{"id":381,"date":"2013-06-23T00:00:22","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T04:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=381"},"modified":"2013-06-22T22:36:20","modified_gmt":"2013-06-23T02:36:20","slug":"twenty-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=381","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-three"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The truths that are left unknown are often the ugliest.<\/h3>\n

— Erich Quizibian, c. <\/i>5074 PD<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

14 Decem, 5249 PD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frederick was the first in, despite his limp.\u00a0 Daci trailed in his wake, casting looks back over her shoulder, past her fellow Marshals and to the Commonwealth Inspector Brendan was escorting.\u00a0 Lindsay swallowed hard.<\/p>\n

That can\u2019t be the inspector.\u00a0 He\u2019s too young for that.<\/i><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t he?<\/i><\/p>\n

She glanced toward Frederick and for the first time, she realized how young he must have been when Mimir died, when he ran point on that investigation and it almost cost him his life.\u00a0 Though neither he nor her parents or her aunt and uncle were necessarily young<\/i>, they certainly weren\u2019t anywhere near past their prime.\u00a0 Mimir had died before she was born, probably before the inspector had been, too.<\/p>\n

Plenty of time to grow up with Frederick Rose as your martyred hero.<\/i>\u00a0 She felt the feather-light brush of Brendan\u2019s thoughts against hers and glanced toward him, just barely catching sight of his brief, faint smile. He was thinking the same thing.<\/p>\n

She straightened from her lean against the sideboard.\u00a0 \u201cInspector.\u00a0 Welcome to Halo Ridge.\u00a0 Our hosts are seeing to some refreshments.\u00a0 Please, have a seat.\u201d\u00a0 She waved toward the array of chairs lining either side of the long antique dining table.<\/p>\n

Adam arched a brow slightly at her even as Rachel smiled.\u00a0 \u201cInspector Winston, this is Consul Lindsay Farragut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winston\u2019s brows knit momentarily as he leaned across the wide, dark surface of the table to shake her hand.\u00a0 \u201cYoung to be on the Rose Council, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay smiled faintly.\u00a0 \u201cAren\u2019t you young to be a Commonwealth Inspector on a solo mission?\u201d<\/p>\n

He smiled ruefully. \u201cTouch\u00e9.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pleasure to meet you, Consul.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope it will be likewise, Inspector.\u00a0 Please, have a seat.\u00a0 Doctor and Consul Grace will be joining us in a few minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winston blinked.\u00a0 \u201cHusband and wife?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBrother and sister,\u201d Brendan correct as he came around the table to sink into the chair next to Lindsay.\u00a0 \u201cThis is the house their late parents built.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh.\u201d\u00a0 Winston settled quietly into his own chair.\u00a0 The Marshals, Rachel, and Frederick likewise seated themselves as Kara and Ezra joined them.\u00a0 Kara had a pot of tea and a tray of tiny sandwiches and tarts while Ezra followed behind, juggling the array of mugs and plates that they\u2019d need to enjoy the perfunctory refreshments.\u00a0 Brendan stood from his seat quickly to help, earning a nod of silent thanks from Ezra as he relieved his friend of some of his burdens.<\/p>\n

\u201cInspector, this is Dr. Ezra Grace and Consul Kara Grace-Forester,\u201d Adam said quietly as he took the teapot from Kara and settled it on the table. \u201cKara, Ezra, this is Inspector Timrel Winston of the New Earth Commonwealth Inspector General Corps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winston opened his mouth to greet the pair, but he was cut off.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have questions.\u201d Rachel leaned forward slightly, steepling her fingers as she studied Winston, her voice quiet.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019ll get your answers to them about the Whispers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou said you have footage,\u201d Winston said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll need access to that if I\u2019m going to find out who attacked the Wanderers there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll get it,\u201d Rachel assured him, her voice still quiet.\u00a0 Lindsay felt an uncomfortable flutter in her stomach.\u00a0 What was her aunt doing?<\/p>\n

\u201cI sense a \u2018but\u2019 coming,\u201d Winston observed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re very astute,\u201d Rachel said.\u00a0 \u201cThere is a but coming.\u00a0 You\u2019ll get access to the films once we\u2019re satisfied that you\u2019re not just here to rubber stamp a decision that\u2019s already been made back on New Earth\u2014possibly before you were ever dispatched here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winston just stared at her, the color draining from his face.\u00a0 His hands, which had been laid flat on the table, curled slowly into fists.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m here to find the truth<\/i>, Speaker,\u201d he said firmly.\u00a0 \u201cNo one back on New Earth is going to tell me what my findings are.\u00a0 Sephora Damerian is well aware of that.\u00a0 It\u2019s why she sent me instead of someone else.\u00a0 I can\u2019t be bought.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced toward Frederick for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cMuch like you and she couldn\u2019t be bought back in the days after Mimir.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frederick nodded slowly, leaning back in his chair. \u201cThough that\u2019s not to say we weren\u2019t approached quietly once or twice\u2014more she than I.\u00a0 After I called out Senator Cormack for trying to bribe me into looking the other way on another case, I gained a reputation for being incorruptible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just made him a more tempting target,\u201d Daci muttered.\u00a0 Frederick glanced at her and she just shook her head. \u201cThey didn\u2019t approach you because they were too busy approaching me\u2014thinking that where they\u2019d failed to influence you, I might succeed.\u00a0 I turned them all down flat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay reached for Brendan\u2019s hand under the table.\u00a0 Suddenly, our situation seems a lot easier to handle.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYou never told me,\u201d Frederick said softly.\u00a0 \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you say something?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd make you an even bigger target?\u00a0 You\u2019d have gone after them, Frederick.\u00a0 You\u2019d have gone after them and that only could have spelled more trouble for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frederick looked like he was about to say more, but Rachel cleared her throat, staring pointedly at the pair for a moment.<\/p>\n

