'I've been going over some old case files,' said Ensign Riley wearily. 'I think this is one we can close.' Ensign Garrett took the slate from Riley and slotted it into his console. The case file scrolled lazily up the screen and stopped. The face of a young woman confronted him with a hard stare. She had grey eyes and white hair, and her beautiful face seemed to be suppressing a knowing smile. 'Siandyha Rhand, former scout, reached rank of lieutenant. Two terms of service, then dropped out and became a free trader.' Garrett smiled grimly. 'I think we know what kind of trading that means.' Riley pointed further down the file. 'She became an owner trader, captain of a Storm class blockade-runner called Thunderbolt, eight hundred tons. Those things were pensioned off cheap after the last war, but it would still have cost a few hundred million. Where'd she get cash like that?' Garrett touched the screen and examined the schematics of the ship. 'I remember those crates, fast and accurate, but the engines were temperamental as hell.' Garrett leaned on the desk and frowned. 'Even as scrap it would be worth a chunk of money.' 'The report says Rhand was chased off Seven Sisters by the Grand Ocean Cartels,' said Riley reading from a second slate, 'seems as though a local warlord lost something of value.' 'One criminal steals something from another criminal.' Garrett shrugged, 'and we care because-' '-the Navy thinks it was something of value too,' said Riley firmly. 'Her case file says she was interested in old stuff, artefacts and technology.' 'Smuggler, huh?' said Garrett looking again at the confident woman pictured on the screen, 'sounds like my kind of criminal. You figure she pays for this ship selling controlled materials?' 'She did,' said Riley. 'It says here she's dead.' Garrett took the second slate and looked closely. 'Not been seen for twelve years, believed to have been killed in a space battle with unknown forces. Where's the proof?' 'It's right there at the bottom of the file. A scrap dealer sold a Juno J17 engine to a member of the public, the serial numbers match her ship. There's battle damage all over it; looks like the thing was ripped right off the hull.' Garrett leaned back in the chair and yawned. 'I guess it would be good to cross off a file, especially an old one like this. Make sure ship registry get the memo too, they'll need to remove Thunderbolt from their records.' He closed the file and stood from his desk. 'Worth keeping a watch on her file though,' he mused, 'these kind of characters have a tendency to come back when you least expect it.' ---- Thunderbolt and chase craft are original models created in Cinema 4D, rendered in C4D R15 Visualise. Thanks for looking, comments appreciated.