Doomsday minus 539 Earth days.
“She’s really pissed, boss. How long are you planning to keep her like that?”
Barry Novak looked up from the monitor screen in the observation room and met the curious gaze of Zane ‘Man Mountain’ DeWitt, his second in command of the Warrior Kings street gang. As the nickname suggested, DeWitt was nearly two meters tall and solidly built. Running headlong into him was like crashing at full speed into a brick wall.
That was what Angeli had done two days earlier, when DeWitt, Croft, and Robinson had cornered her under an urbanway overpass near the canal. Tough and sturdy, Angeli had demonstrated impressive fighting skills. She’d made short work of Croft and Robinson, then rushed DeWitt, literally bouncing off him to land in a heap at the base of one of the overpass’s concrete supports. One of these collisions had knocked her senseless, just long enough for the three men to truss her up, pull a cloth bag over her head, and throw her into the back of an unmarked van. They’d then delivered her, struggling and sputtering, to EIS Operations Headquarters, in the middle of Warrior Kings territory.
Putting her into a holding cell to cool off had had the opposite effect. So, Novak had taken more extreme measures.
Angeli was now in an interrogation room, buckled securely into a chair. The dark leather cuffs on her wrists and ankles fastened her to its bent-pipe arms and legs, and the matching padded leather collar around her neck prevented her head from moving more than a couple of centimeters away from its high metal back. As she had already discovered the hard way, these restraints were designed to tighten if she struggled against them. So, she’d been investing her energy instead into verbally abusing the people who had dared to place them on her. Angeli had been cursing and threatening almost nonstop for about twenty hours, and her voice now sounded the way sandpaper felt.
“Once she settles down, I’ll begin asking her questions,” Novak replied.
“At this rate, she may have to answer you in sign language,” said DeWitt, adding, “She took a pretty hard knock to the head. You want me to get Doctor Chin down here?”
“Not yet. I’ll tell you when.”
DeWitt exhaled gustily and sat down beside him. “We’re going to catch hell for this, aren’t we?”
“No, we’re not. I’ve already notified Madame Vargas that we have Angeli in custody, and she’ll be on her way here very shortly for a meeting. When she arrives, I want you to escort her to my office. Offer her some tea.”
DeWitt did a double take. “Some tea?” he echoed incredulously. “Sure. Is there any particular kind you want me to conjure up?”
“Give her whatever Chin’s been drinking,” Novak replied.
“You want me to raid his tea chest? He won’t be happy about that.”
“If he catches you in the act, tell him who it’s for and ask for his help. Or ask for it first. I doubt that he’ll refuse. Once she’s settled, tell her I’ll be with her as soon as I’ve finished questioning Angeli.”
Now the big man’s jaw sagged. “You’re going to let the Chief Adjudicator for New Chicago cool her heels in your office while you interrogate her best friend? In what universe does this end well?”
“Don’t worry, Zane. Madame Vargas and I have an arrangement. She authorized me to stop Angeli, by any means necessary.”
“Not to be interpreting orders for a superior or anything, but are you sure this was what she had in mind?”
“What she has in mind is what I’m about to find out.” He pointed at the screen. “I think our guest is ready for us now. Ask Chin if he would care to come down here as a witness to the proceedings. That’ll keep him busy while you dip into his tea stash. And wish me luck.”
—— «» ——
Angeli had the eyes of a trapped animal. Pale blue and rimmed with red, they fastened on Novak as he entered the room and followed him warily as he crossed to his chair and sat down. She was breathing rapidly, he noticed, and had worked up a sweat. Drops of perspiration were sliding down her cheeks and dripping off her jaw. Or maybe they were tears of frustration. That was the only kind Novak had ever seen her shed. It might even be the only kind she produced.
“What’s your game, Novak?” she said, her voice so raw it was almost painful to hear her speak. “Is this supposed to be some kind of payback for what I did to your data tampering operation last year?”
“It’s not,” he assured her, “but I’ve no doubt I’ll get the same satisfaction from it.”
