Garrick sat in the Admiral's conference suite at the top of the Phoenix Rises. Hamasa's revelations had spread through the ship like wildfire, with everyone talking about how the plans to create a gravity bomb were seemingly on their way to the insurgents on Caxis. Captain Peterborough had immediately ended Garrick's interview with Hamasa, but the damage was done. Garrick, his unit and all those in the detention centre--including the other prisoners--had heard what she had said about the gravity bomb plans, which naturally meant it was all over the ship's network and would soon leak out into the wider net.

Admiral Jansen paced up and down against the backdrop of a huge golden swirling ringed planet, the light through the window giving the room an orange tinge. "I didn't want it out like this, Commander."

"Admiral, I didn't expect the Whisper to be so open. I expected weeks of interrogation to learn anything from her."

"Which begs the question why she was so forthcoming." Peterborough lent back in his chair.

"She knows full well how this getting out damages us." She shook her head. "Doesn't matter if there's truth to it or not."

"Could it be true?" Peterborough said.

"We need to find out."

"Forgive me, Admiral," Garrick interrupted. "I'm sure it's classified, but are you able to provide more information on the bombs? It's public they exist, but not much beyond that."

"They are an initiative the Sec Gen dreamt up to secure the integrity of the Alliance. If the military can destroy a star, why would anyone break away? The perfect deterrent--he even fired one in the Audearn system."

"I can see why Secretary General Martinez might find them attractive," Garrick said.

"Attractive? They're barbaric, the worst elements of humanity distilled into one device--its hubris, its desire to push science further and further without questioning whether we should."

"If they hold the Alliance together, they must be worth the price?" Garrick frowned.

"Not at the potential cost of billions of lives. And it's bad enough with the Alliance having them, but if they fall into the wrong hands who knows where a conflict would end?"

"We aren't the villains here, Admiral," Garrick said. "If Secretary General Martinez decides the bombs are necessary, who are we to judge? You must know that better than me."

"This isn't a dictatorship, Commander."

"How many worlds are contemplating seceding?"

Jansen hesitated. "Almost twenty." She sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"In other words, half the Alliance."

"Careful with that tone, Commander." Peterborough leaned forwards. "Remember who you're speaking to."

"My apologies, Admiral." Garrick tried to sound placating but inside he seethed at how casually Jansen and Peterborough were discussing the threat of widespread secession. It made him even more suspicious of their loyalties.

"No, don't worry. I understand the emotion, but we need a plan, not squabbling."

"Inform the Secretary General's office," Peterborough said. "We need their input for a coordinated response to this."

Garrick swallowed his anger; it wouldn't do to have another outburst. "We also need to check in with Admiral Allison to check if they intercepted the package. Until we know whether they have, we'll be chasing shadows."

Jansen was silent for a moment. "Set a course for Caxis. We'll rendezvous with Admiral Allison and decide how to proceed."

"Thank you Admiral, I--"

"I'm not done. Scan for any Alliance vessels in the system and transmit them a coded message for the Sec Gen. Martinez can come to us if he so desires."

"I'm sure Secretary General Martinez would welcome your message," Garrick said, carefully choosing his words.

"Dismissed." Jansen ignored this rebuke and stood up to leave.

Garrick left Jansen and Peterborough on the bridge and stalked down the corridor causing a yeoman to jump out the way. Jansen had let him down. He had expected so much more from an admiral of her reputation, but maybe the rumours were true and her age was catching up with her. If Jansen wasn't taking the threat of the plans being leaked seriously, he would have to do it himself. Mind made up, Garrick set off with renewed purpose towards the detention centre--it was about time he had another conversation with Hamasa.

Garrick strode through the entrance to the detention centre and marched up to the duty officer. "Take a break."

"But sir--"

"Don't make me ask again."

The flustered young ensign hurried out with his head down and Garrick started the walk down the length of the block to Hamasa's cell. When he found her she was doing push ups and had either not noticed his arrival or was ignoring him. "Hamasa," he called out.

"Does your handler know you're here?" She moved to a sitting position and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Peterborough? He's busy elsewhere."

"Oh come on. You've sneaked over here to interrogate me again--why else is there no one with you?"

"The mole in the Alliance."

"Interesting." She raised an eyebrow, not the reaction he expected. "Not the earth shattering weapons of mass destruction being made by your political masters, or even the insurgents trying to build their own?"

"No, those are justified," Garrick said.

"Just so I'm clear, because I'm finding it tough to get my head around this--it's the mole that's too far for you?"

"It's a matter of trust, of integrity."

"All right." She shrugged. "Let me ask you a question before I answer any more of yours. Why do you care so much? You've broken protocol to come here, which I would guess isn't like you."

