"Uncooperative Prisoner"
By Hartigan
Location: Prison Block, Drogen Shipyards

Hart glanced over to the dim light that slight illumination to his prison cell. He felt his body in pain, but he remembered the medical droid saying that he'd been far enough away from the bomb, and that was the factor that saved Hart's life.

How is possible that I got away unhurt from the explosion with only a few bruises and a few cuts, if I was looking directly at it? Hart thought as the guards making their rounds passed his cell. It was the only comforting sound and would broke the monotonous sound of buzz from the shielding from his prison cell.

He also heard sometimes the prisoner on the cell next to him, began to sing out loud just not to hear the buzzing sound. But for almost a day - Hart measured through the rounds of the soldiers and by the times they served meals to the prisoners - he did not heard him.

He closed his eyes and continued to entertain his mind by counting the paces of the guards and calculating the average of paces that guards took to complete the corridor.

After several minutes Hart began to hear another set of paces and it stopped in front of his cell. "The name is Hartigan, ma'am!"

"That saves me a question," the woman said. "I'm Rilanna Kir, head of security here on Drogen. You were pretty banged up in that explosion. Our medical facilities patched you up. The reason you're in a cell is because we don't have a lot of information, so until we have everything sorted out, everyone involved in that incident is in a cell. Now, do you have anything you'd like to tell me?"

Hart continue to keep his eyes closed and focus on the voice of the woman. "How I do I know that you are who you say you are? You can be an assassin that works for the bomber and wants to kill the only person that remembers him! Why should I trust you?"

"That you're still breathing is your first clue," Rilanna said. "And I'm the one who controls the locks to this place. If you're happy in there, and don't want to help me, then enjoy your stay. If you want to have a hope of getting out of there before your hair turns grey and your teeth fall out, start talking."

Hart laughed and finally looked to Rilanna. "I like you! You don't take crap from nobody!" Hart smiled and finally sat on his small bed and glanced to beautiful woman. "Shoot away!"

"So, what can you tell me about what happened down there," Rilanna asked. "Someone set off a bomb, and I think it was more than a thrillseeker. I'm thinking it was deliberate, and there was a target."

"I agree with you." Hart said. "The assassin knew very well where to place the bomb to eliminate every head of the criminal faction, but I can't figure who would win over this." Hart looked towards Rilanna and thought for moment and then quickly shook is head. "At first hand the person who win with this is your superior, the big head of Drogen Shipyards, but..."

"When Administrator Anoran wants something done, she has me do it," Rilanna said. "And, she wouldn't have anyone set off bombs in her own station. What was the meeting for? Why were those people there?"

Hart nodded in surprise from what Rilanna said. "I'm surprise that you do not know! Since Rila Silvari was working for Administrator Anoran to try to find a pacific solution to the gangs problems in lower levels." Hart watched and saw that Rilanna did not knew what he was talking about. Hart could see in Rilanna's eyes that she was speaking the truth when she mentioned Anoran... "OH, SHIT!" Hart raised his hands to cover his face and then his mouth. "I have been played! I can not believe this!" Hart punched the wall in pure anger. "Let me guess Administrator Anoran never ordered Rila Silvari to negotiate with the gangs in the lower decks, did she?"

"She would never go outside of station personnel on something like that," Rilanna answered. "And she definitely wouldn't leave me out of the loop. No, Rila Silvari was not working for her. Either someone was deceiving him into thinking he was, or he was deceiving you into thinking he was. Do you know what these negotiations entailed?"

"First of all Rila is a she and the reunion was in stand off, since there was discussion between two gangs that wanted the control of a particular sector." Hart looked to Rilanna. "Rila presented her credentials. And let me tell you something, I have been in this kind of business long enough to distinguish a forgery when I see it and the credentials I saw were real and there was no sign the credentials were changed."

"I can assure you that she was not working for this station," Rilanna said flatly. "Regardless of how real they looked, they were forgeries. Now, the gangs wanted control over sectors of the station, I'm assuming. Do you know which section?"

"I think it was the thirty second!" Hart said.

"How much do you know about their plans, what they wanted and what they were going to do? And do you know who wanted to stop them from gaining that control? Unless it was a hit on the leaders who were there, the only other logical reason to bomb that meeting was to stop it from happening."

