The Fight for Peace (16 page)

Gabriella’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck off.” She stomped out of his office.

Byran took a slow breath, then grabbed his coat. He needed to call Guard Command and hoped he’d find Gabriella already in her dactyl making that report. Then he’d apologize to her. When he found her plane dark and empty, Byran swore, hoping the night wouldn’t get any worse.

Chapter 19

THE LADY GREY

RECALL TO DUTY

“I need you back here,” Arinna told Jared and signed off, trusting the years they’d fought together that the message would be enough.

Her desire to have Jared hurry to help her deal with the growing unrest in Europe compounded now with Byran’s barely spoken fears pressed her to say more. But she didn’t know the situation in Argentina, just as Jared didn’t know how quickly things unraveled at home. She’d give him a week, and then track him down if he hadn’t returned.

Now though she needed to deal with Gabriella. Arinna trusted Lieutenant Faronelli, But that she’d acted outside of her duty without seeking approval, no matter the limited communications they were under currently, was a problem that needed more than a video call. Especially when Arinna wanted answers and not the excuse that communications might be compromised. In the toss up of which worry was overriding, the fears of her being in the same room with FLF elite, tapped communications lines, or a Lieutenant taking too much authority, Arinna decided dealing with Gabriella was primary.

“I’m going to the peace negotiations,” she told Kehm when she walked into Command and waited to see if he’d argue.

Kehm had patched the call from Byran through to her, and stayed on to monitor the line. He knew what had been said. They stared at each other a moment.

“Lieutenant Assa
d—
”

“Has been a Co-Commander with her for years. He shouldn’t be the one to question Gabriella. Nor does he have the authority. I’m going. While I’m gone you are in charge of Europe.”

Kehm gagged. “Farrak is still in Europe!”

Arinna curtailed her desire to laugh. “And will be very good as a Field Commander if there is an emergency. As will Lieutenant O’Dell. Relax, Kehm, it should be only a day, if that long. I take the concerns over my safety there to heart. I don’t intend to stay. Who knows, maybe Captain Vries will return.”

“I can only hope,” Kehm said under his breath. “All of these years and you’ve never left me in charge.”

Arinna wasn’t sure if the comment was a question or accusation. She clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a slight squeeze. “What we face now isn’t like anything in the past. I don’t need field experience. I need someone who can see the big picture and keep all the pieces from shattering. Out of everyone, I know you can do that best.”

He gave her a half smile in answer, but she saw the brightness in his eyes. Command might make him nervous, but having him in charge while she was away made her feel better.

Arinna arrived at the monastery before dawn. The wind howling across the mountain top made landing the dactyl a challenge, especially in such close quarters to three others. But it also masked the sound of her arrival. The biting cold of the wind stalled her breath as she ran between the other planes, using them as a windbreak more than a method of screening her movements. It took a minute of pounding to get someone to unlock the door, though she was pleased to see it locked. From Byran’s report, security had become a worry for her.

The soldier who opened the door had a gun ready, which he nearly dropped when he saw who waited on the other side. The young woman snapped to attention, holding the door as Arinna entered.

“Lieutenant Faronelli is staying in the officer’s quarters?” Arinna asked as she pulled off ice crusted gloves that felt to have done nothing to protect her hands. The location was confirmed and Arinna waved off the offer to escort her. “Guard the door. Actually, relay the message to double all security.”

Arinna chafed her hands warm as she walked up the stairs to the second floor. The hallway was silent with the early hour. Despite an urge to see Byran and learn more from him, Arinna hoped he slept. He’d looked to need it when they’d spoken the night before the first time. On the second call he’d looked like a man who’d never known a night’s rest. But he was not the reason she was there. Instead, she tapped on Gabriella’s door.

As a minute passed, Arinna contemplated breaking down the door to open it. She’d be damned if she tapped again. Just as she truly considered acting on her impulsive anger, the latch slid back. Gabriella opened her door with a snarl that froze as she recognized her Commanding Officer.