“Then why? What am I doing in this chair?”
“Why did you run from the agents I sent to pick you up?”
“Are you kidding? An unmarked van, and two large men I’ve never seen before. No introductions. No explanations. Just an ultimatum: ‘Get in or we’ll force you in.’ What would you have done?”
Novak sighed inwardly. He would have to have a word later with Croft and Robinson about their people skills. Meanwhile, he had more important issues to address. Batting her question aside, he purposely put an edge on his voice. “My operatives have been tracking you for a while. You’re quite the globetrotter, Angeli. You’ve been rendezvousing with unsavory types in every political union on the planet. Street gang leaders in the urban districts. Shift bosses and crew chiefs in the Industrial Zones.”
“Yes,” she hissed, “and I’m missing an important follow-up conference right now.”
“I know. With Jesse Hickman, in Greater London. Don’t worry. The agent I sent in your place has already apologized for your unavoidable absence and is in the process of informally debriefing Mr. Hickman, along with any other attendees at the gathering.”
“Informally debriefing,” she repeated, her eyes narrowing. “That must be EIS-speak for tricking people into giving away information.”
He showed her a thin smile. “We’ll get to the bottom of things, one way or another.”
“Things? What things? What are you expecting to find out?” she croaked.
“I’ll ask the questions, if you don’t mind,” he said briskly. “Let’s begin with why. Why all the meetings with thugs and low-lifes?”
She glared defiance at him. “I’ve been enlisting their support for the Reformation. You remember the Reformation? The plan Juno laid out in detail for all the EIS big hats a couple of years ago?”
Unfortunately, he remembered it clearly. Madame Vargas had claimed that by toppling Earth’s government, they would be completing Dennis Forrand’s work. That everything the Supreme Adjudicator had done, including establishing the EIS and choosing her to be his successor in running it, had been for one purpose only — the realization of his life’s dream.
That had been the part Novak refused to swallow. Dennis Forrand wanting to rule the planet — that he could believe. But, the Earth Intelligence Service being nothing but a stepping stone to world domination? If Tommy Novotny had suspected that, even for a moment, the Warrior Kings would never have signed on to help build it.
The organization that Forrand had proposed to him back in 2374 had appealed to something deep inside the young gang leader. In fact, it had resonated so strongly with him that growing the EIS into a space-wide intelligence network was now Barry Novak’s life’s dream. Despite the fondness that he sometimes felt for Juno Vargas, he wasn’t about to let her or anyone else hijack that dream, or use the EIS for any purpose other than the one it was already serving — the discovery and safeguarding of the truth in a world where truth had become a rare commodity.
“Vargas’s coup depends on the backing of the criminal element?” he said softly.
One of Forrand’s goals for the EIS had been to use the truth to keep the politicians on Earth’s various government levels accountable. That was why he’d approached the Warrior Kings. In words from that first meeting that now echoed in Novak’s mind, Forrand had been “recruiting a bunch of criminals to help him keep a bigger bunch of criminals honest”. Apparently, Vargas was taking things a step further and enlisting criminals to help her replace the governing Councils altogether. When the dust settled, she would be politically indebted to the worst of Humanity. Just thinking about what that might lead to was enough to chill him to his core.
Angeli gave him a strange look. “Her coup? No! It depends on the Ineligibles, the ones who’ll benefit most once the Relocation Authority is gone, taking the Eligibility labeling system with it. Opportunities will open up for them that they’ve never had before, all over the planet and out in space. Trust me, once we negotiate our way past the bullies and petty dictators who have managed to carve out a bit of power for themselves in the Industrial Zones, the rank and file will be four-square behind this. They just need to act in concert in order to make it work.”
“So, if it’s not a coup that she’s proposing, what is it? A revolution?”
Her brows drew together. “If that’s what you want to call it. It will be a new order, but it’s not a class struggle. Most of the Eligibles are in favor of it as well.”
