“Captain,” he said, “I will see you in my office.”
Jaime nodded and the general transferred his attention to the prisoners. “Surrender your prisoners to Captain Abner, and you all will be taken into voluntary custody until certain issues have been ironed out.”
Nobody responded in any way and the general nodded to Captain Abner to secure the prisoners. He turned, making his way to his office with Jaime following a respectful half step behind. The Federation guards surrounded the rest of the Misfits and frogmarched them to the guest quarters.
AX and Ash exchanged smugly amused glances; AX’s eyebrows slightly raised. Ash shook her head. “We wait for the captain,” she murmured to him and was rewarded with a jolt from a stun gun held by one of their guards.
“No talking,” he announced.
Ash and AX exchanged another significant glance but said nothing more.
∞
Jaime stood ramrod straight in front of the general’s desk as he paced in front of him, looking thoughtful.
“Your team members, She-who-must-not-be-named and AX-8721, stole bodies from our morgue. Why?” he asked.
“I do not know why they did that. They were sent here to report to you-”
“Do not lie to me, Captain Pravin. That would be a mistake.”
Jaime pressed his lips together.
“Furthermore, it was reported that one of the corpses seemed to come alive. Can you explain that?”
Jaime shook his head slowly. “I was not here, sir,” he said.
“No, you were not. You were somewhere else, doing...what exactly? Capturing demons? For what purpose? Your last assignment was to collect data on the attack on Sub Sector Six. After which you went rogue.”
“One of our team members was captured. We merely attempted to get her back.”
“And in the process, you took a Brekson prisoner and a demon?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And why did you not immediately turn them over to the Federation for questioning?”
There was no satisfactory answer to that question, so Jaime kept his mouth closed.
“I am afraid that I may have to recommend you for court-martial if you do not give me the answers I seek, as well as your entire team.”
Jaime looked up at him. “We have broken no laws.”
“You went AWOL.”
“We did not cut off contact or fail to respond to summons.”
General Klaus smirked. “You think you’re very clever, don’t you captain? You and your team might be misfits, but that does not give you carte blanche to go rogue. You are still part of the Federation fleet and subject to its rules and laws.”
“Yes, sir,” Jaime said.
The general turned to his AI. “Tell them to bring in the prisoners,” he said.
They waited in silence for Eshugurin and Cain to be brought to the general’s offices, shackled hand and foot with a mouth guard as well. The shackles were locked onto hooks in the floor and then the guards left them.
“Eshugurin, old friend, I am surprised at you; getting yourself captured by a bunch of near-amateurs,” General Klaus said.
Eshugurin grinned. “All part of the plan, general.”
“Whose plan, wizard? Yours...or ours?”
Jaime gasped at the confirmation. He had suspected but had dismissed his own concerns as paranoia. Now here was the general confirming that he was one of the conspirators in the wizard’s plans. Jaime’s eyes widened with consternation as he realized that if the general was being this open, he was not meant to survive this meeting.
The sound of a click in the quiet room had Jaime turning to see that the wizard was free.
“That’s better,” he said, standing up and rubbing at his wrist a moment before the general shot him through the head. He fell across Jaime’s lap and the captain jumped away.
“Now here is what is going to happen,” the general said, leaning toward Jaime. “I can summon the guards and tell them that the wizard was a plant, sent to kill me with you as his accomplice. They will kill you on sight and then your team.”
“Or…?” Jaime prompted.
“Or...you let Cain teleport you out of here, having escaped after attempting to murder me with the help of your wizard.”
Jaime stared at him. “My team…”
The general shook his head. “You leave your team behind, captain. Together you are too powerful. I cannot allow you to stay together.”
“What guarantee do I have that you won’t kill them?”
The general smiled cruelly. “What a waste that would be. You may take your ship, bury your fallen crew member, and go back to the slum from which you came.”
Jaime glared at him before nodding his head. He had no choice. He had to leave now. But he would be back, and he would rescue his crew even if it was the last thing he ever did.
Mage Marine Misfits: Book 01 Page 27