One look at Ferrero’s expression, however, swiftly disabused them of that concern. The captain’s blue-green eyes glowed with an eagerness they hadn’t seen in quite some time, and she waved briskly for them to take their seats so that they could get started.

“All right, people,” she told them, once all of them had settled into place. “It seems we have a little job to do for the Duchess.” She smiled thinly. “One I think we can all look forward to with a certain anticipation.”

She entered a command into her terminal, and a holo schematic of a star system appeared above the briefing room table.

“The Zoraster System, Ladies and Gentlemen,” she announced. “Not all that close to Sidemore, but not that far away, either.” In fact, it was little more than twenty-four light-years from the Marsh System in the Posnan Sector. It was also one of the wealthier star systems in the sector.

“What, you may ask, is our interest in Zoraster?” the captain continued, and paused expectantly. Most of her officers had seen her in this mood at least once or twice before, and Lieutenant McClelland chirped up obediently.

“All right, Ma’am. What is our interest in Zoraster?”

“I’m glad you asked that question, James,” she said with a chuckle. Then she sobered. “I’m sure all of you remember Captain Ackenheil’s interception of that Solly slaver.”

“Yes, Ma’am. The Wayfarer, wasn’t it?” Commander Llewellyn asked.

“Exactly, Bob.” Ferrero nodded. “Well, it seems some of Wayfarer’s crew decided that they preferred to assist the forces of goodness. I suspect that someone on the Duchess’ staff took the opportunity to point out to them that turning Queen’s evidence was one way to mitigate the penalty for slaving.”

A nasty chuckle ran around the briefing room. Only Llewellyn and Ferrero herself had ever actually participated in the interception of a slaver, but all of them had seen reports, just as all of them knew the trade was particularly lucrative in places like Silesia. There was so much corruption, so many opportunities to operate under the protection of conveniently bribable officials, that the Confederation was a perfect transshipment point for someone like Mesa to make contact with its buyers. No one in Jessica Epps’ company was going to waste much sympathy on anyone who chose to participate in the slave trade.

“At any rate, Lieutenant Commander Reynolds, the Duchess’ staff spook, was able to generate a little more information for Operation Wilberforce, and that’s what makes Zoraster of interest to us.”

“It seems that Governor Chalmers has an understanding with certain individuals involved in the slave trade. As a matter of fact, the good governor, according to Commander Reynolds’ source, is the majority owner of an orbital ‘recreation’ habitat in the New Hamburg System. One which apparently requires regular replenishment of its… staff.”

All temptation towards humor disappeared when Ferrero mentioned New Hamburg. Like Mesa itself, New Hamburg was an independent star system which had declined to sign any of the international accords which outlawed genetic slavery. Sixty-nine T-years before, New Hamburg had been forced—primarily by the missile tubes of the Royal Manticoran Navy—to “voluntarily” sign a treaty outlawing participation by its citizens and starships in the interstellar genetic slave trade, but the institution itself remained quite legal within its territory. Prior to the Havenite war, the RMN had made it its business to maintain sufficient patrol strength in New Hamburg’s vicinity to make the importation of slaves a very risky business, indeed. Largely as a result of that pressure, the system’s infamous “recreation habitats” had fallen upon hard times, but they’d made a substantial comeback when the demands of the war against Haven had diverted the anti-slavery patrols.