“Hangover?” Arinna asked, leaning against the door jamb. Gabriella still wore her military pants and had hurriedly thrown on a t-shirt that was backwards and inside out.

Gabriella sent a narrow-eyed glance down the hallway toward Byran’s door before responding. “No, ma’am.”

“Good. I need to speak to you.” Arinna walked into Gabriella’s room without waiting for an invitation.

By the time Gabriella had reported every small fact she had gathered about the FLF delegates, Arinna knew she wouldn’t pull the Lieutenant from her current duty. But it didn’t erase the level Gabriella had taken her investigation to without authorization.

“You knew Damir before the war?” Arinna asked.

Gabriella twitched a frown. “I think so, but I’m not certain. I was new with the Italian Intelligence and so young. I’d heard of a Russian agent. He wasn’t called Damir. But the description fits and the face ... from an old photograph and memory I would say it is him.”

“But you had never met him in person before?”

“No,” Gabriella affirmed, dark eyes sincere.

“So why would he recognize you?”

Gabriella didn’t flinch, her gaze remaining steady. “I don’t know. As I said, I was young and new. Hardly someone who should capture the interest, much less be known, to an agent of his level.” Arinna waited, the howling wind audible through the glass of the window. “Is there anything else, Captain?”

“Anxious, Lieutenant?”

“The delegates will be preparing to go to the chapel. If I’m not with them, the FLF will know something is amiss. I ... wasn’t certain if you wanted any suspicion or knowledge you are here?”

“There is something else,” Arinna said, leaning over Gabriella’s desk from where she stood. “Treat your Prime Minister with more respect. He outranks you. Do not forget that again, and from now on report all activity, regularly.”

“But the comm line
s—
”

“Are only one means of communication. Start regular recon flights and talk then. Or have an officer drop off information. There are three dactyls sitting outside. You will not meet with any of the FLF alone unless it is with my or Captain Vries’ permission. There is no ‘down time’ while you are here. I will not hear of you having drinks again, much less drinks with the enemy. Is that understood?”

Gabriella swore that it was, but Arinna did not like the glint in Gabriella’s eyes as if the Lieutenant was insulted. It made Arinna hesitate to release Gabriella to her obligations, but a knock sounded on the door. Arinna expected a Guard soldier when she opened it. Instead she found Byran.

They stared at each other a moment, both too surprised to speak.

“Yo
u—
”

“Shh. In,” Arinna said, with a nod of her head as she stood back from the door. “Gabriella, get dressed. You have five minutes before you need to escort everyone down to the chapel.”

Gabriella shot to her feet, though her march into her bedroom looked more angry than under orders. Arinna rubbed her eyes, ending with a pinch across her nose.

“I had to come. Things should ... be better now. But let me know if they aren’t, if you sense anything wrong,” Arinna told him quietly. “I trust your instincts, Byran.”

“I’ve been wrong before.” He kept his voice low, but it held more warmth than the tone demanded.

Arinna gave a soft snort. “Not entirely. Some people are just more stubborn than you realize. It’s good to see you. You look like shit.”

“Feel it too,” he said with a jaunty smile. “How bad are things in Europe?”

“Not good. You need to wrap this up and get back for some hard decisions, I’m afraid.”

“They won’t feel so hard if I have a hot shower and real bed, plus Isabella and the kids,” he admitted. “A few days, I think. This will be over with or without an agreement. We are at that point. I wish we had more time.” He hesitated, his gaze on her face as the door to Gabriella’s bedroom swung open. “I want to hear, really hear, what is going on at home.”

“This is what you need to worry about,” she said, giving his arm a squeeze before stepping away. “I’ll wait here until you are off the floor, Lieutenant, Prime Minister.”

Arinna gave them a few minutes longer than needed, taking stock of the room as cold slipped into the space. It gave her a chill. The monastery had bothered her since she’d first seen it. Before that when Jared and Derrick had said no to the location. Yet here they were.

