Jack Campbell - Perilous Shield

“Bradamont.”

It was amazing how much emotion could be invested in a single name, even when Rogero was clearly trying to suppress such feelings.

“That she’ll get it,” Drakon finished. “But I will ask Black Jack to forward it to her.”

“Yes, sir. May I have a few minutes alone to do this?”

“Take the time you need. And, thank you, Donal. I wish things could work out differently.”

“We both know that is impossible, sir. She is an Alliance fleet officer, and I was, until recently, a Syndicate ground forces officer. Fate brought us together, but neither of us ever believed anything but eventual separation would be the result.”

Less than half an hour after that, Drakon sat behind his desk and tapped the command to send a message to the Alliance flagship. “I am asking a personal favor, Admiral Geary. I understand that you have no reason to grant that to a former enemy. However, the favor is not for me, but for one of my subordinates. Colonel Rogero is one of my most highly trusted and highly regarded officers. He has asked me to see if the attached message can be delivered to one of your subordinate officers. In light of his loyal service to me and as one professional to another, I am requesting that you forward the message to its intended recipient. In case any question arises, President Iceni is aware of this communication and the contents of the attached message and has no objections to either. I will answer any questions you have regarding this matter if you communicate them to me.”

There. That was all he needed to say. But this was his first, and might be the only, individual message to Black Jack. Drakon imagined he could see the legendary Alliance admiral sitting across from him. Are you as real a person as you seem? I hope so. This is what I’d say if you are really that man, as one combat commander to another. “I’m glad we never met in battle during the war, Admiral. I’m not at all sure I would have survived that experience, though I would have given you the fight of your life before it was over. For the people, Drakon, out.”

He was still sitting at the desk a few minutes later when Colonel Malin called. Even if Drakon hadn’t been keyed up by recent events, he would have been alerted by Malin’s grim expression. “What happened?”

“The snake agent is dead, General.”

Drakon took a moment to calm himself before speaking. “How?”

“I took a full squad to the security cell to take custody of her, General,” Malin said. “When we arrived at her cell, we found her dead. Medical readings from the cell had been spoofed to make it appear she was alive and well. An initial inspection suggests quick-acting poison as the cause.”

“How long had she been dead?”

“Less than an hour. We’ll get an exact time when the autopsy is complete.”

The implications of that were pretty clear. “Someone didn’t want us getting our hands on her. Who knew you were coming?”

“Senior members of President Iceni’s staff,” Malin said. “We couldn’t just show up and take the prisoner without her knowledge.”

“No.” Iceni would raise hell if Drakon’s people tried to step on her toes that way. “I suppose the security monitoring systems at the agent’s cell show nothing?”

“Nothing,” Malin confirmed. “I’m having them analyzed, but I’m sure we’ll find that those systems were also hacked, and during the period when the agent was murdered, there will be false observations that reveal nothing. Sir, I take full responsibility for—”

“Don’t,” Drakon interrupted. “I should have told you to get that agent right away and personally called Iceni to approve the transfer. I let the snakes still hidden here get one step ahead of me. We need to start getting ahead of them.”

“General, there are many things vying for your attention. The snakes only have to focus on sabotaging you and the President. You and President Iceni have to focus on dozens of issues.” Malin nodded, his mouth set in determined lines. “I will work on this. And… I will notify Colonel Morgan if that is your wish. She needs to know about this since she is looking for hidden snakes.”

Drakon raised an eyebrow at him. “She does need to know what happened, but if you tell her, she’ll mock you for failing.”

“I deserve the mockery, General. It will…” Malin’s smile held a sharp edge. “It will motivate me to avoid any similar occurrence. I’ll provide you with a detailed report when analysis of the agent’s death and the circumstances around it is complete.”

“Thanks.” Drakon gazed past Malin, wondering why he had an odd sense of something left hanging. Something important? Or… something that should be important? “Colonel Malin, what was the agent’s name?”

“Excuse me, General?” Malin seemed startled by the question.

“Her name. What was the name of the snake agent?”

Malin consulted his data pad. “Yvette Saludin, sir. Is that significant?”

“It was to her.” Drakon closed his eyes. “The snakes were threatening her family if she didn’t cooperate. Where is that family?”

“In Chako Star System, sir. According to the last information we have, Chako remains under firm Syndicate control.”

“There’s nothing we can do for them, then.” Drakon opened his eyes and focused on Malin again. “Does that bother you?”

“Me, General?” Malin shook his head, perplexed. “No, sir. We had no alternative but to arrest her, and once she started working for the snakes, her eventual fate was certain. She was dead from that moment. I do regret not being able to use her to get leads on the covert snakes still hidden among us.”

“Sure.” For all his talk of rejecting the Syndicate system, Malin could be remarkably cold-blooded. Morgan would kill with a rush of fire in her veins, while Malin would do it with ice filling him. They were opposite sides of the same card, because the result would be the same for whoever had the misfortune to get in their sights. “Anything new on Boyens’s flotilla?” Drakon asked, feeling a sudden desire to change the subject.

“No, sir. The mobile forces sent a light cruiser to drop surveillance satellites along the path between the Alliance fleet and the Syndicate flotilla. We have picked up a few transmissions, but they all consist of CEO Boyens inviting Black Jack and his fleet to leave and Black Jack or one of his subordinates telling CEO Boyens after you .”

“I just sent Black Jack a message,” Drakon said. “I don’t know what impact it’ll have. We’ll have to wait and see.”

The message from the Alliance fleet had come not from Black Jack but from a woman identifying herself as Emissary of the Alliance Government Victoria Rione. Iceni regarded the image of the Alliance civilian skeptically. An emissary? How much power does she actually have?

But the woman’s words quickly caught Iceni’s attention.

“We have been speaking with CEO Boyens,” Emissary Victoria Rione said. “As you are doubtless aware. Those discussions have not been particularly fruitful. He is eager for us to leave, for reasons you and I both know. CEO Boyens has already progressed from urging us to depart to issuing not-particularly-subtle threats, and when those do not work, I expect the threats to become overt.

“President Iceni, there is no question that CEO Boyens does not possess sufficient strength to threaten the Alliance forces here. I am told by the officers in this fleet that the flotilla CEO Boyens commands dares not leave the vicinity of the hypernet gate while we are here.”

Rione’s expression became more intense. “The next step is likely to be a threat to something that is very important to you and to us, something that CEO Boyens could strike at without moving his flotilla.”