“An executive named Asima Marphissa who was second-in-command. She’s been promoted to sub-CEO. There were a number of more senior executives bypassed in favor of Marphissa.”
“Hmmm. It sounds like President Iceni is grooming this Marphissa for bigger things.”
Malin nodded, his eyes distant with thought. “The new flotilla commander?”
“Could be, though Iceni will probably wait a month or so before doing that for the sake of appearances since Marphissa is being boosted over people with more seniority. See what you can learn about why Iceni has taken an interest in this Marphissa and whether it’s going to be a full-bore patron relationship.”
“Yes, sir. Is there anything else?”
Drakon hesitated. “President Iceni strikes me as being increasingly temperamental over the last few days. Do we have any indications of what might be making her unhappy?”
“She has encountered Morgan, sir.”
“Very funny. I already have to deal with one volatile female in the form of Morgan. I don’t need another in President Iceni, and it’s not like what I know of her. I think something has her seriously worried. See if you can find out what.”
Malin spoke carefully. “We are maintaining troops at a higher state of alert than called for by the situation, General.”
“You know why that is. I need to be ready to react fast if we learn that President Iceni is getting ready to move against me.”
“She is very likely worried that the heightened alert status means that you intend moving against her unilaterally, sir.”
“Are you advocating that I stand down? That would give her a lot more room to maneuver.”
“You know my assessment, sir,” Malin said. “I am confident that President Iceni is willing to accept partnership with you and will only strike at you if she believes that you are preparing to strike at her.”
“You’ve been wrong in your assessments sometimes. I’ll think about it. I’m also worried about more Colonel Duns popping up. I know we can trust Colonels Kai, Rogero, and Gaiene, but the locals are another matter.”
“Colonel Morgan is investigating all of them as you directed,” Malin said. “She is thorough, as well as highly distrustful. It is unlikely that anything will get past her.”
And that assignment kept her and Malin from interacting too much for a while. Drakon nodded. “When I get Morgan’s report, I’ll make a decision. Did we ever learn anything that would tell us what was in the transmission Colonel Dun sent right before she died?”
“No, sir. There wasn’t anything recoverable in Dun’s equipment. We do know that it went to the cruiser that was taken over by the ISS agents aboard and not to anyone else in the star system. The cruiser does not appear to have relayed that message back into the star system to anyone on this planet before it entered the hypernet gate.”
What had Dun wanted to tell the snakes on that warship? What had been important enough to be what Dun surely suspected would be her last transmission to anyone? But thinking about that led back into memories of seeing Malin aiming at Morgan’s back, and Drakon didn’t want to go there. “Let me know if we get any clues as to what the message was.”
“Perhaps President Iceni might have some ideas of what the message could have been,” Malin suggested. “She is in constant contact with the mobile forces and has experience in commanding them.”
“That’s possible.” Drakon sat back, rubbing his eyes. “I didn’t see any sense in telling her about it until I had some idea what it meant. And I don’t entirely trust the mobile forces anyway. Maybe that’s what’s giving President Iceni problems. Is she concerned about the loyalty of those warships? If more of them went the way of that cruiser, it could be real bad for us and weaken her own position relative to me.”
“I will see what I can learn,” Malin said.
“What about that assistant of hers? Togo? Could she be worried about him?”
“He is very loyal to her as well as very dangerous, sir. Extremely valuable to President Iceni, and he is also one of her most effective weapons.”
“Really?” Togo had seemed distinctly unthreatening at the meetings where Drakon had seen him, but then a real pro would maintain that sort of low profile. “Can he be bought?”
“I doubt it, but I can make some discreet inquiries through third parties.”
If Togo couldn’t be bought, and he was both deadly and important to Iceni, he would have to be dealt with too if Drakon was forced to move against her. “Is he anything you and Morgan couldn’t handle if it came to that?”
“I would be hesitant to take him on myself. Morgan could probably do the job, but it would be a challenge even for her. However, I strongly advise against such a move. Taking out Togo would be a declaration of war against President Iceni and might spur her to make some rash actions against whoever she thought was responsible.”
“Is there anything going on between them?”
“No, sir. Purely business, subordinate and CEO.”
“You know how much ground that can cover, Bran.” After the call ended, Drakon found his thoughts fixed on Iceni and Togo. What did it matter to him if she did use Togo to satisfy her physical needs? It happened all the time in CEO ranks. But he had never been comfortable with the idea, a stance that only seemed to lead to frustration since nearly every woman he met worked for him, and those who didn’t work for him could too easily be assassins working for someone else. It had been far too long, and that just made the pressures of his job a bit harder. Maybe that’s what’s bothering Iceni, too. Maybe it’s been a while for her. Too bad she and I couldn’t… Yeah, right. Two CEOs in bed together? Who decides who gets to be on top?
But even though he dismissed the idea, it kept lingering in the back of his mind until he gave up in disgust and got up to work out.
Before he left his office, though, Drakon paused, thinking. He made another call. “Colonel Malin, inform all ground forces unit commanders they are to stand down to alert status four effective immediately.”
He had sent her a clear peace offering. It would be interesting to see how Iceni responded.
“General Drakon, we have received authorization codes from President Iceni’s office allowing us to link to the mobile forces units in this star system. We can now monitor their readiness states.”
So, she had returned his gesture in kind. Both of them still had their weapons, but both of those weapons had been powered down. Drakon started to relax, but he tensed a bit again at Malin’s next words. “I also should inform you that Colonel Morgan has returned from her latest inspection and investigation,” Malin reported, his voice and face extremely neutral. “I believe that you can expect to see her in the very near future,” he added before ending the call.
Great. Now what has Morgan’s pants in a twist? Maybe she found another Colonel Dun situation, but if she did, why wait to tell me until she got back? That’s the sort of problem Morgan would want to address right away and with some form of lethal weapon. Sighing, Drakon waited for her to show up.
As Malin had predicted, he didn’t have to wait long.
Morgan didn’t quite slam open the door to his office, but that was because she knew better than to pull that sort of drama with Drakon. “How long had Rogero been working with the snakes?”
So that was what this was about. Even Morgan knew that she couldn’t go after Colonel Rogero, or Kai or Gaiene, without clearing it first. And apparently she had also learned that Drakon already knew all about Rogero’s situation. Only Malin could have told her that, and he had probably enjoyed watching her reaction.