Red Planet: The Rebel War (Tamarians Book 3)

by Snow, Jessica

  “Perhaps, but that's up to Tauren to decide, Gwyndolen. As a favor to Kelbara, you're going to be kept here instead of sent to a regular prison. Is there anything I can get you in the meantime?”

  Gwyndolen studies my face, then gets to her feet, stepping close to the bars. “A flexi to read would be nice, but... Jensen, what I need more than anything else is the faith and trust of my family. I cared for Justine, and... tell me, what's going to happen with her body?”

  “I'm going to have her buried with full honors and respects at the estate. If you're cleared, I'll make sure that you're allowed to pay your respects,” I tell her, standing up and picking up the recording flexi. “But Gwyndolen, this isn't going to go based on feelings. This is going to be done with evidence.”

  She nods, saying nothing as I turn to go, calling out passionately just before I reach the door. “You know why the bombing happened, don't you? She wants to distract you from ending the war! Jensen, believe me, or don't, but you know I'm not lying about that. Promise me that you'll be careful and that you'll make sure my daughter stays safe!”

  I stop and turn, seeing just a bit of Gwyndolen's face pressed up against the bars. “I was going to propose right before the bomb went off, Gwyndolen. I'll keep her safe.”

  * * *

  “So what do you think?” Tauren asks after he finishes watching the video of my questioning. “Do you think she's telling the truth?”

  “I don't know. There's enough that she said that I should be able to verify her statement without too much trouble,” I reply, rubbing my temples to try and ease away the headache that's been building all day. “But there's still some sort of fuckery going on. The video that Kelbara found puts Gwyndolen in the hallway less than five minutes before she departed the estate. Now, either Gwyndolen's lying, in which case she's a terrible liar considering that she saw the video...”

  “Or your security system was hacked,” Tauren finishes. “Either way, it's disturbing. But it's something that can be checked out and verified.”

  I open my eyes and look over at Tauren. He's tired, but looking at him I can see that he's not where he was before, he's not being pushed to the line any longer. It reassures me. “You know she's right, though. Whether Gwyndolen's lying about the bomb or not, she's right. Tauria's going to use this to her advantage. Either she's going to try and use it to rally people to her cause or she's going to try and take advantage of the fact that the Rangers aren't out there fighting right now.”

  Tauren nods, tenting his fingers under his chin. “She will. I've already told the Lancer and Guard commanders to be on the lookout for any increased Rebel activity. With this new information, though, I'm going to have to ask you and Kelbara to do something very difficult.”

  “What's that?” I ask, and Tauren takes a deep breath.

  “Tauria's going to think this is going to paralyze the Rangers. We need to show her that it won't. I need you and Kelbara both to be out with the Rangers, preparing them for what I hope is a final raid. Tauria's egotistical, but I know her style, I watched her take out her enemies as queen for too many years. If she is behind this, she's going to go for the kill quickly, do something big and flashy. It's her style. Paralyze her enemy or take advantage of their paralysis, then jump in with the big, attention-grabbing move while her enemy is unable to counter. When the dust settles, everyone focuses on the big move that makes her look good while not even remembering the setup. She then goes back later and has her enemy quietly neutralized permanently.”

  “By neutralized you mean killed.”

  Tauren shrugs. “Not always, but in this case.... if Tauria wins, I wouldn't be planning on a long and happy retirement or peaceful handover of your Lordship. But I need the Rangers ready for when she makes her move.”

  “We'll be ready,” I reply, getting to my feet. “Kelbara and I will have the Rangers out and ready to train tomorrow morning. Anything else?”

  Tauren nods. “Just your opinion, Jensen. Do you think she did it?”

  I pause, then shake my head. “I don't think so. But I told her the truth, Tauren. We can't do this based on feelings, Gwyndolen's too fucking close to all of us to be able to do so. And to be honest, there are too many nobles that I think are truly sociopathic liars who could lie to their own family without batting an eye, let alone me. We need facts. Either she's being neutralized or she's a convenient distraction for whoever did it. But yes, if you had to have me give you a reading, either way, I'd say she's telling the truth, she didn't set the bomb.”

