Honor from Ashes (Honor and Duty Book 3)

by Amanda S Green

  She nodded once, her expression grim. The one thing she knew for certain was Liu was right when he said more was going on than they knew. She hoped they found out what before it blew up in their faces again.

  “What can my office do to help, Lieutenant Liu?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Nothing yet, Ma’am. Major Quintana told me to let you know that she will be reporting to both you and the Commandant as the arrests are made and what, if anything, we learn as a result.”

  “Very well.” She looked up as Talbot rejoined them. “Master Guns?”

  “General, Colonel, the squad will be ready to move out within the hour. Where do you want us to stage from?”

  To anyone who did not know him well, he might have been asking about the weather. But Ashlyn wasn’t fooled. Nor did she suspect her mother was. Talbot looked forward to the upcoming op. Not that Ashlyn blamed him. Part of her, a very large part, wished she was going with them. But she understood why she could not. Liu and Quintana wanted to give the defense team no reason to question the arrests or any information gathered as a result. So she had to be satisfied with sending Talbot and the others to make sure nothing went wrong.

  “If it is all right with General Shaw, I would like to stage from here,” Liu said.

  “Of course.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am.”

  “With your permission, Colonel, I’ll inform the squad and make sure Mrs. Leclerc knows they will be arriving shortly.”

  “Go,” Ash said and watched as he made his way inside. “Now, Lieutenant, what else can you tell us? I assume there is more on you mind than what you’ve said so far.”

  Even if she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it.

  “There is, Ma’am.” He pushed his beer to one side. “From what Sorkowski has told us, there were some minor and not so minor members of the former Administration who were aware of his activities and turned a blind eye for the right remuneration. That is what the Major is looking into right now and why she did not come with me.”

  “Did they have anything to do with what happened to my daughter and her command?” Elizabeth’s voice turned hard. Ashlyn had a feeling if Liu answered in the affirmative, her mother might decide to go along with Talbot and the others to help with the arrests. That, Ash knew, meant busted heads and more if anyone resisted – not that she would blame her mother one bit.

  “Ma’am, we are still trying to figure that out but I think it safe to say at least some of them were involved in making sure the Colonel and her people were tried and convicted. Even if they had nothing to do with sending them into the ambush, they helped cover up what happened.

  “I have studied the information available to us about the ambush until I can quote it in my sleep. The problem has always been that all the intelligence we had dealt with what happened on your end, Colonel. We never had much more than suspicions about what might have been going on here. Thanks to the information Sorkowski is giving us, and the fact we can confirm most of it through other sources now that we know where to look, we can finally make a move locally.

  “What concerns Major Quintana and me the most is how it is starting to look as if what happened to you is somehow tied in with the intelligence your people seized on Cassius Prime. From what we have determined based on Sorkowski’s information, there was not only an active movement here to undermine the peace negotiations during the last war in such a way the Callusians could continue acting against us.

  “Ma’am – Ashlyn, we don’t have concrete proof yet but it is starting to look like Sorkowski’s and O’Brien’s smuggling and turning of a blind eye was being used by the enemy to give them a route to our allied systems that they knew would not be patrolled. You and your Devil Dogs put that in jeopardy so you had to be taken out of the equation. The only way that could be done without too many questions being asked was to make it look like you had gone rogue and innocents had been killed as a result. It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened to a Marine and probably won’t be the last.

  “Sorkowski admitted the plan had been for you and your people to die in the ambush. They purposely gave you bad intel, knowing you would be walking into a trap. When you survived and they realized you had already been raising questions about how they were acting, they devised the plan to bring you and the other survivors up on charges. Now everyone involved with what happened will face justice. I promise you that.”

  “And this Moreau?”

  “She is the wild card we haven’t figured out yet. Hopefully, she will be smart enough to cooperate once we have her in custody. In the meantime, you will find orders from General Okafor that you are to have security with you at all times. She is taking this potential threat as serious as Major Quintana and I are.”

  “I don’t like it but I will do as ordered.”

  At least as long as she had a say in who her shadow happened to be. She knew her people, her Devil Dogs, would understand the need to find out how deep the conspiracy ran and would help her cut it out, just like you cut out a cancer. More importantly, they would recognize the need to keep her family, especially her son, safe. No matter what happened to Ashlyn herself, little Jake had to be protected.

  “Now, General, if there is somewhere I can work until the others get here, I’d appreciate it. I want to make sure all the necessary warrants are in place. Then I need to report back to Major Quintana.”

  “Of course, Lieutenant.” She reached for her comm-unit and a moment later, Mrs. Leclerc appeared. “Marie, please show the lieutenant somewhere he can have a little privacy.”

  “This way, Lieutenant.”

  “Ash,” Elizabeth began once the two had disappeared inside.

  “Don’t, Mom.” She pushed to her feet and stepped away from the table. “I know, intellectually at least, that what happened wasn’t my fault. Hell, I’ve spent the last three years almost learning to accept that. Now I have to wrap my mind around the fact that not only is one of our supposedly loyal allies trying to help our enemy destroy us but that there is someone working for them with a personal grudge against me. Hell, Mom, life is a whole lot easier in battle.”

