Valiant

wall acted like a one-way mirror, giving them an unobstructed view of Rione as she sat down and stared ahead rigidly at what to her was a blank wall. Iger tapped controls, activating the devices that would not only monitor Rione’s external physical signs but also conduct remote brain scans and other measures to provide clear evidence if the person in the interrogation room was lying or telling the truth.

Iger turned to Geary. “Sir, uh, who…?”

“I’ll ask.”

The lieutenant tapped another control and nodded to Geary.

Geary composed himself, then spoke clearly, knowing his words were being repeated inside the interrogation room.

“Co-President Victoria Rione, did you have any prior knowledge of the worms found within the jump systems of Dauntless and other Alliance fleet ships?”

“No.” The single word was as hard and direct as a grapeshot volley.

Readouts before Geary glowed green.

“Do you have any knowledge of any malware on Alliance fleet ships?”

“Now I do,” Rione replied coldly.

Geary winced. He’d have to phrase his questions better. “Did you have any knowledge of any kind regarding the modifications to the security settings on either my or Captain Desjani’s staterooms prior to my telling you?”

“No.”

“Did you have anything at all to do with those modifications? ”

“No.”

“Have you taken any actions which might harm any ship in the Alliance fleet?”

“No.”

“Do you know of anyone else who is taking or planning such actions?”

“Not for certain. I only suspect certain individuals of being involved.”

Geary paused, trying to think of other questions, then glanced at Lieutenant Iger. Iger nodded, licked his lips nervously, then spoke with the emotionless calm of a trained interrogator. “Co-President Rione, would you notify proper authorities if you had any suspicion of any harmful actions directed toward the Alliance or any ship or person in this fleet who is carrying out their duties toward the Alliance?”

“Yes, I would.”

“Would you harm or allow to come to harm this ship?”

“No.”

“Would you harm or allow to come to harm anyone on this ship?”

“That would depend upon whether or not I had good reason to believe they were acting against the Alliance.”

Every indicator still glowed green. Iger tapped a control again, then spoke to Geary. “Sir, all indications show truthfulness in every answer. She’s, uh, not happy, but in her own mind she’s being truthful, and her answers are short and direct.”

Geary took a long look at the readouts. All confirmed Iger’s words, though “not happy” was a nice way of saying that the readouts indicated high levels of anger. He wondered how much of that anger was directed at him, how much at Desjani, and how much at the enemy. I’ve got Rione in the one place where I could know what her every answer meant. Just how much did you get emotionally involved with me? How do you feel now? Would you justify trying to harm Tanya Desjani by thinking of her as a danger? But he couldn’t ask those questions. Even if Lieutenant Iger weren’t here, asking them would break the implicit bargain under which Rione had agreed to enter an interrogation room. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Let’s get Madam Co-President out of there. There’ll be a fleet commanding officers conference in a few hours. I want you present.”

“Yes, sir.” Lieutenant Iger seemed baffled this time. Such conferences had become political meetings over the course of the last century, backroom gatherings where deals could be cut and senior officers jockey for support from more junior commanding officers. Lesser beings were excluded so they couldn’t be aware of the political maneuverings their seniors were debating.

“You looked at the things I asked you to examine? On the far side of Syndic space?”

“Yes, sir.” Iger’s expression shifted to worry again. “Who are they? Who’s on the other side of Syndic space, sir?”

“No idea, Lieutenant. The most-senior Syndic leaders know. Do you agree with me that whoever or whatever they are, they’ve intervened actively against this fleet?”

“Yes, sir,” Iger repeated. “They must have been responsible for diverting that big Syndic flotilla to Lakota. But why?”

“We don’t know, can’t know, for certain. The best guess is that they want humanity tied down in this war, and they were afraid we’d get the Syndic hypernet key home and gain a decisive advantage. But that’s still just a guess.” Iger nodded unhappily. “We won’t discuss that at the conference, and I don’t want you informing anyone else. But I need you thinking about it, and about anything you might see or have seen within intelligence channels that might provide more information about the threat.”

“I understand, sir.”

After Rione joined them, Lieutenant Iger led her and Geary back out into the passageway, where the dim night-cycle illumination and lack of other traffic came as a slightly jarring reminder that the official day was still a few hours away from starting.

Rione waited until they were alone, then spoke in a voice so soft Geary could barely hear. “Who framed me?”

“If we knew that, we’d know who planted those worms.”

“Not necessarily. It could be a totally separate action. I know what you were thinking. I’m not the only woman on this ship capable of acting out of jealousy.”

It took him a moment to realize what Rione meant. “Captain Desjani would not act that way.”

“I’m glad you’re so confident of that.”

Geary glared at Rione. “Tanya Desjani is a very direct person. If she wanted to hurt you, she’d hunt you down and beat you up. She’d confront you face-to-face. You’ve been on this ship long enough to know that.”

Rione glared back for a moment, then dropped her gaze. “Yes. She’s not the sort to stab someone in the back.”

“I’ve really got enough problems right now without you two sniping at each other.”

“Are you going to tell her that?”

Geary realized for the first time that Rione had long since stopped referring to Tanya Desjani by her name. “I did, and I will. I need both of you.”

Rione raised her eyes to Geary’s, her expression sardonic. “You need both of us? Tonight, perhaps? I’m shocked.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I know what you think you mean.” Rione shrugged. “My loyalty is to the Alliance, Captain Geary. I’ll do what’s necessary to support that. Right now, that means supporting you to the best of my ability. Neither you nor she need fear me unless you start acting against the Alliance. You know I’m telling the truth.”

He did, Geary realized, since a slight variation on that statement had registered as true in the interrogation room. “Thank you. I know this isn’t easy.”

“You’d better be referring to the fleet’s situation.”

He eyed her, wondering if he should admit he was also talking about personal issues.

Her eyes blazed as she stared back. “Don’t you dare pity me. I left you.” Rione spun on one heel and walked quickly away.

THE atmosphere inside the conference room was different this time. The tension wasn’t from politics or worry about the Syndics. It was focused inward, with every virtual commanding officer’s presence eyeing those around it as if hoping to see clear signs of who had tried to sabotage the fleet. But eyes also kept going to Lieutenant Iger, who was looking uncomfortably out of place, and to Victoria Rione, who sat so silent and expressionless that she might have been carved from stone.

Geary stood up, and all eyes went to him. “You all know the reason for this conference. I’ve received reports