by Amy DuBoff
“No false rumors will come between us. Alucia and Nezar will soon be united with the Etheric Federation, and a new era can begin.”
Karen took notes while he spoke. The messaging fit with her needs as perfectly as it would placate Connors’ critics.
“Excellent, sir. I’ll get this drafted right away.”
He nodded absently. “Thank you, Karen. I’m glad to have you on the team.”
That opinion wouldn’t last much longer.
“Of course, Mr. President. I’m happy to be of service.”
***
“Are you sure you want to sit in on this?” Kurtz asked Denise.
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “Are you honestly questioning whether the head of FDG security would want to skip an interrogation with someone suspected of leaking information?”
“I see your point, Major,” Kurtz conceded. “For the sake of transparency, have you faced security breaches like this before?”
“Never three independent incidents at once. If past events have shown me anything, it’s that not all motivations are completely malicious.”
“I doubt any of these leaks are justified.”
Denise gazed at him levelly. “Try to keep an open mind, sir. You have to understand the intentions in order to best understand why the leaks happened, and how to prevent them in the future.”
The colonel waited, as she looked like she wanted to say more.
“Take, for instance, an incident some years back where a comm tech was recruited by an outside contact to relay classified transcripts.”
“To what end?” Kurtz questioned, his eyes narrowing.
“Political agenda, like so many things are. The recipient wanted information about the inner workings of the FDG to use as sound bites for their campaign.”
“That seems like an awful lot of trouble.”
Denise cracked a smile. “Well, it’s actually kind of funny how it went down.”
“That doesn’t sound like a humorous situation.”
“Oh, you’d think that… But it was the transcripts the comm tech got. It’s all connected to how she was ultimately caught.”
Kurtz studied her. “Okay, I’ll bite. What were the transcripts?”
Denise rubbed her hands together. “As you know, the internal communications system is a catch-all platform for official military orders and any personal business. As a culture, we don’t want to place higher value on personal or professional privacy, so it all gets the same level of encryption.”
“Right.”
“So, this new comm tech didn’t seem to realize that the tagging on communications gets stripped away during the encryption process—it’s part of the decoding that happens on the receiving end. She came across this message talking about a plan of attack. Five units were set to converge on a target codenamed ‘Red 7’. Now, I don’t know how familiar you are with Corsica, but the seventh planet in the system is red in color, commonly called ‘Roja VII’.”
“Oh, I see where this is going…” Kurtz cracked a smile.
“You’ve got it. The comm tech has been watching deployment orders for weeks, waiting for something juicy to come through. When she sees that there’s an attack being planned against a civilian population, it’s the kind of sound bite this politician really needs to perfectly drive home their point. However, all those dire war plans were really about making sure ol’ McGavin had a great birthday party in the mess hall.”
Kurtz sighed.
“It gets better! The comm tech can’t just sit back while such an unconscionable, brutal act toward civilians unfolds, so she freaks out. The attack is going to go down any minute, and no one is responding to her messages. She decides to track down Colonel Walton himself.”
“Oh no…”
“Oh yes! The colonel is, naturally, at the very party discussed in this woefully misinterpreted communication. Comm tech bursts into the mess hall shouting, ‘Colonel! I demand you call off the attack on Roja VII!’ Colonel Walton looks back at the tech, understandably confused, and explains that there’s no planned attack on a peaceful world in the Federation. Comm tech insists that she’s seen the order and soon everyone will know about the FDG’s treachery.
“At that very moment, Cindy—who was interning in the colonel’s office at the time—comes in with this layer cake and way more candles than the fire code allows. She tried to duck around the comm tech, but the tech manages to fling her arm at just the right angle to launch the whole flaming tower straight into the air.”
“What a waste of perfectly good cake.”
Denise shook her head. “That’s the crazy thing! This cake must have gone a good half-meter in the air, but somehow the comm tech caught the damned thing perfectly intact. Once it was safely on the table, the tech got grilled about what she was so upset about. When they realized that the comm tech had been conspiring with an outsider, Major Tanaka was about to court martial her on the spot, but Colonel Walton was so happy the cake had made it that he decided to give her another chance and consider her lesson learned.”
“Wow.” Kurtz chuckled.
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been there to see it myself.”
“Who was the comm tech?”
Denise smiled. “Me.”
“Seriously…?”
“Disillusioned youth.” She shrugged. “I’d like to sit in on the interview and give you my best estimate of whether they’ll do it again. Discipline is your purview. Security is mine, and I’ve failed in that we’ve had a leak. I need to earn my keep.”
“I understand.” Kurtz nodded. “I have to warn you, though, I don’t think we’ll have any cake.”
“That’s a damn shame, but probably for the best.”
Kurtz chuckled. “Denise, you are full of surprises.”
The two officers met up with a pair of warriors—not that Kurtz would need any help handling their intended human prisoner.
He led the way to the holding cell where the first of their three perpetrators was being held. Given the seriousness of the violations, Kurtz decided it was best to start with the major, especially since part of his role included oversight of Denise’s security team.
