When he returned back to the Legal Affairs office, Conrad stood and stared out the window for a while. Outside the window, the Nevada desert stretched out. Although the scenery never changes, he sees something different every day. Now, it appeared darkish gray.

This is quite the nuisance… he thought.

One of the motives the Earth Federation Forces placed considerable guilt on Eliard was going to become apparent inside him. He was aware of a vital military secret. A certain new weapon. An as of yet unknown weapon that was gone without ever being put into actual combat. Information that is likely not wish to be known in general. So the Federation Forces was going to bury it with the Murphy Team.

The modus operandi of the military brass is always the same. Conrad gritted his teeth. They were trying to do the same exact thing during the Delaz Uprising.

Eliard bears no responsibility with the “Colony 30 Incident.” He was merely following orders.

He was not aware what the cargo of the transport was.

However, it was problematic in proving that fact. Captain Otto Pederson who handed down the order went down with the Aswan, thus no longer among the world of the living. He didn’t think there was a recording from inside the briefing room, but even if there had been one, that went down with the Aswan as well.

As it stood, there was no one to prove Eliard’s testimony. It is extremely easy for the Earth Federation Forces to dispose of Eliard. If it weren’t for the court-martial, that would’ve been the end of it.

He absolutely would not allow for a repeat of the Delaz Uprising. Conrad swore to that in his heart. Somehow, he had to hear the stories from the other members of the Murphy Team. Resolved in doing so, he set about locating their whereabouts.

Turning towards his desk, he first tried to confirm the whereabouts of Commander Murphy on his computer terminal. Conrad unconsciously furrowed his brow as he was typing. The records were cut off in the middle.

Just before the Aswan sunk, Murphy had returned to the ship injured, and in accordance with orders to abandon ship, he was carried out while tied to the bed. After escaping in a lifeboat, he was picked up by a cruiser and returned to Earth. Following that, he was admitted to a military hospital. The records stopped there. What happened after that was unknown. Treated as missing.

Conrad searched for Carl Matsubara, who had survived the Gryps War. Afterwards, he was discharged. His whereabouts following his discharge was, of course, not recorded. He also made a search for Audrey April. The details surrounding her were the same as Carl’s. Following the Gryps War, she returned to Earth and was discharged. After that, her whereabouts became unknown.

“Joanna,” Conrad called out with a loud voice towards the open door. At once, Lieutenant JG Joanna Pavlova appeared wearing a Federation Forces administrative uniform. Although she was a beautiful woman of Russian lineage, Conrad always felt that her value lied in her skills rather than her beauty. She was Conrad’s secretary.

“You called, sir?”

“I need you to find the whereabouts of three people for me. Wes Murphy, Carl Matsubara and Audrey April. According to the records, Murphy’s whereabouts following his admission to a military hospital are unknown. Carl and Audrey were discharged from the military.”

“Right away sir,” she replied, immediately disappearing from the doorway.

He didn’t just order Joanna to do it as he personally tried all possible means to locate the whereabouts of the three. However, in the end, as the days progressed, they didn’t learn their whereabouts. The two hit every database on the net. They were even successful with driver’s license and social security inquiries at public agencies, however the three could not be tracked down.

“Dammit!” Conrad exclaimed, slamming his fists down on the desk.

“We’ve been cut off.”

The secretiveness of the Earth Federation Forces and the bureaucracy of the Federation government was hindering their progress.

Or so he felt.

Commodore Eddie Southwell of the Legal Affairs Bureau entrusted the case to Conrad fully aware of that.

Commodore Southwell had said that even if someone defended Eliard, there was no saving him. In other words, that meant that the Federation Forces wanted to make Eliard guilty.

It was possible, after all, that the other members of the Murphy Team aside from Eliard were being imprisoned in a military facility somewhere and that the fact of that was being concealed.

“Like that’s going to stop me…” Conrad said, with a new sense of enthusiasm starting to burn inside of him.