Quantum Curry was half-full, just the way Nicodemus liked it. He had gone to lunch early as usual, to avoid the crowd. Binary Bloom had an artificial 25 hour day-night cycle, like most ships and stations.


    The multi-cultural restaurant was located conveniently close to his offices, but it was also a great place to eat and very popular for its quality and delectable food.


    ?Hey Nico.“, a deep male voice interrupted him mid-meal. He recognized Baer Gandan without turning around. The tech chief of Binary Bloom set down opposite Nicodemus. He waved away the menu projection that immediately appeared on the table in front of him.


    ?A word.“, he continued, ?Urgently.“


    Nicodemus stuffed another bite into his mouth, but nodded and looked at Baer, inviting him to speak.


    ?One of my mechanics was shot during routine maintenance. He’s mostly ok. But I want that looked into, immediately. He says he stumbled upon a hidden cache of alien tech.“


    Nicodemus swallowed his food, blinking a few times in surprise. Once his mouth was free, he said: ?That makes no sense. Stolen alien tech is our primary export. Why would anyone hide it and shoot someone over it. You sure your man didn’t try to make some side money?“


    ?Negative on that. Micah is as honest as anyone on here can be. And it would be stupid to come to me even before hobbling over to the doc.“


    Nicodemus, already chewing again, nodded, and put another bite in his mouth while standing up. It was not his first meal cut short, but he hated it every time. With a gesture, he asked Baer to lead the way, and the two men walked out of Quantum Curry with rapid steps.


    While walking and chewing, the governor of Binary Bloom tapped on the small tablet he was carrying with him. When the two reached the maintenance room a few minutes later, two armed guards were waiting for them, and a third arrived shortly after. The pirate outpost had a small armed force that was rarely used, but always ready. There was very little crime on board Bloom, if you didn’t count the piracy part.


    With an enthusiastic ?Let’s go!“, Nicodemus sent two of the men into the air duct after Baer had given them quick information on the layout inside and where to head to. The chief technician and the governor followed, with the third guard taking up the rear.


    Headlamps illuminated the metal inside the air duct as the men went along, weapons raised and ready. Their footsteps echoed ahead of them, rubber soles on metal plates. Loud enough that someone listening would hear them coming. So while moving quickly, they also listened for the sound of someone scrambling away. But only their own echoes could be heard, and the faint rumbling of the outpost’s life support systems over the even fainter distant sounds of people.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    They reached the panel in less than a minute. Despite having been put back on the struts, it was clearly the one Baer’s mechanic had been speaking about. Small dents indicated the impact points of the Flechette needles, and two corners were ripped out by force.


    They slowly opened the panel from the sides, ready for a barrage of needles shooting out, but nothing of the kind happened. One of the guards, who had found time to grab a helmet, carefully took a look inside. After a few seconds, he signaled all clear.


    The room behind was a small storage room, just like Micah the mechanic had said. There were crates and boxes stacked on top of each other, some of them apparently of alien origin. If Micah had been there, he could have told them that a few crates were missing.


    Three of them fit into the room without getting into each other’s way, and two guards secured the entrance. They conducted a quick search without touching anything, but found nobody and nothing else but the boxes. The room smelled of stale air and old metal.


    Baer and Nicodemus took in the scenery. Some of the boxes were orderly stacked, some in disarray scattered around the small room. Nicodemus summed up the scene: ?They brought out a few crates in a hurry.“


    Baer nodded.


    ?They might come back for the rest. I’ll leave the guards here just in case. But Baer,“ he continued, pointing to two large boxes, open and empty, ?look at this. These ones don’t fit through the entrance. Is there another way into this place?“


    ?Don’t think so.“, Baer answered, but nevertheless the two took another look around the room, finding nothing.


    ?You’re the tech guy.“, Nicodemus turned to Baer, ?Tell me how these boxes came into this room. Their contents were moved out, but the boxes themselves shouldn’t be here.“


    ?You’re right.“, Baer agreed, his eyes darting between the boxes and the exit several times.


    The blood drained from Nicodemus’ face, his calm expression faltering. Baer also suddenly fell stiff and tense. ?Unless“, he slowly said, ?they are brought in through a higher dimension. Takes only a 4D crane to lift them over a wall. Remember the flat world example we learn in school? To beings that live on the surface of a globe, we are invisible and we can easily move things from their world, through the higher dimension - the 3rd - to other places in their world, even across walls or other 2D barriers, simply by lifting it up a bit.“


    ?But why?“, Nicodemus asked, ?You can bring whatever you want into Bloom. We don’t check cargo manifests, neither incoming nor outgoing.“


    ?Exactly.“, Baer replied. ?It’s brilliant. If you are an alien and you want to plant tech with the humans, of course. The pirate outposts are where a random piece of alien tech raises no eyebrows at all, and like you said, nobody would notice if they appear from nowhere.“


    ?All you need is someone on the inside.“, Nicodemus completed the thought, ?And that’s not difficult among a bunch of pirates. Offer them a nice enough deal and they won’t even ask questions.“


    ?That doesn’t answer the question. Why?“


    ?And who.“, Nicodemus added. ?Those two questions are most likely connected.“


    Baer nodded. His eyes were searching the room.


    ?I’ll let guards stay here and you and me“, Nicodemus said after a short moment, ?go and find some of the fences and tech guys who understand alien tech well. There’s plenty of stuff they left behind, it should give us some clues.“


    Solemnly, the two men left the storage room, climbing back through the opening towards the air duct.