Killian 02 - Rules of Conflict by Kristine Smith

Author:Kristine Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-08-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

"Sir!"

Evan cringed as Halvor's voice cut through the humid afternoon air. His hand jerked. The motion activated the trimmer he held; the edge brushed across a branch of the rose he'd been pruning. He swore as a fist-sized Creme Caramel lolled on the end of its damaged stem like a broken-necked doll's head. Reactivating the trimmer, he made one more slash and put the fragrant bloom out of his misery.

"Sir!"

"What is it!" Evan wheeled to face his bleating aide.

Halvor stopped short. He looked from Evan's face to the flower in his hands. "S-sorry, sir, but Mr. Loiaza's here."

Evan entered the sitting room to find Joaquin sitting on the sofa leafing through the contents of his documents case.

"Sorry for the surprise visit, Evan." He removed a recording board and several folders, placed them at his side, then dropped the case to the floor. "I received some rather alarming news this morning, however, that necessitates a reevaluation of our strategy."

"Let me guess." Evan lowered into a lounge chair opposite the sofa. It wasn't until he tried to grip the armrests that he realized he still held the trimmer and the rose. He tossed them one after the other atop a chairside table as though he had meant to carry them inside, as though this unexpected visit from his attorney hadn't rattled him in the least. "Something to do with Jani."

Joaquin nodded. "I received a call from your dusky Colonel Veda this morning. She informed me that the SIB can find no evidence linking Jani Kilian to the mutinous murder of Rikart Neumann."

Evan picked up the slaughtered rose and examined it. The petals looked edible - warm butterscotch tipped with peach, like blush on smooth skin. He gripped one velvet edge and yanked. "Did she tell you what they did plan to do with her?"

"You aren't going to like it."

Evan laid the petal on his knee, then tugged at another. "I don't like it already." He'd expected news like this since his visit to Neoclona, but he'd hoped he was wrong. He should have known better. Politics, not to mention life, had taught him that what you dreaded most usually came to pass.

Joaquin tapped the writing plane of his recording board with his stylus. "She's to be tried by an adjudicating committee. All indications at this time point to a medical discharge."

"Prison time, at least?"

"No."

"You're kidding!"

"Her health, by all accounts, is not good. Add that to the lack of evidence against her."

Evan tore the petal he held in half. "Oh for chrissake, everyone at the Consulate knew how much she hated Neumann!"

Joaquin smiled grimly. "A funny thing happens to people after they swear an oath. Suddenly, their words become gold and they become misers."

"I'm a free-spender. Why doesn't Veda ask me?"

"Again, it's a question of corroboration." Joaquin unclasped the fasteners of his jacket and sat back more easily. "Everyone knows what you have to say. But without anyone to back up your story, and without the paper to back them up, it's your word against Jani's, and, like it or not, she does have her sympathizers.

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