by J. N. Chaney
Playing bad cop, I scoffed. “That’s hard to believe. This guy has all the courage of a worm. All he could think about was his stomach and bringing some fancy clothes. Then again he knew what Xanderis was.”
He paled when I said that but didn’t speak. Going against the grain of my expectation, Peralta pursed his lips and continued to glare.
“There’s no option here.” I laced my fingers together and rested my chin on them. “We need everything. Codes, layouts, where the ingot is.”
“They’ll kill me if I say anything.” Peralta pushed back as though putting distance between us would help him.
Farah chuckled and shook her head. “You have no idea how often we hear that in our line of work. It’s never true.”
I locked eyes with him. “If you don’t talk, we’ll have to find a way to make you.”
He laughed in my face, a cold, harsh sound. “Go ahead. You can’t do anything that Kaska wouldn’t top.”
“That might be true. He’s not a very nice guy. Not sure how you work for him, if I’m being honest. But, in any case, it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t referring to you.” This was the part I didn’t like. It took extra effort to pretend I could be callous enough to pull off my next threat. “I was thinking more along the lines of Mary and Charlotte.”
Peralta went rigid at the mention of his wife and daughter. We had his attention. Now we were getting somewhere.
“No, you’re lying. They’re under protection right now. The Vice-Admiral would never allow harm to come to them.”
I held out my hand and Farah passed me a datapad. After giving it a superficial examination, I slid it over with a feral smile. “That’s your wife and kid, right? Your house?”
His shocked expression confirmed that it was, though I didn’t need it.
“Right, that’s what I thought. How do you think your wife will fare in a labor camp?” I almost brought the kid into it but I felt that was somehow crossing a line.
The Senator went a few shades paler until his skin took on a pasty gray sheen. “That information is classified! It must be faked.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You know better than that. How do you think we found you? But if you need more convincing, I’m happy to oblige.”
“Mack,” I said after making a show of tapping my comm. “Pull up the live surveillance feed.”
The pad lit up with a vid of his family. They were sitting down to a meal, alone. “They’re safe, for the moment,” Farah said. “And we’d like to keep them that way. But it’s going to take some cooperation on your part, sir.”
Her voice was gentle as silk and Peralta turned pleading eyes on her. “Please don’t hurt my family.”
I almost felt bad. With the mention of his family he was suddenly different from the self-serving man I’d encountered on Prosperitas, but we didn’t have a choice. “Then don’t make us.”
With those four words, he broke.
11
“Vice-Admiral-Kaska’s bottom line is control. He wants to rule the Sarkonian Empire.”
Now that Peralta was in a more giving mood, I let him see me relax, leaning back and slinging one arm over the back of my chair. “Yeah, we got that part. I’m more interested in the how, Senator.”
He licked his lips and fidgeted, stopped short by the cuffs. “Are these really necessary? I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but they’re very distracting. You have my word that I won’t try anything.”
“The restraints make it so we don’t have to rely on your word,” Farah said. “Makes things easier on everyone.” Always the better one with people, she managed to make the denial sound reasonable and prudent.
Where she soothed, I abraded. “I guess you don’t understand the concept of prisoner. You’re not getting out of them. Think you’re uncomfortable now? It can get a whole lot worse.”
The new comm in my ear beeped. “Cortez, don’t push him too hard. We don’t want him to clam up,” warned Jax.
I wanted to tell the Void operative that I knew how to run an interrogation. Lucky for him, I couldn’t say anything without Peralta hearing it. Truth was, Jax wasn’t altogether wrong. We were playing a dangerous game with the man locked in our brig, and we had to win. My threats toward his family were a bluff, but I needed him to believe we were that ruthless, and that was where the gamble lay.
If I played my part too well, he might freeze up. Not well enough and he wouldn’t believe me. Either way, the result was the same. “Do I need to remind you that your family’s life hangs in the balance?”
