He nodded heavily. “What about Colonel Malin?”
That forced her to pause and think. Malin’s hatred for Morgan has never seemed feigned, but if he is truly Morgan’s son, that hate could either be real or faked for his advantage. But I can’t afford to have Malin’s access limited. Drakon apparently still doesn’t know that Malin has been feeding me inside information about him for some time. Not that Malin has ever given me anything negative about Drakon. “I have no quarrel with Colonel Malin,” Iceni finally said. “If he had not identified Executive Ito as a snake agent and stopped her moments before she poisoned you, you would already be dead, and this star system would be coming down around my ears.”
Drakon nodded, took a drink, then focused back on her. “If we’re done talking about my subordinates, there’s another situation I want to discuss. We’ve just repelled another Syndicate attack, this one with a bloody nose. We’re going to have a little while to work with before the Syndicate can manage another attack.”
“What is it you want to work on?” Iceni asked.
“We have to deal with so-called Supreme CEO Haris at Ulindi. He’s already attacked us once. We pulled his teeth, but he could hit us again, or go for some other nearby star system like Taroa.”
Iceni shook her head slowly as she thought. “I imagine that CEO Haris, excuse me, Supreme CEO Haris, would wait for the Taroans to get much closer to finishing their battleship before he moved in to take it and their star system. The Taroans haven’t even got the hull exterior on their battleship finished yet. But Haris might hit someone else in the meantime, as you say. What does he have available to do that?”
“Right now?” Drakon asked. “And as far as we know, not much. Which is why we should hit him now, before he acquires more, just as we’ve acquired more. And some of his neighboring star systems don’t have the means to defend themselves against very much in the way of threats.”
“Overextending ourselves won’t help anyone,” Iceni said. She called up the data she had on Ulindi Star System and frowned. “But this is more persuasive for me. It appears that Haris is maintaining the full Syndicate security structure, with his snakes running everything at Ulindi. If someone on the inside took care of Haris, they would inherit everything they needed to immediately turn Ulindi back into a base for the Syndicate.”
“That’s right,” Drakon said. “But if we can knock out Haris before he can build up his ground forces and add more warships to his assets, then we can replace his regime with someone more sympathetic to us, or at worst someone open to bribery or able to be swayed by our threats. We’ll have reinforced the defenses of this region against further attacks from Haris or the Syndicate and made it more stable all around.”
“You make a reasonable case,” Iceni conceded. “Both for acting at Ulindi and for acting quickly rather than waiting to see what either the Syndicate or Haris do next. What were you planning on doing?”
He shrugged. “I can’t do much planning yet because there’s too much I don’t know. I need more inside information about the situation at Ulindi. We need to confirm how many warships Haris has, and confirm the number of ground forces available to him, how loyal they are to him, and how well equipped they are. It’s vitally important to be certain that we aren’t sticking our heads into a hornets’ nest. We also need to know if there are any alternative leaders to Haris still at Ulindi, or if Haris managed to eliminate the competition. I want to send one of my best… hell, my best, into Ulindi to find out the answers to those questions and prepare the ground for our move if the information confirms Haris’s weakness and only if it confirms his weakness.”
Iceni nodded again, her eyes on the display. “You want to send Colonel Malin? Into a star system controlled by a snake CEO? I’m surprised you’re willing to risk him on what sounds like something very close to a suicide mission.”
“Colonel Malin isn’t my best,” Drakon said, his voice growing rougher. “Not for a mission like this.”
“Then who—?” Iceni shot a glance at Drakon, both of her eyebrows rising. “Colonel Morgan? You want to send Colonel Morgan?”
“Yes.”
Iceni hesitated, wondering why she was feeling a mix of approval and disappointment. Sending Morgan on what was very likely to be a one-way trip to Ulindi was a cold-bloodedly brilliant solution to the problem she posed, particularly since Drakon was being absolutely honest in saying Morgan was the best person he had for the job. But such a callous and calculated act of self-interest wasn’t what she expected of Drakon.
She gave Drakon a sharp look. “I agreed to let you handle that situation, but I admit to being surprised that you are proposing that course of action.”
“It’s the best course of action,” he growled, avoiding her gaze.
“I agree. But, as I said, I am surprised that you are proposing it.”
Drakon met her eyes with his own, his expression defiant. “I had to ask myself who I would send if this had happened a month ago. If it was purely about who was best for the job, who was most likely to succeed, and to survive. And the answer was Colonel Morgan. I’m not proposing to send her because of recent events. I’m proposing to send her despite those things.”
“I see. But I still have one question.”
“What’s that?” Drakon asked.
“Why didn’t you kill her immediately when you found out? You’ve made me desperate enough for an answer to ask you openly.”
Drakon’s face tightened with anger, but Iceni could tell the rage wasn’t directed at her. “I was strongly tempted.”
“What stayed your hand?” Iceni asked.
“I— All right. I didn’t kill her at that moment because I didn’t want the unborn child to be killed. And because I don’t fly off the handle.” His eyes met hers, stubborn and challenging. “I survived in the Syndicate because I didn’t act without thinking. I evaluate things. I decide what to do, and I plan how to do it.”
“And this is your plan for dealing with Morgan? What if something happens to not only Colonel Morgan but also that incipient child of yours as well?” Iceni asked.
He paused, looking angrier, though this time it was impossible to tell where that emotion was directed. “I am not sending her in the hopes that she dies. If she dies, that means she’s failed. But I don’t think she’ll fail. She’s best for the mission. Most likely to succeed. If Morgan succeeds, the risk to my soldiers will be greatly lessened. I can’t risk their deaths in an attempt to shield my own from harm.”
Iceni laughed. “Damn. You really are an ethical son of a bitch, aren’t you?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
This time she was the one who had to pause to think through her reply. “It means that not every surprise you toss my way is an unwelcome one. I am perhaps too willing to be pragmatic about some issues. We were all taught to do that, weren’t we? To become the perfect Syndicate CEO, unentangled by sentiment and any concern other than self-interest. It is reassuring to me to see that you failed to take some of that teaching to heart.”
He made a face, frowning at the floor. “Don’t go assuming everything I do isn’t pragmatic.”
“Oh? Would you have me killed if that seemed to be your best, pragmatic, course of action, General Drakon?” Iceni asked, eyeing him with a cool smile on her lips. How will you answer me, Artur? With evasion, or vagueness, or a direct reply?
His frown deepened, his gaze staying on the floor. “I doubt that could ever be a good, pragmatic course of action, Madam President. This star system needs you.”