Jack Campbell - Perilous Shield

Drakon nodded, knowing he was glaring at Ito now, too. Someone who had presented themselves as a sympathetic ear to draw out treasonous statements from others, then turn them in to the snakes.

“Hold on!” Rogero protested. “Colonel Malin, I was told by Sub-CEO Pers Garadun, whose account was backed by others, that Ito shot the senior snake on her ship before he could reach the escape pod leaving it!”

Malin’s pistol didn’t waver. “Of course she did,” he said. “Who would she have been reporting to on that ship? Who could have betrayed her as a snake herself inside the Alliance prison camp? The snake knew what would happen at the hands of the crew unless he had something to trade them that might buy his own life. Ito knew that what he had to offer was her identity. The only way she could be sure of surviving, of hiding what she was, meant killing that snake. So she silenced him, and she made sure that your friend saw it so everybody would believe she hated the snakes even more than they did.”

One of the new leytenants took a step forward, his horrified gaze fixed on Ito. “She fingered two other officers in the Alliance prison camp. Ito told us they were covert snakes. They both swore they weren’t snakes, but Ito showed us strong evidence. We found them guilty. We… we executed them. I can’t… no. No.”

Ito finally found her voice. “I have no idea how that came onto my hand. I’ve been set up. I—”

“Shut up,” Malin advised her casually, emphasizing the words with a little extra pressure on the weapon jammed against her skull. “Colonel Rogero, when the mob attacked Captain Bradamont on the freighter, who was the first supervisor on the scene?”

“Executive Ito,” Rogero said, his voice gone flat.

“Closest to the event, the first to get there. The first to see who was still alive. Just as if she had set the leaders of the mob into motion and was standing by to see how well the plan worked. Who interrogated the workers for information about who instigated the mob attack?”

“Executive Ito,” Rogero said, looking ill. “She said one of the wounded ones died before he could say anything.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Malin said. “But, Colonel, you know to be suspicious when people who may know something you need to know conveniently die before they can tell you anything.”

“Yes, I do.” Rogero gazed at Ito with dawning anger. “Garadun told you and Jepsen to tell everyone on the freighters about Kalixa, that the Alliance hadn’t committed that atrocity. You told Jepsen not to, that you would do it. But you never would have, would you?”

Ito said nothing.

“You were going to kill General Drakon first,” Malin said conversationally to Ito. “At a gathering with many mobile forces personnel and President Iceni. Suspicion would have fallen on the President, wouldn’t it? And when you subsequently found a way to murder President Iceni, it would look like the ground forces had retaliated for the murder of General Drakon. The entire star system would have collapsed into civil war, making the survivors easy pickings for the Syndicate. And you would have been a Hero of the Syndicate. Am I right, Executive Ito?”

“Executive Ito,” Iceni said in an icy voice, “seems to have lost her voice.”

“We’ll see how much she says under interrogation,” Drakon said.

“No.” Ito’s voice had changed, had become as devoid of emotion as her expression now was. The habitual cheerfulness, the camaraderie, were gone, replaced by an awful blankness. “Do you think I want to die the way you’ll kill me? Slowly, screaming for mercy from the likes of you? I will not be the last. I will not betray the Syndicate. I’ll see you all in hell.”

“Togo!” Iceni cried, a dawning awareness in her eyes as she gestured toward Ito. “Stop—!”

Ito stiffened, then went limp, falling lifeless to the floor. Malin let her drop, gazing down at her without feeling.

Togo halted his lunge toward Ito, instead going to one knee next to her and running a scanner over the body. “Dead. I cannot tell what did it.”

“A suicide device?” Iceni asked. “But she was screened. The Alliance must have screened her, too, when they took her prisoner.”

Malin had slowly knelt on the other side of Ito’s body, his eyes on it. “A suicide device that cannot be detected by screens. We need to find out what it was.”

“That’s not all we need to find out,” Morgan said sharply. “General, we need to talk.”

Iceni spread her hands slightly. “Feel free.” Despite her calm tone, she was almost shaking as she looked at Togo. “I’ll make sure the body gets fully autopsied. And I will learn how that woman got through screening that should have spotted what she was. Don’t shake anyone’s hand, General.”

“Don’t worry,” Drakon said. “I think I’m going to wear gloves for a while.”

He led the way out, followed by Morgan, Rogero, and Malin. The now-stunned newly appointed officers stood around silently, doubtless wondering what would happen to them if the usual guilt by association they were used to in the Syndicate system was employed here as well.

Once in a nearby secure room, Morgan spun to face Rogero. “I think someone has some questions to answer.”

Drakon held up an admonishing hand. “What questions?”

“Who brought that snake here? Who missed obvious clues as to what she was? Who was so besotted with an Alliance officer that he failed to personally interrogate the workers who took part in the riot on that freighter?”

Rogero’s face had darkened, but his voice stayed controlled. “Ito fooled people she lived with for years.”

“What about the interrogation, Colonel Rogero?” Morgan demanded.

“To that, I am guilty,” Rogero said evenly. “I was too rattled by the attempted killing to focus on my job and improperly delegated something that I should have done myself.”

“Was that because Bradamont was the target?” Drakon asked.

“Yes, sir. It was. I let personal considerations distract me from my duty. I will add something that was not discussed out there. After Bradamont left the ship, while we were in jump, Ito attempted to develop an intimate relationship with me.”

“Attempted?” Drakon asked. “You turned her down?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You got that right, at least. Anything else?”

“No, sir.”

“All right. We’ll discuss the matter later. Colonel Morgan, was there anything else on your part?”

Stymied by Rogero’s blunt admission of failure, Morgan was glowering at him. “General, this kind of failure—”

“Will be further discussed with Colonel Rogero by me—in private.”

“Sir, you can’t let him get away with this because of his personal relationship—”

“Colonel Morgan, that is all,” Drakon said, his voice rising in volume and dropping in pitch. “I don’t require my officers to be perfect. I will carefully evaluate the mistakes made by Colonel Rogero and make my own determination as to the proper response, but I will also keep in mind that we are all capable of mistakes.”

“Not me, General,” Morgan insisted.

“Not you?” Malin’s eyes on Morgan were flat and hard. “You might be surprised to learn about some of the mistakes you’ve made.”

“If you know something—” Morgan began furiously, grabbing Malin’s wrist much as he had grabbed Ito’s earlier.

“That’s enough!” Drakon said.

Stricken by the tone of Drakon’s voice, Morgan dropped her grasp on Malin, came to stiff attention, and saluted. “Yes, sir. By your leave, sir.” Turning, she pulled open the door and stormed out.

“I didn’t think she disliked me that much,” Rogero said.

“She dislikes everyone,” Malin replied. “But this isn’t your fault. Colonel Morgan is angry because I caught Ito, not her. She was flat-footed and unprepared when Ito almost killed General Drakon because she was watching you, Colonel Rogero, and me, not Ito.”