Broken Vision (14 page)

There was no comfort to be had elsewhere. No matter how he analyzed it, he could see no
way around the inevitable outcome. Duty required he deliver her to the Council for her crimes. He
couldn't fathom how he could do it.

He couldn't fathom how he could not do it.

Unfamiliar emotions boiled in him, tormented him. He had never been so indecisive, so
torn. So tempted to deny his destiny.

"Alerik?" Sharm was becoming just as impatient. In all the rotations they had known each
other, he couldn't remember a time with quite as much disagreement between them.

He wrenched his gaze away from the view of the woman whom fate had chosen as his life
partner. Sleep lent her the illusion of vulnerability. He had to force himself to remember she was
capable of a heinous betrayal.

"My gut says she has to know something about Morgon. If he is involved in this, why
would he apparently abandon her?"

Sharm gave a sharp nod, planted his fists on the console before him, and leaned forward.
"Then our course of action is clear."

Alerik fought to contain a swift rise of hot anger, shocked by the volatility of emotions he
thought he had learned to control long ago. Instinct told him where Sharm was headed and every
cell in his body resisted.

"Nothing is clear. Nothing. I won't--"

"If this were any other prisoner, sir," Sharm snapped, at rigid military attention now,
"you'd have delivered the order by now. We're out of time. We have to release those children, and
we have to deliver the prisoner to the Council."

Pure ice halos squeezed at Alerik's chest as he stared at the man he'd relied on as his
closest friend. With dread, he forced out, "What have you done?"

Sharm's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "Blood of Cor, what do you think I've done?
Nothing. Yet. I'm trying to protect your back and find the slieking switch to your intelligence and
integrity. Ever since we've come to this forsaken wasteland, it's been like watching a ninth
dimension vid. I've never seen you behave so consistently out of character."

"Out of character? I slieking took a life partner! My apologies she doesn't meet with your
approval, but I don't give a burning starpit. And she's no more above the law than I am."

"Then deliver the order."

"I can't give her nectine. Her body's too fragile."

"The medtech says she can tolerate it. We'll take every precaution. Morgon is key to this
whole mess. If she has a clue to his whereabouts, she has to tell us."

"And then what? We have two to deliver to the judgment of the Council?"

Sharm snapped his head sideways and back. "I can't predict the future. All I know is, with
those children in custody, you're bound by oath to surrender Maegan. Failure to do so could mean
impeachment."

The bright amber of his eyes muted to yellow-gold. "Your course is clear, Alerik. You
must let her go. This partnership was a mistake from the beginning. She's not good for you or your
career. There may yet be a way to simply dissolve your bond."

Impotent rage and fear roiling in him, Alerik turned back to the vid screen. Maegan still
slept, her position unchanged. So vulnerable. Everything in him rebelled at his second's words,
except for one small corner of his mind where logic conquered emotion and acknowledged the
truth.

"In my family's entire history," he ground out, "a marriage partnership has never been
severed. My father came close once. The Match Key determined his partner too. He was ready to
let my mother go when he thought she so desperately wanted her freedom from a marriage that was
forced upon her. Turns out it wasn't what she wanted. It was Maegan's mother, ironically, who
helped him see that."

He rolled his shoulders to ease their tightness and swiveled to face his tormentor again. "I
understand what you're saying. I agree with much of it. The Match Key can burn in the fires of
Crillac. It's her... It's Maegan. There's this connection, this...thing."

He shrugged. "I don't understand it. What I do know is this. I won't abandon her. Even if
she's convicted of treason."

How had it come to this? A choice between a woman and the man with whom he trusted
his life? He had always counted on Sharm Foster for wise council, had rarely rejected it. The
strength of his opposition was enough to make him doubt himself. Until he looked at Maegan.

"But I pledge this to you. I won't drag you down in this. Your objections and
recommendations will be on record."

Sharm quirked an eyebrow. "Not necessary. Just checking."