  “I know, love.” Elizabeth stood and moved to her side. “But look at what we do know now and realize that at least part of it is about to come to an end. With Sorkowski not only pleading to the charges against him but cooperating with JAG, we are finally getting the information we need to not only bring every one of the bastards responsible for what happened to you and your people to justice but to hopefully ending the war once and for all. I have a feeling it won’t be long before you and the rest of the Devil Dogs ship out.”

  Ashlyn nodded. Part of her hoped her mother was right.

  “Now go brief Talbot and tell him I expect a full report when he gets back.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “DAMN IT!”

  She slammed her palm against the control panel next to the door, locking it. How she had managed to hold her temper in check on the interminable ride home was a miracle. All she had wanted was to kill someone, anyone. She didn’t care if it was the cabbie who had brought her from the restaurant – and probably the only thing that saved him was that he wasn’t a “him” but an it. The company’s use of ‘droids to give their passengers the feeling they were being driven was one reason she normally liked using them. Tonight, however, the lack of conversation had kept her from ripping the droid’s head from its shoulders. – or anyone else.

  No, that wasn’t quite true. She had a very definite list of people she wanted to kill, slowly and painfully if possible. It started with Sorkowski and O’Brien. If they had shown an ounce of competence, Shaw and the others would have been killed three years ago. That would have prevented everything that happened since then. Unfortunately, she had learned they were much better at turning their heads away from illegal activities and collecting bribes for doing so than they were with dealing with trouble.

  Following close behind those two were Sorensen and Paulus. Sorensen had failed, something sh
e had not thought possible, to keep his client in line. How could a man so accomplished fail her so completely? It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been more than handsomely paid for what should have been an easy assignment. Nor was it something he hadn’t done before. She had made sure of that before first approaching him. Obviously, she had misjudged him and his devotion to his family. Either that or he didn’t believe she would carry through with her threats. Well, she would soon teach him how foolish he had been to let his client go rogue.

  A slight smile touched her lips as she opened the safe hidden in her bedroom closet. If she played her cards right – and she would. She always did, no matter what her handlers thought. There were simply times when even the most carefully laid plans became derailed – she would be able to take care of Sorensen and make it look like Paulus had been involved. Let the so-called diplomat explain that away when the Fuerconese started investigating. He might be able to hang onto his diplomatic immunity but, if her guess about the current state of affairs in the Midlothian government were right, they would toss Paulus away like so much trash.

  Paulus.

  She cursed the day he had inserted himself into the mission. For almost three years she had operated on her own, confident that she would be able to complete the job without problem. After all, this was a long term assignment, one that required a deft hand and a sharp knife, both figurative and literal. Her Midlothian employers had chosen her because it was exactly the sort of thing she excelled at. Besides, being a Fuerconese citizen, born and raised, her presence on-planet and as part of the business and political sectors would not be questioned.

  Then, without warning, Paulus had shown up a year ago. Before she could protest – or even check with those who had initially employed her – he had presented her with proof Watchman not only knew of his presence on Fuercon but approved. Worse, Watchman said she was to take orders from Paulus the same as she would from him. At the time, Moreau had assumed Watchman was simply firming up his control of things on Midlothian, even if it was only behind the scenes, and did not want his attention diverted. That even made sense. But, over the course of the last six months, she had found herself wondering more and more if the Intelligence Czar meant to terminate her at the end of the assignment, no matter how it turned out.

  Now it looked like her paranoia had been well-founded.

  To hell with both of them.

  If Paulus thought she would sit still while he chose the time and place – not to mention manner – of her death, he was sadly mistaken. She would neither wait patiently for the executioner nor would she go about her daily business as if nothing was wrong. She had been in the assassination business long enough to know not only what her handler expected her to do but what this new “talent” would expect as well. After all, she had been the one brought in to deal with little problems more times than she could remember. That experience could keep her alive – at least as long as she-did not get careless.

  That meant getting away from her apartment without Paulus knowing. No doubt he had someone already in place, watching to see where she went. It didn’t matter. She had prepared for such an eventuality long ago. When she walked out the building’s front entrance in just a few minutes, anyone watching would see exactly what she wanted them to. They would see a woman on her way to dinner or a night on the town. There would be no heavy bag, stuffed with everything she owned. No, all she would take was the clutch she had carried when she returned home and her briefcase. Of course, inside would be weapons and money, all she needed until she made her way to the first of a series of safe houses. Every move had been carefully planned as soon as she realized Paulus was not going to leave her alone to do the job she had contracted for.

  Once safely hidden away, once she was convinced no one had managed to follow her, she could take the time needed to plan her next move.

  One thing was certain. If she did not find a way to not only complete her assignment but to prove her value to the Midlothians, she would spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. That was not how she planned to live her retirement. But that was for later. One step at a time, starting with getting away from the apartment while she still could.

  Then she could figure out the best way to do the job and get a little vengeance along the way.

