A Named Asteroid
“Captain. A space colony has entered our radar’s detectable range.”
“So this really is the route the pirates were using, huh?”
Thomson, the chief investigator, voiced his thoughts.
“But if that’s the case, why couldn’t even the military detect this place before now?”
The Executive Officer raised a perfectly reasonable question.
The answer came quickly.
“Captain. There’s an asteroid ahead.”
“That thing? Though, for an asteroid, it’s not exactly small, is it?”
“Yes, it’s likely one of the largest asteroids in terms of size. It’s at the minimum threshold to maintain a spherical shape. Its size is probably why it’s remained round.”
Kasumi, the patrol officer, answered my question without hesitation.
“I wonder if that asteroid has a name.”
“Yes. Surprisingly for its size, it does. It’s designated KCLP845357632745.”
“What kind of name is that? Any other information?”
“No, just its apparent brightness at discovery and an estimated size. From this, it seems astronomers observed it but never conducted further surveys. It’s not even marked on the military’s regional maps, so precise coordinates might not have been measured.”
“Report the coordinates to the relevant authorities, at least. That much we can do. After all, we’re civil servants. It’s not our direct job, but we do have an obligation to report discoveries. We’re paid by taxpayers, after all.”
Kasumi immediately followed my orders, contacting headquarters via comms.
“Still, I don’t get it. Why couldn’t we find this place before?”
Kasumi had an answer for that, too.
“It’s slightly off the main route. More importantly, between that asteroid and the shipping lane, there are at least twelve smaller asteroids—smaller, but still large enough to show up on radar. From the shipping lane, this area would just look like any other asteroid field.”
“That makes sense. We weren’t sent here to survey asteroids anyway. Speaking of which, do those twelve asteroids have names? Or are they just numbered like that one?”
“No. If some observatory had discovered them, they might’ve been named, but they’re just too common in size for this region. They’re not even on the regional maps. This area is right in the middle of the asteroid belt. The government probably doesn’t want ships venturing here. Their official star charts leave this area blank. The military had to quickly draft their own maps for operations, but even those provisional charts don’t list individual asteroids—just the coordinates of that shipping lane.”
While we were chatting leisurely on the bridge, the communications officer, who had earlier reported the asteroid’s coordinates to the government, spoke up.
“Captain. A message from the Coast Guard. The First Patrol Squadron, dispatched as reinforcements, will arrive in approximately ten hours. They send their regards.”
It seemed the First Patrol Squadron, requested by Her Highness, was on its way to assist us.
And from the looks of it, they had set out almost immediately after Her Highness made the request.
Maybe they were already on patrol and altered their course. Either way, considering how slow bureaucratic responses usually were, their speed surprised me a little.
Was this the “visible results” Karin-senpai and the others had mentioned before?
Maybe the Coast Guard was more desperate than I’d thought.
Well, either way, their quick response worked in our favor.
“Send them our coordinates. We’ll wait here.”
“Captain.”
“Ah, Executive Officer. We’ll hold position here for the First Patrol Squadron. We’ve got about ten hours, so let’s land on that asteroid and let the crew rest. They’ve been under tension for a long time since departure—this is perfect timing.”
I ordered the Executive Officer to land the Shunmin on the asteroid and give the crew a break.
Though we were near the front lines against pirates, this area was still close to a space colony occupied by the military.
Even if pirates attacked, we could call for backup quickly. More importantly, the fact that the colony had been seized by the government would deter pirates from venturing this far.
We kept minimal radar surveillance on shifts, but we stood down from combat readiness, letting the crew relax as if we were docked.
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I headed to the mess hall with Thomson and the Executive Officer.
“Captain, mind if I ask about our plans going forward?”
“Thomson-san. For now, we rest. The troops are exhausted.”
“After that, we’ll coordinate with the reinforcements once they arrive, right, Captain?”
“Yeah. Though, I’m surprised the First Patrol Squadron is coming.”
“Me too. I figured we’d be lucky to get even a single ship from our old unit, the Third Patrol Squadron.”
“True. But in a way, this makes sense.”
“How so?”
“Think about it. The Coast Guard wants results fast. After that recent incident, the only units without skeletons in their closets are the First Patrol Squadron and the Second Mobile Fleet. The Third—whether Patrol or Mobile—were directly involved in the mess that dragged us in. Same with the Second Patrol Squadron.”
“Right. The only other one left would be the First Mobile Fleet, but…”
“They’re out too. In a way, they’re also implicated. After all, it’s public knowledge they used civilian ships as bait. They’ll be lying low for a while. So, for the Coast Guard’s purposes, the only units they can freely deploy are those two. They won’t send a Mobile Fleet for backup, so the First Patrol Squadron is the only option left.”
“But are you sure about this backup situation?”
“What do you mean?”
Executive Officer Meyrica was worried that the First Patrol Squadron—the Coast Guard’s elite—had been assigned to assist us, the so-called “dropouts.”
She seemed concerned they might undermine us.
Admittedly, that wasn’t impossible.
After all, we’d just faced harassment from the military.
I couldn’t guarantee the Coast Guard wouldn’t pull the same stunt, but I wasn’t too worried.
We’d brief them beforehand. If they seemed unreliable, we could always make up an excuse to avoid joint operations.
Thomson, overhearing our conversation, chimed in with his own concerns.
“I get why you’re worried. So-called elites tend to look down on those they see as beneath them. But if those ‘inferiors’ show even a hint of being better, they’ll sabotage them in a heartbeat.”
“You’ve experienced that too, Thomson-san?”
“Yeah, more times than I can count. That’s why I’m grateful to Her Highness. For giving people like us a chance. That’s why I—no, all of us—want to make sure Her Highness gets the credit he deserves.”
“Don’t worry, Thomson-san. This investigation will definitely draw them out. If we follow the route you discovered, we’ll find their base this time. That alone would be a huge achievement for our organization.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Though, thanks to the captain, we’ve already made plenty of contributions.”
“Hearing that from a veteran investigator like you is humbling.”
“Still, if we pull off another success, Her Highness might have to start considering something.”
“Considering what?”
“A fledgling organization causing back-to-back upsets that shake the kingdom? Sooner or later, other factions might get jealous and try to interfere. Though, given Her Highness and her inner circle, they’ve probably already accounted for that. Maybe we shouldn’t worry.”
“Is that why? Even though we never asked, Her Highness requested reinforcements from the Coast Guard. The military owes us after the space colony incident, and given what they pulled on the captain, they won’t push us around for a while. But maybe this was about appeasing other factions?”
“Yeah, probably. Thinking about it, this operation is low-risk, high-reward for the Coast Guard.”
As Thomson explained, this mission was an official request from Her Highness to the Coast Guard.
Meaning, whether we succeeded or failed, the Coast Guard faced no risk.
If we failed, they’d still earn Her Highness’s favor—and it wouldn’t even count as their failure.
The blame would fall on us, the Interstellar Criminal Police Organization.
But if we succeeded? The Coast Guard would share in the glory.
The space colony incident had already proven that.
The truth was, our organization lacked sheer manpower.
Taking down one or two pirate ships was no issue, but the pirates we were dealing with were on a whole different scale.
No matter how advanced the Shunmin was, there were limits.
Hell, we couldn’t even secure a colony of that size alone.
And that was just one of their outposts.
If my predictions were right, we were about to pay a visit to their headquarters.
So reinforcements?
More than welcome.
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