Breach of Duty, page 10
Upon sitting at his desk, Erhart briefly forgot the call. His eyes fixated on the two pictures on his desk, side by side. One, over thirty years old, showed young Cadet-Candidate Karl Ulysses Erhart's commencement photo for the day he started at the New Halsey Fleet Officer Academy. The picture beside it came three years later, showing Karl with Erhart himself, a newly-commissioned Second Lieutenant of the CDF standing beside Erhart shortly after he got his second star. The two Erharts, father and son, bore the appropriate resemblance to one another. They indeed looked every inch the respectable, honorable CDF officers.
The memories came back. Tau Baker. Leaving his son's ship the CSV Beatty behind, with so many others, while he took his fleet back to Tsukara Station to stop the main League attack. The great victory. The desperate jump back, as soon as it could be done. His son's ship missing with many others. Taken by the League.
Was Karl alive? The question had tortured his heart and soul for twenty-five years now. There was no way to know. Karl could've died during the fight at Tau Baker, before he even jumped out. Or after he left. Or he could've been taken prisoner, condemned to the earthly hell of a League "socialization" camp. Had he died in one of those squalid places? Or was he still there? Even worse, had they broken him? Turned his proud, God-fearing son into another of their drones?
Erhart didn't know, couldn't know, what happened to his boy, and it had torn him to pieces inside.
Tears ran down Erhart's cheeks. The warm trace they left pulled him from his thoughts. He forced himself to take a breath and push the question away. As much as it hurt, he still had his duties. His oath. The Coalition had to be preserved and the League destroyed. It was the only way he had to honor his son's memory.
His system chimed. The call was still waiting. Erhart wiped the tears from his eyes, composed himself, and answered.
The image of Oliver Faulkner appeared. "Have you been watching the news?"
"I've noticed," Erhart said.
"This is how you're handling it?" Faulkner asked petulantly. "By stirring up all of this controversy? The Peace Union's already threatening to renew an investigation into the Laffey! Even some of the government parties are starting to—"
At that point, Erhart had enough. "Would you stop panicking?!" He glared at the screen, his shout shocking Faulkner into silence. "I've got everything under control, Faulkner. All you have to do is deliver on your end! That means no more panicked calls to my office! And no press conferences, no press statements, nothing about this! Treat this like it's beneath your notice."
"But investigations—"
"I've got CBI licking their chops at this. They're so eager to show up the CDF that they're gunning for Henry and the others. It'll be weeks before they finish processing everything and realize they've been had. By that time, we'll be free and clear!"
Faulkner bit into his lip nervously, cowed by the force of Erhart's words. When he nodded, it was a weak little one. "Okay, alright, I understand," he replied meekly. "But at least tell me you've got all the officers. If congressional investigators—"
"Every single one of them is getting locked up under wartime security regs, Oliver, including Henry himself," Erhart promised. "The CBI and CDF Security will never let congressional investigators interview them. I know Spencer will back that. By the time this is settled, it won't be our problem anymore. Got it?"
Faulkner nodded. "I do."
"Good. Let's get back to our departure preparations. We're at the final stage here. Let's not mess it up." With that, Erhart cut the line and took a breath. Soon it won't matter. None of it. We'll be done.
In another section of the complex, four suited CBI agents walked through the double doors leading to CDF Intelligence's main offices, escorted by a pair of MPs. The lead agent, a dark-skinned man, held up his credentials to a crowd of intelligence officers and analysts. "I'm Senior Inspector Guillame Gbado," he said, his French-sounding accent toned with Fon, the primary language of the African Union planet Agaja. "We're here to arrest Major Janine Renner. The charges are—"
"We are aware of the charges, Inspector."
Gbado and his agents directed their attention to the speaker, General Ostrovsky himself. Ostrovsky crossed the distance to face them directly. "She is not present."
"We were led to believe she is assigned here," Gbado replied. "Where else can she be?"