His military-straight posture dissolved. He retrieved something from his pocket and
slapped it down on the console. "All right, then, let's go find the uncle. What's on there," he nodded
at the small vidchip, "is the complete design of Maegan's vessel, including materials used. We'll
trace the components back to their source and see if that yields anything. We're also trying to
retrieve the vessel's erased log. May not work, but it's worth a try." He patted the chip. "Beautiful
piece of equipment, by the way. Wouldn't mind taking her out."

"Sagar's sacred crystals," Alerik swore. "You set me up!"

"Wouldn't call it that exactly." Sharm retrieved the chip. His mouth stretched in a caustic
grin. "Just wanted to be clear on where we stood. Never really doubted the result. This woman..."
He nodded at the image of Maegan. "...has tied you up in so many ways. Can't wait to see what
happens next. Work on her, Alerik. We truly do not have much time."

* * * *

Maegan was still asleep when, a hanan later, Alerik responded to his comm.

"Just thought you'd like to know." Sharm sounded almost gleeful. "Time's up. Things are
beginning to get interesting. There's a Taragon vessel requesting permission to enter Grogon
airspace and dock on Pallas Five. No information on the passengers, but the transmittal code
indicates a high-ranking political delegation."

"Priests or elders?" Alerik snapped. Blood of Cor, too coincidental. How had they found
out?

"Don't know. You'd better clear your schedule, although they've yet to state their business.
That's not all."

Sharm's deliberate habit of pausing for dramatic effect was becoming annoying. "What
else?"

"Just ahead of them," his second announced cheerfully, "is another illustrious visitor, a
Coalition delegate. Already in the process of docking, and has requested an immediate meeting
with the governor. He's Commander Tiege of the Mariltar Second Fleet. Know him? I don't recall
the name, but he has enough merits to sink a star vessel."

The name tweaked a vague memory, but Alerik was far more concerned about what an
unannounced visit from a Coalition delegate portended. He glanced at the image of Maegan one
more time, then reluctantly closed off the vid screen. Coalition and Taragon delegates at the same
time? Far too coincidental. For a nanonan, he wondered if Sharm had distributed reports without
his authority, but the idea was too implausible. Sharm would never deceive him.

Commander Tiege was a large man who, given his age, was obviously a veteran of the
Great Conflict. He had silver-cold eyes and wasted no energy in restless movement or time in small
talk. Preliminaries over, he refused a seat and stood in the governor's reception room, hands folded
in the sleeves of his robe, a great stillness about him.

"You have Taragon children in custody, Governor. You are holding a relay runner, who is
part of an illegal network formed to extract these children before they reach their destination across
The Divide. I'm sure you're aware of the extreme political sensitivities around this situation. I'm
here to relieve you of responsibility for both parties. Be so good as to have them delivered to my
vessel immediately."

Stunned and chilled to the bone, Alerik forced himself to ask with a calm politeness he
didn't feel, "May I ask where you acquired your information, Commander?"

"Rest assured, there was no breach of security on your side, Governor. We've had
operatives watching this particular traffic for a good while."

"Why was I not informed, since Grogon territory is impacted?"

"Grogon was never part of the relay route. This business did not concern you."

Curious. For a nanonan, he consoled himself with the thought they didn't know that the
relay runner he held was based here or her identity. The nerve endings running down his spine told
him differently. They were beginning to twitch furiously. Always a bad sign.

He made a decision and volunteered, "My patrols captured the runner in Grogon
airspace."

"I'm aware." No hesitation. There wasn't even so much as a blink. "You've also sent patrols
beyond your airspace, Governor. I would suggest care that you do not overstep your authorities
here."

Alerik ground his teeth. There had to be a breach. "I have a human trafficking problem in
this system, sir, and dead bodies turning up on a regular basis. I'll send my patrols where I see fit
within neutral territory."

"Of course." The man's face was like Soron basalt. "The Council has implicit trust in your
leadership, Governor, and does anticipate immediate knowledge of any activity that impacts the
Treaty."

