GA Writing Prompts - 71. False Flag

The platform was located at the edge of the Eridani system. The artificial structure had once served as a hub for interstellar space travels and was still monitored by the Eridani monitoring system. No activities had been observed for decades and the monitoring data showed no activities on the platform in the previous days either. The final signals of the missing ship, however, pointed to the long deserted platform.

The spaceship with the Orean ambassador on board never arrived at the Eridani main planet. The ship set course on the old platform and then all transmissions stopped and no signals had since been received. Eridani security immediately sent a ship to investigate. The ship arrived two days later, scanned the platform and detected no activities from space. Commander Ross decided to land the ship on the platform.

The hub had only one landing area and the place was empty. The crew found no trace of the missing ship. Commander Ross and Security Officers Eshkin and Marsh left their ship, crossed the hangar and proceeded to the repair yards. The hangars and centers were empty and one hangar was locked. Geared up with the latest equipment, it took the men only a few minutes to unlock the door.

Commander John Ross opened the front door and found a tugboat, the type of ship that was commonly used in space to pick up ships that had become inoperative because of electronic or engine failures, sometimes as a result of an attack. The ship in the hangar was the mag-lock type but otherwise looked unfamiliar except of a red and black sign that John thought he had seen before.

John stared, shocked, but then he remembered that he had a store, unofficial data packages that he had bought from a dubious vendor on a shady planet, a pirate hub. The data store was a collection of hacked files, secret information and many more unofficial documents, data that was not expected to be found on an Eridani security ship. That was why John had installed the packages to his private computer. He connected to it via his neural implant and soon found what he was looking for.

“The symbol on the ship is the sign of the secret royal Titan guard. According to official statements, the Alliance never saw a member of the secret guard and likewise none of the secret Titan ships. However, these ships and the symbol are well documented in the pirate data store,” he said.

“This means war,“ Eshkin said. “The Titans abducted the Orean crew and ambassador. They tugged the Orean ship to the platform, entered the ship and fled with it. The Orean ship is a small ship. They couldn’t take the tugboat in and hence left the Titan ship here.“

“In all honesty, would the Titans really hide their ship on the platform and leave a perfect trace?“ Marsh asked, bewildered.

The men stared at the Titan ship.

“A false flag operation?“ John asked. “A few Alliance parties would indeed favor a war.”