Home Front (Star Kingdom #7) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,29
a cup of coffee?” Kim looked toward the door, expecting someone to bring in Casmir at any second. His seizures didn’t usually knock him out for that long, though he would be groggy. Getting him to the Dragon might be a challenge… assuming she could escape this current challenge.
“No,” Meister said. “Prince Jorg’s ship has taken a lot of damage, and we don’t know if we’ll make it in time to help. They were fighting back, but the ship has taken a lot of hits, and their comm officer’s distress call said their environmental systems are threatening to go offline.” He gave her a long, hard look, as if she was responsible. A sinking feeling entered her stomach even before he said, “We believe Rache is responsible.”
She almost blurted that he’d said it was Dubashi’s people, but how could she without admitting she’d been communicating with Rache?
“You don’t know?” Kim asked, buying time while she thought.
“The ship or ships attacking Jorg are hidden behind their slydar hulls.” Meister sneered.
“Don’t many mercenaries use such tactics?”
It was the wrong question she realized as soon as she asked it. He would think she was defending Rache.
Meister clenched his fist. “Only one who wants our prince dead.”
Kim kept her mouth shut. The lieutenant was angrier than he had been before, and she didn’t want to goad him into drugging her. She eyed the soldiers’ stunners, wondering if she should try to get herself knocked out. They couldn’t question her if she was unconscious. At this point, there was probably no hope of escaping to Bonita’s freighter with the others.
“My cousin serves on the prince’s ship. That aside, it’s my duty to protect the crown, the king, and his children. I will question you to learn how I can find and stop Rache.” Meister snapped his fingers, and a nurse with an apologetic expression walked over with a medical kit. The nurse had been coming into Kim’s lab for coffee for several days and avoided making eye contact as she prepared an injector.
“He’s not answering our hails. Can you communicate with him?” Meister asked Kim. “I know you have before.” His lip curled. “Tell him to break off the attack. Ambassador Romano will speak with him about compensation.” The lip remained curled, and indignation burned in his eyes. “Whatever it takes to save Jorg and the others aboard.”
A part of her wanted to be mulish and not cooperate, but it might help the situation if they knew Rache wasn’t the one attacking.
Knowing she was further incriminating herself, she took a deep breath and said, “I know his chip ident and can send a message to him, yes.”
Triumph surged in Meister’s eyes. The soldiers and the nurse gaped at Kim in shock.
“But he’s not the one who orchestrated the attack on Jorg’s ship. He believes those are Dubashi’s people after the prince.”
“He told you this?” Meister’s tone oozed skepticism.
“You know Dubashi tried to hire Rache to assassinate Jorg, right?” Kim said as reasonably as she could. “He’s the one who wants Jorg and Jager dead. And Odin for himself.”
“Prince Jorg and King Jager,” came a voice from the doorway.
Kim stifled a groan. The lean, gray-haired Ambassador Romano walked in wearing his gray civilian clothes and fur-trimmed robe instead of a galaxy suit. His dark eyes were cold as he stared at her.
The nurse held up the injector, her face no longer apologetic. By admitting to having Rache’s contact information, Kim had declared herself a traitor to everyone here.
“You will use proper respect when speaking of the royalty and your world leaders.” Romano stopped a few paces away, folded his arms over his chest, and nodded to Meister. “Proceed.”
“Now? When we’re about to fly into combat?” Kim silently messaged, Casmir, if you see this, I could use a crusher bodyguard in sickbay.
Maybe she shouldn’t have sent the message, should have stoically accepted her fate, but fear of all that she might reveal about Rache under that drug made her desperate. It wasn’t just that her feelings would get her in trouble—if not shot—but she might blab all his secrets to this roomful of people. And Casmir’s secrets as well. Some people at Royal Intelligence knew who Rache was and knew he and Casmir had both been cloned from Admiral Mikita, but if this many new people heard about it, people without top-level security clearances, the news would be all over the ship—and all over the Fleet and the media—within days.