S.P.E.C.T.O.R – [A Sci-fi space adventure with fantasy elements]

Lorelie turned to her friend, who sat next to her with a look of concern, before asking, “Are you ok, Rowena?” 

“I’m fine, just a bit irritated is all,” Rowena replied.

“I can understand why. It wasn’t exactly very professional how Malgath made Stacey sound as if she were a third wheel in our relationship. I also didn’t like the way he said it.”

“You know the trolls on Xer-verse are going to run with that and make it a thing now.” 

“Unfortunately so,” Lorelie said with a sad sigh.

“Something wrong?” Stacey asked as she and Adam just happened to walk back into the mess hall at that moment.

“I take it you didn’t hear Malgath’s comment about our group relationship then?” Lorelie asked slightly nervously.

“You announced it then,” Adam asked in mild surprise.

“Actually, Stacey did when she said ‘my man’ live on the show,” Rowena said with her signature smirk.

“Oh shit, I did say that, sorry. I know we were planning to keep it quiet for a little longer.” Stacey said apologetically.

“We never really decided to keep it quiet; we were still discussing when would be the best time to announce it so that it wouldn’t affect Lorelie’s trend,” Adam replied.

 “I don’t really care if the news of our relationship affects my trend or not. If I lose fans because I’m in a relationship, then it shows they were not really fans to begin with,” Lorelie said reassuringly.

“So what did Malgath say?” Stacey asked.

“He made it sound like his show had dug up the truth about our relationship,” Lorelie replied.

“So, it kind of did in a way since it was revealed on his show, plus he was probably only saying it that way to improve his own ratings,” Stacey replied.

“That’s not the part that annoyed us,” Lorelie said, indicating herself and Rowena before she continued, “It was how he made it sound like you were a third wheel in the relationship when it was actually me who joined the two of you and even after I informed him of such.

“Is that all?” Stacey asked calmly.

“You’re not upset or anything?” Lorelie asked curiously,

“Why would I be? I faced much worse criticism when I was younger, honestly, people can say and think what they want as long as it doesn’t stop me from being with Adam.” 

 “Why would I let something like that come between us?” Adam replied as he pulled her into his embrace before his face frowned as he said, “Though I do think Malgath should be taught a small lesson for this.”

“I was thinking the same,” Rowena agreed.

“You really don’t have to,” Stacey said as she snuggled closer to Adam.

“Why don’t you go through with your threat, then, Rowena?” Tephe suddenly asked as she had been silently listening the entire time.

“Threat?” Adam asked curiously.

“Malgath asked how it was that you acquired half of Erkath Fashion that you then gave to me. I told him I was not longer in the mood to explain to him and that maybe I should report it to Sinead Quintana instead.” Rowena explained.

“So why don’t you?” Adam suggested.

“You don’t mind?” Rowena asked.

“Well, you were already planning to reveal it on The MMM Show; what difference does it make who you reveal it to?” 

“You have a point. I will speak to Erkath about this, and we will decide the best way to go about it”

“So what did you learn?” Lorelie asked curiously.

“Speactor?” Adam asked before a holographic screen appeared, showing a report with limited information.

[[Bounty Hunter Guild Information:]]

[[Ship Information]]

[[Ship Designation: EDF001-Spector]]

[[Production Date: Unknown.]]

[[Production Location: Unknown (Suspected to be Earth (Milky Way Galaxy), though there is conflicting evidence regarding this. See Notes.)]]

[[Weapons: 3 Laser repeaters, Seismic charge, Tempest IV EMP Scatter Missiles, 2 rear Ballistic Repeaters]]

[[Defensive Equipment: EM countermeasures, Thermal countermeasures.]]

[[Additional Information: Ship is know to carry other smaller vehicles onboard which include a hoverbike and shuttle.]]

[[Notes: Ship appears to be highly advanced which is strange since the planet the captain is from is reported to not even be capable of interstellar travel yet.]]

[[Crew Information]]

[[Name: Adam Spencer]]

[[Age: 19 (Universal Calendar)]]

[[YOB: 3228 (Universal Calendar)]]

[[Race: Earthling.]]

[[Species: Humanoid]]

[[Home Planet: Earth (Milky Way Galaxy)]]

[[Registered Ship: EDF001-Spector (Captain)]]

[[Convictions: None]]

[[Mercenary Hall Rank: E]]

[[Bounty Hunter Guild Rank: F]]

[[Name: Stacey Sinclair]]

[[Age: 23 (Universal Calendar)]]

[[YOB: 3223 (Universal Calendar)]]

[[Race: Terran/Brood(75%/25%)]]

[[Species: Humanoid]]

[[Home Planet: Palaxia (Sandanar Galaxy)]]

[[Birth Planet: Darah 5 (Lueat Galaxy)]]

[[Registered Ship: EDF001-Spector (Crew Member)]]

[[Convictions: Petty theft, smuggling.]]

