Turnabout & Temerity, page 7
“Attention all personnel, please report to the command and control operations center, also known as the crew lounge. Mission briefing starts at oh-five-something. Please be on time.”
Decker seated himself on one of the three identical stools that were bolted to the floor of the crew lounge, leaning his back against the galley bar behind him. The room was in its usual state of disarray, compounded by an impressive spread of weaponry laid out on the low table in the center of the room. The stray board games, dishes and food containers, and more than a few unclaimed articles of dirty laundry—probably his—had all been stuffed into the built-in shelving across from the galley.
The couches and chairs which normally formed a semi-circle around the table were turned to face the main vidscreen. Normally showing recorded sporting events or other meaningless entertainment, it had been rigged to show a mission dossier, complete with photos, maps of Senali, and snippets of local system news all focused on a single topic: the Red Kestrels. Standing next to the screen was Samantha, holding one of the datapads she’d acquired on Mentaryd.
Decker allowed himself a small, wry chuckle. All these years he’d spent avoiding any sort of formal organization, and now his ship’s lounge was a cobbled-together situation room for an off-the-books Imperium intelligence operation.
The entire crew was gathered: Eliza casually flopped into her usual easy chair; Heavy occupied half of a couch, one hand holding a full-sized bag of chips; Sellivan seated at the galley dining table, computer in front of him, typing away; and Manu stood at the far wall opposite the vidscreen, arms folded, a skeptical look on this face.
The entire crew, including Samantha, had not been all together like this since their tense conversation during the jump away from Starview Station. That time, they had been arguing over whether to drop Samantha off at the nearest starport and be done with her or not. Now, they were all together planning how they were going to locate and confront a Red Kestrel chapter boss allegedly responsible for infiltrating the empire.
Decker put his thoughts on hold and redirected his attention back toward Samantha. Distracted by his daydreaming, he hadn’t caught everything she had been saying. It would have been better if this sort of conversation would have taken place after their drop from jumpspace, and after the nether’s effects had worn off. No such luck. He nodded in faux-agreement, doing his best to pick back up with Samantha’s briefing.
“…there is a fair amount of Kestrel sympathy in this region, so any alleged misdeeds she has facilitated on behalf of the Red Kestrels have not been investigated. She has a wide range of legal income-producing operations she’s involved with. Real estate, mining, construction, manufacturing, tech trading, communications, and a private lending operation. She’s hands-off on most of this, but like everything else in the Fringe, there’s no real line that separates corruption from legitimate business. It’s all commingled. It’s reasonable to assume that any of Basara’s dealings are also Kestrel dealings.”
Decker squinted at the vidscreen. In the center was a photo of Kat Basara that looked to have been taken at a public event. She had long, dark hair and a hawkish face, pretty and radiating charisma. He could easily believe she was one of Reed’s chapter bosses; she looked like someone he would want people to take orders from. Decker immediately distrusted her.
Manu stepped forward from his spot against the wall, coming to stand just behind Heavy on the couch. “Sounds like she’s a standard Fringe opportunist. What’s special about her that she’d be in as deep with the Imperium as you’re suspecting?” Manu said, his eyes narrowing at the vidscreen.
Samantha pointed to the photo of Basara, her voice confident and crisp. “Basara is on the Senali planetary council, on the inter-system commerce board. Imports, exports, both with the Fringe and the outer Imperium planets. Given what 5E had on her, her role is likely a facade. She’s got no real interest in Fringe politics. It’s just a convenient place for power brokering, gaining connections, and persuading the Senali government to send contracts toward her respective businesses. This also allows her to keep Senali law enforcement away from her dealings. She has already publicly issued a statement deriding the allegations against the Red Kestrels as ‘ridiculous’, indicating that the activist group has generously donated to many of her phony charitable organizations.”
Decker nodded along. He had not witnessed Samantha in her element for many years. It was encouraging to see that she had not lost any of her confidence or mission-hardened objectivity. Her off-mission personality may be a patchwork of deep flaws and emotional damage, but she was still hauntingly competent when it came to her work as one of the Imperium’s silent, human weapons. Being able to turn off parts of her personality in order to stay focused was what made her both so good, and so detached.
