A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 23

She responded, "Yes, Captain."

That was one perk of being on the Bridge crew; you didn't have to wait for the communication device to beep after speaking the person's name. It automatically connected you. A small proof that I was truly part of the Bridge crew.

Two of the men in front of me were not impressed, but remained silent. The first man narrowed his eyes in irritation as he said, "Please, come this way."

I walked with them to their vehicle, which was a tiny space shuttle that might have been able to hold a dozen people at most. I glanced out the window as we flew past buildings. "Which station are we going to?"

One man briefly answered, "Central Station."

"How long is this likely to take?"

"That depends on your level of cooperation."

I leveled a slightly stern look at the man. "I pointed out well-known facts while still offering to answer your questions. If you are going to deem that as refusal-to-cooperate, then someone else had better be doing the questioning while you review some terminology definitions."

He stared pointedly at the seat across from him and did not respond to my faintly rebuking words. The rest of the short ride held only silence.

I got out of the vehicle as two of the men escorted me to a side door and led me down several hallways to an interrogation room. They let me in and closed the door behind me, leaving me with two men who were clearly waiting for me. The uniform showed that one was an Interrogation Officer. The second man was on a small computer which was attached to a lie detector apparatus.

The Officer came forward and held out his hand. "Hello Captain Wanderer. I am Myles. It is a pleasure to meet you."

I shook his hand and blandly commented, "I hope that this is as important as the Enforcement Officers thought it was. It has interrupted a rather important trade negotiation with zero notice."

"My apologies. We do believe that the matter is important enough for an in-person discussion. The authorities from the Intergalactic Space Commission have requested that we ask you a few questions regarding some recent events."

Starsong provided some tips and details regarding that group. Tilting my head slightly, I said, "The Intergalactic Space Commission is normally concerned about Trade Regulations and potential fighting. I fail to see how this applies to me since I have not broken any rules nor been involved in any fights."

"They are also highly concerned about the recent development with the rogue AIs, and you were on one such ship. They also concern themselves with keeping track of which Captain is in charge of each large space vessel. They have questions about both of those areas."

I sat down in the hard plastic chair. "I fail to see why they didn't just contact me by video call. They have sent no notice or communication regarding the desire to speak with me. As you surely know, time in port is a busy time and docking fees are not cheap."

"We will refund part of your docking fees for this inconvenience."

I raised one eyebrow slightly. "That is generous of you, but the deal I am being forced to miss would have generated profit that is quite important to a trading ship during its first few stops."

"Then let us get down to business so that you do not have to miss any more meetings." Myles gestured to the man with the lie detector. "Just to verify your answers beyond any doubt, we have permission from the Intergalactic Space Commission to use a lie detector."

This was a position that I really didn't want to be in. These devices were very sensitive and could more than easily land me in hot water with some of what I knew. This machine was not connected to any other device and also lacked remote connection capabilities, which meant that Starsong couldn't hack into it and help me. If I started to refuse to answer questions, or was found to be lying, then this meeting could go downhill fast.

"I can help guide you through it."

'I am going to need all of the help I can get...'

I shrugged. "Fine." Refusing would have immediately raised suspicion levels and would have probably sent me to the holding cells while they brought in someone qualified to run a lie detector on an unwilling person.

I held out my hands, and the thin man easily slid on the network of leather straps, wires, and sensor pads. He held up two more pads before gently putting one on each of my temples. All of these delicate sensors would show a lie, half-lie, or even a lot of stress or other strong emotions.

The man typed on his keyboard before arranging his screen so we could all see it. Several displays showed lines and bars that faintly shifted as they reacted to what the sensors picked up.

A knock at the door made us all look over as another man barged into the room without waiting for someone to answer the door. He looked at us with a frown as he demanded, "Have you started questioning her yet?"

Myles stood up in surprise; he obviously recognized the man and clearly had not expected to see him show up. "Not yet, Sir."

"I am taking over the interrogation role." The new man was definitely not the world's happiest person. I wondered who had put the tacks on his chair this morning. I really hoped that this was not his normal demeanor.

Myles opened and then closed his mouth before bowing slightly. "Yes, Sir." He left the room, leaving me with Mr. Grumpy and a computer tech who didn't look in his direction.

"This is the Supervisor of the Intergalactic Relations department in this detachment; he normally facilitates communication between various enforcement groups. People in his position almost never conduct interrogations. Someone must have finally realized that the interrogation of a Captain cannot be done by a regular employee. The interrogation supervisor isn't in today, so they must have decided that an Intergalactic Relations supervisor was sufficient."

The new man slid into the empty chair on the far side of the small table as he faced me. He glanced at a few hand written notes in his hands before speaking, "So, Miss Wanderer, I have a few questions here for you."

Starsong hadn't been kidding when he said that he had almost no interrogation skills. His gruff and to-the-point manner was more suitable for a discussion between other supervisors in Enforcement departments. It was nothing like the last man's smooth and easy-going style.

I kept a bland expression on my face while replying, "It is Captain Wanderer."

"The claim to that rank is being questioned by the Intergalactic Space Commission."

I was getting severely tired of people refusing to believe I was a Captain when I had finally accepted that dreaded title. I kept my expression bland, although the machines showed that his words were getting some sort of reaction out of me. Stupid machine...

I merely nodded calmly. "I can assure you that I am the legitimate Captain of the Starsong."

I was so not looking forward to this. Getting questioned by a grouchy supervisor in a Space Enforcement Station was nowhere on my list of things that I hoped to try one day.

"And I can assure you that anyone who tries to take your rank by force will be jettisoned out of the ship so fast that they will think that they have hit warp speed."

Starsong's words were a bit of a reassurance, but we weren't exactly within his corridors or rooms right now.