Ruin of Dragons by Clay Kronke

Author:Clay Kronke [Kronke, Clay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-01T22:00:00+00:00

leap of faith

Voss sat alone at a small table, a bank of harsh lights overhead casting deep shadows in the otherwise empty room. Her wrists were bound in front of her, latched to a brace in the center of the table. She was beginning to wonder how much longer she would have to wait alone in the room, when the door across from her opened and Frakes walked in. Voss caught a glimpse of a pair of guards flanking the doorway before it closed again. Frakes sat down opposite, putting a data tablet down on the table in front of her, turning it on and scrolling to the end of a document. She then pulled out her handheld and put it on the table next to the tablet, all without so much as looking at Voss.

The dwarf smiled. "Any new leads?" she asked, only half sarcastic.

Frakes looked up from her tablet. "Cute."

"Come on blondie," Voss said. "You've made sure I'm a captive audience, least you can do is loop me in on what's going on."

Frakes leaned forward a bit. "It's Commander," she said. "And I don't share information."

"But you expect me to?" Voss bit. "I know we're not exactly on equal footing here," she rattled her wrist binders to punctuate, "but you gotta give me something. I don't really know how much help I can be otherwise," she finished with a shrug.

Frakes didn't look perturbed. "Don't worry," she said, "I'm well versed in your people's annoying habit of hanging onto information despite your best interests." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I know I can't make you tell me anything. But I would hope you'd want to cooperate willingly, if not for your own sake, then for your uncle's."

Voss laughed. "You don't care even a tiny bit about Kale's well-being," she said. "You were ready to roast us all yesterday, Verstohl Treaty be damned."

Frakes looked surprised.

"What, you didn't think I knew about that?" Voss said.

"Did you also know that it's a non-binding agreement between seven worlds, of which mine isn't a part?" Frakes returned, recovering quickly. "Not that it matters, I somehow doubt you're trying to turn this into a discussion on interplanetary diplomacy."

"Your loss," Voss shrugged. "But I still don't know what you think I can give you on Kale. Until yesterday I hadn't been back on Vorsk in six years. And I hadn't even spoken to Kale in almost ten."

"And why should I believe you?"

"You don't have to," Voss said, smiling again. She was actually enjoying this. "You can ask Kale, he'll tell you the same thing. I have no particular loyalty to him."

"Really." Frakes raised an eyebrow. "The entire history of the Dwarven people would suggest otherwise."

"Fair enough," Voss admitted. "And normally you'd be right, but … no. Kale may technically be family, but he's an ass."

"Then why cover for him?"

"I'm not," Voss said. "I'm telling you that I don't know anything to cover for."

Frakes looked down at the document on her tablet. "You don't know why his ships have been seen prior to or during every dragon attack so far?"

Voss laughed.

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