Eliza clicked her tongue, twisting a lock of chromatic red hair with a cybernetic finger. “So, looks like she’s making no attempt to hide herself. Seems like someone that helped vanish an entire Imperium Navy warship would be more, you know, discreet. I was thinking we’d have to do a little more work to find her, but, Kat seems to be one of the worst-hidden people on the planet,” Eliza said.
Decker noted the suspicious clarity in Eliza’s voice. She was unusually focused. And surprisingly, Decker was too, even with the nether in his system. Having Samantha deliver this briefing, as improvised as it was, felt more real than any of the Matilda’s recent jobs. Actually, any of Matilda’s jobs. This wasn’t a second-rate bounty kidnapping or a pitiful smuggling run. It was a real mission against a real target, the type of work both Samantha and Eliza had built their careers on, before each had been forced to alter their professional trajectories. He shook his head trying to pay attention to Samantha; his mind had wandered again.
“That’s right. She has no reason to hide. She’s a respected magnate. The Senali government isn’t going to harass one of their own citizens on behalf of the Imperium. The Red Kestrels are only terrorists in the eyes of the Imperium.” Samantha paused, gaze shifting to the floor for a moment before continuing. “What she should be worried about is the Imperium coming for the Red Kestrels through her, but—”
“You yourself diverted the knowledge of Basara’s involvement away from your government in order to hide your discovery from the Imperium conspirators,” Sellivan said from across the room, his eyes still attached to his computer display. “This is the crux of your mission. To keep both the Kestrels, and those within the Imperium you felt you could no longer trust, from knowing they are targets.”
Samantha tipped her head to the side. “In a way. Basara’s alleged involvement in the Dauntless hijacking was never entered into the 5E mission report, correct. The official report, at least. We had to keep any conspirators from being able to intervene.”
“And now she gets you instead, which I am guessing is just as bad,” Heavy interjected, nodding with enthusiasm. “For her, I mean. For you, just as good. Bad and good. You know what I’m trying to say.”
Manu let out a slow breath. “If she feels this safe, this should be quite a shock. How are you planning on finding her? Senali is a big place, millions of people, and unlike Mentaryd, there is a functioning police force.”
Samantha grinned. “I’ve been here before. The agency had a file on Basara, but more importantly, at my request, Sellivan has had the Matilda’s computer core running continuous queries for her name since we departed Mentaryd. Turns out, one of her companies is hosting an investor’s meeting tomorrow, and she’s on-planet for it.”
Manu folded his arms, eyebrows furrowed in what Decker knew indicated he was impressed. “How did you learn this?” Manu asked.
Heavy turned, looking up at Manu with glee. “How do you think? Spy stuff.”
Samantha tapped her datapad and the image on the vidscreen changed, showing several paragraphs of text. “It was in a press release. She’s one of the hosts. Like I said, Basara is not hiding.”
Heavy turned back to Samantha, disappointment visible. “Wait, a Red Kestrel crime boss announcing her whereabouts to the public? That doesn’t feel smart.”
Samantha shrugged. “No one here would call the Kestrels a criminal organization, and she doesn’t see herself as an enemy of the state. Maybe if the Imperium were coming after her full force, she would have reason to hide. As it stands, not only is the Imperium not coming after her, she’s being supplied with information from within the Imperium itself. I’ve dealt with her kind in the past. Right now, she thinks that she has nothing to worry about.”
“She feels untouchable,” Eliza said, nodding slowly to herself. “When someone feels untouchable, they’re always slack with their personal security. Probably feels like she owns the planet, which she maybe does.”
“That is a fair assessment. Like you said,” Samantha pointed to Manu, “she has no reason to think anyone is coming for her.”
“Then it’s settled. Pull a bag over her head, throw her into a van, tie her up in the cargo bay until you get what you want out of her,” Eliza said through a positively demonic grin.
