Maxwell Saga 5: Stoke the Flames Higher by Peter Grant

Author:Peter Grant [Grant, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Goodreads: 33243927
Publisher: Sedgefield Press
Published: 2015-12-31T17:00:00+00:00

December 1-5, 2851 GSC

Steve looked up wearily from the display, his eyes red-rimmed and scratchy with tiredness, as a knock sounded at the closed door of his office. He heard Senior Lieutenant Laforet’s voice outside. “Ms. Bonaventura and Ms. Soldahl are here, sir.”

“Very well,” he called. “Just a moment.”

He closed the report he was in the process of writing, and blanked the display; then he took a moment to ensure that no other classified document or evidence was visible anywhere else in the office. Satisfied, he pressed a button as he rose to his feet. The door unlocked with a faint click, and Juliette opened it from outside, ushering the diplomat and the journalist through ahead of her. Behind them, he could see Senior Chief Aznar and another spacer waiting in the passage, both wearing holstered sidearms, their faces impassive.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Marisela stormed as she entered, her face red with anger. “How dare you summon us here under armed escort, as if we were criminals?”

“Because as far as Lancastrian Commonwealth law and Fleet regulations are concerned, you are a criminal, ma’am – or, at the very least, an accessory to a crime,” Steve said icily. “I daresay the legal departments of the Fleet and the Secretariat of State will agree when we lay before them the evidence in our possession.”

Shock wiped the anger from Marisela’s face. “Wha – what on earth do you mean?”

“Please sit down, ma’am, and you too, Miss Soldahl,” Steve rejoined. He waited until they’d done so before sitting himself. He picked up a data chip from his desk. “Do you recognize this?”

“Y – yes, I think so. It looks like one of those you found in our building on Devakai.”

“That’s right. It was one of those used by Kotai agents to record everything they heard in the building. It included this rather interesting conversation between the two of you.” Using his console, he played back the conversation Peter Gallegros had brought to his attention. This was a cleaner, clearer copy, made directly from the data chip rather than recorded from Peter’s playback over the noise of the ship in his office.

He watched Marisela and Solveig carefully as they listened. Their faces turned pale as the recording continued. Marisela looked positively hangdog, he thought, but Solveig’s face stiffened into an impassive mask, showing nothing of her internal feelings.

As the recording ended, he clicked off the playback. “Since we have the original recording in our possession,” and he tapped the chip on his desk, “and we can establish a chain of custody for it that rules out any possibility of tampering, it’ll be accepted as evidence by any court on Lancaster. What’s more, Miss Soldahl, your cabin and possessions are presently being searched for your illicit recordings. Any found there will be added to this recording as potential evidence in court.”

“How dare you?” she demanded, her voice icy cold. “You don’t have a search warrant. You have no right to go through my things!”

“Ma’am, you

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