Yes.\u00a0 What Brendan and I have to deal with is much, much easier to handle than that.<\/i><\/p>\n

Rachel waited a moment longer before she turned her attention back to Winston.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, Inspector.\u00a0 I think that allays our concerns to a certain degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut only to a certain degree.\u201d Winston smiled wryly.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you need from me before I get the answers I need?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnswers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay sucked in a breath, gaze snapping toward Alana Chase, who stood in the doorway, ramrod straight, face nearly as pale as her flaxen hair and her once-cybered arm cradled in a sling.\u00a0 Even as everyone else twisted to look at her, Ezra started to rise from his seat, shock etched in every line of his face.<\/p>\n

Alana waved him back into his seat and then focused on Winston again.\u00a0 \u201cWe need answers.\u00a0 The Commonwealth allows all manner of atrocities to be perpetuated, all sorts of indignities suffered, and they do nothing<\/i> to stop them.\u00a0 But the minute it looks like the Foundation might even be peripherally involved in the death of a planet\u2014a planet that died in a no more or less spectacular way than Mimir\u2014the newsnets light up, the Parliament starts talking about sanctions and worse, and a Commonwealth Inspector shows up on our doorstep and demands answers.\u00a0 Well, you\u2019ll not get them until I get mine, Inspector.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stabbed a finger at Lindsay.\u00a0 \u201cHer parents were held for two decades<\/i> by two different congloms as bloody test subjects because they had the misfortune not only to have been born psychic, but to have led the survivors on Mimir in their fight to hold on to what was left of their bloody planet.\u00a0 That was well after her father was conceived because the Eurydice Compact dangled my grandmother in front of an ambassador for the Psychean Guard\u2014hoping to gain leverage and an asset by holding her.\u00a0 Thanks be to whatever gods still exist that Alexander Channing had the sense to listen to the woman when she said to take his son and run<\/i> and not to look back.\u201d\u00a0 Alana prowled closer to the table like a wolf moving in on its kill.\u00a0 \u201cThe congloms use children as weapons and soldiers, Inspector.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Winston took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.\u00a0 \u201cThere are a lot of things the congloms do that I may or may not be aware of\u2014and may or may not be able to do anything about, no matter how much I many want to, Miss\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cColonel,\u201d Alana said, her tone clipped.\u00a0 \u201cColonel Alana Chase, late of the Foundation defense forces and late of the Eurydice Compact\u2019s Death\u2019s Head Brigade.\u201d\u00a0 She leaned toward him.\u00a0 \u201cI was their weapon<\/i>,\u201d she breathed, her blue-eyed gaze intense.\u00a0 The seething rage that rolled off her longtime friend made Lindsay shiver, made her fingers tighten around Brendan\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

When she glanced at her husband for the barest moment, she saw that his lips had compressed into a fine, pale line, his eyes wide but gaze flinty.\u00a0 Somehow, impossibly, he must have expected this.<\/p>\n

I wonder how.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a refugee from the Compact.\u201d\u00a0 Winston\u2019s words were accompanied by a tone of wonderment, as if he couldn\u2019t quite believe what he\u2019d heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a defector<\/i> from the Compact,\u201d Alana corrected, straightening.\u00a0 \u201cI came here to protect my cousin because her father couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 The assets<\/i> that the Compact and Chinasia are demanding returned\u2014they\u2019re in this room<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 Her voice dropped to a hiss.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re human beings<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winston straightened in his chair, sucking in a deep breath.\u00a0 \u201cI was afraid of that,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 He looked up at Alana slowly.\u00a0 \u201cYou, then.\u00a0 And Commander Cho, unless I\u2019m mistaken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Alana said.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not mistaken.\u201d\u00a0 Some of her anger seemed to drain away momentarily.\u00a0 Her gaze flicked toward Ezra, who sat next to his sister, pale-faced in shock, his jaw tight and hands locked around his mug of tea in a death-grip.\u00a0 Her expression softened, though only for a moment.\u00a0 Then the steel was back, the angry fire in her eyes, the killer\u2019s mask dropping back over her face.\u00a0 \u201cI imagine they\u2019re rather\u00a0 miffed at losing America Farragut and Grant Channing as well, though I think if they were to admit that they\u2019d held them for as long as they have, even the Commonwealth\u00a0 may have something to say about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She leaned toward him, almost into his face.\u00a0 \u201cWhy does the Commonwealth allow it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAllow what?\u201d\u00a0 Winston seemed genuinely confused by the question.\u00a0 Lindsay winced at the subtle shift that caused in Alana\u2019s expression, tilting her even closer to the very edge of her control.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllow child soldiers,\u201d Alana snapped.\u00a0 \u201cAllow the destruction of our humanity from our most tender beginnings.\u201d\u00a0 She pointed to her arm, the one that was no longer sheathed in metal as it once had been.\u00a0 \u2018They started molding me into a killer when I was eight years old<\/i>.\u00a0 Eight<\/i>.\u00a0 They cut into my body and sowed the seeds for what they turned me into.\u201d\u00a0 She looked at Brendan. \u201cWhen did they take you from your parents?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was ten,\u201d Brendan said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cMost of my training cadre didn\u2019t survive to become pilots, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winston was white.<\/p>\n

Adam cleared his throat quietly.\u00a0 \u201cYou didn\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Winston said, his voice a bare whisper.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 I\u2014I should have known, but I never\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t want to,\u201d Alana said bitterly.\u00a0 \u201cNo one ever does.\u00a0 The Commonwealth is useless.\u00a0 It can\u2019t protect anyone.\u201d\u00a0 She straightened, looking toward Rachel.\u00a0 \u201cWe can only protect ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that, she pivoted on her heel and walked out the door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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