"Elsewhere, on assignment by me."
Gbado nodded. "Protecting your own, then? Afraid that we'll make you look like fools who couldn't detect a traitor in their midst?"
Ostrovsky frowned. "Nothing of the sort. We're well aware of the nature of these charges and who has caused them. Your entire agency is being played, but you're so eager to prove yourselves after the Monterrey—"
"The Monterrey was your people, not ours!"
"And yet, CBI is responsible for internal security, and it was CBI that failed to provide the CDF with the information that might have detected them sooner."
"There is a warrant for Major Renner's arrest. We insist—"
"If you catch her, she deserves to be arrested," Ostrovsky said. "As I said, she's not here, and as this is CDF Intelligence, I need not remind you that there is classified material within these walls that you are most certainly not cleared to lay eyes on. To put it bluntly, you are not allowed in here, Inspector. Corporal!" With that, he drew the attention of the senior MP escorting the CBI agents. "Escort these men to the appropriate areas for visiting personnel. Now."
"Yes, General," the young woman answered.
"I am going to report this obstruction to the Attorney-General's office," Gbado said, his voice fuming with anger.
"Go right ahead, Inspector."
The woman called into her commlink for more MPs, which proved sufficient for Gbado and his agents to turn and depart. Once the doors were closed, Ostrovsky returned to his office. He brought his desktop system out of suspension, keyed one of his encrypted channels, and started typing.
As he dispatched his message, Ostrovsky wrestled with his frustration at the developing situation. This is too bold a move by Erhart. Whatever he's done to win the CBI's attention, it won't hold forever. He's burned his bridge to them. Why?
Many kilometers away from where Senior Inspector Gbado tried to arrest her, Janine Renner was watching another arrest through a pair of binoculars. She remained quiet in her helicar as the CBI agents in her sights hauled a handcuffed, stunned Anthony Xu out of his apartment. Behind him, his wife and children were standing at the door, distraught. Renner could see the tears flowing down the faces of his frightened children and the frustration on the face of his wife, Lily Xu.
Renner drew in a breath. So it's come to this. Damn you, Erhart. The entire situation made her feel helpless. It was all going wrong so quickly. She wished it would just go away and let her get things back to normal.
Nothing's been normal since the Laffey, she thought bitterly.
A tone came from her commlink. It was, thankfully, a CDF-Intelligence-issued machine, a secure model that used encrypted communications that CBI couldn't read or even track without General Ostrovsky's cooperation, and that wouldn't be forthcoming. She checked the message and frowned. And it just gets worse, doesn't it?
But there was nothing to be done for it. She'd signed up for this. The shoe had dropped and there was no getting out of it.
She started dialing.
The CBI agents herding Xu into their helicar would have been incensed if they'd known they'd missed Major Renner.
They'd be even angrier had they known Hale was nearby too.
Hale had a new helicar, checked out from the CDF pool on the sly with the aid of a sergeant who owed her a favor. Her hair was now a honey-blond color and she had tinted glasses over her eyes. Together, she hoped they would either fool facial recognition or at least delay it.
But she had little else going for her. CBI was everywhere, especially in Lawrence City, and she was now a fugitive. Action and drama holovids aside, fugitives from CBI didn't stay running long when CBI really wanted to catch them. The best she could hope for was to get to the countryside where she might lay low for a while. But with her bank accounts untouchable and her home unavailable, she wouldn't last long.
How could it have gone wrong? How had Erhart even known she was so close? Just another day or two, and she'd have the Laffey logs, and then she could prove his complicity. Now this was happening. She didn't know if she could still win. And she didn't know if she could ever face Xu again, given she might've just helped to destroy his life too. I'm sorry, Anthony. For you and your family.
The ring of a commlink jostled Hale out of her misery. It was not her personal link but one she kept for emergencies, meant for a situation like this. She answered it, knowing it could only be one person. "He's onto us," she said immediately. "I don't know how he knows, but he does, and he brought the CBI in. They've got Snow and Xu already."
