“Let her go. Let her leave now and we’ll talk.”
“You’ll court martial me,” Astin whispered.
“Yes. But you have thirty-five years of good service behind you.”
Saahren hadn’t moved.
Astin adjusted his grip on her shoulder. “I never meant for this to happen,” he muttered. He pushed her gently in the back. “Here. Good luck to you.”
Weak with relief, she stumbled forward, cradling her broken right arm with her left. A pistol shot rang out.
ChapterTwenty-One
Saahren put out an arm to steady Allysha while behind her Astin’s body crumpled to the floor. Damn the bastard. He’d shot himself. But she was alive if not unharmed. He slipped an arm around her waist as she
leaned her forehead on his chest.
“He killed Tensan,” she mumbled.
She was trembling. His fingers stroking her hair, he nodded to the troop commander, giving permission for them to enter and search the warehouse.
“Get security in here,” he called over his shoulder. “You have a broken arm?” he asked her.
She nodded.
Saahren lifted her chin so he could see her face. Damn it, she was supposed to be safe. How had it come to this? Her cheeks were scratched, a cut swelled on her lip and dark bruises bloomed around her eyes and nose. She looked terrible. He’d never loved her more.
“What happened to your face?” He ran gentle fingers down the side of her cheek.
“Pushed into the floor. Just bruised.”
“Come on, let’s get you to the medical center.”
“No!” She stared up at him.
“Don’t be silly, Allysha. You need treatment.”
“I need to find out what Tensan found. He’s dead.” She squeezed her eyes shut and mashed her lips.
He felt her pain; he’d felt something similar often enough himself. “It’s not your fault.”
“He found something,” she insisted. “I have to check. Isn’t that why I’m here?” Her eyes were brilliant with suppressed tears.
“Your team can do it.”
“No.” She shook her head. “They can’t. There’s more to this than is obvious. Please. They can fix my arm, give me pain killers. Let me do this.”
His first instinct was to shout her down, order her to the medical center. And yet if she was anyone else, he would have agreed to let her stay without hesitation. It was what she wanted.
“All right.” He turned to the waiting doctor. “Set the arm and give her pain suppressants. She’s needed here.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. In a louder voice, she said, “I need the others to help me.”
“SenComm Ernshaw’s here, Sir,” Pedder said. Ernshaw stood beside him.
Saahren summoned the man with a jerk of his head. “You know Lieutenant Wong is dead?”
“Yes. I just returned, heard the transmission.”
“I’d prefer it if Allysha wasn’t here, but she insists. She wants the others here, too. ”
“Bristol and Sakara are on the ship—or should be. Should I call the other two back from leave?”
Ernshaw’s eyes flicked between Saahren and Allysha.
“Yes, please,” she said after a moment’s thought. “I don’t know where this will lead. You’d better get them back. I’m sorry.”
“It’s their job.” Ernshaw’s face went blank as he issued his orders through his implant.
“You’ll tell them about… Tensan?” Her voice broke and she brushed away the tears with an angry hand.
“Yes. I’ll tell them when they get back,” Ernshaw said.
“Come on, Allysha, you’re keeping the doctor waiting.” Saahren put an arm around her waist and led her to one side, where a medic fidgeted.
Ernshaw finished his calls and came back to Saahren while Allysha received treatment. “Do we know what we’re looking for?”
Saahren met his eyes and shook his head. “Allysha was looking for information about how the terrorists were getting hold of fleet grade weapons. It seems Lieutenant Wong must have found something. I’m guessing Astin must have been part of the supply chain. What I’m hoping for is a link to the people Astin was supplying. And then I’d like to know how it was done. Let Allysha take the lead.”
“Aye, Sir.”
“She really should be in the med center, Sir,” said the young doctor. His voice dripped disapproval.
“Her arm is not just broken; all the muscle is bruised as well; and she’s in shock.”
Saahren quelled him with a look. “If it was an option, she would be. What have you done?”
“I’ve administered an anesthetic and injected knitting agents. The arm should be good enough to use carefully in half an hour or so.” He moistened his lips, a little wary. “She’ll have to keep the cast on for a while at least. The rest is superficial. I can’t do much about it.”
Allysha wore a light protective casing around her arm. The doctor had wiped some of the blood and dirt from her face, but her lip was still swollen, her eyes and nose bruised.
Saahren’s heart burned for her. Damn Astin to hell. If he hadn’t topped himself, Saahren could have had answers from him and Allysha could have received proper treatment. Although he wasn’t sure what he would have done with Astin later. “It will have to do.”
“I bet I look really nice,” muttered Allysha. She hauled herself to her feet and brushed an ineffectual hand over her dusty, bloodied clothes.
“You’ve looked better.” She looked so damaged, so vulnerable and he felt so helpless to protect her.
He’d failed her, again. “Are you sure you have to be here?”
She shot him a look, her jaw tightened. She walked toward the machine room. “Come on, you guys,”
she said to Lieutenant Bristol and Lieutenant Sakara, who waited with SenComm Ernshaw. “I need you to get me some data.”
Bristol hesitated and directed a stare back at Saahren but whatever went through his mind, he thought better of it and followed Sakara. All three stopped as a medic guided a shrouded sled out of the machine
room.
