Return to the Space Colony
I must have fallen asleep at some point, sprawled across the bed with just my upper body.
Then, a knock at the door.
Rubbing my drowsy eyes, I finally sat up and let the person inside.
“Ah, what is it? Come in.”
The one who entered the captain’s quarters was the executive officer, Meyrica-nee.
“You seem exhausted—are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit stressed from paperwork. Must’ve dozed off without realizing. Guess I was pretty worked up over that damn limited timesale report.”
“Ah, that matter. Still, you wouldn’t actually scold the new cadet over it, right?”
“Scold? I praised them. That kind of determination—not wasting anything—is important. And it’s our job to make sure that spirit doesn’t go to waste.”
“How admirable, Captain.”
“More importantly, was there something you needed to report?”
“Yes. We’ll be arriving at the target colony soon, so I came to fetch you.”
“Got it. Let’s head to the bridge then.”
“Understood. I’ve already adjusted the ship’s mode under the duty officer’s authority.”
“Right, thanks.”
I followed Meyrica to the bridge.
The bridge was already in communication with the control tower of the space colony we’d seized recently, preparing for docking procedures.
Since we weren’t making planetfall, the atmosphere wasn’t particularly tense.
Everyone was used to this.
Still, protocol demanded all crew be at their stations during docking—including the captain overseeing operations from the bridge.
But nowadays, docking procedures at zero-gravity facilities like space colonies were usually handled solely by the duty officer.
The Shunmin was no exception. Under the watchful eyes of the assembled officers, the duty officer took command.
“Harbor entry permissions confirmed. Proceeding at minimal speed.”
Though the Shunmin had its share of green officers, they’d grown accustomed to these routines, making them reliable enough.
Ironically, among them, Karin senpai—part of the “Imperial Gifted” group—might’ve had the least experience with such minor tasks.
Then again, she’d catch up quickly. One advantage of this ship was how fast officers accumulated experience despite its limited crew and deployment frequency.
“Full stop confirmed for the Shunmin. Engines shifting to standby mode.”
“Standby mode confirmed.”
“Captain, the colony has confirmed tube connection. Opening the hatch.”
I was back here.
I wasn’t sure who I was trying to impress, but internally, I played up a hard-boiled tone.
Truthfully, I held no fondness for this place.
My thoughts were complicated, but I had to switch gears—ah, right. I left without explaining things to them.
The military was still managing this place, so running into Mark now would be awkward.
But if I saw him, I’d at least give a proper explanation.
Then again, I had already told Mark’s father about our situation, so he might’ve heard by now. Still, I had to keep my word.
Lost in thought, I entered the colony’s port alongside Karin senpai.
Beyond the tube, as expected, military personnel stood guard in alert formation.
And among them—Mark.
“Captain, we meet again.”
He was definitely mocking me.
No, maybe sarcasm?
He must’ve held a grudge over me leaving without explanation.
“Hey, Warrant Officer Mark. We’re in your care again. Listen, I’ve got some personal business—can you spare time later? I owe you an explanation about my circumstances.”
“I’ll be off-duty in three hours. Would that work?”
“Thanks. See you then.”
“Captain, personal matters later. Now, Warrant Officer Mark—our entry permits, please.”
“Huh? Oh! Karin senpai…?”
Mark, flustered, had skipped routine protocol. Karin senpai—his upperclassman from officer school—fixed him with a stern glare.
“Warrant Officer. Do your job.”
“Ah—right, my apologies, Lieutenant Karin. Ahem—the Shunmin, assigned to the Interstellar Criminal Police Organization Establishment Preparatory Office, is hereby granted docking and crew entry permissions. However, all personnel entering must submit their names, ranks, and other required information in advance. Please be advised.”
“Understood.”
“Then, by my authority, I grant Captain Bruce and Lieutenant Karin access to the colony interior.”
“Thank you, Warrant Officer Mark. Now, escort us to Central Control. We request an audience with Chief Inspector Thomson during our stay.”
I listened to their excessively rigid exchange.
What a pain.
We know each other, and this place isn’t even officially under any jurisdiction—it’s practically neutral space. A simple “Hey” or “Hello” should suffice.
But I guess that’s too much to ask from the stiff military.
We followed Mark to Central Control.
I’d been here before, so I could’ve gone alone, but Karin senpai was new to the place.
Hence the request for guidance.
Along the way, I spotted several of my former classmates—none noticed me.
Instead, they gaped at Karin senpai, an unexpected face here.
The military managing this place was now just the supply escort fleet from the First Fleet—originally a training unit. Officers cycled through, gaining experience before transferring out.
Meaning the ones left were still trainees accumulating experience.
Naturally, the Senpai should have already completed their training here, so none of them are here.
Everyone has graduated from here and been assigned to their respective departments.
If we wanted to find upperclassmen, we’d have to look among non-Imperial Academy officers.
No wonder Karin’s presence drew so much attention.
“Senpai, you’re getting stares.”
“Yes. None of my peers remain in the current escort fleet. But such trivialities are irrelevant—work comes first, Captain.”
My lighthearted remark earned me a scolding.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
“How many times have I wished our positions were reversed?”
Yet work had to take priority.
In Central Command’s meeting space, Karin senpai and I began discussions with Chief Inspector Thomson.
To cut to the chase—even the last remaining investigators only uncovered evidence of the Kingdom’s darkest secrets: corruption and worse.
We couldn’t find anything that indicated the movements of the Sicily Family we were searching for.
As expected of a top-tier pirate syndicate—their caution was unmatched.
This place only held records on organ trafficking.
Not a single scrap hinted at anything else.
Still, Thomson—leading veteran investigators—was impressive.
Call it intuition, but he’d sensed the Sicilyn Family’s presence and shared his hunch with us.
“Apologies, Captain. There’s nothing more here. But… I debated whether to mention this, yet I’ll leave the judgment to you.”
His lead concerned the pirates’ supply lines.
“This location has terrible accessibility. Establishing a dedicated supply route just for this place would be incredibly difficult and inevitably wasteful.”
If operational costs ballooned, their own cut would shrink. That’s why a supply line exclusively for this location was unthinkable. There had to be another base relatively nearby supporting other operations—illegal drug manufacturing, for instance.
Thanks to the investigators’ relentless efforts, they’d obtained intel about the supply ship’s fuel. No matter how you looked at it, those pirate supply vessels would be immobilized unless they refueled somewhere else.
All this pointed to one conclusion: Somewhere near here, the Sicily Family had a facility where their ships could refuel.
Sure, they’d said it was like “searching for a needle in a grassy plain,” but you had to start somewhere.
“Understood. Thank you. We’ve got rogue pirates to hunt down anyway, so we might as well look.”
“Captain!”
Karin-senpai seemed opposed—she hated wild goose chases—but I didn’t mind getting my hands dirty with this kind of grunt work.
Besides, this area was perfect for training, both for the cadets and the crew.
“Lieutenant. I do have the authority here, don’t I?”
“Ah—”
“I’ve decided we’ll take our time searching— including it as part of training. Far less wasteful than deploying the ship just for drills.”
“…Understood.”
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