A shudder of familiarity that even the nether couldn’t dull ran down Decker’s spine. He shook the memory from his recent abduction from his mind. “Let’s be a little more specific than that. Finding someone who isn’t hiding won’t be hard. We know that. But what’s the actual plan once we’re on the ground?”
“Yeah, won’t your mission’s secrecy be blown the moment she realizes that someone is onto her and the Kestrels’ scheme?” Manu asked. It was a fair question.
Samantha shook her head. “The Red Kestrels operate as cells. If Basara’s activities are exposed—or if it even looks like they might be—the cell will be cut off. It’s easier for them to eliminate a cell than it is to try and fix the problem. Once Basara knows she’s been made and is a threat to Casto and the Imperium’s plan, she will do her best to keep our interference contained.” Samantha said. “Decker?”
Decker’s mind forced him to regain attention. “Huh? Oh, yeah. She’s right. It’s not like a military. It’s a bunch of gangs. If Basara knows she’s messed up, she’ll be the first to try and conceal that from Reed. Voluntarily notifying him she’s compromised would be like sending an invitation for her own execution.” Decker sighed. “You gotta understand, Kestrel loyalty isn’t exactly loyalty. Her first instinct is going to be to protect herself and her local chapter, which means withholding any information that could get her in trouble. It’s a system where distrusting those above and below you is just how it works.”
“A standoff,” Eliza said, making finger guns with her hands. “I have to say, this does not sound like a group I would want to be a part of. ”
“You’re not wrong there,” Decker muttered to himself, knowing he had yet to fully process his conversation with Reed about his own exile.
Samantha tapped her datapad and a map of Senali appeared on the screen with the location of Basara’s company offices where the meeting would take place. “We’ll have a day to survey the location, look for opportunities. She will have an entourage of Red Kestrels, not just regular contracted bodyguards. That means they’ll be a lot more aggressive. We’ve got no hacking gear, so everything is going to be eyes-on-target. When we identify an attack angle, I’ll be on point, with Decker and Eliza keeping a safe distance to intervene if needed. I’ll secure Basara and egress back. I want the presence of the Matilda and the rest of you kept secret. If all goes well, they will think they were hit by just a single person.”
“And if it goes poorly?” Manu said. Another fair question. Decker tried to summon an expression as if he’d just been about to ask it as well, unsure if his nether-relaxed face could pull it off.
“If it goes poorly, I’ll issue an abort order and you will leave me behind, getting the Matilda to safety and waiting for me to send a rendezvous point once I’ve extricated myself from the situation.” Samantha looked to each of the crew members. “We’re not an assault team. There’s no backup here, so if I can’t get in and out on my own, well…” Samantha shrugged. “I don’t want this ship and the rest of you compromised, or none of us will be getting out.”
The somber statement brought a hush to the room. Even Eliza seemed to maintain her attention.
Decker exhaled audibly. This was the job he’d agreed to do, though thinking back to opening that message on Clarita station, he wasn’t sure he’d have agreed if he’d known this was where they were headed.
“Okay, how are we running it?” Decker said, feeling the responsibility of having accepted the job.
Samantha nodded. “When we’re on the ground, it’s myself, Eliza, and you in a rented vehicle. Manu and Heavy will be keeping the ship ready for immediate takeoff or repositioning. Sellivan will be acting as controller from here on the Matilda. Comms will be open and he’ll mediate the conversation and stay on top of any local chatter broadcasted on public feeds. We won’t be able to sniff anything from Senali law enforcement or encrypted channels.”
Decker looked to Sellivan and raised an eyebrow. “You’re joining in on the op? I like that idea. A spiritual proxy.”
“A mutually beneficial agreement was reached in exchange for my enhanced participation,” Sellivan said, grinning.
“Yeah? And what’s that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes first at Samantha, then at Sellivan. Sellivan gestured to Samantha.