“Sounds like everyone knows about it but EIS Ops. Why is that, do you suppose?”
After a pause, she said, “I kept telling her to read you in. She refused.”
“She being Madame Vargas, I presume. Did she give you a reason for keeping my half of the organization out of the loop?”
As the prisoner met his steady gaze, he could swear he saw sympathy in her eyes. It was disconcerting, but only for an instant.
“Juno doesn’t want to lose the element of surprise,” she told him. “And you have an ongoing relationship with the Stragori.”
“Ah! And that brings us to the intriguing coincidence my operatives have noticed. Everywhere you go, it seems, a new chapter of Earth For Terrans pops up. How do you explain that, Angeli?”
She threw her shoulders back, coming to attention in her chair. “As is her right as Chief Intelligence Officer of the EIS, Juno has assigned me to establish covert intel-gathering cells in every urban district on the planet,” she informed him stiffly.
“Really! Disguised as branches of a xenophobic fringe group. Charming. And whose bright idea was that?”
Silence.
“Never mind. Just tell me why she needs so many. What’s their actual purpose?”
She tried to fidget but was prevented by the restraints. Angeli was doing her best to be a good soldier, but she would always be a loose cannon. She had advised Vargas to read him into the operation. That meant she believed he was entitled to know its details. Novak settled back in his chair to wait her out.
Finally, she blurted, “In preparation for the Reformation, Juno is compiling a list of all suspected Stragori agents.”
“And Earth For Terrans is supposedly identifying them.” He uttered a syllable of laughter. “Well, I wish her luck with that, because the Stragori are identical to us.”
“No, they’re not.” She raised her chin as high as the collar would let her. “They only look that way. You just need—” She halted abruptly, her eyes darting away from his face. Novak could almost hear her mouth slam shut. But it was too late. She’d already revealed something important — Juno Vargas knew that the Stragori carried electronic implants in their bodies, and she was evidently using that knowledge against them.
“And what are Juno’s plans for these Stragori infiltrators, Angeli?” he asked grimly.
Her lips drew into a thin, determined line.
She would answer eventually. He just needed to be patient. Novak arranged his features into a benign expression and let the silence stretch out.
A minute passed, and then another, and another.
When the tension in the room felt thick enough to slather onto a slice of toast, Angeli dropped her shoulders and relaxed against the headrest. “I’ve told you as much as I can,” she said hoarsely. “If you want to know more, go talk to my boss.”
“Thanks. I intend to,” he replied. Then, without another word, he got up and left the room.
DeWitt met him out in the hall. “She’s here. Madame Vargas. There was a yellow comm light flashing on your desk, so I showed her to the conference room instead. Boss, you may want to read that message before you meet with her. It came in on an unassigned channel, and the meta that popped up on your screen when it arrived was ‘eyes only, top priority’.”
Novak froze momentarily. An unassigned channel? That had to be the one he’d secretly given to Rodrigues.
“All right, Zane. I don’t know how long this is going to take, so you can tell Doctor Chin he’s free to go back to his lab. Meanwhile, I want eyes on Angeli at all times. Have some water brought to her, but don’t let her out of that chair until I personally tell you I’m done with her.”
The big man gave him a toothy grin. “You’ve got it, boss.”
With that, Novak turned and marched double time to the supply closet. The shelving against its back wall, apparently loaded with janitorial equipment, was in fact a holographic projection concealing the entrance to the EIS elevator. His office and conference room were two floors up.
EIS Operations Headquarters was the sole occupant of an outwardly decrepit mid-rise office building in the middle of the Warrior Kings’ territory. The first three floors and first parking level had been purposely trashed, and the elevators in the lobby were disabled, their cars permanently stuck between floors. However, despite its neglected appearance, the structure was actually a fortress, guarded by state of the art security and surveillance technology, and well-enough equipped to withstand a lengthy siege. Dennis Forrand’s credits had been well spent — in New Chicago, at least.
