CHAPTER 46
l let the silence build for
another moment. Until just now, nobody noticed the steel
that braces Jael’s pretty exterior.
Then I say, “I think
that’s a good idea. We don’t want them to catch us
flat-footed.”
“This allows us time
to plan,” Vel agrees. “Which is to the good.”
He’s activated the
thingie that should jam any snooping devices that might be present.
Now he sits beside Jael, hands at his sides. Vel shows a reserve
only present in humans who possess some behavioral
dysfunction.
“We’re still going to
see Jewel,” Hit points out. “I don’t see how we’re any better
off.”
“Can we assume they
mean you harm, Jax?” Jael asks.
“It stands to reason.
They asked me to fuck up my attempts at diplomacy because they
don’t want to see interstellar affairs stabilize. Outfits like the
Syndicate profit substantially when there’s no central authority to
question its activities.”
I wave away the cup
Dina tries to hand me, thinking it might be poisoned, or at least
doctored to give me the shits for a good seventy-two hours. Then I
get up and pace, back and forth from the door all the way to the
bathroom and back again. Something’s niggling at me, but I can’t
figure out what.
“But Tarn is covering
for you,” Jael says after a moment. “He’s turned our blunders into
what looks like heroism on the vids. First we liberate Emry
Station, and then we venture into the heart of a war zone, bringing
aid? I bet that’s how he spun it. If you continue on your goodwill
tour as scheduled, the Ithtorians will be properly impressed by the
time you arrive.”
Dina forgets she’s
mad at us for a moment. “So they need to detain your ass. If you
simply disappear, they can leak whatever story they want.”
“You don’t think
they’ll just kill us?” The pilot furrows her brow like that doesn’t
make sense to her.
I shake my head. “If
they wanted me dead, I would be. They caught us off guard in the
hangar, and had a clean shot at me before you showed up.”
“I agree,” Vel puts
in. “If they stood to benefit from Sirantha’s death, they would
have already arranged it. I cannot imagine that they are prone to
wasting resources. If your supposition is correct regarding their
motivations, they simply need to hold you long enough to ruin your
reputation. Once they let you go, you will not be able to
adequately account for your failure, and my people will not be
disposed toward permitting any further diplomatic
overtures.”
“Why is that so
important?” Dina wants to know.
“Well, for one thing,
there’s a prejudicial element to it,” Jael answers. “They don’t
want Bugs passing freely among us because it would become
impossible to know ‘whom to trust.’ No offense, Vel.”
The bounty hunter
lifts a shoulder in an odd half shrug. “None taken.”
“That can’t be all of
it, though.” Hit shakes her head, brow furrowed.
I tend to agree. “If
it was just human supremacy rearing its
ugly head again, they’d just kill me. And the next ambassador. And
the next, until people got the message and stopped taking the job.
Groups like the Pure Populist Front don’t operate under the banner
of subtlety.”
“Point. So what’s the
missing link?” Jael doesn’t seem afraid of what’s in the cup,
taking a long sip.
I get tired of pacing
and resume my seat on Vel’s other side. He slides me an oblique
look, and then says, “The Morgut.”
We all shift, eyeing
Vel expectantly.
He goes on without
prompting. “I have been researching the increased frequency of
Morgut attacks. In the last thirty days, they have targeted twenty
remote stations, outposts and/or research facilities. That is a
seventy-five percent increase, correlating to one significant
event. I posit that Farwan’s fall sent the message that humanity
is, at this time, weak and disorganized, thus demarcating you as
ideal prey. You also possess the side benefit of being
delicious.”
Was that a joke,
albeit a dark and twisted one? I grin in appreciation.
“That’s why the
Conglomerate is desperate to get the Ithtorians on board. Tarn will
do anything to make it happen.” Dina slaps her good knee in
realization. “My politics are rusty, but this makes perfect
sense.”
“Enlighten the rest
of us,” Hit says with a wry smile.