“There’s one thing we have to do the moment we touch down planetside,” Samantha said. “Before I left Kestris, a friend arranged for some agency equipment to be shipped to a storage facility on Senali. I told Sellivan he could have a look at it and see if there is anything we can integrate into the Matilda to help us reach our objectives. I don’t know what was sent, but it’s the type of stuff I’d have on a real mission.”
“Ah, this is a real mission,” Eliza said with a raised finger. “We’re the best team on this ship.”
A thin smile formed on Samantha’s lips. “I would hope so. This mission is going to be short. We locate Basara, detain her, extract information for my collaborators back on Kestris, and get out. We can be off of Senali and back into jumpspace before Basara can react. She’ll have no choice but to cover up the raid to keep Reed from silencing her permanently.”
Decker nodded, his nether haze was nearly gone. That, or not even the chemical relaxants could dampen the anxiety he felt. “And then we’re square and have fulfilled our side of this deal, right? This was the job you hired us for.”
Samantha nodded. “Then we’re square. This won’t be nearly finished, but further involvement will be up to you.”
Decker bit the inside of his cheek, folding his arms across his chest. He didn’t know how he was going to spend his time once they were through on Senali, but he did know he had an access code for touching down on Dradari—a secret weapon he had no idea what he would use for, or against, and his window of opportunity to use it was quickly closing.
He forced the worry from his mind and clapped his hands. “Okay then, looks like the Matilda operations team is going to get to prove what they’re capable of.”
34
AN UNOFFICIAL ANCILLARY ASSET
The sound of Qin’s footfalls felt unusually audible against the Terminus’s carpeted corridor floor. All of her senses seemed heightened even above her usual level of perceptiveness—more sentiment and feeling than her normal, rational thought. Nothing was different, physically at least. The massive ship was the same, still orbiting the Imperium’s home planet, still standing watch over the people who believed they were living under threat of attack. Part of that was true. There was a force working against the Imperium, though it had yet to be correctly identified in the week since Starview Station had let the people of Kestris know they were not safe even in the heart of the empire.
It had been a day since she and Lieutenant Yadav returned from their truncated interview with Agent Julian Siddig. They had submitted their report to Major Drake, who had acknowledged its receipt, but offered no comment. As to how this report influenced his private request for Qin to watch Commander Tau, he’d made no further comment on that, either.
Qin rounded the corner of another corridor identical to all the rest, Terminus crew members passing her without any special acknowledgement. And why should they? Qin’s status as a 5E operative was securely hidden. And with no new orders from either Clarke or Drake to stand down, it was all Qin could do to maintain the appearance of the lieutenant everyone believed her to be while serving while carrying out her multitude of conflicting responsibilities.
While the appearance of Director Clarke, Siddig’s superior—and, unbeknownst to anyone else, Qin’s—had foiled the gathering of relevant intel for the Indigo investigation, the director had convincingly reacted to her presence as if he’d never met her. In fact, his display of anger had been genuine. OS-9 was using one of Clark's own operatives against him, and as long as Qin was aboard the Terminus, her outward behavior needed to align with Major Drake’s orders, meaning she and Director Clarke were at professional odds, on the surface.
However, the major had made it clear to Qin that he did really not suspect Clarke or his people in matters concerning a betrayal of the empire. After the interview with Agent Siddig, it appeared both agents Siddig and Mori were likely not relevant to the Terminus compromise, and if Qin handled her upcoming meeting with Yadav delicately enough, she might be able to guide the fellow lieutenant into suspecting Tau without revealing Drake or Clarke’s special interest in the commander. Having Yadav working with Qin would help legitimize her secret interest in Tau and distance the Navy version of Qin from the 5E version. The more she could get OS-9’s actions to align with her 5E orders, the less she had to hide.
“Meredessi, hey!”
Qin stopped, stepping aside to allow a pair of crew members to pass as she turned to look behind her. Sergeant Lee was jogging casually toward her, one hand conspicuously hiding something behind his back. A surge of panic pulled at her gut as a vision of Lee’s arm swinging up a bolt pistol flashed in her mind. Before Qin could do more than stifle a gulp, Lee came to a stop, mischievous—but innocent—smile on his face.