The meta information was still displayed on the light screen on Novak’s desk when he stalked into his office a minute later and lowered himself onto his chair. He flipped his keyboard open. Then, activating his decryption module, he pressed the ‘go’ button. As he’d suspected, the message that appeared when the screen refreshed was from Captain Paul Rodrigues on Ranger Platform Zulu.
This is a top priority, time sensitive, emergency situation, and it’s too big to entrust to the usual channels. As of yesterday, Humanity is at war with an alien race. I repeat, Humanity is at war with a race that is both capable of totally annihilating us and fully determined to do so. They’re called the Corvou. We did not start this. I repeat, Humanity did NOT initiate hostilities. However, where to place the blame is not as important as what Earth’s government is able to do in the next standard year, because that’s how long we’ve got….
As Novak read the lines of text scrolling up on his screen, waves of anger began rolling through his midsection, bringing Tommy Novotny to an icy boil. Street justice was simple — pay it back with interest. Unfortunately, things were anything but simple for Barry Novak at the moment; and, as Rodrigues had just informed him, the clock was relentlessly ticking away Humanity’s chances of survival.
The Ranger’s message had arrived hours earlier. Since Juno Vargas had eyes and ears on Daisy Hub, it was a safe bet that she had already received a transmission very similar to this one and was aware of the situation as well. If so, that would make one less thing for them to argue about.
Novak placed both his hands on the keyboard and rattled out a reply, top priority, eyes only, ending with the instruction: Tell Townsend to ask the one-eyed man for help. He’ll understand.
Then, twenty minutes after entering his office, Novak rearranged his features into a neutral expression and walked across the hall to the small conference room where Juno Vargas sat, with not so much as a hair out of place, placidly sipping Nayo Naguchi’s — aka Randall Chin’s — orange pekoe tea from a red and white mug. DeWitt had done up the tea tray as properly as he could, bringing her Naguchi’s blue ceramic teapot, along with a matching creamer of milk and container of honey.
She glanced up as Novak eased himself onto the chair adjacent to hers. Then, gesturing gracefully toward the tray at her left elbow, she said, “I would offer you some tea, but there’s only one mug, and I’m afraid I’ve pretty well emptied the pot.” She paused to fix her cool gray eyes on his face. “When he brought me here, your man DeWitt told me this room is for private meetings. Can I assume, then, that we are not being recorded?”
Novak reached into his pocket and took out a jamming device. As she watched, he activated it and placed it between them on the polished walnut tabletop.
“You can now,” he informed her.
“Good. Angeli once advised me never to shrink away from learning the truth, because ignorance would cost me dearly. So tell me the truth, Barry. What have you found out from your contact on Zulu?”
“I think you already know the facts of the case, from the mole you planted on Daisy Hub.”
Her eyebrows arched briefly.
Touché.
“All right,” she said, “I admit it. And you’ve leveled the playing field. Congratulations. But this is not the sort of game Forrand wanted us to be running. We shouldn’t be trying to score points off each other when there is a common enemy out there threatening the survival of our entire race. Or don’t you agree?”
She was trying to claim the moral high ground. It only made him more determined to wrest it away from her.
“Oh, I agree. Unexpectedly discovering that Humanity is on the brink of annihilation does kind of snap everything back into perspective. So, I imagine you’ll be indefinitely postponing your coup, or revolution, or whatever you want to call it, since there’s not much point anymore in plotting to overthrow Earth’s government.”
Her eyes widened in puzzlement. “Are you talking about the Reformation?”
He leaned forward and hardened his voice. “I’m talking about courting every gang leader and crooked shift boss on the planet. I’m talking about setting up a racist organization to help you demonize the Stragori while you compile a list of suspected alien infiltrators. What were you planning to do with that list, Juno?”
Now she was scowling. “You got that information from Angeli, I presume.”
Relaxing back into his chair, Novak recomposed his features and pointed out, “You told me to follow her, and that’s what I did.”
“Yes, to determine whether she was plotting against me.”