[[Mercenary Hall Rank: None]]

[[Bounty Hunter Guild Rank: None]]

[[Additional Information: Diva Rowena Nosferatu’s granddaughter.]]

[[Additional Notes: It has been confirmed that Diva Rowena Nosferatu, Diva Lorelie and Dragon Princess Tephe are traveling on the ship.]]

“As you can see, the information the ship contained on us came directly from the Bounty Hunter Guild, though I was unfortunately unable to trace the source of where the information was transmitted from. The sender appears to have the ability to remove any record of the holocall ever happening.

I was only able to tell a call had happened because the ship’s logs record a holocall taking place, but nothing more than that. After cross-referencing with every other holocall made and finding that none of them sent this file, I came to the hypothesis that this holocall was the one that sent the file and hired the pirate.” Spector reported.

“I have never heard of tech that removes almost all record of a holocall taking place,” Rowena said thoughtfully.

“So do we think it was the Bounty Hunter Guild who hired the pirates?” Tephe asked.

”Well, we learned previously that Director Drot of the Bounty Hunter Guild put that bounty out on me,” Adam replied.

“That’s true, however, I think it’s unlikely he was the one responsible for this attack. Bounty Hunters are meant to hunt pirates, not work with them after all, and it wouldn’t look good for them if they hired pirates,” Rowena mused. 

“It’s possible they used a third party to contact the pirates so as not to leave any trace of their dealings with the pirates,” Stacey suggested.

“That’s true, however, why would they send a copy of their own file on you, Adam and Spector?” Rowena asked before saying, “No, the more likely scenario is that the Bounty Hunter Guild or someone part of the Bounty Hunter Guild contacted another party regarding acquiring Spector, that third party then contacted the pirates and sent the data they had received.”

“Could it be that Terran Admiral Dexter that Becky mentioned?” Lorelie asked.

“That’s plausible, but weren’t the Tarran imperial family going to deal with him after Adam refused their offer?” Rowena asked.

“Did you ever get an update from Becky regarding that?” Adam asked Lorelie.

“No, I will drop her a  message and ask for an update?” Lorelie asked.

“I have a feeling I know what her response will be,” Rowena replied.

💫💫💫

“Fuck, I was hoping they would forget about this,” Becky cursed from her bed as she looked at the message she had just received on her uniband.

“Well, there is no use in worrying over it; we’re better off just telling them the truth,” Tessa replied as she saw the message in question.

“Sure, but how much do we tell them?”

“For now, just mention that Dexter managed to flee before we got to him and think that he was somehow tipped off and that we are still investigating the matter.”

“Ok.”

💫💫💫

“Figured that was the case,” Rowena said as she saw Becky’s reply.

“Maybe I should have handled him myself after all,” Adam said.

“There would have been no point if they couldn’t get to him in time when they were in the same galaxy; then you wouldn’t have stood a chance in another galaxy. At least this way we have an idea that he was not working alone after all.” 

“Then what about the Bounty Hunter Guild? Do we think the one who sent our information is the same person who put up the bounty mission?” Stacey asked.

“That’s most likely,” Adam said before looking at Lorelie and asking, “Can you speak to the royal family and try to find out who it was who posted that bounty mission? Also, where were they located, if at all possible?” 

“Of course,” Lorelie nodded with a smile.

“Well then, for now, how about we land and relax a bit before Lorelie’s concert starts,” Adam said before adding. Spector, initiate landing.”

“Affirmative.”

💫💫💫

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?” Drotas yelled angrily at the distorted holographic screen above her desk before asking, “What happened to using that crazy bitch to test the ship’s capabilities before your real team moved in for the kill?” 

“Unfortunately, the target was far more advanced and capable than we realised, so the ‘crazy bitch’ as you call her didn’t really reveal much of anything to us.” Mr Mysterious’s voice replied.

“No shit, they made your ‘real team’ look like a bunch of chumps, I mean, imagine losing a six-to-one.”

“To be fair, the ship quickly changed that to a seven vs six.”

“Yeah, then why didn’t your people destroy the ship as soon as it dropped out of FTL? Initially, it looked like they were trying to only disable it.”