Decker seated himself on one of the three identical stools that were bolted to the floor of the crew lounge, leaning his back against the galley bar behind him. The room was in its usual state of disarray, compounded by an impressive spread of weaponry laid out on the low table in the center of the room. The stray board games, dishes and food containers, and more than a few unclaimed articles of dirty laundry—probably his—had all been stuffed into the built-in shelving across from the galley.
The couches and chairs which normally formed a semi-circle around the table were turned to face the main vidscreen. Normally showing recorded sporting events or other meaningless entertainment, it had been rigged to show a mission dossier, complete with photos, maps of Senali, and snippets of local system news all focused on a single topic: the Red Kestrels. Standing next to the screen was Samantha, holding one of the datapads she’d acquired on Mentaryd.
Decker allowed himself a small, wry chuckle. All these years he’d spent avoiding any sort of formal organization, and now his ship’s lounge was a cobbled-together situation room for an off-the-books Imperium intelligence operation.
The entire crew was gathered: Eliza casually flopped into her usual easy chair; Heavy occupied half of a couch, one hand holding a full-sized bag of chips; Sellivan seated at the galley dining table, computer in front of him, typing away; and Manu stood at the far wall opposite the vidscreen, arms folded, a skeptical look on this face.
The entire crew, including Samantha, had not been all together like this since their tense conversation during the jump away from Starview Station. That time, they had been arguing over whether to drop Samantha off at the nearest starport and be done with her or not. Now, they were all together planning how they were going to locate and confront a Red Kestrel chapter boss allegedly responsible for infiltrating the empire.
Decker put his thoughts on hold and redirected his attention back toward Samantha. Distracted by his daydreaming, he hadn’t caught everything she had been saying. It would have been better if this sort of conversation would have taken place after their drop from jumpspace, and after the nether’s effects had worn off. No such luck. He nodded in faux-agreement, doing his best to pick back up with Samantha’s briefing.
“…there is a fair amount of Kestrel sympathy in this region, so any alleged misdeeds she has facilitated on behalf of the Red Kestrels have not been investigated. She has a wide range of legal income-producing operations she’s involved with. Real estate, mining, construction, manufacturing, tech trading, communications, and a private lending operation. She’s hands-off on most of this, but like everything else in the Fringe, there’s no real line that separates corruption from legitimate business. It’s all commingled. It’s reasonable to assume that any of Basara’s dealings are also Kestrel dealings.”
Decker squinted at the vidscreen. In the center was a photo of Kat Basara that looked to have been taken at a public event. She had long, dark hair and a hawkish face, pretty and radiating charisma. He could easily believe she was one of Reed’s chapter bosses; she looked like someone he would want people to take orders from. Decker immediately distrusted her.
Manu stepped forward from his spot against the wall, coming to stand just behind Heavy on the couch. “Sounds like she’s a standard Fringe opportunist. What’s special about her that she’d be in as deep with the Imperium as you’re suspecting?” Manu said, his eyes narrowing at the vidscreen.
Samantha pointed to the photo of Basara, her voice confident and crisp. “Basara is on the Senali planetary council, on the inter-system commerce board. Imports, exports, both with the Fringe and the outer Imperium planets. Given what 5E had on her, her role is likely a facade. She’s got no real interest in Fringe politics. It’s just a convenient place for power brokering, gaining connections, and persuading the Senali government to send contracts toward her respective businesses. This also allows her to keep Senali law enforcement away from her dealings. She has already publicly issued a statement deriding the allegations against the Red Kestrels as ‘ridiculous’, indicating that the activist group has generously donated to many of her phony charitable organizations.”
Decker nodded along. He had not witnessed Samantha in her element for many years. It was encouraging to see that she had not lost any of her confidence or mission-hardened objectivity. Her off-mission personality may be a patchwork of deep flaws and emotional damage, but she was still hauntingly competent when it came to her work as one of the Imperium’s silent, human weapons. Being able to turn off parts of her personality in order to stay focused was what made her both so good, and so detached.
