Duty from Ashes

by Sam Schal

That spineless weasel had told them. There was no other explanation. Damn that traitor. He’d pay. If it was the last thing Kasun did, he’d make Peltier pay.

  But now he had to figure out what to do. If he gave them the data chips, he signed his death warrant with High Command. But he if didn’t, he had no doubts Shaw would kill him right there. It was a no-win situation.

  But what choice did he really have? At least he bought himself some time if he gave them what they were looking for. Of course, he didn’t have to give them all the ‘chips. There was no way Peltier knew how many there were, much less what they contained. Give them something and buy some time to figure out what his next move should be.

  “You have five seconds,” Shaw told him.

  “All right!” he sobbed. “They’re in the anteroom of my office. There’s a safe hidden in a false bottom of the safe on the eastern wall.”

  “How do we access it?”

  “I’m the only one who can.”

  “Don’t take me for a fool, Kasun,” she said almost conversationally as she shoved him toward the Marines. One of them caught and held him in a grasp that made hers feel like a lover’s embrace.

  “Let me put it to you in a way even you can’t ignore.” She moved to stand before him, holding his face so he couldn’t look away, her fingers bruising the soft flesh of his cheeks. “Each of these Marines fought in the last war. They lost friends, family and brothers-in-arms. They would dearly love to do to you what you and your people did to our fellow Marines. So either tell me exactly how to access the contents of that safe without damaging them in any way or I’ll turn you over to them. It won’t take them long to start taking you apart, piece by very little piece.

  “You can’t! The Accords!”

  “Accords!” the Marine holding him bellowed, spinning him around like a rag doll so they stood face-to-face. “We’ll respect the Accords exactly as much as you did.”

  Gorge rose like lava flowing over the dome of an active volcano. He had finally met someone more coldly cruel than him. No doubt these Marines would willingly, even gladly kill him if he didn’t tell them what they wanted to know. Gods above and below, protect him.

  “All right!” he all but screamed and the information they wanted spewed from his mouth almost without bidding.

  Hopefully it was enough to keep them from hurting him any further.

  “Master Guns, I leave him to you and your people. Find out if there’s any other information he has that we need,” Shaw said coldly before turning to leave.

  “No!” Kasun screamed as the Marines closed in around him.

  * * *

  Ashlyn entered her quarters and shut the door behind her. As she did, she cursed long and hard. Everything she had done before as a Marine had fallen squarely within the boundaries of the Accords. There had been times when she’d been tempted to cross the line but she never had. Until today.

  Today she broke the oaths she had taken as a Marine and as an officer to uphold the laws of Fuercon and to abide by the Accords that governed how war was conducted. Not that the Callusians had ever felt constrained to follow the Accords. But they weren’t the Callusians. They were better and that meant they had to obey the rules.

  But things had changed for her as she listened to Joss Donnelly recall what had happened onboard the Tarrant. A sense of urgency had filled her. From the moment she first realized the capital was under attack and she had to do whatever was necessary to protect Miranda Tremayne, she had known there was something different to what was happening. It was as though the Callusians had changed the rules without telling the other players.

  Well, two could play that game. If breaking the rules was what it took to protect her homeworld, she would.

  And it had been worth it. When she had finally located the cache of datachips, she’d known they were important. Why else would Kasun have hidden them of all the ‘chips he possessed? The only problem was she didn’t know what they contained. She had logged them in and then turned them over to the computer techs.

  A soft beep announced someone outside her door. She breathed deeply and prepared herself. Then she pressed the control panel next to her bed. As the door slid open, she stood, ready to be taken into custody – again.

  “You can quit looking like you are about to meet the executioner, Ashlyn,” Collins said as he stepped inside and the door closed behind him. “No one is reporting what you did but you owe Talbot and the others a big thank you. They saved your ass back there. Apparently you were big and bad enough to scare the hell out of that bastard Kasun. He is still babbling his head off.”

  She exhaled a long, shaky breath. Knees weak, she sank onto the edge of the bed. Then, remembering that she might be in her quarters but that a senior officer was present, she pushed back to her feet and braced to attention.

  “But don’t relax yet. I know why you acted as you did. Hell, girl, I’d have done it myself. However, that was your one pass. And, to make sure you don’t do anything else as foolish as that, you are to report back to the ship. You can coordinate with Colonel Johnson the relief of the Devil Dogs by his troops. I don’t want to see your ass dirtside again without my direct permission. Understood?”

  “Sir, yes, Sir!”

  “Good.” Now his expression softened. “Ash, I do understand and, to be honest, preliminary reports sound like you hit the goldmine. But I will not have you risking your career again. Pack your kit and report to the shuttle. You have an hour.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  The moment he left the room, she collapsed onto the bed. Then, realizing that Collins has given her a reprieve, she stood. There was a lot to do, starting with briefing her staff, before reporting to the shuttle.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ALEXANDER WATCHMAN STORMED into the conference room and threw the hard copy report onto the table. Its pages went flying, scattering much as those unfortunate souls present wished they could. The Intelligence Tsar in this mood was never something anyone wanted to see much less be close to. Too often people died and each of the four present enjoyed living too much to sit still and let that happen.