"They also arrested Captain Henry on New Virginia," answered Renner. "I don't know what Erhart told the CBI, but they're not being patient about this."
"Then we've got to be careful."
"Agreed. But we also need to coordinate. We should meet somewhere quiet and controlled, where we can't be spotted."
"I may know a place," Hale said. "Let me get the address."
12
The Coalition Bureau of Investigation's duties demanded the agency maintain hundreds of small field offices across the Coalition. In particular, the war led to even more of these offices so the CBI could provide greater coverage over the smaller cities where defense-related activities were still being performed. As Tylerville did have a couple of factories that manufactured items of interest to the defense industry, it had its own office.
It wasn't a large one. Henry had never seen it before, as it was in the southeast area of town, an area he had little reason to visit. It took up a quarter of an old commercial strip mall. From the first look he had of the place, it seemed it would fit into just one of the six holds of the Shadow Wolf with a little room to spare.
Inspectors Lippincott and McReady brought Henry into the office through the back entrance. He expected a cell or an interview room, but instead, they avoided all the rooms in the back and brought him up to the front area. Four desks were arranged to face each other in pairs, allowing everyone sitting to look to the front door. They deposited Henry at a side table and used a second pair of handcuffs to secure him to the table leg. At that point, they went over to a couple of the desks and started typing on their tablets.
In his position, there was nothing Henry could do but consider his grief and frustration. He'd come back to say goodbye to Charlie, who'd done so much for him. But now it seemed his past was coming back to haunt him, and it would deny him the chance for the goodbye he wished to give.
It sounded silly, in a way. He'd given Charlie a heartfelt goodbye every time they saw each other. He'd never let anything get in the way of showing affection for the man who'd given him his life back and had always been there for him growing up. They hadn't fought or argued the last time they spoke. He had nothing to take back. Nothing to prove.
And yet, he still felt the need to be there. To say goodbye and to hear Charlie's voice one last time. As if it would in some way reduce the terrible pain he felt at the prospect of a world without Uncle Charlie in it. A pain that made him feel like his heart would still when he dwelled on it.
Now it looked like he'd be denied that chance. Worse, he was truly in danger of ending his life at Lambert's Lament.
With that thought, his mind focused on his predicament. Henry considered the circumstances and felt puzzlement. He looked to Lippincott and asked, "Why didn't CDF military police arrest me?"
The woman looked up from her desk. "Excuse me?"
"Why did CBI pick me up and not CDF military police? I'm assuming the suspension of my sentence was lifted?"
"CBI's taking point on this investigation," she answered. "Although we'll be turning you over to CDF custody tomorrow, if that's what you really want. They'll arrange your trial."
"I already had a court-martial," Henry insisted.
McReady spoke up, contempt dripping from his voice. "New charges. You heard that part, right? Whatever coverup the CDF pulled to let you off the hook last time, we won't be doing the same thing. You're going to face a trial for treason. Now shut it."
New charges? That doesn't make sense. The thought startled him into bewilderment. What are they talking about? What kind of game is being played here? Through the confusion, Henry was beset with worry. Mom and Dad. I have to talk to them. Aloud, he said, "Then I want to talk to my folks and let them know what's going on."
"They'll find out from the news," McReady said.
Lippincott sighed and spoke up. "Louis, stop with the tough guy act. It's not intimidating or charming." After scolding her partner, she looked to Henry again. "You're being held under the wartime provisions of the Military and Defense Secrets Act of 2292, Mister Henry. In short, you're believed to have possible classified knowledge or the means to arrange your own liberation and are thus a high-level security risk. You will not be allowed to speak to anyone aside from classified personnel and your legal counsel, which the JAG office will provide in due time."
Henry frowned and shook his head. "This is a violation of my civil rights," he asserted.
Lippincott shook her head. "Maybe so, but it's the law. Your lawyer can argue that to the court when you get your day before the judge."
