[b]CANTON/ASM TERRITORY, MOUNTAINS FOOT CITY[/b]
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Marco sat at his desk slowly tapping his display. His window was tinted but the location of the sun was still evident, and he had been watching it move across the sky for several hours. It was always like this when people died. Marco could have had his secretary or even an assistant handle it, he certainly had enough of them, but it had always been the way things were done; that the leader of men is the one responsible for them. It had been his father that drilled that into him, and perhaps it wasn’t terribly hard to write an apology for the death of a man you never met, but this time was different. The first letter Marco had already sent, but the second, for a man named Axel Lind, that was the hard one. Marco had known Axel back on Earth when his father had been running the IMIB diplomatic office in Sweden for Marco’s grandfather. Of course Marco and Axel had been scarcely seven years old but the two had been inseparable for a year, perhaps two. Still, even though Axel had to move away and Marco not long after when his Grandfather died and his father moved to the IMIB chair world of Perseus 3b Marco felt an obligation. After all it had been Marco who had Axel hired when his application came up, Marco had intended to speak to him. Marc wondered about that, it had been scarcely a week and Marco had his own responsibilities, why had Axel died so quickly? Was it fate that Marco would never meet anyone from his old life again? His finger continued its beat on the display, the drum was slow, consistent, unrelenting, like rain. 

It was then the door flew open, and the light streamed in from the open windows beyond it. Marco shielded his eyes at first before he sat up in his chair and realized who had walked in. Mira Comb, Marco’s least favorite employee whom he couldn't fire. The tall middle eastern woman spoke clearly as she deactivated the window tint from a control on the wall and allowed yet more light in, “Marco-“ She stopped when he shielded his eyes from the light and gave him the same gaze she always did when she disapproved. She continued, “Marco we have an issue.” She noticed how inattentive he was being and added, “I fear the days just starting, a bit early to shut yourself in and drink.”

Marco responded with about half as much confidence but a thousand times the ease, “Well for your information Miss Comb I have not even touched my flask today, though I like the idea!” So just to spite her Marco pulled a well-crafted and carefully engraved silver flask out of his desk drawer and drank a swig before putting it into his suit pocket, Mira rolled her eyes and Marco continued, “Anyway this great issue at hand! Now let me guess, has another truck broken down?”

Mira once again gave him that glare and responded in a more serious and less scolding tone than usual, “No, I’m afraid this is a bit more pressing. We lost contact with Mercury-126; they re-established an hour ago to report they are dead in space.”

Marco interrupted at that point and asked, “What the hell could have done that?”

Mira replied, “According to them, pirates, well-armed ones. They report a missing shipment and the command crew dead.”

Marco froze, there were few things he was told to never do by his father when he was given this job, but losing any ship that’s designation ended in 26 was the first one. The look on Mira Comb’s face proved she had no idea what was in the ship, and to be honest neither did Marco, though by now he had a very clear idea. He replied seriously, “Get me a shuttle now; we need to deal with this. Label it as a gold transport, should get their attention.”

Mira looked at him more puzzled than she ever had before, and that brought him some pleasure. She was clearly surprised when she asked, “Why you? Why do it like [i]this[/i], we can just send an ambassador like we usually do.”

Marco replied in the same tone as had surprised her, “I have to deal with this myself, it’s beyond just wanting something or acting foolishly, this is something that needs to be done.” Marco stood up and straightened his suit, he continued, “When will the transport be ready?”

Mira replied, “You could be hurt, something your father would blame me for, but I can tell you’re going to do this regardless. I can have it ready immediately.”

Marco walked around his desk and forward to the door, passing Mira without a word as he headed to the landing pad. He guess that he would have to write a great deal more letters before the day was over, but he took solace in the fact that he didn't know them, for Axel’s death still weighed heavy on his mind. As Marco made his way the runway where the atmospheric transport shuttle was waiting he looked around, even though most of the facility was enclosed there was no shortage of glass. Add to that the mountains to his right were surely one of the more impressive sights he had ever seen, if only his window faced them and not the grey mammoth that was the refinery building. When he exited the building and reached the shuttle the pilot approached him and asked, “You’re sure you don’t need an escort? Or me for that matter?” 

Marco replied clearly, “No.” As he made his way to the shuttle that was sitting freshly fueled on the runway just away from him. He climbed the simple stairs and noticed a small cargo of Phosphorus in the back, likely it was going to go to one of the colonies before he demanded the shuttle. He took a note to pay the colony for the delay, or loss of cargo depending on how things went. He sat himself in the pilot’s seat and caught a reflection of his green eyes in the glass before he started the takeoff sequence. Often times he wondered if those were the same eyes he had when he was a kid, playing with Axel; or if they changed when his father became the CEO and he never met a real friend again on that grey metal planet he moved to. Banishing the stray thoughts Marco allowed the shuttle to blast into orbit, before long he was following the same route as the transport that was attacked, he guessed it was a mere matter of time now.