The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension

by Rodney Mountain

  Chapter 43 - Treachery

  "Tony Stack ordered you killed?" Insegniferro said, not believing it, "Why on earth would he do a damn fool thing like that? It doesn’t make sense."

  "I highly doubt that Srado would be lying with what I was doing to him," Medo said, "The records don’t lie either. He’s not been truthful."

  "Neither has Colonel LaPorte," Iggy said, looking through the files, "I’m just casually reading these over and a lot of it doesn’t gel with what I was told."

  "What I want to know is why they were sent at all," Medo said, "Wouldn’t it have been better for LaPorte or Stack to not have the records there at all?"

  "That would have been noticed," Iggy explained, "We take document destruction seriously. There are a group of people whose job is just to make sure that all the reports are there."

  "By letting them get filed," Stacy explained, "They could follow the law, but by having Stack there on their side they could make sure the information was never disseminated."

  "It still doesn’t tell us as much about why Suvorov is out of it," Medo said, "His file is clean."

  "There’s a blank spot of about a month," Stacy said, "Right about the time of that reported massacre…"

  "Marina," Insegniferro said, "Get Rav Suvorov up here."

  "Ummm," Marina said, from her corner, "He’s…"

  "He’s probably drunk as a skunk," Iggy nodded, "Get some coffee in him and get him up here. When Massimaferro finishes session downstairs I want him up here too. He needs to know what happened."

  "If only we’d checked this out before we sent Roland and Simon out," Medo said, "This is going to change things down south, isn’t it?"

  "It could," Iggy nodded, "A lot of it depends on what we learn from Suvorov."

  "This is something that happens in other countries," Medo said, "Not here."

  "If it did indeed happen," Iggy promised the younger Mullinix, "There will be some heads rolling. Starting with Colonel LaPorte if he’s responsible for this mess. You are a chosen Mullinix. We don’t take attacks like that lightly."

  "When it comes to my skin I don’t either," Medoferro said, "I will say I was glad I learned what I did."

  "Did anyone see you do it?" Iggy asked him, worried about public perceptions.

  "Just me," Stacy said, "The guards were wondering what happened when they got there. The one who identified Stack as the boss saw it, but I doubt anyone is going to believe him."

  "Good enough," Iggy nodded, "I’ll take what I can get."

  Marina entered the room, practically dragging Suvorov by the collar. Everyone watched as she set him in a chair and went to get some black coffee. Suvorov was awake, but not quite conscious yet.

  "Did I do something while I was out?" Suvorov asked when he realized where he was.

  "No," Iggy said, "I want to ask you about the massacre you were a part of nearly two years ago."

  "Ask about it?" Suvorov asked, looking harshly at the Mullinix, "You ordered it!"

  Those words out of Suvorov’s mouth reverberated through the room like a shot. Insegniferro and Medoferro looked at each other, both knowing that that was not the case. Marina and Stacy looked at Suvorov with their mouths wide open in surprise.

  "I ordered no such thing," Insegniferro said, the shock still apparent on his face, "Who told you that?"

  "Major Stack," Suvorov said, "They wanted us to teach them a lesson… Said it was direct from the office of the Mullinix. I didn’t want to do it…"

  The horrors of the event came flooding back into Rav Suvorov’s mind like they were on a freight train. The images, indelibly burned into his mind for over two years, were horrific. Men, women and children had been burned and butchered for little reason, their faces pleading for redemption that as a service center recruit he was unable to give.

  "You mean our own troops committed these atrocities?" Medoferro said, "Good gods, why would anyone order such a thing?"

  "We were dressed in Mavelan uniforms," Suvorov said, "I don’t know why we were doing it, but they threatened to court martial me if I didn’t go along. You don’t know the pressure…"

  "We’re not blaming you, Rav," Insegniferro said, "I know you were young. I need to know what happened though."

  "Major Stack led the raid personally," Suvorov said, "Son of a bitch gave us a lecture on what duty was and on how we were doing the Mullinix himself a great, personal service…"

  "I can tell you one thing, Rav," Insegniferro said, "I sure as hell never gave any such order. Taliaferro had washed his hands of the Cirrus problems years before and if Massimaferro had ordered anything like this…"

  "If he did none of us would have had anything to do with him," Marina said, "I can’t imagine he’d do that."

  "I didn’t," Massimaferro said as he came in, "I just heard. Who gave Tony Stack those orders?"

  "We weren’t graced with that information," Suvorov said, "You mean that they did this… Oh gods… I’ve been such a fool…"

  "You had no reason to believe differently," Medo said, "Stack couldn’t have done this alone, you know. Someone had to know."

  "I can’t go to Siraq now," Massimaferro said, "We need to take care of this mess…"

  "What are we going to do about it?" Insegniferro said, "Roland and Simon will be at the Siraqi palace before we can get to them. Cirrus is a problem, but if those trade talks don’t go off without a hitch…"

  "Our economy for the next few years will take a nasty hit," Medo finished, "He’s right, Massy. We need to go to those negotiations."

  "We don’t know yet if Stack was involved in something big or if it was just an aberration," Insegniferro said, "I want to get to the bottom of it too, but we can’t do it at the expense of the economy."

  "And I’m the only one that the Siraqis will accept now," Massimaferro sighed, "What are we going to do?"

  "Try to get a hold of Paulus," Insegniferro said, "He can look in on it down there better than we can. He and Tolando probably already have heard of it if they are there."

  "I still don’t like it," Massimaferro grunted, "Do I at least get to try Stack if we find him?"

  "We’ll hold him for when you get back," Iggy said, clapping Massy on the shoulder, "The main thing right now is to get you two out in the north and building some goodwill for when we have to reveal what happened down south."

  "Looks like we’re still due to leave tomorrow," Medo said to Massimaferro, "You ready for the road?"

  "Ask yourself that question," Massimaferro suggested, "Considering I plan on having you hold your first session in one of the smaller towns near Skolnik, since you know the people up there."

  "Lovely," Medo sighed, "I guess I should have seen that coming."

  "Don’t worry," Massimaferro said, "You’ll be ready."

  "I hope…" Medo said.

  He wasn’t at all sure.