A tremor rolled through Peralta, but he still managed to jut his chin up in a minor show of defiance. “You’re a bully. Nothing more than a common terrorist.”
I could tell he thought that he’d landed some major blow to my ego by the way he sat back and readjusted, squaring his shoulders and daring to meet my eyes. I laughed in his face then elbowed Farah. “Aww, now my feelings are hurt.”
My partner didn’t laugh since she was still in good cop mode. “Maybe we should get back to the discussion at hand. Senator-Peralta, I’m not the boss here. She is. I can’t guarantee your safety or the safety of your family if you don’t comply with the captain’s demands.”
He flicked his gaze back in my direction, gauging me. Whatever he saw must have convinced him because he started talking. “What exactly do you need from me?”
“Everything you know about the ingot and how to get it from the facility on Xanderis.”
Peralta made a noise of disbelief. When we didn’t respond, both brows shot up. “You want to infiltrate a Void facility? That’s suicide.”
“With your help, it won’t be. Now, start from the beginning. I want everything you know about Kaska’s plans.”
A lone bead of sweat rolled down the Senator’s face and he started to lift one hand. I got the feeling he wanted to pull at his collar, but the chair restraints prevented it. “The Vice-Admiral’s final goal is to become Emperor. He’s been systematically replacing Proscerios’ inner circle with our own people. I can give you names.”
This wasn’t news to me. We had learned weeks ago that the Emperor, one Joden Proscerios IV, was being swindled by Kaska. To save time, I rattled off those we knew. “We’re aware. If you have names to add to that list, I’m happy to hear them though.”
Peralta shook his head in a tight movement.
“Okay, let’s move on then. Besides the ‘accidents’ that have happened, what else is the Vice-Admiral planning? This isn’t just about power. His attacks have been on conscripted citizen’s soil. Why?”
“He views the conscripted population as expendable. Kaska said that running the tests on those territories would bring less attention than doing it on Union soil. Once he’s in control, the planets and moons worth anything will be seized. All conscripted citizens will be moved to lesser planets or labor camps.”
I made a sound low in my throat, somewhere between a growl and a grunt. Of course that was his plan. It was right there in front of me the entire time. All the experiments weren’t just to stay off the radar. They were practice runs for controlling people.
“He wants to enslave them, doesn’t he?” I asked flatly.
Farah jerked a little next to me before regaining her composure. I didn’t take my eyes off the Senator.
“Yes. It will reduce the strain on budgets because they won’t require paying like they do now. Just the basics of food and housing.”
“Which I’m sure will be shit. What about the ingot, where does that fit in?”
Peralta leaned forward as much as he could, almost eager now, like he was getting a weight off his shoulders. “It’s the final piece. The ingot harnesses fusion energy, enough that the Vice-Admiral can rule with impunity.”
“I’m sensing a but,” Farah noted.
Senator-Peralta nodded. “One setback remains. The ingot is unstable. All attempts to weaponize it have failed.” He hesitated.
“Until now,” I guessed. “How is he going to wea
ponize it?”
“I don’t know all the details. I’m not lying,” he said, protesting when I scowled at him. “I can only tell you that he’s using the plans from some failed prototype shield. It was supposed to be small, fit right in the palm of your hand, but no one could get it to work.”
I sat up a little straighter. That sounded familiar. “Don’t stop now, Senator. It’s just getting good. Are you saying that Kaska is making shields with the ingot?”
“Not at all. He’s merely adapting the plans. Instead of a shield, it will contain the power of the ingot and focus it.”
“So it’s basically a gun or cannon,” said Farah.
Her voice had dropped a few degrees and Peralta’s gaze flipped back to her with some trepidation. “Y-yes. That’s the idea. Again, I don’t know everything. Kaska tasked me with making trips to Xanderis to pick up reports directly from the lab. He can’t go because his work keeps him in Sarkon. All of the data is encrypted, and engineering isn’t something I’m well versed in.”