Eliza clicked her tongue, twisting a lock of chromatic red hair with a cybernetic finger. “So, looks like she’s making no attempt to hide herself. Seems like someone that helped vanish an entire Imperium Navy warship would be more, you know, discreet. I was thinking we’d have to do a little more work to find her, but, Kat seems to be one of the worst-hidden people on the planet,” Eliza said.
Decker noted the suspicious clarity in Eliza’s voice. She was unusually focused. And surprisingly, Decker was too, even with the nether in his system. Having Samantha deliver this briefing, as improvised as it was, felt more real than any of the Matilda’s recent jobs. Actually, any of Matilda’s jobs. This wasn’t a second-rate bounty kidnapping or a pitiful smuggling run. It was a real mission against a real target, the type of work both Samantha and Eliza had built their careers on, before each had been forced to alter their professional trajectories. He shook his head trying to pay attention to Samantha; his mind had wandered again.
“That’s right. She has no reason to hide. She’s a respected magnate. The Senali government isn’t going to harass one of their own citizens on behalf of the Imperium. The Red Kestrels are only terrorists in the eyes of the Imperium.” Samantha paused, gaze shifting to the floor for a moment before continuing. “What she should be worried about is the Imperium coming for the Red Kestrels through her, but—”
“You yourself diverted the knowledge of Basara’s involvement away from your government in order to hide your discovery from the Imperium conspirators,” Sellivan said from across the room, his eyes still attached to his computer display. “This is the crux of your mission. To keep both the Kestrels, and those within the Imperium you felt you could no longer trust, from knowing they are targets.”
Samantha tipped her head to the side. “In a way. Basara’s alleged involvement in the Dauntless hijacking was never entered into the 5E mission report, correct. The official report, at least. We had to keep any conspirators from being able to intervene.”
“And now she gets you instead, which I am guessing is just as bad,” Heavy interjected, nodding with enthusiasm. “For her, I mean. For you, just as good. Bad and good. You know what I’m trying to say.”
Manu let out a slow breath. “If she feels this safe, this should be quite a shock. How are you planning on finding her? Senali is a big place, millions of people, and unlike Mentaryd, there is a functioning police force.”
Samantha grinned. “I’ve been here before. The agency had a file on Basara, but more importantly, at my request, Sellivan has had the Matilda’s computer core running continuous queries for her name since we departed Mentaryd. Turns out, one of her companies is hosting an investor’s meeting tomorrow, and she’s on-planet for it.”
Manu folded his arms, eyebrows furrowed in what Decker knew indicated he was impressed. “How did you learn this?” Manu asked.
Heavy turned, looking up at Manu with glee. “How do you think? Spy stuff.”
Samantha tapped her datapad and the image on the vidscreen changed, showing several paragraphs of text. “It was in a press release. She’s one of the hosts. Like I said, Basara is not hiding.”
Heavy turned back to Samantha, disappointment visible. “Wait, a Red Kestrel crime boss announcing her whereabouts to the public? That doesn’t feel smart.”
Samantha shrugged. “No one here would call the Kestrels a criminal organization, and she doesn’t see herself as an enemy of the state. Maybe if the Imperium were coming after her full force, she would have reason to hide. As it stands, not only is the Imperium not coming after her, she’s being supplied with information from within the Imperium itself. I’ve dealt with her kind in the past. Right now, she thinks that she has nothing to worry about.”
“She feels untouchable,” Eliza said, nodding slowly to herself. “When someone feels untouchable, they’re always slack with their personal security. Probably feels like she owns the planet, which she maybe does.”
“That is a fair assessment. Like you said,” Samantha pointed to Manu, “she has no reason to think anyone is coming for her.”
“Then it’s settled. Pull a bag over her head, throw her into a van, tie her up in the cargo bay until you get what you want out of her,” Eliza said through a positively demonic grin.
