Drefnig left the Orange Room and wandered down the corridor, not even knowing where he was going. Should he go to his own office or to General Markov's office? Should he go to the Operations Room or perform inventories? What was it that Markov had been doing all this time? Drefnig suddenly realised that although he had spent a lot of time with Markov in the last few days, he still had no idea what duties Markov actually performed.
The General had done so many things in such a seamless way. He had kept Central Command running smoothly, managing the commanders and overseeing reports as well as guiding their overall strategy, but it was difficult to translate any of that into specific actions that had to be performed on a day-to-day basis. Drefnig's thoughts ran in circles, seeking answers in the dark recesses of his mind.
'Are you okay?' Rachel said, catching up with him.
Drefnig turned to face her. Her fine black hair reached almost to her shoulders and her brown eyes were as unassuming as always but at the same time full of confidence. 'Rachel. Do you need me?'
'You look a little dazed,' she said.
Drefnig glanced over her shoulder, making sure the other commanders were out of earshot. Most of them were walking away from him, making their way towards the Air Route. A handful had made it to the stairwell at the far end of the corridor and were now disappearing down the stairs.
'I don't know what Markov was working on before all this happened,' Drefnig said. 'I don't know what threads to pick up now that he's gone. He might have been making important preparations that I don't know about.'
Rachel faced him with a calm expression, crows' feet just visible in the corner of her sparkling brown eyes. Her uniform was immaculate and there was a confidence about her that was hard for anyone to match. Drefnig wondered, not for the first time, whether she should have taken Markov's place instead of himself.
'You are leading us now,' Rachel said, as though hearing his thoughts. 'Whatever Markov was doing before was part of his own plan, something we may never fully understand. He isn't here now. His plans will have to wait. Nobody can be Markov. We can only be ourselves. You'll need to lead us in your own way. You have the skills. You have the experience. We're all ready to follow your lead and help you along the way.'
'Thanks, Rachel.' Drefnig said, feeling foolish for raising the subject. This was no time for uncertainty, but things had changed so quickly, and he was still trying to catch up with what had happened since Markov had fallen unconscious. Rachel was right, he recognised that, but the responsibility was just beginning to dawn on him. This was a crucial time in Central Command's history. If he failed now, he would forever be remembered as the fool in charge when the towers fell. He couldn't allow that to happen. There was just too much at stake - far more than his pride.
'We're here to help you,' Rachel said. 'Just as we helped Markov. You don't have to do this on your own.'
Drefnig nodded. 'I'm going to need all the help I can get. I have a feeling the coming days and weeks are going to be more challenging than anything we've faced so far.'
Drefnig turned to his right when he heard footsteps approaching. Melanie was walking along the corridor towards them, her auburn hair hanging down to her shoulders in waves. Freckles stood proud across her high cheek bones as she smiled at him.
'Hi,' she said.
Rachel offered a half smile. 'Hi, Melanie. I thought you went to the Air Route?'
'I did, but I had an idea, and I decided to turn around.'
Rachel twisted her mouth to one side, thinking about everything that had happened. 'What idea?'
'I think I know how Riser Trent attacked General Markov.'
'How?' Drefnig said. 'That, I would like to know.'
'I hooked into the detention cell's visual logs and searched through the last twenty four hours. I found the incident you were talking about, just before Markov fell unconscious, and then I listened.'
'Listened?' Drefnig said.
'Trent's mouth was wide open just before Markov collapsed, and it occurred to me that maybe Trent exhaled something really unpleasant.'
Rachel frowned. 'Are you saying his bad breath knocked Markov out?'
'In a way, but this was no ordinary case of halitosis. Trent exhaled a mixture of deadly poisons. That's what did the damage.'
'The toxins...' Rachel said. 'They were in his breath?'
Melanie nodded. 'Just before Trent opened his mouth, there was a crunching sound.'
Drefnig gazed up at the ceiling as he remembered what had happened. 'Yes. There was a sound. It was like something crunching under my boot, but there was nothing on the floor.'
'The sound came from Trent's mouth. I'm sure of it. He was biting on his own teeth.'
'Why would he do that?' Drefnig said.
Melanie stuck her hands in the pockets of her combat trousers, tilting her head to one side. 'Because his teeth had been altered. My guess is the Kamari replaced some of his teeth with toxin capsules. They were inert until he bit down on them. When he broke the seal, the toxins were released into his breath. That's when he opened his mouth wide and exhaled them straight into Markov's face.'
Drefnig lowered his brows in thought. 'That sounds plausible. I hadn't thought of it that way.'
'But what about Trent?' Rachel said. 'If his mouth was full of toxins, he should have collapsed too, shouldn't he? How did he not poison himself?'
Melanie gazed up at the ceiling, her green eyes loosing focus. 'I haven't worked that part out yet. Maybe he has some immunity. Or maybe he bit another tooth afterwards to give himself an antidote. I can spend more time examining the visual logs if you think it'll help?'
Drefnig shook his head. 'You've done enough already. You've set us on the right path. I'll get Trent examined at the medical centre. We'll find out what is going on with his teeth. They can give him blood tests too to see if there's anything unusual about his immune system too.'
'Do you want me to help with the investigation?'
'No. Let the medics handle it. I'm sure you have more important things to do than trail through visual logs, examining medical records. Cassendra can do all that. If we need anyone else to help I'll ask one of the troopers to do it.'
'Okay,' Melanie said. 'Just let me know if you change your mind. It's easy for me to search visual logs. I can do other things at the same time.' She nodded to Rachel and then started walking down the corridor towards the Air Route again.
'Thanks,' Drefnig said. He didn't doubt Melanie's abilities. She was one of the best commanders in the towers. She had the physicality of an athlete but also the deep technology skills of an implant. She was smart too. He hadn't noticed any weaknesses in her skill sets. He couldn't afford to waste her talents on trivial tasks that could be done by someone else. He had no doubt that he would be relying heavily on her in the days ahead.'
'Do you need me to stay?' Rachel said. 'There are some other things I should be getting on with.'
Drefnig turned towards her. 'Stay a little longer, if you don't mind. I need to talk to you about something else.'
'Okay.'