Chapter Seven

After finding no evidence of hacking in the dock surveillance system, SecUnit realizes the hacker is too skilled to leave traces—likely a rival CombatUnit working for BreharWallHan. A missing pressurized module is discovered, leading SecUnit to deduce the refugees have been placed inside and attached to a ship still in holding position. SecUnit convinces Indah to use secure communications and works with the responder to locate the vessel hidden near the colony ship.

SecUnit fails to find any hacking evidence in the dock surveillance system, initially suggesting the refugees were killed aboard the Lalow. However, after a hazardous materials tech discovers a missing pressurized cargo module, SecUnit deduces the true scenario: the refugees were loaded into the module by Lutran, but a rival agent—likely another CombatUnit hired by BreharWallHan—killed Lutran, diverted the module to a waiting ship, and deleted the transfer records so smoothly that SecUnit initially found no trace. SecUnit realizes the hacker is skilled enough to rival its own abilities. Fearing the perpetrators will kill the refugees if discovered, SecUnit contacts Indah via secure feed and convinces her that the Port Authority systems are compromised. They move to Dr. Mensah's private office, which uses an independent secure system. From there, Indah orders the responder to scan ships in holding positions around the station, using only secure council communications. The responder locates the hidden ship in station section zero, nestled in the shadow of the Pressy colony ship's hull, with the missing module attached. SecUnit concludes it must personally conduct the rescue operation, as any overt Station Security team movement would tip off the compromised Port Authority systems.