Jack Campbell - Perilous Shield

He took a few moments to reply, looking steadily toward the far wall, then finally glanced at Iceni. “My first impressions of her were that she was exactly what she looked like. Not much hidden. I’ve talked to Colonel Rogero again since then, and he says she is trustworthy. That evaluation means a lot in my mind.”

Iceni laughed sharply before she could stop herself. “A man in love trusts the object of his affections? Just how many tragedies have been set into motion by that?”

“That’s… a point.”

Iceni gave him another searching look. “What I just said didn’t make you happy.”

“Is it that obvious?” Drakon shrugged. “You know Colonel Gaiene. That is, you know who he is now.”

“A drunken letch who always seems to be seeking out the next woman to share his bed. But I saw the reports for Taroa. He was highly effective. Are you saying he trusted the wrong woman?”

“In combat, he can forget for a few moments. But it wasn’t a matter of betrayed trust. It was exactly the opposite.” Drakon grimaced, clearly unhappy at the memories this conversation was calling up. “Here’s the quick and dirty. Lara was a major in another unit. She and Conner Gaiene never had eyes for anyone else. Conner’s outfit got caught in an ambush and were being cut to ribbons. I had my hands full repulsing a major counterattack. Somehow, Lara pulled together all of the soldiers close to her and punched through to Gaiene. She saved Conner and about half of his unit, but she never knew that because she died during the final push that broke through the Alliance forces trapping him.”

“Oh.” Iceni looked away and didn’t speak for several seconds. “That’s why he’s like that.”

“Yes. Conner Gaiene had his dream woman once. Just about every day I’m reminded of what happened to him when he lost her.”

“And you don’t want to see that happen to Colonel Rogero.”

“No. If this Bradamont is bad, and I don’t think she is, she’d hurt him. If she’s as good as she seems, she could hurt him a lot worse.”

“Not every man falls apart when he loses a woman,” Iceni said. Have you avoided relationships out of fear of that, Artur Drakon? The snakes and the Syndicate couldn’t break you, but you worry that a woman could? “You must have lost someone in the past.”

“This isn’t about me,” Drakon objected, a little too fast and a little too emphatically.

“What if it were?”

He looked down, away, then back at her. “It isn’t.”

“Then you listen to me, Artur Drakon,” Iceni said heatedly. “From what you say, this Lara was an exceptional woman who gave her all to save the life of the man she loved. And that man has rewarded her sacrifice by wasting the life she died to save. If I ever gave my life to save a man I loved, that man had damned well better live the rest of his life in a manner that justifies the sacrifice that I made for him! Is that clear?”

Drakon looked steadily back at her. “Absolutely clear. Why do I need to know that?”

“I don’t know! But now you do. Be certain that you do not forget it.”

“I won’t.”

She sat alone in the room for a while after Drakon had left, staring at the display but not really seeing it. Why am I more upset about the attempt on his life than I am about the bomb aimed at me?

It’s because I do like that big lunk. He’s a better man than he realizes he is. He’s—

I like him too much.

You can’t do this, Gwen. Mixing personal feelings and politics is a guarantee for disaster. He is a man, and he obviously doesn’t have any particular feelings for me, so he would either use my feelings to get what he wants, or if he’s not quite that awful, he would laugh at me. Either of those would be better than his feeling pity for me because he couldn’t return such feelings. I will never accept pity from anyone.

Never.

The hopefully named Recovery Flotilla had departed only the day before. Drakon had watched it go, taking along with it not only Colonel Rogero and six platoons from his brigade, but also a substantial portion of the warships available to defend this star system. The Alliance captain had been right. Even all of the warships they had couldn’t adequately protect Midway. But that was something the brain knew. The gut still watched those warships go and felt the desperate need to call them back.

And, inevitably, because the universe seems to enjoy mocking the hopes and the plans of mere humans, a freighter carrying urgent news had arrived at the jump point from Maui Star System within an hour of the departure of the Recovery Flotilla.

Which was why he was once again meeting with Gwen Iceni, who had seemed unusually irritable since their last one-on-one meeting. This time, though, Colonel Malin was briefing them while Iceni’s assistant Togo watched with the closest thing to disapproval his deadpan expression ever revealed.

“The news from Maui concerns the Supreme CEO in Ulindi Star System,” Malin reported.

“Supreme CEO?” Drakon checked the star display. Ulindi was one of three stars that could be reached from Maui. Another one of those stars was Midway itself. “What does that mean?”

“I’d say it was pretty self-explanatory,” Iceni commented shortly.

Malin, experienced in dealing with superiors who didn’t always get along with each other, continued speaking as if he hadn’t heard the remark. “From what we have learned despite all attempts to keep anyone from finding out what is happening at Ulindi, it means that CEO Haris managed to kill the other CEOs in that star system and overawe all opposition.”

Drakon squinted at his display, mistrusting what he was reading. “Haris is the snake CEO. How did he get the Syndicate government to sign off on a title like Supreme CEO?”

“Haris is no longer answering to the Syndicate government.”

“A senior snake rebelled?”

“Yes, sir.”

Drakon looked toward Iceni. “Do you know Haris at all?”

She shook her head. “No. I never associated with snakes.” Relenting a bit, she added more. “Even snakes can be ambitious. This Haris might have seen his chances of gaining more power falling away with every star system that left Syndicate control.”

“So he decided to start his own little empire?”

Malin brought up a new image on the display. “General, reports from Maui say there is a strong flotilla there from Ulindi. It was on its way to the jump point for Midway, but halted that movement when merchant ships arrived reporting the presence of the Alliance fleet. That news was outdated when they got it. Black Jack had left Midway soon after the freighters carrying the news to Maui.”

“It bought us time,” Iceni said. “Good.”

“A little time. It leaves us with six days to act, Madam President,” Malin explained. “A freighter headed for Rongo via Maui left Midway three days ago, doubtless taking word of Black Jack’s departure with it. The freighter would have taken four and one-half days in jump space to reach Maui, would have passed on its information, and the Ulindi flotilla would have headed for the jump point for Midway. It would probably be half a day before they reached it and jumped for Midway, after which another four and half days would bring them here. Factoring in everything, the Ulindi flotilla should arrive six days from now.”

“That is very little time,” Iceni complained. “I can’t argue with your timeline, though. They won’t delay any longer once they hear that Black Jack is gone. Apparently, Haris wants to expand his little empire. But that flotilla at Maui does not look like a force aimed at conquering this star system.”

“No, Madam President, it is not. The Ulindi flotilla consists of a single C-class battle cruiser and four Hunter-Killers. If there are ground forces embarked, their numbers are very limited.”