“Major Ellis,” Kurtz clasped his hands behind his back as he approached the cell, “we’d like to have a word with you.”
“Colonel! What’s this about?” The major ran up to the plexiglass.
“We’ll have a private chat.” Kurtz nodded to the two warriors, and they opened the cell door.
Ellis turned around and placed his hands behind his back so the warriors could cuff him. “There must be some mistake.”
“We’ll see.”
The two warriors led Ellis to an interrogation room twelve meters down the hall and cuffed him to a bar welded onto the table. When he was secure, the colonel and the chief of security entered.
“I apologize for the handcuffs, Major Ellis, but the nature of our accusations requires a degree of caution,” Kurtz said as he paced on the far side of the table.
Denise leaned against the wall next to the door with her arms crossed, gaze fixed on the major.
“Sir, I don’t know what you think I—”
“You forwarded a deployment order to the Alucian government, did you not?” Kurtz asked.
Ellis took a slow breath. “Yes, I did.”
“Care to enlighten us as to why?”
The major’s eyes shifted between Kurtz and Denise. “Those reasons aren’t important.”
“That isn’t for you to decide!” Kurtz snarled. His eyes took on a yellow sheen and his uniform tightened around him as he began to shift into his Were form.
“Okay, okay!” Ellis shrank back in his chair.
Kurtz returned to his human appearance. “Who were you working for?”
“I don’t have any name, I swear it. I received a message three years ago while I was on my way home from leave—from a group advocating Alucian unification. I grew up on Alucia, as you’ve no doubt se
en in my file, and I’m sick of the petty arguments between Alucians and the Nezaran Coalition. They asked me to keep an eye on things in the FDG and let them know if there was ever something that might question the peace. I’ve only relayed four pieces of information in those three years. An offensive posture toward Nezar was something I couldn’t let slide.”
“Major,” Kurtz halted his pacing and leaned forward on the table. “You shouldn’t have been looking in that folder in the first place.”
“With all due respect, Colonel, it’s a public folder. As a member of the security team, it’s my duty to take a random sampling of documents from across the servers to make sure there are no malicious files.”
“That excuse won’t cut it,” Denise interjected. “Software takes care of that sampling.”
“And I’m the person who makes sure the software is doing its job,” Ellis shot back. “Regardless, I didn’t hack into a folder where I wasn’t supposed to be. You can accuse me of transmitting content outside the FDG, but don’t tell me that I went digging somewhere unauthorized.”
“Maybe so,” Kurtz agreed. “However, I believe you know more about this mystery organization. Tell me.”
The captive looked down at his bound hands. “I honestly don’t know much more than I’ve already said. But it might be worth noting what I don’t know.”
Kurtz slammed his palms on the table top. “Don’t give me that shit, Ellis! You’re a disgrace to the uniform, sharing the Force’s secrets—”
Ellis stiffened. “I know my career is probably over, so take the information or leave it. I tried to find the organization, but they’re ghosts! As far as I can tell, there is no organization doing the things that they’ve claimed to have done.”
“Then why did you keep feeding them information?” Kurtz demanded.
“Because the first information I sent was acted upon in a way I agreed with, as were the others. It wasn’t until this most recent incident that things seemed… off.”
“Deception always bites you in the ass,” Kurtz grumbled.
“Sir, you’re not listening. If this group isn’t actually part of the Alucian sphere, then who are they?”
“You tell me, Major.”
“I wish I knew. But I can say that they seem to want peace with the Nezarans, and that sounds good to me.”
“Except that you swore your allegiance to the Etheric Federation.” Kurtz stared down his subordinate. “Or have you turned against your oath?”
“My dedication to the Federation will never waver. I’m just not sure that bullying others into joining us is the answer.”
“You think we’re ‘bullying’ the Alucians and the Nezarans into joining the Federation?”
Ellis shifted in his chair. “This arrangement has left the people divided. What choice do Alucians now have but to become a vassal? You’ve eliminated every other option unless they want to start a civil war.”
Kurtz perched on the edge of the table. “Major, you’ve missed the entire point of the Etheric Federation. When we look beyond our political boundaries, we become more. By demonstrating that your allegiance is greater to your home nation than to the Federation, you’ve told us that you don’t support that vision of unification.
“And on a final note, the FDG doesn’t have anything to do with expanding the Federation. That’s the politicians’ job. We fill a supporting role, or have you forgotten that, too?”
“I support the Federation, even if you don’t believe me.”
“You have your convictions, I’ll give you that.” Kurtz rose from the table. “Unfortunately, those convictions don’t align with the integrity demanded of our FDG officers.”
Ellis shook his head. “Then I want nothing more to do with this organization.”
Kurtz glared at the captive. “You turned against us! You made a conscious choice to leak classified information. I don’t care how you want to justify it—you didn’t uphold your duty to the Force.”
Denise took a step forward toward the table. “You don’t believe you’ve done anything wrong, do you?”
“I did what I had to do.”