  But what could they do?

  “Sit,” he growled, waving for them to resume their places. As he did, he dropped onto his own chair at the head of the table. Almost instantly, a page appeared and poured him a cup of tea before quickly leaving the room.

  “Now,” Watchman continued coldly. “Would someone care to tell me what the hell happened?”

  From his place down the table, Admiral Boniface swallowed almost audibly. If anyone was likely to be blamed for what happened, it was him and everyone present knew it. After all, he had been the one to send that fool Kasun out to the Cassius System as Occupation Governor. He had been the one to convince the others that it was safe to rely upon the Callusians to hold the system without additional reinforcements.

  “Sir, our reports are still preliminary at best,” he began, glancing down at his data pad. “It is going to take time to get a more complete picture of what happened.”

  “I know that,” Watchman drawled coldly. “What I want to know is how did those Fuerconese bastards manage to not only plan but execute an operation against our assets in the Cassius System without us finding out?”

  “We just don’t know,” Boniface said and Federov nodded in agreement from across the table. “Everything pointed to the fact that they weren’t going to make a move against the system. They had waited so long. Then, when word of the attack on the Nystrom System reached them, they reacted immediately. All our analysts said that was a clear sign they had written off the Cassius System.

  “Obviously, we were wrong. My guess is that President Harper or someone from FleetCom went looking through their intelligence reports and realized our allies had withdrawn a number of their ships from the system. If the Callusians had done as we instructed and left their forces intact, none of this would have happened.”

  “Federov?” Watchman turned a dark look on the man, his upper lip
curling slightly to see how the younger man blanched slightly before speaking.

  “The Admiral’s correct as far as my sources have been able to determine. We know now that FleetCom has been in a major buildup since Harper took office. It could be that they delayed going to the Cassius System until they had more hulls available.

  “All right. I don’t like it but everything the two of you say makes sense. However, there is one aspect of the operation that clearly failed us.” Watchman paused again, this time looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Our operative on Fuercon should have known about the operation and should have warned us. She did not. So the question becomes did she miss something or has she turned on us? The next question is even more important. Is it possible the Fuerconese could have recovered anything from Cassius Prime that could point to our involvement in the war?”

  “Doubtful on both counts,” Boniface replied. “Our operative has never failed us before and has never shown any indication that she might betray us. She, more than most, knows the penalty for that. After all, she is who we usually send to exact punishment from those who fail to do what they promise. I think it is simply a case of her having to build a new network within FleetCom after the changes following the election.”

  “And Cassius Prime?”

  “Again, doubtful. Our so-called allies know the price of letting the Fuerconese know of our involvement before we are ready.”

  “But we can’t be sure,” Federov put in, ignoring the glare Boniface turned on him. “Sir, we have to face facts. The Callusians may be useful at the moment but they are also a time bomb ticking down toward detonation. We can’t rely upon them to do as we say. Their egos and their damned sense of superiority mean they aren’t going to be in any mood to do as we say unless we use a very big stick to enforce them. And as for Moreau, I think it’s time we consider that she has outlived her usefulness.”

  “Very well. Contact the cadre on Fuercon. Inform them that they are to do two things as soon as the taskforce returns. They are to determine what, if anything, was discovered on Cassius Prime. If there is anything that ties the Callusians to us, it has to be destroyed or new evidence planted that will make the incriminating evidence appear to be something it isn’t. I don’t give a damn how they do it. Just get it done.

  “Secondly, they are to make sure any prisoners brought back from the Cassius System are silenced before they can talk. Once that is done, they are to deal with Moreau. When they do, they need to make sure they retrieve any records she has kept of her work for us.”

  “Yes, sir,” the two men answered in unison.

  “Federov, I want to meet with the Callusian representative on-planet. It’s time that he make it very clear to his superiors that they have to play this by our rules or we will make sure Fuercon destroys them.”

  “Sir, I’m not sure there’s a way in Hell we can do that,” the man said softly.

  “Well I am and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Sir.” He swallowed hard.

  “Then see to it, both of you. I want reports from you by mid-day tomorrow.”

  They both scrabbled to their feet, relived to be getting out of the room alive. Now, if they could just make sure they stayed that way. . . .

  * * *

  The sound of ice cubes clinking against the crystal high ball glass broke the silence of the apartment. Smiling in satisfaction, Evan Moreau refilled her glass. She deserved the extra drink. Everything had gone exactly according to plan. It couldn’t have been better had she done it herself.

  Well, that wasn’t exactly true. If she had done it herself, she would have had the satisfaction of seeing the fear in Kannady’s eyes just before he died. But it had been too dangerous for her to do it. Besides, this way she had an alibi on the off-chance the authorities did come to question her. After all, who would believe she snuck off to kill someone when she had the Assistant Attorney General in her bed?

  It had been a stroke of luck she’d run into him at the restaurant. Not only did he give her an alibi should she need one but he was more than passable as a lover. What better way to celebrate taking care of a problem than with a good meal, even better whiskey and some satisfying lovemaking?