I lean forward as
Dina explains, “From what you told me about your encounter with the
Morgut on Emry, Vel was the only one they feared. He’s Ithtorian,
not human, and that makes him a hunter, not prey. He speaks their
language, therefore he’s considered an equal. If the Ithtorians
side with humanity in the burgeoning conflict, that will give the
Morgut pause, hopefully preventing an escalation to all-out
interstellar war, the like of which we haven’t seen since—”
“The Axis Wars,” Jael
finishes flatly.
Shit. For a moment I just sit there, numb, and
hellaciously impressed by Dina’s insight. She’s damn smart beneath
her gruff façade. Then again, I keep forgetting that at one time,
she used to be royalty, schooled to see nuances like this.
Vel nods. “I concur
with that assessment. As before, however, you fail to address the
most crucial question.”
Thinking isn’t my
strong suit, so it’s a good thing I’m surrounded by geniuses. “What
would that be?”
Jael supplies it.
“What does the Syndicate stand to gain by promoting a war between
humanity and the Morgut?”
“They sell weapons,”
Hit answers at once. “Increased revenues.”
“It was a rhetorical
question,” the merc grumbles. “I know that. They also hire out as
enforcers, which means they could stand to gain a lot in security
contracts. Merchant ships in need of protection, special forces
hired to guard remote outposts.”
Dina nods. “The
possibilities are limitless. If they play it right, they could step
into the void left by the Corp and edge out the Conglomerate
entirely.”
“But to achieve
that,” Vel continues, “they need to discredit Sirantha, not execute
her.”
“So we’ve been
kidnapped.”
My mouth tightens. I
have no doubt we’d have figured it out sooner or later, but surely
this helps. Instead of taking things at face value, we’re going to
be looking for a way out from the jump. We’ll find a way; we always
do.
“I theorize that
Jewel intends to keep Sirantha out of trouble until Tarn has no
hope of putting a positive spin on her absence,” Vel adds.
“In other words, the
Syndicate thinks I’ll make a fine scapegoat. That sounds familiar.
Given my track record, I get to be the worst ambassador ever,
possibly rivaling Karl Fitzwilliam.”
I decide to risk
Dina’s hospitality after all, but I program my own drink, just in
case. Mmm, hot choclaste makes everything better. Even hearing that
you’ll be credited with precipitating the worst conflict since the
Axis Wars.
“Depends on how badly
the war goes with the Morgut, but yes.” Vel finally shifts,
steepling his hands together. If he wasn’t wearing the faux skin, I
have no doubt he would be clicking away as a sign of deep
thought.
Jael pushes to his
feet. “We’d better disperse before they come to find out why we’re
meeting in secret. I mean, we can assume they know we know
something, and they can try to guess what we know, but nobody
really knows what anybody else knows, you know?”
“If you do that
again, I will kill you.” Hit glares at
him. “I’m not kidding.”
Yep, there’s a reason
she gets on so well with Dina. Not sure where that relationship is
heading, and it’s not my business. But it’s good to see Her
Highness smiling again, whatever the reason.
Crap. I just ordered this drink. With a mental
shrug, I drain it in one gulp. It’s meant to be sipped, not
slurped, but I’ll be damned if I let it go to waste.
Nobody’s surprised
when Hit opts to stay, but I let the guys file out first. I pause
at the door. “Look, it’s not what you think. He’s just overzealous,
that’s all.”
To my surprise, Dina
flashes me a sheepish smile. “Yeah, Hit talked me out of that. She
said she can always tell when somebody’s getting down, and you
haven’t had any since we left Lachion.”
My eyebrows feel like
they’re shooting off the top of my head. “She can do what now?
How?”
Hit smiles. “If I
told you that, I’d have to kill you.”
“Funny,” I mutter.
“Like I haven’t heard that line a thousand times. It was old when
your great-grandmamma was young.”
In the pilot’s case,
however, it just might be true. I opt not to stick around long
enough to find out. I have work to do.
