Page 29 of Breaking Point
“The public demand for a scapegoat, to pay for the arena mess, has not subsided in all that time.”
“Do you blame them?”Brice said cautiously.Why did he feel as though she was laying traps?
“Not at all,” Zana replied.“I feel the same way.Especially today.”
What?“Why today?”he asked, keeping his tone polite.
The other two board members, Lakewood and Penn, shifted uncomfortably on their chairs.
Brice could tell from the angle of Bronson’s head that he watched them shifting, too.Now Brice wished Bronson was sitting in the chair Penn was using so Brice could see his face.
Too late, now.
He looked at Zana with an enquiring air.
“Late last night, the Bridge issued an interim report on their investigation into the tragedy,” Zana said.
“That’s strange,” Bronson said.“I didn’t receive it.And the Bridge assured me I would be the first to get their report when they issued it.They have repeated that every time I have enquired about when we might receive it.”
As that was what Brice had been about to say, he just nodded.Bronson was on top of things, as usual.Except that he’d been left off the distribution list this time around.
“The copy was delivered by hand to me last night just after dinner,” Zana said.
A hard copy?Brice thought he could understand why Zana was here with backups, now.Whatever was in the report had to be incendiary for the Bridge to send a printed copy to the chair of the Association, and no one else.
“Reading it gave me indigestion,” Zana added, her big mouth twisting into a grimace of distaste.She paused, although she didn’t have to.Everyone was watching her anyway.“They’ve established who is responsible for the tragedy.”
Brice felt as though someone had slapped him.Zana had set it up to deliver shock.He’d seen her at board meetings leading people to a place where she could dump something on them and sit back and watch them react.She had done it now.
He would have felt this way even if she hadn’t gone for high impact.“Someonedeliberatelydid this?”Horror curled through him.“Why?What possible reason could justify killing fifty-three people.Includingchildren, damn it?”
Penn cleared his throat.“It is a horrific act.Does it matter why?”
“Of courseit matters,” Brice shot back.“If life on this ship could produce someone who thinks murder is a good idea, it could produce more people like that.The reasons why have to be pulled apart, analyzed and above all, they have to be changed.”
“The reasons why and their ramifications are the purview of the bridge,” Zana said.“And we should be thankful for that.”
“Why?”Bronson asked, puzzled.It wasn’t often that Bronson couldn’t keep up with a conversation.
“Because the rest of the ship will want to know why, too,” Brice said.“They’ll react just as I did.They will demand answers.And I don’t think the Bridge has those answers.”He looked at Zana.“Do they?”
She pressed her lips together.“The report did not supply any explanations for the act, no.”She lifted a big, square hand.“And as I said, for right now, the reasons why don’t matter.The report did make it clear that their findings had been verified by three independent Institution experts, who were brought into the Bridge under a secrecy order.”
The Bridge had clearly been thorough and careful.That was probably why it had taken so long for them to produce even an interim report, despite mutterings on the Forum, wondering why it was taking them so long.
A deliberate act of cold-blooded murder.No wonder the Bridge had gone out of their way to verify their findings and establish that the facts were beyond doubt.He would have done the same.
“The Bridge will be laying charges, then,” Brice said.“That’s why they sent a hard copy to you.To warn us.”
“No, the Bridge won’t be pressing charges,” Zana said.“You will.”
Brice’s middle jumped.“Me?”
“As the President of the Tankball Association, you will file civilian charges, and the Bridge will prosecute per our charges.I spoke to Captain Travers last night and secured her agreement.”
Even Lakewood looked nervous now.
Bronson got to his feet.“Why would you do that?The Association should remain neutral.We’re already in enough trouble with public perception because we’re jumping into building a new arena too quickly to suit everyone!”