A compliment wrapped around a clear warning. How had the Council learned about the
runner and the Taragon children? All vessels encountered in the course of the patrols were logged.
Source, destination and cargo were all identified. None had operated under the unique code of the
Coalition. None had access to the secure comm links of his security team. An "operative" would
have had to have watched the children's capture, then track the runner team all the way to the point
Maegan was intercepted by his patrols. A virtual impossibility. He resolved to task Sharm with an
audit of the patrol logs.

And to seek out a spy.

"You're aware, Commander, there is a Taragon vessel only a hanan away from
docking?"

"Yes." The man had an extraordinary calmness about him. "I hope our business might be
concluded before then."

Which included surrendering Maegan to this stranger. How could he? It was an inevitable
consequence of her actions that she be turned over to the judgment of the Coalition. He had hoped
for more time. He wasn't prepared. He didn't think he ever would be.

Stalling, he said, "Would it not be better to give the children into the custody of the
Taragon delegation?"

"It was the Council's decision to take custody. I don't question their judgment." For the first
time since he'd entered the reception room, Commander Tiege moved and stepped back with a
respectful nod. "Good day, Governor."

There was almost a surreal aspect to the moment. Conflict raged inside him. So many
questions. Such a strong urge to defy his orders.

"Then what do I tell the Taragon delegation when they ask for their children?"

"That they are in the Council's custody and to petition the Council." With another bow of
his head, Commander Tiege turned and exited the room.

"Balls of Sortor," Alerik muttered. How had he so quickly lost control of the
situation?

Had he ever had control?

He strode through to his private office to the console, and opened a link to the head of his
security team. It took a few nans for Sharm to respond. Alerik paced in a small circle while he
waited. The children he could surrender. There was no choice. He simply couldn't give Maegan up
so easily.

"Yes, sir?"

"Took you long enough," Alerik snapped. "We're in the middle of a situation here. Status
of the Taragon vessel?"

"Taking their time with docking. There seems to be confusion over whether they want
Pallas Four or Five."

"They're aware of my location?"

"They haven't asked for you. They haven't asked for anyone. If we weren't aware of their
probable reason for being here, I'd say they were trying to decide on a recreational venue."

One more mystery to unravel in an increasingly complex problem. "Retrieve the six
Taragon children from Counselor Tipon immediately and deliver them to Commander Tiege's
vessel. Stand by for additional orders."

"Yes, sir."

Alerik touched the vid screen. Maegan's image appeared on the view. She still lay curled in
sleep, achingly vulnerable. This was the hardest task he had ever had to perform in his life. His
breath cramped in his lungs. For several nanonans, time hung suspended as he fought an inner
struggle.

Then he forced air into his lungs, leaned over and touched the comm link. "Maegan, wake
up." He had to repeat himself several times before he saw her stir. Her eyes flickered open. She
lifted her head. "Prepare yourself. I'm transferring you to the custody of the Coalition
Council."

He didn't know what it was he saw on her face for a fleeting nanonan. Betrayal? Shock?
Disbelief? Fires of Crillac, he had never wanted to disavow his chosen life path so much as he did
at that moment.

He'd give her five nans before he'd go collect her himself. He closed off the screen and
began to pace again. There was a leak somewhere. There had to be. Two disparate parties appeared
to have information on the children. His mind worried over the problem, but concern for Maegan
kept disrupting his train of thought.

A triple ping came from his console. A distress code. Blood of Cor, what now? Alerik
rounded the end of the console to view the screen. Sharm's face, pale and tightly drawn,
appeared.

"Yes?"

"It appears, sir, the children may not be with Counselor Tipon."

"Explain." He was in a slieking starpit halo nightmare. If ever there was ninth dimension,
this was it.

"Counselor Tipon's wife went to look for them and it seems they are not in the residence,
sir."

"How could they not be in the residence? It's a secure compound."

"Yes, sir. We don't know, sir. I have a team headed over there. Should I alert Commander
Tiege?"

Alerik paced the length of his console. "Status of the Taragon vessel?"