Bitter memories of the last JAG attorney he'd dealt with surfaced. Assuming I get a day in court, and I get a lawyer who isn't along for the railroading. "I may want a civilian attorney," he said.
"You won't be getting one, not with this case," McReady asserted testily. He might've said more if his partner hadn't given him a firm look.
Just what is going on here? he wondered, while real fear started to creep into his soul at the prospects of his future.
Upon their return to the Shadow Wolf, the crew gathered in the galley, where a forewarned Oskar and Brigitte were waiting for them. Everyone took seats in a smoldering, uncertain silence.
Tia took the lead in speaking. "So, they took the Captain. Arrested him right from his uncle's deathbed."
"It's not right." Samina was imagining the same thing happening to her, if it had been Uncle Ali's deathbed. The cruelty and heartlessness of it all made her angry.
"Well, we're not going to just let this happen, are we?" Brigitte's words were sharply spoken, her words as sharp as the expression on her face. "Captain Henry's helped every one of us at one time or another. We're not going to just let them do this."
Her words were met by silence for a few seconds before Yanik ended it. "Our options are limited. They are treating Captain Henry like a traitor, as strange as it sounds."
"Utterly ridiculous if you ask me," Pieter grumbled.
Yanik raised up a scale over his eye. "Indeed. But that is what they have done. Getting the Captain back will involve using force. If go we down that path, we will become enemies of the Terran Coalition as well."
"So we'll have the Coalition chasing us as well as the League. Wonderful." Piper shook her head. "We'll have to run for the Jewel Box for sure."
"Maybe th' League will call off th' dogs if we're wanted by th' Coalition?" Cera made the suggestion with levity in her voice. It won her only a couple of glares and she sighed. "Well, what are we goin' t' do? We're not leavin' th' Captain!"
"No, we're not. Or at least I'm not." Tia's gentle declaration wasn't loud or angry, but it had fire in it. "Anyone who doesn't want to take the risk can walk out now. Odds are we won't be able to come back for you. So I'll get you a bus pass to the capital city, and you can visit the ISU center there to get another berth somewhere. Anyone?" When there was no reply, she waited a few seconds before saying, "Last chance. You stay, you're in 'til the bitter end."
"Not needed. We're with you," Felix said.
"Right." She gave Felix a nod. "So whatever's going on involves what happened before. I heard them mention the Laffey when they were arresting him. Does anyone know what that was about, other than the fusion drive explosion?"
"Not anyone, I think, except how much it seemed to hurt him," Piper said.
"Even I don't know for sure," Felix said. "He doesn't share. I think that maybe he was ordered not to share, and it stuck."
"You're ex-CDF; certainly something's known about it," Tia said. "His cousin seemed to think there was more to it. A cover up or something."
Felix shrugged. "No telling, given the secrecy involved. What I do know is that the Laffey was an old destroyer fitted with a fusion drive, and Jim was assigned to command her for the test runs. There was some kind of prolonged operational test, and the drive failed in some way that killed the test crew and several members of the Laffey's normal crew. Jim was court-martialed for it and ended up pleading guilty. Rumor is he tried to accuse General Erhart of duplicity, but that's just RUMINT as far as I know. If he did, all it did was guarantee that people think he was trying to drag Erhart down with him, so they hated him even more." An idea clearly came to Felix, given the way his brow lifted. "I can ask around. I've still got some buddies in the CDF."
"I have friends in CIS who may know more," Miri said. "I'll make some calls."
"And the rest of us will get everything ready." Tia nodded to the others. "That means full stores and full fuel tanks, everyone, so let's get to work!"
As a group, they left the galley.
While Yanik and the others worked back at the ship, Tia rented a truck for herself, Pieter, and Piper to go into Tylerville and buy necessary supplies. They took the time to go by the hospital, where Tia entered while Pieter and Piper stayed with their supplies.
