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  It was another fifteen years before he reached out to her and, in due course, offered her the opportunity to collect on an old debt.

  He was turning around as he shimmered into existence on the QEC holo, a charming smile well in place when he faced her. “Olivia. My apologies for the short notice. Are the materials on their way to Earth yet?”

  She likely looked far less charming, and didn’t especially care. “Are you trying to micromanage my end of the operation, Marcus?”

  “Not at all, Olivia dear. I do have a good reason for asking.”

  “I certainly hope so. The answer is no. The ‘materials’ aren’t exactly the kind of items you leave sitting around on Earth for too long.”

  “Good. An opportunity has presented itself—to kill two birds with one stone, as the old saying goes.”

  “An opportunity?”

  “A fortuitous coincidence. I need you to route at least a portion of the materials through a specific individual if possible. Ideally, have him be the one to deliver them to the necessary party on Earth. He’s a smuggler and tech dealer on Pandora.”

  She glanced at the information he sent. “He doesn’t work for me, not even indirectly. It’ll take some doing. This is last minute, Marcus, and I don’t care for surprises. Again I ask—are you trying to micromanage my end of the operation?”

  “Again, no. This is a unique opportunity which has only just arisen.”

  “Fine. Dare I venture to ask why?”

  “The details aren’t important from your perspective and would require far too long to explain—but it will help ensure the blame is placed appropriately and the war continues unabated. That is what you want, Olivia, is it not?”

  Of course it was what she wanted. The greatest threat to her business was and had always been order. Crime flourished in the friction generated by conflict, and the First Crux War had carved a landscape rife with fractures. While the Alliance and Senecan governments jockeyed for leverage, independent worlds were able to grow and thrive in the spaces in between, like weeds in sidewalk cracks.

  Prior to a week ago, relations between Earth and Seneca had been steadily thawing. Left unaltered, mere inertia would eventually lead to true peace. The independent worlds would be ‘persuaded’ to return under the umbrella of a benevolent government. The spaces in between would vanish.

  It would take decades, perhaps even half a century. But she would live for another hundred fifty years; decades mattered quite a lot to her. So yes, she wanted to alter the field of play.

  She gave him a miniscule nod. “Very well. I’ll see what I can make happen, but time is short. No promises.”

  “I understand. Do what you can.”

  41

  EARTH

  Vancouver, EASC Headquarters

  * * *

  Earth Alliance Strategic Command was not nearly so pompous and decadent as Senecan propaganda painted it. Oh, it was certainly shiny and polished and self-important, yet there were no spotlights sweeping across the sky or garish colors decorating the walls or waterfalls spilling champagne. At its core it remained a military installation. The walls and floors gleamed brighter and the artwork appeared showier than what was found in Senecan government facilities; he imagined the cafeteria and break rooms stocked posher amenities as well. Still, the difference was one of degrees…and not so many degrees at that.

  It wasn’t as though Caleb was shocked or even particularly surprised. No childhood illusions were being shattered as they paused at the security scanner and Alex authorized for him—which he did have to stifle a chuckle at.

  Technically speaking, she had just committed high treason against the Earth Alliance government. But she didn’t view the world in such a way. To her, there were good people and bad people, and most of the rest weren’t worth classifying. He had—he hoped—qualified for the ‘good people’ side of the equation, and that was the end of it. Government intrigue and games of espionage simply didn’t impress her, something he found both amazing and delightful.

  And while his training, rules of engagement, experience and the teachings of his superiors and his mentor all told him he should take full advantage of this opportunity and record, image and hack every item he could find or see…he didn’t intend on abusing her trust. He remained observant, but observation would be the extent of his espionage. Besides, he had a mission.

  “Capt—Ms—Solovy. Ma’am. The Admiral is expecting you. I’ll inform Colonel Navick you’ve arrived.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

  Alex moved away from the reception desk to roll her eyes at him then grasp his hand and pull him toward a fish tank along one wall of the lobby. He instinctively sucked in a breath at the sensation of her hand in his. They had still only touched skin-to-skin a few times, the last one being the intimate moment the night before. Her palm was cooler than his, but not cold. It felt natural and confident—much like her, here.

  She believed she didn’t belong in this environment, saw herself as an outsider. Yet she strode through the halls as though she owned the place, and so unaffectedly so that he had no doubt she didn’t know it. It merely reflected her inherent self-assurance and sense of worth, which oozed out of her every pore. It was impressive to witness.

  “Richard….” Her hand left his, and he immediately felt the sting of its absence. He turned to see her embrace a man in BDUs save for an officer insignia on his shoulder. The embrace was warm and friendly to a degree he’d never seen her be. Until now he hadn’t realized she was to some extent still always on edge around him. Seeing her this relaxed and at ease jarred him.

  The man appeared in perhaps his sixties and was handsome in an average, unassuming way. He did have kind eyes.

  “This is Cameron Roark, a professional colleague. He works for Advent Materials.” The lie rolled off her tongue with impressive ease, but her eyes twinkled as she gazed at him. And like that he was back on the inside. It made him far happier than it should.