  Tauren hums, pondering. “Okay. Then go home, try and get some sleep. Were you serious about proposing to Kelbara?”

  I nod, and Tauren gives me a small smile. “Good. Then I'm calling dibs on being the person who gets to conduct the ceremony when you two get around to it. After all, I am the King.”

  I laugh, nodding. “You got it. But who gets to be best man and throw me a bachelor party? We leave that to Mogar, and we'll end up doing science experiments all night.”

  Tauren snickers, nodding. “Probably. We'll figure that part out later. Thank you for the last-minute laugh, Jensen. At least there was something good to say about this shitty day.”

  Chapter 18

  Audra

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Mogar asks, his eyes flickering down to my stomach as he goes over the data that he's gathered on the bombing. “You're due within just a few weeks now, you know that even the autodoc can't perfectly peg when you're going to give birth.”

  I nod, giving my stomach a rub before I smooth the dress I'm wearing. I know that image is important, even for something as distasteful as this, and I need to do it right. “Mogar, I'm about to give birth, and my husband is trying to deal with a scandal either way. My brother is having to leave behind an estate full of traumatized people before Justine's even buried, and my sister is going along with him even though her mother is the only suspect that we have in this whole fucking thing. So yes, Mogar, I'm going to ask her questions, and later we can talk with Liston. I'm not going to sit on my still rapidly expanding ass while my family pulls all the weight on this thing.”

  Mogar nods, then changes the subject at hand slightly, going back to my first task today as he hands me his flexi, which has a summary of what he's found so far. “If that is your desire Audra, I will still be assisting you. When you set up the flexi that you will be using to record the questioning, make sure you have a good view of Gwyndolen's whole body.”

  “Not just the face?” I ask, slightly surprised. If it were any man but Mogar I'd have concerns about his reasons, but I don't think Mogar's the type to perv while questioning someone. “You said you were going to listen in, but why the whole body?”

  Mogar arranges his body and looks at me calmly. In that instant, I realize his point even before he opens his mouth, the man becomes a total closed book, totally unreadable. “Many nobles -- and Gwyndolen's from a very old line of nobility -- have learned how to control their facial expressions to put forth almost any emotion they want. But... body language is a lot harder to control, there're just too many things to control. If I can see her from head to toe, I can give you a better read as to if she's lying or telling the truth.”

  “I understand. Anything else?” I ask, and Mogar nods. “What?”

  “Stay calm. While I can get a read on Gwyndolen regardless of what you do... I'd like your delivery to happen in the time the heaven and stars decide, not when your temper decides,” Mogar says with affection. “I haven't delivered a baby yet, and to be honest I'm not ready to do so either.”

  I know that Mogar's trying to get me to laugh, but I'm nowhere near ready to laugh today. Not with what I must do. “I'll keep that in mind. Where will you be?”

  “Just outside the door, keeping track. If an emergency happens, I'll be there in five seconds.”

  I take a deep breath and nod, thankful. “Then let's do it.”

  Mogar and I go down to the cell area, and I go through the door while Mogar waits out
side. Gwyndolen's already gotten breakfast, and I pause to get comfortable in a folding chair while the Lancer who is on guard duty takes her dishes and leaves us. When we're alone in the short hallway I start my questions. “How was breakfast?”

  “Very good, thank you,” Gwyndolen says, looking slightly ragged but still composed as she settles in her chair. She's still wearing the same clothes from two days ago, but despite that she carries herself with grace and dignity. Some people are noble by accident of birth, and some people are born with an inner nobility. Gwyndolen is totally the second type. “I was expecting Lancer rations, not food from the kitchen.”

  “You're still presumed innocent, Gwyndolen. Still, for your safety and because of what's happened, we're keeping you here. I had some more questions for you today, though if you don't mind.”

  Gwyndolen nods, adjusting herself. “Of course Audra. First, though, let me reiterate something. I did not set that bomb. I cried myself to sleep last night thinking about poor, beautiful Justine. I swear to you; this hurts me nearly as much as it hurts Kelbara.”

