“I’m with you, sir,” Kurin said, glancing at Gossin.
“I am, too,” Cosper said.
“With you,” McLenard said.
“Thank you,” Ky said. All those who’d been in the life raft with her were nodding, leaning forward. Some of those who’d been in the other raft looked frightened still.
“The admiral’s right,” Gossin said with a slap on the table. “I’m with her. I didn’t understand before, but when I put it all together, from the shuttle crash to here, she’s made good decisions and we’re alive now because of them.”
“And,” Ky said, “there will be a legal investigation after we get back to Port Major. Staff Sergeant Gossin and Tech Betange have a record of the investigation they performed in the armory, and my testimony. So, questions?”
“You didn’t notice anything wrong before?” Droshinski asked.
“I noticed some things that troubled me,” Ky said. “But I attributed them to the stress of the crash and the difficulties we faced. No one is perfect; the struggle to survive exposes everyone. Looking back, I can certainly see things I might—in another context—have identified more clearly.”
“You never let Master Sergeant Marek borrow your pistol to go hunting,” Kurin said. “Was that one of them?”
“Yes. It seemed off that he kept asking. But even more, from my own experience, I’m not likely to hand over my only weapon to anyone.” She looked around the group. “I’ll be re-interviewing each of you individually. From the evidence, Master Sergeant Marek was part of a larger conspiracy, the kind of thing someone could be caught up in without knowing it, and the kind that might threaten the life of everyone here.” Should she drop the final bombshell? Yes. “We must prepare for the arrival of troops that may not be intent on rescue but on protecting a secret.”
“You really think that—?”
“It’s possible; I think it’s likely. I know this base was kept secret; people who keep secrets generally want them kept, and it would have taken a lot of power and money to keep this one.” When no one said anything or raised a hand, she went on. “It will be necessary to change duty assignments and rotations since we have fewer personnel. Staff Sergeant Gossin will prepare preliminary profiles for me that highlight combat and communications skills. We may be able to circumvent the communications lockout that we’ve experienced—” A hand went up. She nodded at Tech Hazarika.
“Admiral, won’t that just bring down the—whoever they are—on us faster?”
“Not if we can link directly to Rector Vatta without it being detected,” Ky said. “If I can contact Rector Vatta, so she knows we’re alive and where we are, I believe she will mount a rescue as soon as the weather allows. But the others might get here first. We need to be ready.”
The faces ranged from blank to worried again. That wasn’t good. She replayed her last words in her mind. She knew better: just facts weren’t what they needed now. She made herself relax. Smile.
“I’m convinced we can survive anything,” she said. “That’s what we are—survivors.” She paused. Two of the blank faces relaxed into an expression—not of confidence, not yet, but no longer frozen. “We’ve proved it, since the shuttle ditched. If we’d been easy to kill, if we’d been weak or stupid, we’d be dead.” A few grins now.
“When Simon and Lazy stole rations and ate the puffer fish and died—” Corporal Barash scowled.
“They were stupid. You lot—you were smart and tough when it was hard, when you were seasick, cold, hungry, scared.” She waited, letting them remember it. “And we’re still here. In spite of everything, you all—every one of you—did the right thing time after time. You never gave up. Minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. And I know you will keep at it, one task at a time, one day at a time, until we’re home.”
“But if they—the ones coming—”
“Whatever they do, whoever they are, we will make it,” Ky said. “We have time. We’re not going to sit here and make it easy for them. So: what I’m asking you all, right now, is this.” She saw them stiffen again, bracing for something near-impossible. “Who’s hungry? I missed breakfast; we all missed lunch. I could use a snack, and I’m sure you could, too. Who’re today’s cooks?”
Droshinski raised her hand. “Inyatta was with me, but she’s—”
“She’s going to be fine, Tech Lundin says. A few days in the medbox. Spec Gurton, I know it was your day off, but you’re our senior cook. Can you fix us something quickly?”
“Right away, Admiral,” Gurton said. She got up and headed for the kitchen. “Ennisay, get the oven going.”
Ky could feel the relaxation, the rising level of confidence, as Ennisay, Droshinski, and Gurton headed for the kitchen. “We’ll spend the rest of the day reorganizing schedules, seeing what mix of expertise we have now, doing routine maintenance, and then after dinner we’ll have another meeting to exchange ideas. The memorial service for Commander Bentik and Master Sergeant Marek will be tomorrow morning at 1000, here in the mess. That should allow time for you all to make sure you have a suitable uniform—”
“You’re giving Marek a memorial service? After he tried to kill you?” Barash again.
Ky felt her brows rising. “Certainly. I have praise for him; he worked hard to make things work for you.” She turned to Sergeant Cosper. “You may return Riyahn to confinement now, Sergeant.”
“Does he get what they’re making?”
“No,” Ky said. “He hasn’t earned it; the rest of you have. Basic rations only.” Riyahn looked ready to cry.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Over the next few days, Ky noticed a healthy change. Staff Sergeant Gossin came to her after the memorial service to thank her for recognizing Marek’s years of service. “You know I served with him once—thought I knew him. This—it was a shock. I wish I’d recognized something was wrong before, Admiral, but I didn’t. He didn’t exactly criticize you, not directly, so it didn’t strike me as disloyalty. He was sympathetic—said you were so young and it must be hard for you. But looking back—it made you seem less capable—and that was wrong.”
The group outliers, Betange with his concern about his younger siblings, Kamat with her extraordinary beauty, interacted more with the others. Inyatta, after three days in the medbox, came out cheerful and ready to take hold again. Hazarika didn’t rush to support Droshinski’s drama, and Droshinski herself seemed steadier, less inclined to outbursts, though she was still more exuberant than most of the others. It became obvious which of them Marek had been grooming as conspirators, as attitudes shifted and tension eased. Several came to Ky individually to apologize. And it was also obvious that her aide had been thoroughly involved in Marek’s activities. Those who had never been swayed by Marek’s opinions had a far more negative opinion of Jen than Ky had realized.
“He was flattering her and she was falling for it,” Droshinski said. Ky, just outside the mess, stopped to listen. Inyatta was on mess duty for the first time since she’d left the clinic. “That was obvious.”
“I just couldn’t believe he was doing anything really bad,” Inyatta said. “I mean—a master sergeant. They’re—”
“Human,” Droshinski said. “Just because he was married, you think he didn’t want some?”
“Anya! They’re both dead—”
“And so what I say can’t hurt them. I’m not saying he was all bad, or she was all bad. I’m saying they were just ordinary people, man and woman, trapped in a survival situation—both vulnerable—isolated from their families—” Droshinski’s voice took on the tone of a vid-thriller ad again.