Saahren gazed at the covered corpse. He sent men and women to die, that was part of his job, the hardest part. But this man had been murdered—murdered by his own. And for what? Did Astin have a story? He didn’t seem the type to be a terrorist. Well, maybe the Fleet investigators would find an answer.
Commander Ernshaw broke into Saahren’s reverie. “I’ll see to Lieutenant Wong’s body, Sir, and make sure his relatives are informed.”
“He was married, with a small daughter.” Saahren smiled a little at the surprised look in the commander’s eyes. “Oh, I wouldn’t know that about every junior officer on the ship.”
Ernshaw nodded in understanding, and took his leave, following the sled out of the warehouse.
Saahren fought with himself. He should go. Now he was probably in the way. In the machine room, Allysha leaned over Sakara’s shoulder, presumably giving instructions.
Bristol appeared in front of him. “Sir, she shouldn’t be here,” he said without preamble, his voice low and urgent. “She should be in medical.”
He sympathized but he wasn’t about to say so. “I would prefer it, but she insists she must be here.”
“We can do this,” the young man insisted. “Anna and I. She needs attention.”
He held Bristol’s eyes for a moment. The man was pushing his luck. “She insists that you cannot do this without her. I must trust her judgment.”
Bristol frowned, disbelieving. “Sir, she’s not herself.”
“Your concern does you credit, Lieutenant. Return to your duties.”
Bristol’s lip curled. “You don’t care about her. She’s bruised and bleeding and all you can think about is how to get the last little bit out of her. All you care about is—”
He grabbed Bristol’s collar and dragged him forward so that they were nose to nose. So he thought he knew better, did he? This impertinent pup who fanci
ed himself as a rival for her affections? “I will not tolerate insolence, Lieutenant Bristol.”
Easy enough to feel sympathy, easy enough to be soft. But sometimes sympathy wasn’t an option.
Sometimes a job had to be done. Sometimes choices evaporated. Bristol swallowed but Saahren saw defiance still there in the blue eyes.
“Grand Admiral Saahren, Sir.”
Allysha spoke carefully, those amazing green eyes fixed on his face. “I can see that Lieutenant Bristol must have done something to provoke you, but may I have him back, please, Sir? Just for a short while?
I need his help with this investigation.”
Jealousy writhed in his belly. He looked for more than just professional concern in her expression. There was no need, he knew that, he admonished himself silently. Bristol was the one who was obsessed, not Allysha. He held his grip for a moment longer, then let go.
“Insubordination is a chargeable offense, Lieutenant. But… given the circumstances I may choose to overlook your behavior on this occasion.”
For a moment he thought Bristol might be stupid enough to argue but the younger man’s shoulders dropped.
“Sir.” He turned and went back to the machine room. Allysha shot Bristol a look as he passed her.
“What was that about?” she asked Saahren.
“He didn’t seem to believe that your presence was required.” Her face was pale under the bruises and her eyes were too bright. “Are you sure it is?”
She’d been very tense, strained, but his answer must have reassured her.
“Trust me, my presence is required.” With a last quick glance at him, she went back to the machine room.
****
“You idiot,” Allysha hissed at Todd as she loaded the function onto his machine. “He was furious.”
“I just told him you should be in medical,” mumbled Todd, staring at the keyboard.
“Oh, yes.” She fixed him with an icy stare. “I heard what you said to him. The wholelevel heard what you said to him!” But he hadn’t lost control, this wasn’t like Lake Sylmander—she’d feared that for a moment—more like what he’d told her when she first came onArcturus . Lieutenants don’t argue with grand admirals.
Todd flushed and looked away. “I… I just think they use you up.”
“I just spent the last ten minutes persuading him to let me stay and you say that to him. Look, see that?”
She pointed a tense finger at the remains of blood stains still on the floor. “That’s Tensan’s blood. It was Leeha’s seventh birthday yesterday and he wasn’t there. He’ll never be there again. He was killed here, his skull was caved in. I want to know why. I want to be able to tell Jingsu that there was a reason, I want to be certain that…”
She saw Tensan’s body again, lying on the floor face down in his own blood. Tears threatened. She’d brought him down here to his death. It couldn’t be for nothing; it couldn’t be. Todd and Anna stared at her.
“You have work to do. Get on with it.” Saahren, cool and calm, stood in the doorway. “Allysha, come here.”
He beckoned with one hand as they turned back to the consoles. She stepped toward him without even thinking, responding automatically to the authority in his voice.
“I’m okay.” She bit her lip. “Sorry,” she mumbled as he led her out of the room.
Saahren turned her to face him, his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t blame yourself. It won’t do any good and it won’t change anything.”
She closed her eyes, stifling the sob.
“Allysha?” Saahren pushed the hair away from the right side of her cheek.
She wanted to fling herself into his arms, wanted to bury her head against his chest and cry. But she couldn’t.
“Yes, I know.” She took a deep breath. “I’m okay. I’ll let you know when I find something.”
He tilted her chin with his fingers so she had to look at him. “I’ll be here if you need me.”
His eyes were warm and compassionate. Allysha nodded.
