Solar Star System.

Throughout the solar system theft operations of unheard of scale was taking place.

The Alvear councillor and his allies began arriving in force. They stayed as far from the patrol orbit of the Far Justice as they can.

The nearest mining operation was in the asteroid belt. These were quick hit and run operations. Get in, set up a low-cost base and steal as much as they could from every location and run. The really ambitious operations are located in the outer planets. Those were permanent bases with defence installations capable of resisting the current level of force that the Galaxy Police could bring to bear.

Captain Fo'Rkon D'Um was aware of every infraction taking place. The unfortunate situation was intolerable to the Drak'on. He needed at least a full squadron of cruiser class warships to bring order to this unfortunately quarantined star system. He wasn't getting anything. He knew why the Alvear were blocking every request.

Brie and Space Rene were monitoring and recording everything. The Duo had infiltrated every AI system on the ship except for the main AI in charge. The only reason they haven't taken over the ship's AI was the self-destruct protocol built into the ship. The moment they took over they would need a few seconds, to reboot the AI with a copy of Brie.

Unfortunately, those few seconds were enough to trigger the destruct sequence. The integrity of the warship's AI was paramount.

It was a stalemate that the two infiltrators were trying to overcome. So far they couldn't come up with a plan to bridge that gap in timing.

They weren't helpless by any means. They just needed to work around this very inconvenient limitation.

All of this was happening while I was driving to Constance Bay to help with the flood relief efforts a part of me was trying to come up with ways to deal with this effort to bankrupt humanity before we even had a chance to stand up on our two feet. If not me who else? The Aqit elder wasn't interested in such things. Their technology was based on the manipulation of bio-matter. A technology that was centuries beyond our reach, maybe?

I drive up slowly to the barricade staffed by a single security guard. I don't recognize this guy. Burt must be on break. I lower the window, "Hi. Burt on break?" I ask.

"He had to leave early. His wife's about to deliver." The nametag on his chest was a small white card with a plastic cover. 'Lori' in big red letters.

"Thanks, Lori. Where can I park?" I knew but I didn't want to step on this young man's toes.

"The third row still has a few spots available Mr. Wilder." I look at where he was pointing. "Thank you." I park and join the other volunteers. I was signed up for a few hours before someone else replaced me.

"Over here, Rene." the eighty years old lady smiles as she sees me.

"Hi, Ingrid. Let the fun begin." We both laugh.

"You are terrible Rene." She gives me a swat on the arm.

I start filling sandbags with the rest of the volunteers.

Delta Inn.

Ottawa, Canada.

Nancy Walker swipes the security card and walks into her suite. The supposedly empty suite.

A ripple in the air solidifies and Johan Schmidt appears in front of her.

"How did the mission go?" He asks.

"Successful. He thought I was flirting with him." She smiles.

"You were supposed to flirt with him and bring him here." He was wondering why the mailman wasn't with her.

"No. I was supposed to tag him. And I did that by flirting with him. I was all over him. My pheromones are all over him. We will be able to track his movements on the minimap with ease." She explains the main mission.

"Luring him to my room was a secondary objective. If possible? It wasn't possible." She points to Rene's location on the minimap.

"Our objective is to transport the mailman to our employer. Not to keep track of him!" Johan says forcefully as he invades her personal space.

Nancy wasn't about to let the mercenary intimidate her. "Correction!” she insists while pressing an angry red energy blade to his groin while looking right into his eyes. " That is your mission. Don't confuse the two objectives. Mine was successful. How you carry out your mission is your problem."

Johan steps back and pauses for effect. He could easily kill her but that would mean the mission fails. She was the one who can locate and track the target. Any other method of tracking him would fail.

He backs off and disappears. Nancy puts him out of her mind and walks into the washroom. She needs a shower. She slowly takes off her clothes. She knows he's watching. She doesn't care and she doesn't look back.

Johan enjoys the show. He doesn't care that she doesn't care. His mind wonders while he reviews his options. Plans within plans. Always have a way out.

Nancy gets into the shower and turns on the shower massage. She plans on getting all pruney. Johan can go to hell in the meantime.

Johan can follow her surface thought because she was broadcasting them. Otherwise, her minor mind shield would have blocked any deep probe. He still couldn't get an answer from the Xerys System why it was blocking his ability.

'I think it's time for Rene Wilder acquisition plan number 2.' Johan began making calls.