Another long pause. “Not in cold blood. There were a few times, of which you are aware, when Morgan’s temper nearly led to that.”
Drakon weighed his next words carefully. “I want you to know something. I’ve been thinking about you and Morgan, and every action you’ve participated in. There were a lot of opportunities that Morgan could have used to bring about your death, Bran. Times when she could have paused for a second or two before acting, times when she could have gone left instead of right, times when she could have chosen other targets. But she never did.”
“She didn’t want the blame, General,” Malin said. “She didn’t want to alienate you, not until her plans were far enough along.”
“I suppose that’s possible.” Drakon, knowing that if either Togo or Morgan had planned something, it would take place very soon, felt a reluctance to set things into motion by moving ahead. “There’s something else. We’ve blamed a lot of the problems in the Syndicate on the Syndicate mind-set. The idea that all that matters is profit and efficiency, that self-interest is the ultimate good. But Togo and Morgan are acting out of a different mind-set, personal loyalty to either me or President Iceni, and that’s producing the same results.”
Malin shook his head. “No, sir. Both Morgan and Togo would declare that they are motivated by personal loyalty, but both are, in my opinion, merely using either you or President Iceni as tools for their own ambitions.”
“And what about you, Colonel?”
“I hope I am motivated by higher goals, General, but I do not pretend to lack flaws, and personal delusion may be among them,” Malin said, perfectly serious.
“I’ve met far worse people, Bran. I’m grateful to have worked with you. Before we go in, I want you to understand that if an attack goes down and you have to choose between protecting President Iceni or me, you choose her. Is that clear?”
Malin nodded. “I feel obligated to advise you, sir, that President Iceni has already ordered me to give your protection priority over her.”
For some reason, that struck Drakon as funny. “I guess you’ll just have to use your best judgment if it comes to that. All right. I’ve stalled long enough. Let’s go.” They entered the room, Malin in the lead as he scanned for threats, Drakon trying to do the same but losing his concentration when he saw Gwen Iceni in a practical but exceedingly flattering outfit. Her clothing was probably laced with as many defenses and weapons as Drakon’s, but there was no way of telling that from where he stood.
Bradamont, Rogero, and Colonel Gozen entered as well to serve as official witnesses, but all of them had more eyes for their surroundings than for the couple. Drakon wondered just how many weapons were now in this room.
“The sooner, the better,” Gwen said, with a look at him that told Drakon how much the tension was unnerving her as well. He walked up beside her and they stood before the scanner to register their commitment. It felt very odd to be making such a personal decision on a standard-looking form with touch-sensitive check boxes for things like “duration of commitment” and “number of previous commitments.”
He was reaching toward the scanner when an explosion elsewhere in the building caused the room to shudder.
“Diversion!” Malin, Rogero, and Gozen all yelled at once, weapons appearing in their hands.
Drakon’s defensive array sounded an alert.
“EMP burst outside the room,” Malin reported. “The upgraded shields stopped it.”
“Reports of penetration attempts at the east perimeter,” Rogero said. “I can’t confirm whether the reports are accurate.”
Everything that had happened, every threat trying to draw their attention, was outside this room. Which meant—
“Someone is already inside,” Iceni cried, having reached the same conclusion as Drakon.
Out of the corner of his eye Drakon saw part of the inside wall begin to move.
Drakon could never afterward sort out the sequence of everything that happened next. In his mind, it all seemed to take place at once. Only by reviewing security scans later was he able to break things down into a sequence.
Togo, in a chameleon suit that he had modified to fool sensors designed to spot it, swung one arm up to aim at Drakon.
Drakon’s reflexes shoved a ready weapon into his hand, but the hand was still pointed toward the table.
Iceni lurched forward to block Togo’s line of fire, another weapon in her hand but also a wide arm swing away from being able to target Togo.
Malin already had a weapon out and almost on target, but he was so close to Iceni that Togo only had to shift his aim very slightly to put two shots into Malin before Malin could fire.
Another shot tore over Malin’s shoulder as he fell, aimed at Togo but too high to hit him. Morgan had appeared out of nowhere, only to find that her line of fire was blocked by Malin. Later they discovered that she had burrowed through from a maintenance shaft, bypassing all alarms and defeating all barriers, breaking into the room just as the firing began. Instead of simply firing through Malin as Drakon would have expected of her, Morgan wasted one shot over his shoulder, then took a precious moment of time to sidestep more slowly than her usual deadly speed to get a clear shot at Togo.
Togo didn’t pause for even that moment. He was firing quickly and with terrible accuracy. Malin staggered as two more rounds impacted on his head and chest, but he still got off one shot of his own before he fell.
Malin’s shot smashed into Togo’s shoulder, but Togo kept firing remorselessly with his other hand, swinging his barrel to cover Morgan. That moment spent clearing her line of fire cost Morgan dearly as several shots tore into her, but she still managed to fire three times, knocking Togo back with the impacts.
Before Morgan could hit the floor, Iceni and Rogero had pistols aimed at her, while Gozen and Drakon had lined up on Togo. Neither Iceni nor Rogero fired at Morgan as her limp form fell, but Drakon and Gozen shot rapidly, riddling Togo despite defensive elements in his suit that deflected a number of shots.
Pinned to the wall by the impacts, Togo dropped to his knees, even in death his expression betraying no clues to how he felt before he slammed face-first to the floor.
Her weapon sweeping the room in case of other threats, Gozen cautiously approached Togo.
Rogero knelt by Malin, checking for any signs of life.
Bradamont, her own weapon finally out, had moved to put her body between Iceni and where Morgan lay.
“Are you all right, Gwen?” Drakon asked Iceni, not taking his eyes or his weapon from Togo’s fallen body.
“I’m fine,” she said calmly. “Help is on the way.”
Gozen had almost reached Togo when his body twitched. She emptied the rest of her clip into him to ensure the almost unstoppable Togo wouldn’t be getting up again.
Several quick strides took Drakon to where Morgan lay. As Drakon moved he heard Rogero’s strained voice. “Colonel Malin is dead, sir.”
Drakon knelt next to Morgan, his gaze racing over the terrible wounds on her and coming to rest on her eyes, where the light of awareness somehow still gleamed. Those eyes rested on Drakon. “…got him?” Morgan managed to barely whisper.
“Togo is dead,” Drakon said, slowly and clearly, wanting to be sure she understood.
“For… you.” One of Morgan’s hands was still locked on her pistol, but the other relaxed from a fist, allowing a bloodied data coin to roll out onto the floor and drop to lie flat. “Ours… raise… her… Gen… ral.”
“I will,” Drakon promised. If Morgan had been carrying that data coin, she must have believed that she would not survive this mission. “Medics are on the way.”
Morgan’s eyes rolled to one side as if trying to see into the room. “Ma… lin?”
“Bran Malin is dead.”