Arinna slipped downstairs and out to her dactyl, happy to see the guards at the doors doubled. As she settled into the pilot chair, the front door of the monastery opened. A soldier walked out, motioning her way. Damir stuck his head out, eyes locking on hers. The only way Arinna kept herself from firing was to slide her dactyl sideways and over the edge of the cliff.

The good news when she returned was that Captain Vries was on his way home. The GPS on his plane put him near Africa and he was moving at a good clip. He wouldn’t be back today, but it would be soon. It gave her an idea.

“Kehm, have it overheard by Warrant Officer Chris Makkonen that I ordered Jared back from his mission and he is unhappy about it. Add any other details along those lines that you can think of,” she told him before leaving Command.

Two days later when Jared’s dactyl settled into base, she waited in Command alone with Kehm. Jared sauntered in a few minutes later, green eyes taking in the silent Command Center before landing on Arinna.

“You are that mad about Ilse Royale?” Jared asked.

“I wish you being a pain in the ass was my only problem,” she said in return, arms crossed. “Did you learn anything useful by that stunt?”

Jared blinked. “Yeah, how do the shields work in water?”

Arinna swore. “I guess we’ll have to figure that out. I’ll add it to the list.”

Jared’s gaze wavered between her and the silent Kehm. “So this isn’t a need to run tests either, is it? What is happening?”

“I haven’t touched the shields since you left and what’s happening ... I hardly know where to start,” Arinna said with a sigh.

“Oh, let me,” Kehm began.

“She what?” Jared asked when they got to Gabriella. “I will speak to her abo
u—
”

“Captain Prescot already did,” Kehm said to explain Arinna’s laughter.

“Please tell me you ordered her
here
.”

“And leave our delegates without a Commander?” Arinna retorted. “No. I went there. If you want to yell at me for it, I will bring up Isle Royale.”

Jared gave her a hard stare a moment longer before looking away with a snort. “Fair enough, I suppose. I really didn’t think they’d have planes.”

“The former United States? The FLF took the country by pretending to blow it up, but you didn’t think they’d keep planes?” Kehm asked. “Who knows what else they have hidden around the area.”

Jared shrugged at that. “I hadn’t thought about that. It isn’t like they are flying down to Free Argentina and attacking them.”

“No, but there is the underground bunker at the old border,” Arinna pointed out. “They could have that stockpiled. Not to mention the one you ran into in Central America. If it comes to moving against Isle Royale, we are going to have problems beyond electric shields and a big lake.”

“Great. I’m starting to hope the peace negotiations work out. I don’t think we can stage a war that large on another continent,” Jared said.

“Not alone.” Arinna gave him a half smile. “How are things in Argentina?”

“Progressing,” Jared said, eyes flashing at her look. “You’re thinking we’ll need their help? They won’t be trained soldiers.”

“But they’ll be fighters and they’ll be fighting the power that held them and their families as slaves. I think they’ll do okay.”

“True. I’ll see if I can dig up more weapons. Derrick was bemoaning how we blew up Tashkent.”

“Hah, I hated doing it, but we were in a tight spot.”

Jared eyed her, waiting for more. Arinna didn’t rise to the bait. He crossed his arms and leaned against his desk in Command.

Kehm gave the pair of them an exasperated look. “I think I’ll head down to check some relays on your dactyl. The GPS blinked out a few times on your way back and I want to make sure tech looks at it. I’ll also find out how they are coming along on installing shields on the transports.”

She and Jared were still in a staredown as Kehm left, neither acknowledging his departure.

“Stop playing matchmaker,” Arinna warned, knowing she couldn’t order him anymore. Jared shook his head, unfolding though he didn’t stand. “We are getting along fine. Be happy for that.”

“Sure you are, and I only bring it up because we are friends.”

“Of course, because if you spoke as Captain of the Guard, you’d be telling me how wrong an affair with him is ... was.”

His glance flashed back to her on the last word. “It’s over? That why neither of you are talking about it? And why he put half the world between you?” Arinna refused to answer. “I wondered why he wouldn’t say anything on the flight north.”