

“To ensure that if someone found the ship it would blow up.”

“But that was super unlikely.”

“Yes.”

“So, the danger to the guild must be massive also.”

“Exactly. The ship is a danger to them.”

“Because of Quantum Comms?”

“Perhaps. But it seems like the ship it’s self is a danger. Otherwise, why not just destroy the modules and move on?”

“So, the ship had to be destroyed.”

Leo tapped a com panel. “Ramona, can you join Ollu and me in conference six?”

Once Ramona arrived, Leo brought her up to speed with their train of thought. “So, if we take the position that the ship is a danger to the guild just be existing, where does that leave us?”

Ramona thought for a while. “Well, if I was still in the Guard, I would DEFINITELY want to get my hands on one.”

“Why?”

“Because you can learn things about your enemy. Find their weaknesses, things like that.”

“But this ship doesn’t have any weapons.”

Ramona smiled. “Sure it does. This entire ship is a weapon.” Leo just looked confused. “The most powerful weapon known to man: information. The Guild maintains power because they own the IP, they control it. Without that control, the Guild dies.”

“So, the thing the Guild fears most is?”

“Losing control of the IP.”

“Epsilon.”

“Yes, Epsilon is the thing they fear. Even more than quantum.”

“And yet, Vishnu is still alive.”

“Notice that he doesn’t live on earth? He lives in a brightly lit target.”

“Literally.”

“So, he’s their canary. Just sitting there, ready to be taken out.”

“And if he is killed?”

“I am assuming that if he’s killed they release epsilon.”

“So, we just go kill Vishnu?”

Ollu laughed. “Not sure if I like where your head is at Ramona. No, I think that we make our own.”

“How do we do that?”

“With this ship.”

“The ship?”

“Well, the Guild obviously thinks it’s possible. We know it was done before.”

“I think this is beyond our capability.”

“Ya, we need a hacker.”

“There is an entire hacking division back in the Raeburn Guard. They would do it.”

“I’m not sure I want my fate in the hands of the Raeburn Guard. No offense Ramona.”

“None taken, I’m not sure if I want my fate in their hands either, that’s one reason I left.”

“I had assumed you were still active duty, just on assignment here.”

“What? No.” Ramona shrugged. “I’m on a Seeker mission, like I told you.”

Leo nodded. “Oh.”

Ramona turned to him. “Oh?”

Leo held up his hands in submission. “Ramona, please don’t get mad at me again. All this stuff is coming at me from left field. If you say you’re doing all this because you’re a Seeker, then OK. I believe you.”

“And?”

“And..” Leo wrung his hands with nervous energy. “And, I’m with you. If you want to go to Raeburn, then I want that also.”

Ramona smiled and put her hand over Leo’s. “Thank you Leo. I appreciate that.”

Ollu smiled. “Do I need to leave now?”

Ramona just laughed. “One thing at a time. We need to get the Quantum Comms Patent. If we own that, we can go to Raeburn and name our terms.”

“And what about epsilon?”

“I think we explore it, better to have it and not need it than need it but don’t have it.”

Ollu nodded. “Makes sense. If we have a weapon to keep the Guild in check, we don’t have to use it.”

Leo nodded also. “OK. I like that plan. We are ready to defend ourselves as needed but we don’t have to destroy the Guild, just use it as leverage.”

“Right.”

The comm panel chimed. “Captain, dropping out of FTL. Latency envelope in four hours.”

Ollu acknowledged the report and turned to Ramona again. “What are the odds that our IP holder is still alive?”

Ramona shrugged. “Not amazing, but what else can we do but look?”

“Agreed.”

As soon as they entered the latency envelope to the nearest Guild buoy (number 9 in this case), they started interrogating the local system to find the IP holder. It wasn’t super hard, he was registered in the system and had provided electronic and physical addresses as part of the IP sale process. Of course, nobody answered their messages.

“So, do we go over there?” Ramona, Ollu and Leo were sitting in Café one over cups of coffee trying to decide their next move. The IP owner, a person named Marcus Vinogradov, lived in a hab orbiting the sixth planet.

Leo shrugged. “Easy enough, assuming that nobody is looking for him or for us.”

Ollu drank the last of her coffee. “Take a BR and pack heat.”

“Roger that.”