“Well, she was clearly involved in some shady dealings. When I realized what she was doing, I had questions. I had her brought in so that I could ask them. She’s been very cooperative.”
“So, you interrogated her. Probably the same way you interrogated Nestor Quan. And you expected her to tell you the whole truth? Really, Barry?”
Unbidden, Quan’s voice rose to the surface of his memory. “It isn’t enough to ask questions, Mr. Novak. They have to be the right ones.”
Novak leaned forward again. “The last thing she said to me was that I should talk to you. I think I know why you kept me out of the loop, Juno. But I’m in it now, and I need to hear the whole story. If the Reformation isn’t about overthrowing the High Council and putting the EIS in its place, then what the hell is it about?”
She’d been right about one thing: the time for secrets was over. Novak watched carefully as a series of expressions flashed across her features, the only outward sign of what had to be a vigorous internal debate. Finally, she met his gaze and said, in a voice weighted down with resignation, “All right. The truth. Forrand’s dream — and mine — was to abolish the Relocation Authority, or, at the very least, to force an end to the practice of classifying Humans as Eligible or Ineligible.”
“I still don’t see how you expected to accomplish that without bringing down the entire government.”
“Bring them down? No. We just needed to get their attention and make them listen. Forrand got the idea from something I tried to do twenty-seven years ago. A labor action. Only this is being organized in three stages, to be carried out by every Ineligible on the planet at the same time. Phase one halts all shipments of goods from the Industrial Zones to the urban districts. If cutting off their food and other supplies doesn’t make the Council take notice, we implement phase two, depriving the urban districts of transportation and certain other services.”
“And if even that doesn’t have the desired effect, there’s phase three?”
“Yes. At a prearranged time on a prearranged day, any Ineligibles still working lay down their tools en masse and walk off the job. And those who can will keep walking, all the way to the nearest urban district, where they will occupy every available space, refusing to return to the Industrial Zones until the system that has been oppressing them for so long is dismantled. Naturally, I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
He narrowed his gaze. “And you were making deals with criminals and gang leaders because…?”
“Something else I learned from that social experiment twenty-seven years ago. If any phase of the labor action leads to lawlessness and violence, the High Council will take extreme measures to end it as quickly as possible. They’ll be too focused on trying to restore order to entertain any proposal for change. In the end, the Relocation Authority will be even stronger, and the Ineligibles will be worse off than they were before — and then investigations will be launched and heads will roll, making it a very dangerous time for the Earth Intelligence Service.”
“So, you’ve been bribing these thugs not to take advantage of the situation by going on a crime spree?”
She tilted her head in confirmation. “And if the gangs are like the Warrior Kings, already supporting the efforts of local Security, we’ve been asking them to help maintain order in the urban districts as well, for the duration of the strike.”
“Except in New Chicago?”
She frowned. “Why would you say that?”
“Well, last time I checked, I was still the leader of the Warrior Kings, and we still owned the Zone, and nobody’s said a word about this to me,” he told her.
The corners of Juno’s lips began to curve. “You may be Rex Regum and own the Zone, but you’re not a daily presence on the streets. You put Loudon Beecher in charge of that, you may recall, when Forrand promoted you to Chief of Ops. Like it or not, you’ve grown up, Barry. You’re a business owner and a spymaster now, and there’s a whole new group of young men calling themselves Warrior Kings and taking their orders from Beecher. For all practical purposes, he’s the gang leader now.”
“So Angeli made a deal with Beecher?”
“On my instructions, yes. He was the first one she approached, since New Chicago is where the High Council’s meeting chambers are located. Unfortunately, not all the Eligibles in the urban districts are on board with this, and some of them could decide to make their point by targeting government buildings.”
Her strategy made a lot of sense, he had to admit. It even gave her a reason to keep Angeli’s mission a secret from EIS Ops. If everything went south, then only Juno would be in danger of taking the fall, and Earth Intelligence could continue under Novak’s leadership. However, there was one sticking point that still needed to be addressed.