He released her and she went back inside.
****
Saahren waited. She needed his presence and he would stay. The word spread that Grand Admiral Saahren was in warehouse 30-Hector. Very few people entered; those that did were quick and silent.
Someone found him a chair and somebody else brought him a cup of kaff, the horrible instant muck but he drank it anyway. He called Admiral Valperez to explain the situation and ask him to stand in for him at
the function he’d been scheduled to attend that evening. Then he called his adjutant, Senior Commander Butcher, to tell him where he was.
Butcher appeared shortly afterwards, carrying a data sheet and a chair he’d purloined from the outer office. If the grand admiral was going to be down here it might be a chance to work through some of the administrative matters he’d been avoiding. Saahren and Butcher worked through his in tray. The two men
sat heads together, conversing in soft voices, as Saahren approved promotions or transfers, recommended actions or simply updated his knowledge about particular situations. Butcher brought his clerk, too, and installed him in the outer office. After a time, he sent the man for kaff; good, properly brewed kaff, which Saahren accepted gratefully.
All the while Saahren kept one eye on the machine room where Allysha and her team worked.
Lieutenant Mustafa and Ensign Parandorn arrived, their leave interrupted. They entered the room carefully, evidently warned of Saahren’s presence, and gave model salutes as they passed him. Allysha allocated them machines and showed them what she required.
Allysha, Saahren noted, checked two of the machines while the other four checked one each. Even then, she moved between them, helping and encouraging. Occasionally, she looked up at where he and Butcher sat, against the warehouse bulkhead. Once or twice he stood and moved away but only for a short time and each time he was sure she missed him, by the way she caught his eye briefly when he returned. From time to time the four members of her team went out for short breaks or to fetch kaff.
Allysha herself never did.
“She’s overdoing it, isn’t she?” said Butcher, following Saahren’s eyes.
“Possibly,” he answered in the same low tone. “But I’m afraid to interrupt her train of thought. It’s how she works.” He wished he could just order her to the med center. But he couldn’t. Sometimes compassion wasn’t an option.
At last she pushed the chair back and sat, her broken arm across her stomach, the other supporting her chin as it rested on a fist.
He went in, suppressing any movement from the other four with a gesture. “Well?”
“There’s nothing. But there has to be. The machine went off line for a moment. I saw it. Something made that happen. If it was some mechanical failure or something—a bounce—there would be evidence.
There’s not. I’m missing something.”
“Where have you looked?” Saahren asked.
“Every machine.” She encompassed the whole room in a wave of her undamaged arm. “The comms network, the transmission data, the caches, the stacks, the overflows, the encryptors, the decryptors, the LTRs. Everything.”
“I’m just an admiral, Allysha,” Saahren said. “Most of those things mean nothing to me. What would Astin have sent or received?”
She was silent for a moment. “I don’t know. A list of items? To pick up or deliver? A location? A name? I don’t know what to look for.”
“Either way, something he could understand, yes?”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
“So he might have written it down somewhere?”
“Sure, on a pad or…” She frowned and straightened up. “Would he have a comlink?”
“Possibly,” Saahren said. “Not everybody likes to use the implant. Should we check?”
“Please.”
Saahren summoned Butcher with a glance and sent him off to search. Allysha told her team to take a break and stretch their legs. They filed out past him, ack
nowledging him with a respectful nod as they did so. Bristol met his gaze for a moment, clearly embarrassed, but Saahren forestalled any conversation with
a flick of his head. Out. When he turned back to Allysha, she was staring at the right side of his chest.
“There’s a mark on your jacket.” She stretched out a hand to brush at a stain.
“Dirt and blood, I imagine.”
She caught her lip in her teeth. “I’m sorry.”
“It can be cleaned. Lean on me whenever you like.”
She smiled a little, rubbing the fingers of her right hand on her forehead. She winced. If anything, she was even paler. Still in shock.
Commander Butcher returned, carrying a standard comlink. “In his quarters, Sir. It was hidden in a secret compartment in a drawer.”
Allysha plugged the comlink into her own techpack and plunged into the device. It was only a moment before she hissed, “Yes!”
Saahren leaned over her. “What is it?”
“This is the function that does the work. See here?” She pointed at a piece of unintelligible gibberish.
“I’d say he had to… yes… plug this into the InfoDroid.”
She straightened. “We can test that… the InfoDroid is in that cabinet.”
He summoned the nearest person, who happened to be Lieutenant Mustafa, and sent him to fetch the InfoDroid.
“See?” Allysha said to Saahren as she fitted the comlink into place, “the comlink goes in here and…”
She fell silent as she concentrated, her fingers on the keyboard. Her body went tense. “There.”
“Yes? What?”
“This is where it sent the last message from this function,” she replied, her voice tight with excitement.
ChapterTwenty-Two
“That’s a location. Just a second while I map it… Damnation.” Allysha leaned back in the chair and pulled a face. “It’s just a transmitter. Now let’s see.”
Her voice became absent, running a commentary mainly for herself. “If the data’s on his own comlink he wouldn’t have seen that as a security risk. It’ll just be some work stuff.”
The Iron Admiral: Deception Page 15