Chapter 437: Harrow’s Rest

The boarding teams reached the disabled ships within twenty minutes.

Aurelian remained connected from Helion while Rhoswen supervised the operation from Crimson Bulwark.

Valeris officers led each boarding team, with Crownward personnel staying behind them as support.

The attackers had surrendered, but nobody was willing to assume that meant their ships were safe.

The first vessel had lost most of its engine section, though the crew compartments remained intact.

Seven people were found aboard, including two injured during the fight. The second ship carried nine, while the third had six.

Twenty-two prisoners in total.

None wore uniforms.

That made things more difficult.

"They look like independent crews," Rhoswen reported after receiving the first images. "Mixed equipment, old pressure suits, personal weapons. Nothing standard."

"Any identification?"

"Some, but we’re checking it."

Eirenne was already comparing the names against Valeris, Orison, Alliance, and cooperative records.

Aurelian returned his attention to the conference room. The formal negotiations had stopped for obvious reasons, although nobody had left.

Oren Vale was speaking quietly with Sera Dorn while Halden Marrick sat nearby. Dalia Renn and the Valeris representatives had moved to the other side of the room.

Mara Venn remained connected remotely.

She looked far less interested in discussing compensation now.

"Do we know who they are?" she asked.

"Not yet," Aurelian replied.

"If they were trying to kill the Orison delegation, I doubt they’re random pirates."

"So do I."

Oren looked toward the display. "There are groups around Orison that oppose the negotiations."

Rhoswen’s voice immediately came through the room speakers.

"That would have been useful information earlier."

Oren did not argue.

"We did not believe any of them would attack a diplomatic delegation."

"Who are they?"

"Independent recovery crews, mostly. Some settlements depend heavily on access to wreck fields that may be affected by a new agreement."

Dalia frowned. "You mean crews operating inside the areas you claim?"

"Some operate with Orison licenses. Others do not."

Aurelian leaned forward.

"Would any of them lose access if Orison accepted narrower recovery boundaries?"

"Yes."

That gave them a motive.

It did not prove anything.

A message appeared from Eirenne.

She had identified four of the prisoners.

Two had worked for licensed recovery crews based near Orison. One had previously served aboard an Orison patrol vessel, though he left six years earlier.

The fourth appeared in records connected to a small salvage settlement called Harrow’s Rest.

Aurelian had never heard of it.

Eirenne brought up its location.

Harrow’s Rest sat beyond the main Orison repair zone, built around an old refinery and several linked habitation modules. Its population was estimated at fewer than two thousand.

More importantly, it was close to one of the outer wreck fields Orison had struggled to justify under the old documents.

Aurelian looked toward Oren.

"Do you know Harrow’s Rest?"

Oren’s expression changed.

"Yes."

"Explain."

"It is an independent recovery settlement. Technically."

"Technically?"

"They accept Orison contracts and use our repair yard, but they have their own council."

Dalia gave a short, humorless laugh.

"They also hate us."

Oren glanced toward her.

"That is true."

"Why?" Aurelian asked.

Dalia answered first.

"Because the cooperative challenged their salvage claims years ago. Harrow’s Rest believes several wreck fields belong to them because their crews have worked there for generations."

"Do they?"

"Some of the sites, probably. All of them? No."

That sounded familiar.

Everyone in this region seemed to have inherited a map from someone else and then added a few lines around whatever they wanted.

Aurelian rubbed his forehead.

"Let’s not decide ownership based on this attack. Find out whether the prisoners actually came from Harrow’s Rest first."

The boarding teams continued searching.

The attackers had tried to wipe their navigation records before surrendering, but they had not done a very good job.

Eirenne recovered partial route information from the second vessel.

It showed several recent stops.

One was Harrow’s Rest.

Another was much more interesting.

The ship had visited Orison Fleet Service Yard Four eleven days earlier.

Rhoswen stared at the record.

"So they were at Orison."

Oren looked unhappy. "Thousands of independent crews visit the yard."

"I know."

"Then don’t make the obvious assumption."

Rhoswen smiled slightly.

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

"I was."

Aurelian interrupted before they could continue.

"Visiting Orison doesn’t prove government involvement. We need more."

They soon found it.

Not proof against Orison, but something useful.

The third ship carried a copy of the conference schedule.

It included the arrival window for Orison’s delegation, the original docking berth, and the first version of the security arrangement.

That information had been changed after the anonymous warning.

