Элизабет Мун - Into the Fire

“Do not put it into the ’fresher; that could set the stain. And avoid daylight.”

Which meant cutting through the inside corridors above ground level. Circuitous, and added almost ten minutes to the usual time.

She left word that she was going back to the residence to change and wash off any residual marking powder. By the time she had arrived there, the tailor she had first seen at the base was there to deliver her second uniform and take away the first. Ky cleaned up, dressed in her new uniform—it fit even better—and called Major Palnuss from her quarters.

“I’ll come back right away,” Palnuss said when Ky told him about the evidence she’d found. “Major Hong’s taken over the investigation, reporting to General Molosay. Everything I brought out has been logged and is as secure as they can make it. Stornaki’s not going anywhere; he’s been screened for suicide and is presently sedated and prepped for interrogation. They don’t need me, really.”

“Good,” Ky said. “I hate to keep the police here too long but we want that chain of custody—”

“Of course. An hour at most, depending on traffic.”

Ky offered the police refreshments—it seemed the decent thing to do—and went on dealing with the items on her desk that needed work. Her driver came back after delivering Sera Vonderlane to her home and seeing her to the door. About a half hour later, her skullphone pinged.

“I’m safe,” Rafe said. Ky felt her shoulders relax, tension she hadn’t recognized in the midst of everything else. “I’m exhausted, hungry, dirty, and wearing the clothes of a mountainous thirteen-year-old farm kid. I’m being driven from place to place by friends of the first farmer. Can’t take other transport without ID. Just got in range for calling again. Where is everybody? Where are you?”

“In the Commandant’s Residence at the Academy,” Ky said, over the pounding of her pulse.

“Why?” Rafe demanded. “Are you in trouble?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Ky said, in the most honeyed tone she could manage. “I’m the new Commandant.”

Silence for a moment, then a snort of laughter. “You. The new Commandant. What happened to the old one?”

“Ran away in the nighttime,” Ky said. “Where were you?”

“Running from trouble up and over a small mountain. Then it got dark. Not just dark: cold, wet, and full of big hairy monsters with horns and hard hooves, and I did battle with them. Outnumbered, I fell, was trampled, and rescued by heroes—”

“In other words you stumbled into a pasture and bumped into some cattle and the farmer drove them away.”

“No, I drove them away, but they chose to run over me first. Also, it was a total dead zone for communications. Some of these farms don’t even have electricity. Right now I need a faster way home than from farmhouse to farmhouse, and a change of clothes. But when I finally get to Port Major, I can come over there and rescue you.”

“I don’t need rescue,” Ky said. “I’m fine—new uniform and all.”

“You really are the Commandant of the Academy?”

“Yes. With a full schedule and add-on excitement. Police, military security, attempted assassinations, traps—”

“Gods. Any chance you can arrange a free ride on a Vatta truck for me? I’m a few kilometers outside some town called Stone Crossing.”

“May be much later, but yes. I’ll call you. Or Stella will. Stay where you can catch a ping.”

“Yes, Commandant.” Lilting, sweet.

Relief felt like the bubbles in wine. All the people from Miksland had been rescued. And now Rafe was safe. Or would be, when she’d found him transport. She called Stella.

“Rafe’s called; he’s stuck out on a farm near… uh… Stone Crossing. With no ID, and his visa status still not fixed. Does Vatta have anything nearby he could hitch a ride on?”

“Let me look—Stone Bay, Stone Center, Stone… there it is. We don’t have a warehouse there, and the daily eastbound truck went through there two hours ago; the next truck is westbound, in an hour. He could connect to an eastbound at… um… that’s another four hours and then more hours back. Stone Crossing has a small general-aviation field, no commercial flights. It would take one of the little planes. Is that safe? I heard one of our long-haul planes was threatened.”

“It should be safe; they don’t have any checks on passengers there, do they?”

“Not in their listing. It’s only Rafe? Just one passenger?”

“Yes…”

“I’ll send the Pug. Two-seater, no Vatta logos on it. It’ll be… a two-hour flight or more depending on weather, plus prefight prep. Dark there when it arrives. Can he be there in three hours?”

“I’m sure. But does the field have anyone there at night?”

“Probably not. Morning, 0900. It’ll be light by then. Still the Pug. Let him know.”

“Thank you,” Ky said. “Where can he go when he gets here? Not the Vatta house, obviously.”

“Aunt Grace’s. Rafe can stay there if he can get in undetected. Ummm—he should come here, to Vatta headquarters, the freight entrance. I’ll let the airfield know to have someone drive him in.”

“Thank you,” Ky said.

“Got an appointment,” Stella said. “Talk to you later.”

Ky shook her head. Stella sounded different—none of the usual edge in her voice. She called Rafe back; he assured her he could find a safe place to stay overnight and make it to the airfield on time.

When Major Palnuss arrived, he took custody of the other items, and after a discussion between Palnuss and the senior police officer, the police departed.

“Tell me what other searches you think we need to do. Stornaki’s office—?” Ky still felt energized by hearing from Rafe.

“A more thorough search, yes. And his clerk. What are you doing about Sera Vonderlane? You need some kind of assistant—”

“Military, but I don’t know how previous clerks were selected.” Ky glanced at the paperwork already stacking up.

“Kvannis insisted on her,” Palnuss said. “Said we didn’t need to do a full security screen; she was part of his household and he vouched for her.”

“Yes, she told me that. I may find her a job over at Vatta, depending on the results of a security screen. She’s got a disabled daughter, and is disposed to be loyal to anyone who pays her. At least, that’s my interpretation. You?”

“Not much initiative, not too bright, worshipped the ground Kvannis walked on. I can find you a decent clerk pretty quickly—say a day or so.”

“That’ll do,” Ky said. She nibbled on a cookie on the tray she’d had sent up for the police. “You know… Kvannis could’ve destroyed the evidence we found. Whatever his reasoning was, maybe he saved all of it. Want to go looking for the flight recorder?”

“Would you mind if I grabbed something to eat first?”

Ky blinked. She hadn’t had anything but the cookie since—a scant and hurried breakfast. “Good idea. First food, then search.”

“And that list of things you had to do?”

“It’s only my second day. How far behind can I get? And if I’m seen stalking around and peering into things, everyone will know I’m here and working.” She watched his reaction: surprise, then humor, then appreciation. “Now—that food you mentioned. I don’t suppose you can nudge the kitchen into producing some quick, sustaining food, preferably with protein?”

“So where do we start?” Palnuss asked, after they had demolished a tray of sandwiches and Ky had dealt with four calls.

“It’s about this big,” Ky said, demonstrating with her hands. “Bright orange, with a striped design in a band around it. Not too heavy; I carried it around in the chest pocket of my survival suit for ages.”