  The plan, as finalized by them on the way over, was for him to maintain the fictitious identity to start. The alien threat constituted an even higher priority than diffusing the war, and they agreed she needed to focus first and foremost on the Metis report. Once they had been assured the Alliance was moving ahead with a clear action plan—and her mother and Navick had become somewhat comfortable in his presence—she would ease into a discussion of the war and his true identity and purpose. And if things didn’t go according to plan…he’d improvise.

  He grasped the outstretched hand of Colonel Navick with the slightly awkward formality a mid-level corporate scout might exhibit toward a relatively high-ranking military official. “Good to meet you, sir.”

  Navick regarded him appraisingly, his gaze not harsh but definitely sharp. A tiny twitch of his mouth was the sole sign he gave of any reaction at all. Teddy bear, my ass.

  “And you, Mr. Roark. Have you known Alex long?”

  “Not long, sir. We bumped into one another while scouting the Metis Nebula and, well, found more than we bargained for I’m afraid.”

  “So I understand.” A smile sprung to life on his features as he looked at Alex. It was evident he held great affection for her, regardless of his position or profession. “It must be serious indeed for Alex to willingly grace us here at EASC by her presence.”

  She began to smile in return, but it faltered away. “You’re right, and it is.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Lieutenant? Are we allowed to enter now?”

  “Um….” The man behind the desk looked down then up again. “Yes, Capt—Ms—Ma’am. And Colonel. And, uh, sir.”

  Caleb swallowed a laugh and wondered what in the hell he had gotten himself into as he fell in two steps behind them.

  The office was well-appointed but spartan and rather sterile. The woman who rounded the desk to greet them wore a dress admiral’s uniform, and other than the color of her hair bore almost no resemblance to Alex. She held herself with the stiff, rigid bearing common among high-ranking milita
ry officers. Her expression only briefly deviated from the bearing as she faced but did not approach Alex.

  “I am sorry for the delay. It was unavoidable, but I know you made efforts to arrive here with due speed and I do appreciate it.” Her gaze shifted to fall on him, and deep, dusky hazel eyes penetrated straight into him. He decided—though for reasons he did comprehend—Alex seriously underestimated her mother.

  “Mr. Roark, is it?”

  “Yes, ma’am. A pleasure to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances.” He shook her hand warmly but couldn’t shake the feeling she had instantly deduced everything about him, and them, and the last week.

  “Okay, pleasantries done.” With a word Alex somehow dominated the room. “Now about the aliens preparing to invade. You’ve had the report for three days—what are you doing about it?”

  Navick had retreated toward the rear of the office; the brief glance he managed told him the man was involved in a private interaction of some sort. It made him nervous having the man at his back, but he didn’t dare show it as a simple corporate space scout. Here in this room, he was submissive and in awe and totally out of his element. Yessiree.

  “General Alamatto has tasked his advisors with reviewing the data to verify its credibility and plausibility and—”

  “Oh you have got to be—”

  “Alexis, do not start with this. You know I have absolute faith in your abilities and competence. But—”

  “My competence? I don’t—”

  “Yes. That was a compliment, in case you didn’t notice. I have no doubt as to the accuracy of your report, I truly don’t. But mine is not the only opinion which matters.”

  Damn, this was fascinating. He had surmised Alex’s relationship with her mother was complicated at best and knew it was informed by decades of conflict, but…damn.

  He was so enthralled by the interchange that for half a second he missed the rigid tension abruptly manifesting in Navick’s stance behind and a little to the left of him. When he did sense it he recognized what it meant, even if he didn’t know precisely what it meant.

  He tried to get Alex’s attention, but she was fully engaged in antagonizing her mother, who he had already discerned very clearly loved her daughter and just as clearly had no idea how to talk to her. He made a mental note to try to find a way to diplomatically point it out to Alex at a more opportune time.

  Navick stepped in front of him and produced a military-issue Daemon. He displayed no reaction to the gun pointed at his chest and remained calm as his wrists were grabbed from behind. “Sir, if you will let me explain, you will find I am not your enemy.”

  Alex finally turned around. Her jaw dropped in considerable surprise to see two MPs handcuffing him and her oldest friend holding a gun on him. Her brow furrowed, eyes searching his for guidance. He gave her a small shrug…plans rarely survived contact with the enemy, after all.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  “I’m sorry, Alex, but Mr. Roark is not who he represented himself to be. His name is actually Caleb Marano and he’s an intelligence operative for the Senecan Federation government.”

  Her face screwed up at Navick. “I know that. We were going to get around to telling you. Why the fuck are you handcuffing him?”

  “You know? Alexis, you brought a Senecan operative into Headquarters? How could you!”

  She whipped back to her mother. “Because he’s not a threat to—”

  “Not a threat? How gullible must you—”

  He ignored their yelling to meet Navick’s stare directly. “I apologize for the subterfuge, but I am not here to harm the Alliance in any way. I beg you, give me two minutes of your time. I am—”

  “I’m gullible? You’re the one who fell for this stupid farce of a war. We are trying to save your asses, and everyone else’s in the process—”

  “You know nothing of the military situat—”

  “—here to ask for your help.”

  The man’s glare faltered and uncertainty flashed in his eyes, so quickly it was gone almost before it had appeared.

