She took a step and raised a hand to her chin, indicating deep thought; and Tybalt nodded his agreement during the pause.
Her eyes flashed up. "I suggest, Lord Emperor, that we allow the Rebels to gain some ground. Perhaps a shipment of arms might fall to them? And afterward, suppose a green commander took a punitive force into the field? Let's assume that details of his orders and command were somehow to fall into Targan hands. And if there were a foul-up in the chain of command at the critical moment, would it not be possible that our situation might appear desperate enough to appeal to the Companions and their sense of vanity in arms?" She raised an eyebrow.
It might indeed work. Oh, how precious my Ily is. Had I a complete Council of her caliber — Staffa and his butchers be damned — I'd have the whole of Free Space in my very palm! Indeed, there has to be a likely candidate to promote. Staff Second Kapitol? No, too much family clout there. Perhaps someone from the lower ranks, an insignificant man.
It began to come together.
"And the First Targan Assault Division — already decimated once — could be launched again into the fray," Tybalt noted. After all, it had only recently been filled with the rankest of the inexperienced drawn from twenty different reserve cadres. "Nothing there to lose."
"In the meantime, Lord Emperor, I will await your verdict on my report." Ily bowed her head submissively, a mockery only Tybalt could understand as he stared at the falling veils of her glossy black hair.
He turned to his own equipment. "My Lord Minister of Internal Security. Your report and recommendations are accepted and approved. I only have one other order: Find Staffar
Private Sohnar came aware slowly, his mind piecing itself together, drawing strings of thought into a continuous whole.
Pain filtered through the black recesses of unconsciousness. Pain made it difficult to align thoughts into a coherent string.
"Sohnar?"
The voice sifted through the pain and confusion, giving him something with which to identify. Sohnar, thats me. Thats me, repeated in his hazy mind, a simple fact he could cling to.
"Sohnar? Wake up now. You should be able to hear us."
The voice came louder, and through the pain, he managed to feel his body, tingling in places, but still there. The effort to move his tongue came automatically. He recoiled from the dry, desiccated feel of his mouth.
"Water," he heard himself croak, awed by the quality of his voice.
Soothing wetness filled his mouth, causing him to almost choke as the gag reflex triggered. His reeling mind recovered, swallowed, and sought more of the wondrous liquid.
"Sohnar, we must talk," the voice came again, distinct this time.
He sought the familiar neural pathways and blinked his
eyes open. Images and colors blurred his vision. He heard:
"Give him a couple more ccs of stimulant."
The prick of the injection barely penetrated the mantle of pain. Warmth rushed through him, allowing his thoughts to coalesce.
"Sohnar?" The voice asked, mild, compassionate.
"Yes." He sounded better now as he sucked on a small plastic tube of liquid.
"What happened last night?" The gentle voice soothed him, making him feel safe.
Last night? What did that mean?
"Last night, Sohnar. I can see confusion on your face. What happened?" A pause while he tried to sort it out and then the voice reminded him. "You were on guard duty."
An image formed in Sohnar's stumbling mind. "Yes. Walking the compound."
"That's right."
He searched his memory, struggling to recall. "Boring. Terribly boring."
"Did you see anything unusual?"
He felt himself try to nod, pain lancing at the back of his neck.
"What?" the voice prodded through the pain, bringing him back to the wavering image.
"Officers. Two officers. Man and a woman." Yes, he could remember. Both coming down the white wooden stairs from the First Assault Division Headquarters. Sohnar explained slowly, having trouble with the words.
"What did you do?"
Sohnar thought, closing his eyes so the blurred images outside didn't confuse the ones in his mind.
"Saluted."
"Good for you. and then?"
What? Sohnar thought, trying to pull the pieces from his wobbling, shifting thoughts. "Not right," he whispered to himself, remembering.
"What was not right, Sohnar?"
"The woman," he added, remembering her face. Drawn, white, nervous. "And. And. "
"Go on. And what?" the soothing voice prodded. "It is vitally important that we know, Sohnar. Please. please, we need you to remember."
Important. Must know. Sohnar struggled, his mind starting to shy away from the thoughts. A feeling of something terrible stirred in his subconscious. It came to him.
"Her armor," Sohnar remembered. "Bloody. Thought she might have been on a raid. Scared. She was scared."
More began to fill in the blind spots. "The man, big man, dark-skinned, saluted. Good soldier doesn't question an officer. I returned to my patrol."
"Yes, Sohnar, go on," the gentle voice caressed him.
"Walked around the perimeter fence," Sohnar added, seeing his route through the lighted section behind the First Division Headquarters. "Saw them again. At the electrical panel behind the headquarters."
The horror trembled beneath his memory. Fear began to mix with the pain he lived.
"Good work, Sohnar, don't let us down now, son. We need you. Need your report."
"They. they did something to chips in the box. I walked. walked quietly. Could hear them talking. The man spoke. Said, hat's good. Red-green to white-blue. That reconnects the alarm.' "
Sohnar hesitated.
"And then?"
"Then. Then. " Sohnar swallowed, his mouth gone dry again. "The woman closed the box and she leaned against the wall. Sick. Sick. She threw up on the ground. The man put his arm around her shoulder. Comforting, you know?"
"You're doing fine, Sohnar. Tell us all of it. You are so important."
A shaking tried to climb out of Sohnar's mind. Fear tangled his speech center, making him utter strange noises.
'"Give him a half cc to calm him. This is the critical part."
Another slight prick and Sohnar felt his fear recede— unfortunately, so did some of his carefully maintained coherency.
"Continue, Sohnar," the gentle voice prompted.
"Walked forward… to see… if I could. help her. Saw. her look… up. Amber eyes." Fear, despite the repression, surged again. Stubbornly, Sohnar fought with all his Ashtan bull-headedness. "She made. strange noise.
I… only. help her. To help her. Didn't have. time to react."
His voice locked.
In his mind, Sohnar relived that moment, watched in horror as the woman tensed, the man stepping to one side, pulling a pistol from his belt.
Sohnar, understanding too late, crouched, bringing his blaster up, turning to meet the man. The barest flicker of movement caught at the edge of his vision.
The woman — he'd forgotten the woman! An iron grip caught his throat, stifling the scream of warning. He'd tried to turn, looking into her face. So pretty. The image barely flashed across his mind as he tried to pull back, scared. Her knee caught him low in an explosion of pain only partially absorbed by the combat armor.
He'd tried to back-heel her, throw her off, but something warm and wrong flickered in his belly. Terror had blinded him as his body went oddly weak and he sagged in her grip while his lungs burned for want of air.
And as it all went dizzy, he slumped in her arms, eyes locked with hers. falling.