I shoved back, my chair scraping loudly against the floor. “Time for a break. In a little while, someone will be back to talk to you, Senator. You’ll give them all the information about the labs and your procedures when he gets here.”
“What will you do with me afterward?”
Stopping at the door, I looked back over my shoulder. “We have to verify your info, of course. You’ll be our guest until after the operation is done. So long as everything goes right and your information is good, we won’t kill you. If something happens in Xanderis, my AI knows what to do. Ain’t that right, V?”
“Of course, Captain. And I will do so with pleasure.”
The next day, while her brother was interrogating Peralta some more, Farah’s fist swung out in a tight arc, aimed right at my jaw.
I ducked, avoiding it, and grunted with the effort. Though by some miracle nothing had been broken on Prosperitas, after a night of rest, my muscles screamed in protest at the slightest movement. Not one to be brought down by a few aches and pains, I leaned into the discomfort and worked out the stiffness in my own way: sparring.
Farah swiped at me again. This time I caught her by the forearm and yanked inward, then swept her legs out. She hit the mat with a thump. Seeing her on the ground made me think of Calliope and everything I saw in White Cross. It was only a moment, but Farah seized it and I suddenly found myself on the mat with the wind knocked out of me.
Which was exactly what I deserved for getting distracted. Huffing, I rolled away and shot back up to my feet. “Nice one. Again.”
My usual MO was to hang back and wait for a good opportunity to attack my opponent. Today, I was angry. Between seeing Calliope again and learning Kaska’s motives, I was pissed and needed to exorcise some of the negative energy. Changing my tactics, I rushed in, hoping to overwhelm Farah with sheer force.
“Hey, wait—”
I didn’t give her a chance to finish. She twisted away before my shoulder could ram into her and stumbled. My momentum carried me for a few more steps, and I turned to find my friend ready for me. She’d taken a defender’s stance and protected her face with both fists raised.
With a grunt of pent up frustration, I lunged. Farah held her ground and blocked the one-two jab I threw at her with relative ease. It wasn’t an exaggeration that I had taught her everything she knew about fighting from the time we were kids. Given that, we were pretty evenly matched, but I tended to come out on top in sparring matches. Farah hadn’t suddenly turned into a fighting master overnight; I was just being sloppy. That infuriated me more and I backed away, holding my side like it hurt.
The ruse worked. Farah dropped her guard and moved in to check on me. “You okay?”
I dropped the act and attacked. We’d never trained with padded gear before and she wasn’t wearing any now. Farah leaped back, but not enough, and my elbow slammed into her chest. It threw her off balance, making her stumble. I grabbed her shirtfront and pulled hard.
Farah moved forward again and blocked another blow with her forearm and brought her elbow down on my hand to release the grip I had. It worked but I followed it up by thrusting it toward her face. She narrowly missed it by jerking her head to the side, but I didn’t stop.
For the next few minutes we traded blows and blocks until one of mine finally got past her guard. In training, the government prepped us for reality by making sure we didn’t pull punches during matches. It was a good tactic because practice had real world consequences in the form of black eyes and bloody noses. Farah was the only person I did scale back for, not wanting to hurt my best friend. In my haze, I forgot this time and felt my fist connect with the hard bone of her jaw, snapping her head back.
“What the hell?”
“Sorry.” I dropped my fists in an instant, shame flooding through me.
“Everything okay?” Farah didn’t look scared so much as concerned, which made me feel better.
I shrugged and went for a sweat towel. “Just distracted today.” A unit of cold packs sat next to the towel pile and I tossed one to her. “Really sorry about that. Hopefully it won’t bruise too much.”
She caught it with a deft movement and placed it on her chin. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I haven’t taken one to the face before.”
“Is that so?” I waggled my brows at her and snickered.
“Oh, gods, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter. And don’t think you’re going to distract me. Spill it. What’s your deal today? You only get like this when you’re pissed. I got the feeling it wasn’t me you were lashing out at.”
