Page 15 of Enthraller

Clever redirect. Ed approved.

“Not me.” Hyt dropped off the stool and stared at her, eyes narrowed. “And what do you mean, you’re supposed to report to me tomorrow?”

“She’s your new artifact consultant out of Nanganya,” Ed said. “But I guess no one wanted her to start telling the story of her last job for the Nanganya teams to anyone else, where it might actually reach the ears of someone who knows absolute crap when he or she hears it.”

Hyt slowly sat back down. “You’re Wren Thorakis?”

Wren gave a nod.

“And I’ll ask you again, what the hell happened today?” Hyt’s gaze went from Wren to Ed. “Did you know each other before?”

“No.” Ed shot Hyt a disgusted look. “You came to me, remember? Begging me to find you a shapeshifter.”

Hyt’s fists clenched. “I was given data direct from NearSpace Protection that she was not what she seemed. I was given advice from Planetary Administration that the Guan scanner could work to find out what she was, precisely.”

“Thus handily maneuvering you into having Nanganya’s problem child and the last remaining person on Aponi able to use the Guan scanner in one place for a neat double assassination.”

“Problem child?” Hyt asked, and Ed could see he preferred to go in that direction, rather than admit how badly he’d been played. That was fine, Ed could always come back to the topic. And he would.

“Tell me, if you were on location, having rescued Aponian scientists from attack by unfriendlies, would you only assign two soldiers to watch your artifact consultant’s back while she was in the field if the attackers were still out there? And then when she was kidnapped due to the very logical outcome of your incompetence, would you wait six days to go rescue her?” Ed drank some of his jah and watched for Hyt’s reaction over the rim of his cup.

Hut swung his head to Wren. “That happened to you?”

“On Ytla.” She nodded.

“That’s why you requested a transfer? You didn’t trust Nanganya SF any more?”

She nodded again. “They told me heads had rolled, but they gave me no details and I didn’t have to testify to anyone, and no one took a statement from me.”

“Someone from Nanganya is trying to cover their ass, and they tried to use me and my team to do it.” Hyt looked enraged.

“And they’ve bought one of your people, because I’m assuming you still have no other explanation for the shooting,” Ed said.

“I don’t need to look far, now I know this.” Hyt was pacing. “Three weeks ago, I had two Nanganya SF soldiers transfer across to me.”

“Interesting timing,” Ed agreed.

“Given that my transfer only went through two days ago, and I’ve been waiting for a transfer for four months, I’d say that stinks,” Wren said.

“Why do you think they half-assed your protection, and set you up for the kidnap?” Hyt asked her.

“The cult was running low on supplies, and they wanted a hostage in exchange for some more. They tried to get the scientists first, but the scientific team were able to hold them off and call in an SF team to help them. While I was the cult’s prisoner, an Aponian supply craft dropped off a full crate of food and medicines for them, and I heard them saying they’d be able to get at least one more crate before they let the SF team rescue me.”

“Letthem rescue you?” Ed hadn’t heard this part of the story. “So someone on the team, and someone in hostage negotiation, were involved. The cult needed to capture someone so their buddies on Aponi could green light the supplies they needed without too many questions. And you were sacrificed to the cause.”

She’d suspected this, which is why she would no longer work with Nanganya SF, but hearing Ed say it out loud was a huge weight off her shoulders. She thought she could join the dots, but having him do it, too, with even less information than she had, was validating.

She sent him a smile of gratitude and he seemed to go still for a moment before he turned to Hyt.

“Who do you know in Nanganya that you trust?”

“I know Ferris Harden, the Nanganya teams captain. He and I have met at Planetary Admin meetings for the last two years since I was appointed. He’s been a captain for at least six years longer than me.” Hyt tapped his foot against the side of his stool.

“Captain Harden is the one who assured me there would be consequences for the failures on Ytla,” Wren said. “And he fought my request for transfer all the way.”

“There’s Velda Shanïha. She’s the Planetary Head of Defense, which the SF teams come under. She’s got a year left on her rotation.” Hyt sounded less sure of himself now.

“Have you had any dealings with her?” Ed asked Wren, and she shook her head.

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