“What about the list of Stragori agents?” he reminded her.
“They’re connected to an intelligence network on an alien world, and I couldn’t allow even the possibility of outside interference.”
“That explains the why. I want to know the what. What were you going to do with the people on that list, Juno? Incarcerate them? Expel them?” He paused. “Kill them? Please tell me you weren’t planning a wholesale slaughter of Stragori on Terran soil. Especially since they may be Humanity’s only hope to survive the next couple of years.”
She reared back in surprise. “The Stragori? If you’re trying to finagle me into negotiating a deal with Nestor Quan—”
“Not with Quan. He’s a radical with his own agenda and a price on his head. I’m talking about going through official channels, getting Earth’s High Council to contact the Directorate on Stragon and request their assistance.”
“Are you serious? You’ve told me yourself that the Directorate is under attack by radicals on their own world, which is on the brink of civil war. If anything, it sounds as though they need our assistance,” she pointed out with some asperity.
“It does, doesn’t it? And that gives the Council something to offer in return when they reach out to the Stragori government.”
“The Councilors will never agree to this, Barry. They’d be putting Earth smack in the middle of someone else’s war.”
Leaning forward, he reminded her grimly, “Only if we survive our own. And without alien allies, the chances of that happening are too slim to count.”
Her shoulders sagged. “You’re right — we’re facing annihilation, and desperate times justify desperate measures. I can call in a favor from the Supreme Adjudicator for Americas, but she’s going to need some convincing before she’ll relay your proposal to the rest of the Council. So tell me, why should either Stragori faction give a damn whether the Corvou wipe us out?”
“For the most compelling reason possible: self-preservation. The Stragori are physically identical to us, and Stragon is located just outside the border of Earth space.” There was no need to elaborate the thought. Her eyes widened with sudden comprehension. “Given the scope of the crisis,” he continued, “I’m confident they will set their politics aside and take whatever action is required. They may not be up for a direct confrontation with the Corvou fleet, but they can at least assist with the evacuation of Earth.”
Lips pressed together, she gave her head an emphatic shake. “Humans aren’t going to allow themselves to be loaded like cattle aboard alien vessels and taken who knows where. Especially not the Ineligibles. They already know they’re considered to be expendable by the powers that be, and they’ll assume that they’re being disposed of.”
“Then the Stragori will find other ways to ensure that Humanity survives.”
“You’re awfully certain that they’ll agree to help us. What’s to stop them from simply saying, ‘Thanks for the warning,’ and then going to ground in alien space somewhere?”
He chose his words carefully. This was not the right time for the truth to come out about the relationship between the two races. “Nothing, I guess. Except that I’ve already instructed my contact to ask the Directorate for military support, through a moderate Stragori now living aboard the station.”
The cool gray eyes dropped several more degrees of temperature.
“A Stragori that you sent out there behind my back.”
“I’m surprised your contact on the Hub didn’t mention him to you.”
“Actually, I’ve known about this alien for some time.” Raising her perfectly-drawn eyebrows, she added in a reproving voice, “So, it appears you’ve been hedging your bets, negotiating with a radical here on Earth while keeping a moderate tucked away on the Hub. I’d love to know what your end game was supposed to be.”
Novak shifted in his chair. “The moderate in question was a friend of Bruni Patel, who was a good friend of mine. He came to me wounded and on the run from an assassin, possibly the same one who had taken out Bruni. This was before I knew anything about the political situation on Stragon, so I had no idea which faction either of them belonged to. I only knew that Bruni’s friend was in trouble and needed somewhere to hide out. So, I sent him to the safest place I could think of.”
“And kept everything off the record. Why?”
“Truthfully? You’ve never made a secret of how much you hate the Stragori, and there was already enough tension between us.”
“I’ve never hated them. I’ve just never trusted them. Most of them are linked to an information web on Stragon, and every last one of them is a spy. And what do we do with spies, Barry?” she added archly.
He went cold all over. Turn them or terminate them. It was the EIS mantra.
