“No,” her source replied. He didn’t seem nervous at all, appearing bored to the casual observer. “What is the difficulty? You know how risky this is.”
“I need answers now, and I need to know that they are accurate answers,” Iceni said. “What is Drakon doing?”
Her source paused, but more as if thinking than hesitating. “Nothing out of the ordinary. There’s a lot of work to be done overseeing the return of our brigades to the surface and catching up on things here now that he’s back.”
“Is he moving against me?”
Another pause, this time apparently in surprise. “No.”
“If you betray me now, either before I die or soon after I die, Drakon will learn who has been giving me information about him.”
“I have no doubt of that.” Her source shook his head. “He is not acting against you. That’s not to say there is no threat. But it’s not from him.”
“Why is he acting odd?” Iceni demanded.
This was a longer pause. “He slept with Colonel Morgan.”
“Oh.”
She wondered what her tone had conveyed as her source gave her a sharp look. “General Drakon got drunk. She took advantage of that. He slept with her one time and only one time. That is what he feels guilty about.”
“You’re joking.” She would have to be blind not to see how desirable Colonel Morgan would be to a man, and Iceni had lived long enough not to expect perfection from any man, especially when it came to his behavior with women. But she could still be disappointed when a man lived down to her expectations. “One time?”
“Yes. He will not repeat it.”
She had picked up something in his own voice. “What disturbs you about that?”
“You know that I don’t trust her. I am afraid she had some other goal when she seduced General Drakon and will try to use that night to her advantage.”
“If he’s going to take some crazy whore to his bed, he should expect problems,” Iceni said, hearing her own voice get sharp and angry. It sounded like she was taking the incident personally, which was ridiculous.
“She’s not crazy, at least not the way that you’re thinking. Morgan acts in ways that cause others to underestimate her. For many of those others, underestimating her was the last mistake they ever made. She is very good at planning for both the long and the short term. She has some plan now. Do not take her too lightly.”
Iceni made an irate sound. “Then perhaps we would be better off without her to worry about. No matter how dangerous she is, she can be eliminated. No one is invincible.”
“I strongly advise against such a plan and such an action. I will not cooperate in it.”
She felt frustrated now, as well as angry. “You hate her as much as anyone. You’ve tried to kill her already, and you’re advising me not to?”
Colonel Bran Malin grimaced. “I did not try to kill her.”
“Why not?”
Another pause. “Three reasons,” Malin said. “First, she’s very tough and very smart. Any attempt would have a rough time succeeding, and the repercussions from a failure would be extremely serious. Second, General Drakon values her advice and abilities. If he found out that anyone had planned a hit on Morgan, he would be very unhappy. If he discovered I had a role in it, my access to him would be forever eliminated. He would not forgive anyone, not even me, for an attack on someone he considers a faithful subordinate. I very nearly lost my access because of the… misunderstanding during the attack on the orbital facility here. Drakon would never have believed me or forgiven me if, during that incident, I had not killed someone who definitely did intend on killing Morgan. If he suspected you in an assassination attempt, it might motivate him to strike at you in the belief that a hit on Morgan was just a prelude to a direct attack on him.”
The arguments made too much sense to be ignored, though she doubted his explanation for the “misunderstanding” in which he had fired at Morgan. There was something else there, but she couldn’t tell what it was. “What is the third reason?” Iceni demanded.
Malin’s expression revealed nothing as he shook his head. “That is a private matter.”
“I want to know it.”
“I regret to disappoint you.”
She set her jaw, wondering how far to push it, whether to threaten exposure. She still didn’t know why Malin was feeding her information, but he had never told her anything that had proven to be less than accurate, and that kind of source that close to Drakon was invaluable. Malin surely knew as well as she did that she wouldn’t want to lose that source unless his usefulness had ended, and therefore a threat to expose him would be a bluff. “You have no idea what Morgan’s plan is?”
“All I know is what I know about her. She’s ambitious. She has no moral qualms. She rarely fails in what she attempts.”
Iceni breathed a soft laugh. “Why wasn’t she a CEO?” That led to another thought, a worrisome one. “Do you think that she means to supplant me?”
“It’s possible. It may be that Drakon is her planned tool in that.”
“Which one of us is in more danger from her then? You or me? Or Drakon himself?”
“I believe that Drakon is safe from her but cannot be certain. Between you and me, I don’t know,” Malin said. “If I am killed, look beneath the surface of whatever happens. I haven’t been able to learn who tried to kill Rogero. Maybe she was involved in that, too. Rogero and Gaiene are very close to Drakon, Kai only a little less so. If my guesses are right, in the long run, Morgan is going to want to isolate Drakon from any influences but her, anyone who might lead him in directions other than whatever she wants.” Malin looked directly at Iceni. “That includes you. I’m not sure of General Drakon’s feelings, but, at the least, he respects you.”
“But he doesn’t trust me,” Iceni said.
“No. He trusts me, and Morgan, and Rogero, Gaiene, and Kai.”
“He trusts you, and you tell me his secrets,” Iceni pressed.
Malin paused again. “I am loyal to General Drakon.”
Are you? What is your long-term plan, Colonel Malin? Not that you would tell me. How much of what you’ve just said is truth as you know it, and how much is spin aimed at convincing me to do what you want? “Loyal to General Drakon? You have yet to prove that to me.”
“It is probably impossible for me to prove my loyalty to him to your satisfaction.”
“It would be easy,” Iceni said. “Kill her.”
“Morgan? No.”
“Are you at least watching her?” Iceni demanded.
Malin’s lips twitched in a twisted smile. “I do little but watch her. And I never turn my back on her.”
“Then if you won’t do what seems to be needed in regards to Morgan, at least keep a close eye on General Drakon as well and see if you can prevent him from doing anything else stupid.”
“I am watching him. I admit that I let my guard down at Taroa. But she won’t get to him again like that, and if she tries, I have no doubt that General Drakon will reject her this time.”
“You may have no doubts, but I have mine,” Iceni said. Men. If only they could be counted upon to use their brains to make their decisions for them.
Granted that their male fallibilities made it much easier for women to use them as tools.
Women like Morgan.
Women like her. You won’t have Drakon, Colonel Morgan. I may not decide to want him, but you won’t have him. “And I will watch you, Colonel Malin,” Iceni said.
Another very brief smile. “I never doubt that I am being watched.”