"All things indicate it was one of the leaders, but the clues seems to point in the direction that there was much more happening. With Rila not working for Administrator Anoran, this indicates that it was Administrator Anoran who planned the bombing, since she did not worked for her. Who would benefit to incriminate her?" Hart believed that Rila was played too, because the credentials did not seem fake, but to Rilanna's words that it was. It was a good job to fool him and when she hired him she looked that was taking this job for sure.

"I do not want to rush, things, but I figure that while we debate what happen or coming up with conspiracy theories, the real bomber is getting away." Hart said as he continued to look at Rilanna. "The bomber is professional assassin and we will never know who was behind it until we are able to find him. And I am the only person that can recognize him."

"And how can I be certain you aren't the assassin?" Rilanna asked. "And, before you utter another word, just forget about Shrezade Anoran having anything to do with this, alright? If she wanted someone dead, she'd send me, and I'd finish the job with a single blaster bolt. If you had any idea who you were talking about, you'd realize how utterly crazy it is to think that Anoran would authorize anyone to use any sort of explosive device on this station, even Down Below. This is her station, and she has no intention to see any of it damaged in any fashion."

Hart watched while Rilanna accuse him of being the bomber. Hart turned away and walked to the bed and where he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes again. "It seams that you are trying to blame this on me while the true bomber is running free on the station. Now if you have something of interest to say, then say it, because you made me lose count of the steps of your guards!"

"You blatantly accuse the administrator of this facility of trying to blow up her own station, but as soon as I suggest that you could potentially be a suspect and have given me no credentials to assure me that anything you've said is on the level or even truthful, and you curl up in the corner and sulk like a spoiled child. Perhaps it's for the best. Things can get rough here on the station, and there's no room in this investigation for a so-called man who hides in the corner when he gets his feelings hurt."

"Spoiled?" Hart burst in laugh. "You call me spoiled?" Hart opened his eyes and looked to the side. "The one who is being spoiled is you because you want your precious administrator not to be involved in some way in this because she would rely on you to solve the problem." Hart paused. "Oh, I see. You want me to be guilty, don't you? You are scared to find the truth, so you are trying to blame this on me, anyway you can." Hart gave small smile and closed his eyes again. "Well lady you can forget it, find another scapegoat for you precious administrator."

Rilanna Kir's weapon cleared her holster in the blink of an eye. Scarlet blasts panged against the walls of the cell, far too close to Hart's head to have been accidental, one to either side, and one just above. She adjusted her aim one more time until the weapon was directed to the point just between his eyes. "Now that I have your attention," she said, her voice a growl. "Stop trying to point this investigation at Administrator Shrezade Anoran. Do so one more time, I will core your skull and flush you out of the nearest airlock where no one will ever care that you're gone. I don't know if you are insane or just incredibly stupid, though I think perhaps it may just be a bit of both. Anoran is not a suspect at this time. She has no motive for the actions you've described. The fact that you keep trying to insist that she involved gives me cause to suspect you have other motives in pointing a finger at her. Give me a reason not to suspect you, and perhaps I can scratch you off my list. Or, let me put it another way: you are a suspect in the investigation, and I strongly suggest you start trying to help yourself. Give me proof that you're not involved other than as an innocent bystander, and we can start trying to find the person responsible."

Hart lay there on his bed staring down the barrel of Rilanna's blaster. "Intimidation is an odd weapon when you use it too hard." Hart smiled for a second, then he approached the woman with a look of tranquility in his eyes. "I'm beyond saving Rilanna and if my destiny is to die right here, it will make things extremely easier."

The silence stretched for several long moments. Hart never closed his eyes, and instead looked into hers. He waited for death to reclaim his soul, but the shot never came. "I do not have any proof that will help me in this lifetime, unless you would believe in my word, but I figure that is impossible, since you do not believe me."

Hart looked to the corridor. "GUARD!" The guard looked down at the cell, saw Rilanna standing there, then continued on with his business. "I'm finished with the lady. I have nothing more to say to you. You now hold all the cards and it is up to you how you play your hand: you believe me and I help you catch the real criminals behind the explosion or you leave me to here until there is twist of destiny."

Hart walked to the bed and lay down and closed his eyes, waiting for Rilanna's reply, but he already knew what would be her reply.

Rilanna holstered her blaster. "You started out so well," she said. "But then you stopped being helpful and got caught on accusing the last person who would ever try to damage this station. If you decide you want to be helpful again, let one of the guards know and I'll come back. If all you can do is accuse Administrator Anoran, then there's no help you can give me."

With that, she turned and was gone.