“Can’t get anything past you.” I sat on a bench that bordered one wall while she grabbed two bottled waters. Considering how precious the stuff was on long hauls, she must have seen the conversation as an important one. “Fine, I admit it. Seeing Calliope rattled me.”
“Did you really get so attached to her while she was here?”
I thought about lying, but Farah knew me too well for that, so I went for a partial truth. “No. It’s me I’m pissed at. I feel like missing all of her lies makes me a failure. Why couldn’t I see through her bullshit?”
While that was true, there was something else bugging me. Inside, I wondered if it was a sign that I was losing my grip on things. Had I become a lesser soldier by walking away from the Empire?
Farah didn’t answer right away, mulling over the question I had spoken. “You want to know what I think? I think that you and I have been stuck under tyrannical rule for a long time. Getting out was a miracle, but we did it. Now we have to relearn things, how to fit in with the rest of the galaxy. I have other friends, but no one as close as you. I’m pretty sure I’m your only friend.”
“Not the only one,” I muttered.
“Sven the kabob vendor doesn’t count. My point is that humans like to make connections. You’ve spent the last couple decades smothering that. It’s completely natural to finally give in and open up to somebody. She preyed on that because it was her mission. And don’t forget that I pushed you into it. Your first instinct was to not trust her. So really, the whole mess is on me.”
I held up a hand in a stopping motion. “Let’s not get too crazy. She’s accountable for her own actions. That’s why I punched her in the face. But I get what you’re saying, and I guess that makes sense.”
The training room’s door slid open and Jax walked in, stopping further conversation. “I’m done with Peralta. If you two are done talking about your feelings, can you spare a minute to discuss the ingot and how to get it away from Kaska?”
Farah threw her towel at him, which he batted away. “Buzz off, loser. We’ll be on the bridge in ten.”
He nodded and backed out again.
“Is that an older brother thing?” I asked.
She grinned. “Yep. This is one of those moments that show he hasn’t changed at all.”
Groaning, I pushed up off the bench. “That’s something to keep in mind too. If he was really different fro
m the person you remember, I don’t think he’d be here. Whatever experiments the Void tried on him, he still rebelled. In fact, because of that, I’d say you guys are the same.”
Farah got up too, though the motion didn’t seem to cost her like it did me. “Yeah, that’s a good point. Look at us, a couple of regular old wizened soldiers.”
“Right,” I replied, walking to the door. “Next thing you know we’ll be yelling at kids to stop running on the docks and to have some respect.”
We split off to change and I left the training room a lot lighter than I went in.
12
We were both on the bridge in under ten minutes.
Mack sat in her usual chair, legs kicked up on the console as she tossed a ball back and forth. Jax had taken a leaning spot, arms crossed and completely still. I noticed he didn’t seem to sit often and wondered if it had to do with his cybernetics, or if he just preferred standing. I supposed it didn’t really matter.
The feed on the holo showed Peralta sitting on the uncomfortable cot in his cell. He looked a little worse for wear, at least compared with how the man had been planetside. The polished sheen of an affluent individual was now only evident in the style of his clothes. Peralta’s hair was mussed and greasy, his skin pallid. And I didn’t give a damn. He hadn’t expressed a single ounce of regret for his part in Kaska’s plan.
I motioned at Jax. “Okay, we’re here. What did you learn?”
“More than I expected. As you suspected, the handheld shield you went to retrieve from Dulsa is the same thing they are working from to create a mega weapon capable of wielding the ingot’s power.”
Mack stopped tossing the ball and worked her pad as she spoke. “Does he know how close to being done it is?”
The holo split as the plans were featured next to the brig feed. It still looked like gibberish to me though. I knew war, not product engineering.
Jax shook his head. “No. The guy is a little clueless, which I’m pretty sure is by design. Kaska wants someone there that he trusts, but only gives them so much information, never the whole picture. It’s smart to keep everyone at arm’s length. We’re only getting part of the puzzle.”