  * * *

  Talbot casually strode down the street. As he reached the corner, he stepped into the shadows. From there, he took up a position where he could study the entrance to the building across the street without anyone noticing. As he did, he pulled his data unit and called up information on the building. He had already studied all the pertinent information but, as he had learned in the previous war, it never hurt to double check everything before beginning an op.

  “Loco?”

  Hound and Tank, the squad’s heavy weapon specialists, moved silently into the shadows from the opposite end of the street. It wasn’t long before the rest of the team was there, including Lieutenant Liu. The JAG officer had remained silent as Talbot went over the op with his people. Until they had Moreau in custody, he was simply along to observe.

  “Tank, Boomer, Brigit, you’re with me. We’re two couples out to meet a friend. The rest of you, take your places. Let’s seal the building up and make sure she doesn’t give us the slip.”

  Corporal Annaliese Fekete, the squad’s demolitions expert, and Lance Corporal Faith Connery, the comms operator, stepped forward. Talbot looked them, as well as Tank, over and nodded once. Few looking at them would see anything but four people out for a good time. There was no hint they were military, except for their bearing which he knew would change as soon as they stepped out of the shadows. This was not the first time any of them had needed to blend in with civilians and it would not be the last. But, in many ways, it was the most important of those missions to date.

  “The rest of you have three minutes to get into place. Signal when you’re set.”

  Talbot watched as the others slipped out of the shadows and moved in different directions. The tactician in him nodded in approval. None of them would take the most direct route to the apartment building. Instead, they would circle around or back, making sure they had not picked up a tail or unwanted attention. In the meantime, all he could do was wait.

  Exactly three minutes later, everyone had reported in. They were in place. Time to put the next phase of the op into action.

  Talbot nodded and the four stepped out of the shadows. As they did, Talbot reached for Connery’s hand and settled it in the crook of his arm. His lips twitched with a smile as Tank slid an arm around Fekete’s shoulders. She leaned into him, her arm snaking around his waist. Satisfied, Talbot waited for a break in traffic and led them across the street in the direction of the apartment entrance.

  All they had to do was get past the doorman. If they could, and if they could do so without him alerting the target, they might just be able to pull this off.

  “May I help you?” the uniformed doorman asked almost as soon as they stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the entrance.

  “You sure can,” Connery said as she stepped closer to him. Talbot almost choked as she smiled and batted her eyes as the doorman. “It’s my cousin’s birthday today and she is refusing to let us buy her a drink. Says she has work or something she needs to do. But it’s her birthday. We can’t let her be alone.”

  “Ma’am, I’m not sure I can help you.” The doorman looked to the others. Before he could say anything, Talbot nodded.

  “We know we’re asking a lot, but it would mean the world to my partner here if you’d let us in. I promise all we’ll do is use the house comm to contact Evan and try to convince her to come out with us. If she doesn’t agree, we’ll leave.”

  “Even if I could let you in – and I can’t. You should know that. – it wouldn’t do you any good. Ms. Moreau left about two hours ago. I guess she had plans after all.”

  “Brigit, that’s good news,” Fekete said, as though she were reassuring her friend. “Now can we go get some
dinner? I’m starved.”

  “Did she happen to say where she was going?” Connery asked, still playing the concerned cousin.

  “No, ma’am.”

  Talbot thanked him and the four walked down the street, talking about where they wanted to eat and what they wanted to do afterwards. Once they were out of earshot, Talbot signaled the others.

  “The op is a no-go. The target left the building two hours before we arrived.” Frustration filled his voice.

  “Move to the next target,” Lieutenant Liu instructed them. “Moreau may be in the wind now but we will find her.”

  Damn straight they would.

  Half an hour later, Talbot and the others, all except for Connery and Liu, were shown to a table at a sidewalk café across the street from their next target. To anyone looking on, they were nothing more than a group of friends out for the night. No one would guess they were very angry Marines who wanted nothing more than to commit some mayhem. That impression was reinforced when they ordered drinks and decadent desserts.

  Over the course of the next two hours, they watched the building, waiting for the target to return home. From time to time, reports would come in from Connery and Liu. They had managed to locate the target as he left his office. Now they were following at a discreet distance, making sure he didn’t pull a vanishing act like Moreau had. If they were lucky, this part of the op would soon come to a successful conclusion.

  “There.”

  Talbot nodded to the expensive aircar settling down in one of the parking spaces down the street from the building across from them. Like Moreau’s apartment building, the security for this one was tight. But they had already taken care of that, at least Liu assured them he had. If not, things could get very bad very quickly.

  Kurt Sorensen appeared from the back of the aircar. As he leaned down, probably paying the driver, Talbot tossed enough money onto the tabletop to cover their bill. As he did, everyone stood. Then, laughing and joking, they started across the street. By the time Sorensen approached the building’s main entrance, the group was close enough to stop him. Instead, they watched as he stepped inside, nodding to the doorman without really looking at him. which was all for the good since the regular doorman had been replaced by one of Liu’s men.