  Her voice is composed but passionate, and I can't help but want to believe her. Still, there are questions to ask, and I lean back in my chair. “Okay, then let's talk. I watched the video of your talk with Jensen yesterday, and there were a few things that came up that I wanted to clarify. You mentioned Liston and Justine having difficulties. What do you mean?”

  “Well, besides pushing for sex, I got the impression that Liston was asking Justine a lot of questions about the Rangers too. Where Jensen and Kelbara were doing their training, if any of the Rangers had been to the estate, when the last time Justine had been out to see Ranger training, things like that,” Gwyndolen says, shrugging. “At the time I didn't see a connection, even yesterday when Jensen asked me about my trip to his estate I was too shocked to really come up with a full report. But the more I thought about it, the more a few of Justine's comments worried me. I wanted to pass those along to you now.”

  “I see. I have another question, Gwyndolen. Why would someone want to tie this bombing to you? I mean, what do they have to gain by it?”

  “Besides what I pointed out to Jensen yesterday?” Gwyndolen asks. “There isn't a lot. Honestly, if I were setting someone up, I'd be a good target, but I think it's mostly a matter of bad luck on my part. I was at the estate, and I was in the video. Just bad luck.”

  “And did you, during your time at the estate, see anyone other than the staff around?” I ask. “I'm curious because Jensen and Kelbara didn't see any shuttles or hoverbikes out of place, and a review of the security cameras turned up nobody else.”

  Gwyndolen shakes her head. “No.... but Audra, I already pointed out one problem with the timing of what Kelbara found. I'm telling you, I left the parlor over an hour before the blast. I spent the rest of the time copying flexis in the library and left when I saw that Jensen and Kelbara were approaching the landing pad on their bikes. The approach they took, they flew right by the library window on their way to the landing pad, it's pretty easy to see.”

  “I understand what you're saying, and we're still checking into that. But it's hard to lend weight to your claim when none of the other members of the house remember anyone outside the staff in the estate other than you all day,” I answer, sighing. “Gwyndolen, help me out here. Because you trying to bomb Jensen's estate makes no sense to me.”

  “It doesn't,” Gwyndolen agrees. “Audra, why would I go to all the trouble to set a bomb that kills a single, excuse the term, relatively unimportant human staffer when I could have done so much more damage by the fact that you've had me live here at the royal palace for months? If I were working for Tauria, you'd have been a dead woman ten times over already. How many days have you and I sat in your library with nobody else around, both of us carrying powerlances?”

  I shiver, thinking about it. “Too many to count right now. But this could be something more than political. For example, while you've been seeing Tryion and Justine was seeing Liston, there's nothing that says that something didn't develop between you two because of that. Jealousy, a disagreement over something between the brothers, there's lots of reasons to fight.”

  “Fight, yes. Friends can argue all the time, you just had an argument between Tauren and Jensen that nearly tore your family apart. But you found a way to make peace, it seems. So, what would lead to me wanting to hurt Justine? She was a kind, beautiful woman both inside and out. We laughed, we sometimes gossiped, and we more than once shared some tea or juice while we waited for Kelbara to finish whatever she was doing to join us. She was a friend. I never wanted to hurt her at all.”

  I sigh, nodding. “Let's move on then. I had a question about the books you said you copied. Can you tell me any of the titles?”

  The questioning continues for another hour, and I'm the first to admit that I'm no expert interrogator. Still, each time I ask for details or go over something again, Gwyndolen's consistent, her story never changing. By the time it's over, I'm drained, and I wonder if I've got the strength to do the rest of what needs to be done. Gwyndolen gives me a sympathetic look and shakes her head. “Audra, we need to stop this for now. You're tired, and I don't want you to risk your health. Leave me here, I'm being taken care of with respect. If you could ask the Lancer, though, I would appreciate a shower and a change of clothing. But you need rest.”

  I shake my head, still getting to my feet. My pride might tell me that I'm strong enough to keep powering through, but my body is telling me something totally different. “Perhaps. I'll talk with the Lancers. Thank you for your answers.”