  “Richard, get him out of my office now.”

  Navick looked to Alex’s mother before returning to him. “Then you shall have to ask the judge for help. You won’t find it here.” He motioned to the guards. “Take him to the detention facility.”

  He didn’t put up a fight as they manhandled him out the door. He could have fought and very possibly have won—this fight at least—but it didn’t seem a good long gamble.

  “Richard, what are you doing? Would you listen to me for one goddamn second? He’s not—”

  The door closed behind him, muting the remainder of Alex’s plea. A moment later a pulse flashed into his vision.

  I’ll come for you as soon as I can

  Though knowing what he did about where he presumed he was being taken, it should be impossible for her to do so, he had learned not to underestimate her.

  Instead he chose to believe her.

  “Why did you do that! I asked him to come here with me. We want to put a stop to this stupid khrenovuyu war and—”

  Her mother glared at her with a cold hostility she hadn’t seen in…oh, twenty years or so. “Do you have any idea what you have done? By all rights you should be arrested and tried as an accessory—as a traitor. If you were anyone else but my daughter you would be.”

  She refused to be intimidated; she was too fucking angry to be anyway. “I am not a traitor and neither is he. We are trying to stop you from ruining our best chance at defeating these aliens.”

  Richard cleared his throat. “Miriam, maybe we ought—”

  Her mother’s hand slammed down on her desk. “We are at war. I realize you lack a proper concept of what that means, but it most certainly means you do not bring a spy for the enemy into my office!”

  The woman may be difficult to provoke, but it seemed Alex had located her breaking point. She searched around for a more sympathetic audience. “Richard, how did you know?”

  A puzzled expression came over his face. “A copy of his internal Senecan Intelligence Division personnel file arrived in my comms a few minutes ago. Anonymous source.”

  “Seriously? Isn’t that a little odd?” Who knew Caleb was here? His boss Volosk, perhaps? She wasn’t sure how much Caleb had revealed to him. And how did anyone know to send the information to Richard? Also, why?

  He shrugged. “Sure, but does it matter where it came from?”

  “Yes it matters, because there are a lot of suspicious things going on around this ‘war.’” She pinched the bridge of her nose in a futile attempt to stave off the encroaching headache. “Listen, we were planning to tell you. I wanted to get a few items regarding the aliens covered first is all.” Her gaze flitted to one then the other. “I’m sorry we deceived you, but it was necessary to get in the door.”

  Richard gave her a small smile. Miriam did not, but her glare did soften from somewhere around absolute zero to a mere icy chill. “I believe you thought you were doing the right thing. You’re not a professional. You were taken in by a handsome, manipulative man—you always did have a weakness for the roguish ones—and made a mista—”

  “Don’t you dare.”

  “I’m merely—”

  “If you use that condescending tone with me one more time, I swear I will walk out of here right now and you will never see me again.”

  Cast-iron bitch mode faltered. Miriam’s eyes darted to Richard, then the window. Finally she nodded almost imperceptibly. Almost.

  Alex smiled thinly, her voice tight under the strain of forcing it to remain even. “Putting aside Caleb’s status for a moment, let’s get back to the alien army. We can at least do something about it, I hope. Do I need to review my report with the Board? With someone else?”

  “The science advisors to the Board are still studying the report—” her mother held up a hand to forestall the interruption “—but they should be finished by this evening. I’m certain they will
sign off on its veracity, at which point it will be forwarded to the Board members. General Alamatto would like you to present your findings tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Tomorrow. Afternoon.”

  “Yes. A meeting is scheduled for 1500. Its primary business will be the war of course, but you’re tentatively scheduled to present as well.”

  “You do understand I raced here at practically reckless speed, not getting any sleep working on the damn report, all so I could get this information in front of people who mattered immediately?”

  “Yes I understand it. If it were up to me, we would be meeting now. Difficult decisions lie ahead and the sooner we get started on them the better.”

  “Fine. Tomorrow. What can I do now? Can I talk to these ‘advisors’? I imagine they’re quite educated and whatnot, but forgive me if I’m skeptical of their sense. Who is—”

  “There’s nothing you need to do. The matter is well in hand.”

  She thought about Caleb, locked up overnight in…she had to find out where the MPs took him. “Then if the Board has ‘science advisors’ and everyone’s getting the report, do I need to present at all? I made sure the summary could be understood by laymen, and hell, even bureaucrats. I’m not certain what my presence really adds.”

  “It transforms a sterile data file into something real. Your passion can convince them when visuals cannot—but not too much passion, please? It will be counterproductive for you to cause a scene. And don’t even think about bringing up your wild ideas concerning the war or you are likely to find yourself forcibly removed from the meeting.”

  “I’ll take it under advisement.” She tried to pulse Caleb to warn him she might be a little while, but it bounced. She sent a message…which bounced. Terrific.

  “Well if there’s nothing for me to do, I should get out of your way. I imagine you have a nonsensical, moronic war to run or some such. Richard, walk me out?”

  He nodded, though he seemed distracted. “Sure.”

  “Alexis?”

  She looked back at her mother, an eyebrow raised in question.