  Now she had to make sure her employers didn’t blame her for what happened. That ought to be easy enough. In a few days, the assassin she’d hired would turn up dead, killed in an apparent argument over a debt. She’d make sure there was enough evidence found on him to tie him to Kannady’s murder. Then she could concentrate on the real task at hand – keeping Watchman and his people thinking she was an asset.

  Smiling slightly, confident that she could pull it off long enough to get safely away, she poured a second glass of whiskey. She did, after all, have a lover waiting for her. She might as well make sure he enjoyed himself enough that he would have no trouble remembering where he was should she need him to confirm her alibi. Morning would be soon enough to worry about the rest of it.

  First things first, she reminded herself. You’ve waited this long. A little longer won’t hurt.

  * * *

  Lucinda Ortega stepped inside the gym deep in Marine territory onboard the Cassin Young and paused. As she did, a smile of approval touched her lips. No matter what the time, the gym was always in use. Even so, there seemed to be more Marines taking advantage of the gym than usual. Nor was there any mistaking the sense of approval and watchfulness that filled the air. No matter what they were doing, whether working with free weights or sparring with a partner, each Marine stood ready to act if anyone or anything should bother one of their own.

  Understanding, Ortega scanned the faces of those present and then nodded in satisfaction. Across the gym was the object of her search. Dressed in a traditional gi, Ashlyn worked her way through a series of progressively more difficult katas. Her dark hair was pulled back in a single braid. Perspiration glistened on her face and stained the top of her gi. Her face was a mask of determination as she moved, her body obeying her mind’s demand for precision in execution.

  Since her return from Tarsus, Ashlyn had spent as much time in the gym as she could. Ortega knew it was partly a stress reliever for her friend. She suspected another part of it was the need Ash had to never feel helpless again. Whatever the case, in the months since she had been freed, she had put on much of the weight she had lost. Even better was the improved muscle tone she sported. But best of all was seeing her confidence return.

  “Very nice,” Ortega commented in approval and stepped up to the mat as Ash finished the last kata and began a series of stretches to let her muscles cool down without stiffening.

  “Thanks,” she replied with a grin.

  With that, Ash once more turned her attention to her stretches. At the same time, Talbot stepped forward, stopping next to Ortega. Together they watched as Ash finished her stretches. As they did, Ortega wondered if Talbot had been as worried about their CO and friend as she had. Something had happened on Cassius Prime and she had a feeling it was something bad. Why else would Ashlyn have suddenly been sent back to the ship? But no one, not Ashlyn and not Talbot, who was with her almost every moment she was awake, would tell Ortega what happened.

  A few minutes later, Ash left the mat, accepting a towel from Talbot and using it to scrub the perspiration from her face. Ortega chuckled softly when Ashlyn tossed the towel at the man. Talbot snorted in response and snatched the towel in midair just before it connected with his face. Ash laughed gaily before turning her attention to Ortega.

  “You here for a workout, Luce?”

  “I thought I might get in a quick swim,” she admitted and then shrugged, coming to a quick decision. “But the main reason I’m here is to find you. I was hoping you’d join me for dinner in my quarters tonight.”

  “Sure. Give me a few minutes to shower and change. Grab your swim if you want.”

  “Naw. It really was just an excuse.” She grinned as Ash shook her head, a smile playing at the corners of the Colonel’s mouth
as she recognized the truth in what her friend said.

  Ashlyn nodded and moved quickly in the direction of the adjoining locker room. Ortega watched closely, approving of what she saw. A nod here, an encouraging smile there, a touch and a laugh where needed. Yes, Ashlyn had come a long way since her return from Tarsus. But she wasn’t back to normal. Not yet and Ortega wondered what she could do to help before her friend imploded.

  “Ma’am?” Talbot prompted.

  “You have the night off, Kevin,” she said. “I’ve had a chance to review the security arrangements for our arrival home. I downloaded them to your terminal. I’d like you to review them and have your comments and recommendations to me by twenty hundred hours.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “In the meantime.” Now she smiled and clapped a friendly hand on the woman’s shoulder. “You know, Loco, it would help if you told me what happened just before Angel got herself sent back to the ship.”

  “I know, Ma’am, but it’s not my story to tell.” Talbot spoke softly, concern reflected in his eyes. “Talk to the Colonel. She needs to be the one to tell you.”

  “I know.” But the question was, would she? “Go on, Loco. I’ll see what I can do about getting her to tell me.”

  “Tell you what?” Ash asked as she rejoined them, surprising them both by how quickly she had reappeared.

  “It can wait,” Ortega replied with what she hoped was an easy grin. “If you’re ready, let’s get out of here. I want to kick back and relax for a while.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  SAFELY TUCKED AWAY from the prying eyes of the media, a small group waited in a private landing bay near the main government complex. Four people, two men and two women, huddled close together, speaking in hushed voices. Nearby stood a Marine security detail.

  “Five minutes, Ma’am,” one of the Marines reported softly and General Okafor nodded in response.

  “Thank you, Captain Andrews.” She turned to her companion as Andrews stepped back. “Is everything ready?”