Kurtz shook his head. “Ellis, your service record spoke of loyalty, but I think you were just good at hiding your dishonor. You’ll remain in custody until formal charges can be rendered, but rest assured, we won’t put you in a position of having to decide who to give our secrets to.”
The major’s shoulders sagged as he looked away from the rage in the colonel’s eyes.
Kurtz stormed out of the room, followed by Denise.
He walked ten meters down the hall away from the two guards standing to either side of the interrogation room door.
“Think he’s being honest?” Denise asked.
Kurtz closed his eyes and took calming breaths. “Tell me what you think.”
“I think he thinks he’s being honest, at least. But something doesn’t feel right to me,” she started. “Claiming that he’s been feeding information to a phantom group was a bit of a stretch.”
“Actually,” Kurtz countered, “that was probably the truest statement of them all. It’s his motivations that don’t make sense. Not to sound like a recruiter ad, but people are fiercely loyal to the Federation’s mission—pursuit of the greater good. That’s why Colonel Walton forgave your indiscretion; you were trying to help people you thought were being unjustly harmed.”
“But Ellis’ interests were in service to a specific nation.”
“Exactly. People like that don’t make it into the FDG in the first place.”
“Do you think he was faking it all along?”
Kurtz shook his head. “No. Without genuine commitment, a person would never have the motivation to make it through basic training, let alone fifteen years of service. I think that chance encounter Ellis mentioned he had while on leave wasn’t just a chat.”
“Like, mind control?” Denise frowned.
“I won’t rule out any possibility. All I know is that man we spoke to wasn’t talking like an FDG officer.”
“I guess we need to talk with the others and see if they’re acting the same way.”
“Yes, we do. I’ll defer final judgment on wrongdoing until we know if they’ve been compromised. These ideals might not be their own.”
Denise wrapped her arms around herself. “If they’ve been programmed to think and act in certain ways, then who else may not be themselves?”
Kurtz released a long breath. “I’m concerned what the answer to that question might be.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ava stepped out of Luke’s car outside her cottage. “Thanks for seizing that opportunity today. I think I’m so used to being covert that I’m blind to the ‘easy way’.”
Luke closed the driver’s side door and leaned his forearms on the top of the car. “Nothing about this way will be easy, either. Don’t kid yourself.”
“I’m not. They’ll be watching me even closer than you. At least this way, I won’t have to make up excuses to be there.”
He smiled. “You mean the pleasure of my company wasn’t enough incentive?”
“This isn’t a social visit, Luke.”
He jogged around the car toward her. “Official Force business or not, we’re still old friends.”
She softened. “You’re right. Present circumstances aside, you’re Louie.”
“Oh, god, no one’s called me that in years!” Luke exclaimed through a chuckle. “I always hated that nickname.”
“But you let me get away with using it, anyway.”
“Because I knew if I tried to get you to stop, you’d just turn it into sport. It was easier to find it endearing.” He brushed his hand down her arm, and his fingers brushed against hers.
Their eyes met.
Ava drew a deep breath and stepped back toward her cottage. “I shouldn’t keep you from your evening.”
“Nonsense. Have dinner with me.”
“Luke…”
“I insist. Besides, pretty sure those
cupboards are completely bare. If you want to eat—and I know how you like your dinners—you’ll need to subsist off those of us who actually live here.” He cocked his head. “Whaddya say?”
“All right, fine,” Ava yielded. Damn, I’m entirely too motivated by food. Not that the company was a deterrent…
“Wow, that didn’t take much.”
“Admittedly, you had me at ‘eat’.”
He shook his head and laughed. “Ava, you’ve hardly changed a bit.”
“That’s Lieutenant Hardly,” she jested. “Don’t forget that I can disarm you fifty different ways in two seconds flat. A fact I intend to demonstrate at the gym later.”
“…You say to the person who you could control with a bat of your eyelashes when we were sixteen.”
“Granted, that ‘you’ wasn’t you specifically.”
“Relax, I’m just giving you a hard time.”
Isn’t that my job? Ava mentally slapped herself. God fucking damn it, stop being a raging hornball! “What’s on the menu for tonight?”
“I’ve been slow-roasting a pork tenderloin for the last eighteen hours, and I gathered greens from my garden. I just have to throw a loaf of bread in the oven, which was crafted from a sourdough starter passed down in my family for five generations.”
Ava’s mouth dropped open. “You shouldn’t have…”
“Oh, good! Because we’re just having noodle packets.” He grinned. “God, Ava, I have a doctorate in genetics and regularly work eleven-hour days in a subterranean lab. You won’t find a master chef over here.”
Smooth. She sighed. “You know, noodles sound just fine.”
***
Ava awoke the following morning with a grin after the evening with Luke. It had been years since she’d had a proper night of relaxation, and she could think of few people who offered better company. Luke was a perfect gentleman, as always. Ava knew all too well just how hard that was to find.
Still, the mission came first. After the business with NTech was straightened out, she could revisit the past.
A knock sounded on Ava’s front door while she was blow-drying her hair. “Coming!”