Aurelian studied the file.

"Who had access to this version?"

Eirenne checked the distribution record.

"Valeris council staff, Crownward command, Orison’s negotiation office, and the cooperative delegation."

The room became much quieter.

Dalia looked irritated.

"Wonderful."

Rhoswen frowned. "So we have a leak."

"Probably," Aurelian said. "But that still leaves a lot of people."

The conference schedule was not a major military secret. Clerks, pilots, security officers, administrators, and technical staff could have seen parts of it.

They would have to trace the exact copy.

Fortunately, Eirenne had something to work with.

The file contained a small formatting difference in one of the docking instructions.

It matched the version sent to Orison.

Oren closed his eyes briefly.

Rhoswen noticed.

"Still think this has nothing to do with your side?"

"I think someone with access to our records gave them the schedule," Oren replied. "That is not the same as saying our government ordered the attack."

Aurelian agreed.

"He’s right."

Rhoswen looked toward him.

"I know. I don’t have to like it."

Sera Dorn spoke for the first time in several minutes.

"If the copy came through our office, we can identify who accessed it."

"How quickly?" Aurelian asked.

"If the records haven’t been altered, a few hours."

"Do it."

Oren looked at him. "You want us to investigate ourselves?"

"I want you to provide the access records to Valeris and the independent review team. Eirenne can compare them."

Oren considered that before nodding.

"Agreed."

That decision let the conference continue, though the original schedule was abandoned.

There was little point pretending the attack had not happened.

Instead, Aurelian suggested using it to address one of the problems that had sat beneath the negotiations from the beginning.

Independent recovery settlements.

Orison had built much of its modern authority through relationships with smaller salvage communities.

Some accepted licenses. Some paid for access to the repair yard. Others simply followed Orison’s rules because challenging a society with nearly forty armed ships was a poor idea.

Any new boundary agreement would affect those communities too.

Ignoring them would create another problem later.

Dalia agreed.

Surprisingly, Oren did as well.

"Orison has no interest in forcing every recovery settlement into our administration," he said. "But we need predictable rules around dangerous wreck sites."

"Then make that part of the agreement," Aurelian replied. "Recognize the sites you can support with records, create a process for disputed claims, and stop treating every disagreement as theft."

Mara Venn looked toward Oren.

"And no more taking entire settlements as payment."

Oren’s face tightened.

"That will be addressed."

"It had better be."

They returned to the map.

By the end of the afternoon, they had made more progress than Aurelian expected.

Three major wreck fields were provisionally recognized under Orison administration, subject to final legal review.

Two disputed fields would be frozen for ninety days while records were examined.

Neither side would salvage them during that period.

The outer sites would remain open unless Orison or another claimant produced stronger evidence.

Valeris would receive two recognized civilian shipping corridors.

Orison agreed in principle that vessels using those corridors could not be stopped merely for passing near a recovery zone.

In return, Valeris would instruct its miners not to enter recognized wreck fields without permission.

The cooperative would receive observer status in the next round of boundary discussions.

Nothing was signed yet.

But for the first time, the basic shape of an agreement existed.

The Kestrel compensation issue remained open.

Mara wanted replacement ships.

Orison preferred industrial credit and repair services.

Aurelian left them arguing about that.

Compared with prisoners and gunfire, arguing about the value of cargo vessels was a much healthier problem.

Several hours later, Sera Dorn sent the Orison access records.

Eirenne found the leak quickly.

Only five people had opened the exact conference schedule found aboard the attacker.

Three were part of the delegation.

One was a communications clerk.

The fifth was Deputy Recovery Coordinator Malrec Dane.

Oren knew the name immediately.

"He’s responsible for several outer recovery contracts."

"Including Harrow’s Rest?" Aurelian asked.

Sera checked.

Her expression answered before she spoke.

"Yes."

Rhoswen leaned toward her display.

"That seems rather convenient."

This time Oren did not defend him.

"Where is Dane now?"

Sera began checking Orison’s internal records.

Aurelian waited.

Then she looked up.

"He left the yard yesterday."

"On what ship?"

"A recovery tender."

"Destination?"

"Harrow’s Rest."

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

The connection was becoming difficult to ignore.

Malrec Dane had access to the conference schedule.

He managed contracts involving Harrow’s Rest.

He left Orison shortly before the attack.

And at least one captured attacker had records connecting its crew to the settlement.

Still, Aurelian wanted evidence, not a convenient answer.