“This… star system… needs me?” she pressed.
Drakon looked up again. “You know what I mean.”
“No. I don’t.” Iceni wondered exactly what emotions were roiling behind those eyes of his. Unfortunately, rising executives in the Syndicate had to learn to hide their feelings well, and a survival tactic like that wasn’t going to be abandoned by anyone who had mastered it.
“I can’t run this star system without you.”
“Oh,” she said. “So it is simple pragmatism again?”
“Dammit, Gwen. I don’t want to work with anyone else and I don’t want to see you hurt. Is that clear enough?” He glared at her, obviously awaiting another sally from her side.
Instead, she smiled briefly at him. “Thank you.” Not wanting to press him further at this time, Iceni shifted topics. “How are you planning to get Morgan into Ulindi?”
“According to the last information we have from various star systems in this neighborhood, Ulindi has recruiters out trying to convince skilled workers to come there for jobs. Morgan will be sent to one of those star systems and mix in with a batch of workers headed for Ulindi.”
“She can make that work?” Iceni asked, letting skepticism show. “Colonel Morgan has a rather prominent physical presence.”
“She can make it work,” Drakon confirmed. “I’ve seen her do it. When Morgan wants to, she can damn near shapeshift to disguise herself.”
“Are you sure that she’s human?” Iceni asked dryly.
It wasn’t until his face tightened with anger again that she realized how he would know for certain the answer to her attempted joke. “Yes. Physically, she’s human.”
Iceni looked away, annoyed that she had upset both Drakon and herself by getting on the topic of Morgan’s body. “Very well. I agree with your proposed course of action.” It was past time to get off this subject completely. “As for me, now that the Syndicate has been repulsed again, I’m going to have some more chats with our special guest.”
Drakon made a face. “At least some of what Boyens told us was accurate.”
“I’m wondering what else he might tell us.” Iceni cocked her head slightly toward Drakon. “Do you want to participate in the questioning?”
“No, thanks. I don’t enjoy interrogations. If you have no objection, though, I’d like Colonel Malin to sit in on them.”
“Colonel Malin?” Iceni pretended reluctance, then nodded. “All right. Is he good at interrogations?”
“He’s very good at them,” Drakon said. “That’s one of the things he’s best at.” He walked toward the door. “I’ll notify Colonel Morgan of her new mission.”
Morgan grinned at General Drakon when he entered her quarters. She was lounging in a chair, cocky and confident as ever. “When do you want me to leave?”
“Leave?” he asked, feeling renewed anger at the sight of her and anger with himself at how he couldn’t help noticing how good she looked and the memories that brought to life.
“For Ulindi.” Morgan stretched like a panther, lithe and dangerous, as she stood up. “That’s where I’m going, right?”
“You sound happy to be going,” Drakon said, eyeing her. Despite being confined to her quarters, Morgan not only had means of keeping track of what was going on, but she was letting him know that. Was she simply flaunting her abilities, or sending a message about the futility of trying to outmaneuver her? Most likely both.
“Ulindi sounds like fun.” She smiled again. “If you’re going to fulfill your destiny, you need me to help lead the way. That’s my destiny. I was getting bored sitting around here anyway.”
“It’s a dangerous assignment,” Drakon said.
“Hell, I know that.”
“What about—” He found himself floundering, unable to think how to ask the question.
Morgan cocked a serious gaze his way. “She’ll be fine if anything that happens to me occurs in the line of duty. I do things right, General. The only thing that might cause problems is if that worm Malin tries to sabotage me.”
“Why do you spend so much time worrying about Malin?” Drakon asked, deliberately goading her even though he kept his voice dispassionate.
“I… don’t. He’s not important. But he is a threat, so I watch him.”
“I’m watching both of you,” Drakon said. He wondered again if Morgan did subconsciously realize that Malin was her son. She had disliked Malin intensely from the moment they first met, but Drakon hadn’t suspected the real reason until Malin had recently confessed it to him.
Morgan shook off the momentary uncertainty that the topic of Malin had generated. “You don’t need to worry about my doing my job, General. We need to take down Ulindi, and I’m just the girl for taking down a star system.” She checked her sidearm, which Drakon had let her keep, knowing that Morgan didn’t need a weapon to be deadly. “Tell me how you want me to break some stuff, General.”
Chapter Four
Kane Star System had been through a lot in the past year. The CEOs representing the Syndicate Worlds had done their best to tamp down rising rebellion, which had meant thousands of victims rounded up and summarily executed or shoved into rapidly expanded labor camps, where many died after months of deprivation. The final collapse of Syndicate authority had been marked by mass demonstrations that had too often turned into mass riots, inflicting considerable destruction on the cities of Kane’s main inhabited world. The ship repair and construction facility which had once orbited a gas giant world had been destroyed by the retreating Syndicate forces. And, once the hated Syndicate overlords were gone, there had been too many others competing to rule Kane, none strong enough to prevail and none willing to compromise enough to ally with other factions. Debate and argument had led to open fighting, inflicting further misery on the people of Kane and further destruction on their cities.
Given all of that, it was understandable that more than a few inhabitants of Kane Star System saw the arrival of a Syndicate battleship, accompanied by a curiously small number of escort ships, with anticipation as well as concern. Kane had no warships and no surviving orbital weaponry, no means of defending itself from space attack, so not even a futile gesture of resistance was possible. There were quite a few people who hoped the Syndicate would come in, wipe out those who had been fighting to rule the star system, then leave again, allowing saner heads to finally prevail in Kane. There were plenty of people who would have welcomed a return to Syndicate control if it brought stability. That had always been one of the Syndicate’s biggest arguments for legitimacy, that it provided peace and security for those under its rule. The price for those benefits was a steep one, but after the last year of death and disorder, the trade-off seemed a lot more worthwhile to some. As a result, this was one of the few times many of the residents of a star system greeted the appearance of Syndicate warships with any semblance of hope.
Kane’s orbital sensors had also long since been destroyed in revolt and infighting, and many ground-based sensors had also been lost. The first warning people received of the actions of the Syndicate warships came when fiery streaks appeared in the sky, marking the paths of bombardment projectiles tearing through atmosphere on their way to their targets.
Few had time to seek any cover or shelter before the bombardment began hitting, the falling projectiles producing massive explosions that gutted cities and shattered any industries that had survived until now. In a matter of minutes, more than half of those still surviving at Kane died, their bodies buried in the ruins of their cities and large towns.