“Did you order one of your little xenophobes to take out Bruni Patel?” he demanded softly.
She elevated her chin and replied with matching intensity, “No. He was Drew’s friend too, maybe his only true friend, and I would never do that to my brother.”
“Well, Bruni had the letters EFT carved into his face, and all the implants had been cut out of his head.”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you sure?”
“I saw his corpse myself, just before it disappeared. So I have to ask: Is that what you have planned for all the other Stragori on your list?”
“Not anymore.”
“Excuse me?”
“I didn’t realize how many there were, not until Earth For Terrans started collecting names. When I thought there were just a handful, yes, I was going to order hits on all of them. But now… I don’t have the resources. Besides, you said yourself that they may be our only hope to survive the Corvou attack. Maybe we can trade these alien spies back to their government in exchange for assistance and not have to get involved in their civil war after all.”
“And maybe your irregulars have gotten a little overzealous and there are some innocent Humans on that list of yours,” he pointed out. “Being inflexible and lumping people together? That sounds like something the Relocation Authority would do.”
She stiffened in her chair.
“Look, this can’t be a tug of war, Juno. It can’t be about you and me, or about the moderates versus the radicals on Stragon. It’s about Humanity needing all the help it can get. Let’s just focus on taking one step at a time to ensure that some of us are still around after the dust of this war settles. We can sort out the rest of it later. Agreed?”
“All right, agreed,” she said with audible relief. “Has Zulu filed a report with Space Installation Security about the incident out there?”
“I’ve instructed my man to delay it — and to hold Townsend off — until the High Council has been briefed. We need to contain the bad news long enough for them to absorb and consider what they’ve been told. Then the reports can be filed, and the Council can work with Fleet Command on a rational, coordinated response to the alien threat.”
“I’ll get in touch with the Supreme Adjudicator for Americas right away and have her set up an emergency meeting of the High Council.” After a pause, Juno continued, “My contact warned me that the Galactic Great Council might actually be behind our current predicament. I gather this means we shouldn’t be appealing to them for help.”
“I think that would be a very dangerous move on our part. At least we know we have one military ally — the Nandrians. My contact describes them as the most feared warriors in the galaxy.”
“Mine too. So, Stragori good, Nandrians good, Great Council bad. I’ll make sure Lynette understands that. With luck, she’ll emphasize it to the other Supreme Adjudicators as well. Gawd!” she muttered, the word fairly dripping disgust. “I hate this side of politics.”
It took all his self-control not to respond.
A moment later, Juno was back to business. “What are your plans for Angeli, now that you’ve finished interrogating her?” When he didn’t answer right away, she added, “She’s still alive, I hope.”
“For now. What happens next depends on you. Have you changed your mind about mistrusting her?”
Juno shook her head. “She’ll always be crossing lines that shouldn’t be crossed, but she’s a blood relative of Dennis Forrand, and we did make him a promise. Are you still willing to keep her under surveillance?”
“It will be a lot harder now that I’ve shown my hand,” he pointed out. “She’ll suspect that she’s being watched, and that will make her more secretive. I’m afraid you won’t be able to send her on any more of your Reformation-related errands.”
“That’s all right. Everything is pretty much in place by now. Does she suspect that I’m the one who put you onto her?”
“No, and she never will. I told her that my agents had been following her to find out what you were up to. If anything, she’s liable to be even more protective of you from now on. I’ll release her in a while. Before then, however, I’m going to show her where the boundaries have been drawn. She needs to understand that Ops is my territory, and trespassing has consequences. She’s had all the second chances I’m willing to give her. From now on, one step over the line and, good intentions or not, Forrand blood or not, she’ll be gone.”
Her expression a mask, Juno responded stiffly, “I see. Well, then. Thank you, Barry.”
With that, Madame Vargas got to her feet, nodded a dignified farewell, and left the room. She seemed unsurprised to find DeWitt standing outside the door, ready to escort her down to the second parking level of the building.