A shudder of familiarity that even the nether couldn’t dull ran down Decker’s spine. He shook the memory from his recent abduction from his mind. “Let’s be a little more specific than that. Finding someone who isn’t hiding won’t be hard. We know that. But what’s the actual plan once we’re on the ground?”
“Yeah, won’t your mission’s secrecy be blown the moment she realizes that someone is onto her and the Kestrels’ scheme?” Manu asked. It was a fair question.
Samantha shook her head. “The Red Kestrels operate as cells. If Basara’s activities are exposed—or if it even looks like they might be—the cell will be cut off. It’s easier for them to eliminate a cell than it is to try and fix the problem. Once Basara knows she’s been made and is a threat to Casto and the Imperium’s plan, she will do her best to keep our interference contained.” Samantha said. “Decker?”
Decker’s mind forced him to regain attention. “Huh? Oh, yeah. She’s right. It’s not like a military. It’s a bunch of gangs. If Basara knows she’s messed up, she’ll be the first to try and conceal that from Reed. Voluntarily notifying him she’s compromised would be like sending an invitation for her own execution.” Decker sighed. “You gotta understand, Kestrel loyalty isn’t exactly loyalty. Her first instinct is going to be to protect herself and her local chapter, which means withholding any information that could get her in trouble. It’s a system where distrusting those above and below you is just how it works.”
“A standoff,” Eliza said, making finger guns with her hands. “I have to say, this does not sound like a group I would want to be a part of. ”
“You’re not wrong there,” Decker muttered to himself, knowing he had yet to fully process his conversation with Reed about his own exile.
Samantha tapped her datapad and a map of Senali appeared on the screen with the location of Basara’s company offices where the meeting would take place. “We’ll have a day to survey the location, look for opportunities. She will have an entourage of Red Kestrels, not just regular contracted bodyguards. That means they’ll be a lot more aggressive. We’ve got no hacking gear, so everything is going to be eyes-on-target. When we identify an attack angle, I’ll be on point, with Decker and Eliza keeping a safe distance to intervene if needed. I’ll secure Basara and egress back. I want the presence of the Matilda and the rest of you kept secret. If all goes well, they will think they were hit by just a single person.”
“And if it goes poorly?” Manu said. Another fair question. Decker tried to summon an expression as if he’d just been about to ask it as well, unsure if his nether-relaxed face could pull it off.
“If it goes poorly, I’ll issue an abort order and you will leave me behind, getting the Matilda to safety and waiting for me to send a rendezvous point once I’ve extricated myself from the situation.” Samantha looked to each of the crew members. “We’re not an assault team. There’s no backup here, so if I can’t get in and out on my own, well…” Samantha shrugged. “I don’t want this ship and the rest of you compromised, or none of us will be getting out.”
The somber statement brought a hush to the room. Even Eliza seemed to maintain her attention.
Decker exhaled audibly. This was the job he’d agreed to do, though thinking back to opening that message on Clarita station, he wasn’t sure he’d have agreed if he’d known this was where they were headed.
“Okay, how are we running it?” Decker said, feeling the responsibility of having accepted the job.
Samantha nodded. “When we’re on the ground, it’s myself, Eliza, and you in a rented vehicle. Manu and Heavy will be keeping the ship ready for immediate takeoff or repositioning. Sellivan will be acting as controller from here on the Matilda. Comms will be open and he’ll mediate the conversation and stay on top of any local chatter broadcasted on public feeds. We won’t be able to sniff anything from Senali law enforcement or encrypted channels.”
Decker looked to Sellivan and raised an eyebrow. “You’re joining in on the op? I like that idea. A spiritual proxy.”
“A mutually beneficial agreement was reached in exchange for my enhanced participation,” Sellivan said, grinning.
“Yeah? And what’s that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes first at Samantha, then at Sellivan. Sellivan gestured to Samantha.
“There’s one thing we have to do the moment we touch down planetside,” Samantha said. “Before I left Kestris, a friend arranged for some agency equipment to be shipped to a storage facility on Senali. I told Sellivan he could have a look at it and see if there is anything we can integrate into the Matilda to help us reach our objectives. I don’t know what was sent, but it’s the type of stuff I’d have on a real mission.”
