A man in an impeccable Imperial Navy uniform walked in. He had a riding crop under one arm. His black hair was cut high and tight, not a strand out of place, and Jax guessed it was kept at regulation length daily.
“Is that a riding crop? Like for riding horses?” Jax asked as the man came to stand across the table from him. The Captain placed the crop on the table, its shiny metal topper, the emblem of the Empire, clinking against the acrylic table.
“You’re Jackson—Jax—Caruso. Son of Thomas and Alison.” Neither were questions. “Your family founded independent station Kelso,” he added.
Jax looked up. “I mean, Memaw was one of the founders, but it’s not like it’s our family space station or anything. You know the answer to the rest.” He smiled politely.
“You don’t like the Empire very much, do you?”
Jax made a show of looking around the room. “What’s not to like? I mean, my friends and I stopped a massive theft that occurred right under your nose, and your lackey hauled us up here, threw us in the brig.” He frowned. “And that’s just today.” He locked his eyes with the Captain. “What’s not to like about the Empire?”
The man stared, unblinking, then slid the chair in front of him out, taking a seat opposite Jax. “Quite the mouth you have.” He held up a hand to cut off whatever Jax was about to say. “I knew your parents.” Jax closed his mouth. “There’s no reason you’d have known that, of course. We crossed paths a few times in the old days.”
“Before you sold out the alliance, you mean,” Jax growled, the heat of old rage building inside him. “Or were the old days when your ship was firing on Apollo station?”
The Captain, the tag on his uniform read Hollister , nodded slowly, silently. “What were you and your friends doing on Jebidiah? How do I know you weren’t involved in the ore theft?” He tilted his head as if he were examining an interesting specimen under a microscope. “Isn’t it possible you and your friends are the thieves, and you’ve simply changed your story to try to avoid a penal colony?”
Jax ignored the hypothetical. “What are you planning to do with us?” When Captain Hollister didn’t answer, Jax added, “How about a trade, a little tit for tat? Quid—”
“Yes, I get it,” Hollister interrupted. “To answer your first question, I haven’t decided. If you were involved, you’ll be prosecuted. If you tell me everything you know, if your story is true, and those other men are in fact Crimson Orchid? Well, that would be quite the boon to my career, and I’d be very appreciative.” He grinned. The grin didn’t reach his eyes. The smile faded as quickly as it appeared. “Your turn.”
Jax put a lid on his anger. “Those two men. They are Crimson Orchid. They work for a man called Ichiko. I never got his first name. We dropped him off on Themura before coming here.” He saw the expression of barely contained glee spreading across the other man’s face. “Those two men and their three freighters were supposed to pick up the ore and make off with it.”
The Captain absently drummed his fingers on the table. “And what were you doing there?” He reached out and rubbed the end of his riding crop.
Jax slowly moved his head from side to side. “Well...”
The Captain waved his free hand. “Let’s not beat around the bush, Captain Caruso. You and your people, if I had to guess, are the ones who stole the ore. Your ship has the power to lift those modules. It was parked right next to them, in fact. Then you, what? Reconsidered?” He tilted his head. “It was you, after all, that called the garrison, I assume? Then called my ship directly?”
Jax was silent as it occurred to him that the Imperials had not intervened by chance. Naomi had contacted them somehow. He nodded. “Yeah, we were tricked into the job, and when we found out who we’d impacted, we decided to change the deal.” He intentionally left out that fact that the Crimson Orchid had planned to kill them all and likely frame them.
“If what you say is true, that these men and their ships are Crimson Orchid, you made a bold choice. They’ve been growing quite powerful out here on the Edge. You’ve likely made a powerful enemy.”
Jax shrugged. “Right is right.”
The Imperial man pursed his lips. “Indeed.” He stood, and Jax stood with him. “I’ll be back.” He rapped once on the door with his riding crop. The door slid open, and he left.
“Can I get a snack while I wait?” Jax shouted.