  In the hallway, Mogar waits for me, his face passive. I close the door to the cell block and turn to the Lancer. “Have Lady Gwyndolen escorted to the shower and then to her quarters to change clothing this evening after dinner. Also, have her pick out three sets of clothing that she can use for so long as she's in custody. Take them down to the cell level for her to keep in her cell.”

  The Lancer makes a note on his flexi and salutes while Mogar and I leave the detention level, taking the elevator. Unfortunately, my pride extends only so far, and that extension stops at the idea of getting myself up the stairs. Also, inside the elevator, I feel like we can talk openly. “Well?”

  “Her concern for your health is genuine,” Mogar says, pursing his lips as he thinks about what he observed. “Her answers seemed genuine, but it is like what Jensen said yesterday. I have a feeling that she's telling the truth, but the evidence is all saying the opposite. Her answer did bring up an idea in my mind, something that could explain things, but I'd need to check.”

  “What's that?” I ask, curious as the elevator comes to a stop and the doors open. We leave and head towards my own parlor, where I'm supposed to receive Liston this afternoon, and in the meantime, can rest.

  “This palace, it was designed with secret tunnels. Has Tauren shown you any?”

  I nod, smiling faintly how he 'introduced' me to a private alcove in one of the tunnels. We didn't leave that alcove for two hours, and the staff was frantic when we finally emerged again. “You could say that. You think that Neyton had the same?”

  Mogar nods. “It wouldn't surprise me. The estate had been in his family for many generations, there could be tunnels and secret entrances. The problem, of course, is that Neyton and Neyilla aren't around to answer that question, and finding secret tunnels in some of these estates is very difficult. There's no point to having one if anyone with a simple scanner can find it.”

  “I bet the smartest man on Tamaria can find it if it exists,” I respond, going into the parlor and sitting in one of the comfortable seats. One of the staff comes in with fresh juice and I sip gratefully, leaning back. “I only hope we can get this finished before Audren decides to grace us with his presence.”

  “Audren, hmmm? I do believe I'm the first to hear this news,” Mogar says lightly. I roll my eyes, and he pinches his lips in a shushing gesture. “Nobody shall hear the name from my lips until you reveal it
to the rest of the world. In the meantime, I'll go and see what I can do. Excuse me please.”

  Mogar leaves, and I try to relax until there is a knock on the door and Pretton comes in. “Highness, Sir Liston is here.”

  “Show him in please, and ask him to excuse my not getting up. My son has decided that I'm going to sit here for a while longer.”

  Pretton half smiles and bows, and a minute later Liston comes in, bowing deeply. “Queen Audra, it is an honor to be invited to the palace.”

  “I only wish it was for happier reasons,” I say, offering a seat. Liston sits, and I adjust myself carefully, trying to sit straight, or at least as straight as I can. “I am surprised that I had to request your presence, considering that you and Justine were seeing each other.”

  Liston nods, sighing. “I... I apologize, Highness. When I heard the news, I was shocked, and to be honest I was unsure how to respond to it. You see, Justine and I... we were keeping our relationship a secret.”

  “An open secret,” I counter, sipping my juice. “Considering how much she told Kelbara and Gwyndolen about it.”

  Liston hums, nodding. “Yes, I assumed that much. When I say secret, though, I mean that I was keeping it a secret from my father. He's sort of an NIMF.”

  “NIMF?” I ask, confused. “I haven't heard that term.”

  “Ma be a far continent thing, Highness. Not in my family. Basically, while my father would not say anything about you and King Tauren being together, he would not approve of his own son seeing a human woman.”

  “I see,” I reply stonily. Since humans have gained our freedom and rights, I've heard of that situation. Ironically, it was many of the same Tamarians who were known to be the biggest users of sex slaves who are now some of most prejudiced against such types of relationships. Hypocrites. “And your feelings are different?”

  “Justine was beautiful, inside and out,” Liston says, blinking away emotions. “I knew there were going to be problems with any relationship with her, but I was willing to set those aside because I liked being with her. A lot.”