“Ah, this is a real mission,” Eliza said with a raised finger. “We’re the best team on this ship.”
A thin smile formed on Samantha’s lips. “I would hope so. This mission is going to be short. We locate Basara, detain her, extract information for my collaborators back on Kestris, and get out. We can be off of Senali and back into jumpspace before Basara can react. She’ll have no choice but to cover up the raid to keep Reed from silencing her permanently.”
Decker nodded, his nether haze was nearly gone. That, or not even the chemical relaxants could dampen the anxiety he felt. “And then we’re square and have fulfilled our side of this deal, right? This was the job you hired us for.”
Samantha nodded. “Then we’re square. This won’t be nearly finished, but further involvement will be up to you.”
Decker bit the inside of his cheek, folding his arms across his chest. He didn’t know how he was going to spend his time once they were through on Senali, but he did know he had an access code for touching down on Dradari—a secret weapon he had no idea what he would use for, or against, and his window of opportunity to use it was quickly closing.
He forced the worry from his mind and clapped his hands. “Okay then, looks like the Matilda operations team is going to get to prove what they’re capable of.”
34
AN UNOFFICIAL ANCILLARY ASSET
The sound of Qin’s footfalls felt unusually audible against the Terminus’s carpeted corridor floor. All of her senses seemed heightened even above her usual level of perceptiveness—more sentiment and feeling than her normal, rational thought. Nothing was different, physically at least. The massive ship was the same, still orbiting the Imperium’s home planet, still standing watch over the people who believed they were living under threat of attack. Part of that was true. There was a force working against the Imperium, though it had yet to be correctly identified in the week since Starview Station had let the people of Kestris know they were not safe even in the heart of the empire.
It had been a day since she and Lieutenant Yadav returned from their truncated interview with Agent Julian Siddig. They had submitted their report to Major Drake, who had acknowledged its receipt, but offered no comment. As to how this report influenced his private request for Qin to watch Commander Tau, he’d made no further comment on that, either.
Qin rounded the corner of another corridor identical to all the rest, Terminus crew members passing her without any special acknowledgement. And why should they? Qin’s status as a 5E operative was securely hidden. And with no new orders from either Clarke or Drake to stand down, it was all Qin could do to maintain the appearance of the lieutenant everyone believed her to be while serving while carrying out her multitude of conflicting responsibilities.
While the appearance of Director Clarke, Siddig’s superior—and, unbeknownst to anyone else, Qin’s—had foiled the gathering of relevant intel for the Indigo investigation, the director had convincingly reacted to her presence as if he’d never met her. In fact, his display of anger had been genuine. OS-9 was using one of Clark's own operatives against him, and as long as Qin was aboard the Terminus, her outward behavior needed to align with Major Drake’s orders, meaning she and Director Clarke were at professional odds, on the surface.
However, the major had made it clear to Qin that he did really not suspect Clarke or his people in matters concerning a betrayal of the empire. After the interview with Agent Siddig, it appeared both agents Siddig and Mori were likely not relevant to the Terminus compromise, and if Qin handled her upcoming meeting with Yadav delicately enough, she might be able to guide the fellow lieutenant into suspecting Tau without revealing Drake or Clarke’s special interest in the commander. Having Yadav working with Qin would help legitimize her secret interest in Tau and distance the Navy version of Qin from the 5E version. The more she could get OS-9’s actions to align with her 5E orders, the less she had to hide.
“Meredessi, hey!”
Qin stopped, stepping aside to allow a pair of crew members to pass as she turned to look behind her. Sergeant Lee was jogging casually toward her, one hand conspicuously hiding something behind his back. A surge of panic pulled at her gut as a vision of Lee’s arm swinging up a bolt pistol flashed in her mind. Before Qin could do more than stifle a gulp, Lee came to a stop, mischievous—but innocent—smile on his face.