It annoyed him she was right. "It's the principle--"

"Oh please, don't insult my intelligence," she scoffed. "Why you? And why are you happy to give the Alliance a free pass on their part in this?"

"The Alliance saved me."

"That's all? They 'saved' you? Get in line with the millions who lap up the same lies." She got up and walked over to the field separating them. "You're all sheep, dancing to their tune."

"How dare you--"

"Oh I'm not done." She placed both hands on the force field and grimaced as electricity shot through her body. "You're a spineless military brat."

He dropped the field and stepped forward to be an inch from her face. "I grew up drug running on Aklovat. You're nothing I haven't killed before."

"Now Garrick, that's the first interesting thing you've said to me." She winked and backed away to sit on her bunk. "How did you end up working for the Alliance?"

"I got caught and given a death sentence. An Alliance officer was passing through and decided he wanted to intervene; Benjamin Allison picked me up."

"Wait, you don't mean Admiral Allison?"

"Back then he was just a lieutenant." It wouldn't hurt to give her this information. He'd laid his marker down, and now he needed to build a rapport with her to get anywhere.

"Why did he do that?" She rubbed the burns on her hands.

"He's never told me. The first time he met me was as I stood in makeshift gallows in the centre of town in sub-zero temperatures. He kept coming back. For some reason, he saw something that made him act."

"That's not the easiest thing--to persuade the governor to let you go."

"How would you know?" Garrick frowned.

"I've been in those jails. Tough gig." She stretched out a yawn.

"You were on Aklovat? I don't believe it."

"I was born there--hated it. Got in a fight, ended up killing someone, first person I killed. Got thrown in jail but broke out."

"First person? How many have you killed?" The fire building within him had dulled now.

"Oh I can never remember. 50? 100? Who knows? Forget that, what happened next?"

"Doesn't matter; the Alliance took me in when no one else would."

"And now you're the 'defender of the Alliance'? Stamping out any threats because they came through for you when no one else did? Quite a change for a drug runner."

"If there are officers betraying their oath, everything we've done to keep the Alliance together will be worthless--Aklovat is living proof that the galaxy needs order and instruction."

"Did Allison put you up to this?"

The sudden change in tack threw him for a moment. "He is my commanding officer," he said carefully.

Hamasa pursed her lips but didn't press the point. "Now, what do you want to know?" She leaned back in her chair.

"Where did you get the information from?"

"I'm not doing this for fun, Garrick, I'm being paid big money to harass the Alliance and get a package to the Caxis system."

Interesting. "Who paid you?"

"I got sent a diffusion message via a couple of transmitters so difficult to trace, but I met a contact on Hope Station."

"Everyone meets on Hope Station." Garrick waved a hand. "I need more--when did you meet?"

"About six months back."

The raids on Alliance ships after the gravity bomb test had been going on for at least a year, so no obvious link there. "And they provided you with the information?"

"They told me where to get it."

"And where was that?" He couldn't believe how much she was opening up.

"An Alliance convoy."

"That doesn't narrow it down. Which convoy?"

"Oh come on, Commander, I can't give you all the clues. You've got enough to go on for now. Besides, I like these conversations, I need to keep you coming back."

As frustrating as Hamasa was, she was right. He had more leads now: a meeting at Hope Station, and an attack on an Alliance convoy.

Hamasa interrupted Garrick's thoughts. "You know Commander, you remind me a lot of myself."

"Why would you say that?"

"You'll see. Goodnight Commander." She laid down on her bed and rolled to face away from him.

Garrick didn't know how to respond, so he left the cell, reactivated the forcefield and left without a goodbye. Her parting remarks chilled him; she, a mass murderer, a mercenary who didn't seem to have any regard for anyone or anything, thought them similar? Or was it a remark designed to unsettle him? Time would tell.

#

A day later, the Phoenix Rises was almost at the Caxis system when, sat in his unit's operations room, Okoro approached him with a tablet. Ramsey and Fabien were standing behind her so Garrick could tell this was not a standard progress report. "What's this?"

"We have a lead." Okoro barely contained a grin.

Garrick grabbed it from her. "Give me the summary."

"Hope Station is on one of the main trade routes so plenty of Alliance ships stop there, but whoever told Hamasa about the information would have told her soon before an attack."

Garrick nodded. "Standard practice to switch flight plans at the last minute for security reasons."

"Right. Given there were only seven attacks around that time, we trimmed his master list of suspect Alliance ships. There are about thirty ships which made stops on or near Hope Station near one of the attacks on convoys."

Garrick lent back in his chair and rubbed his sore eyes. Thirty ships was a lot, but still gave him something to work from. He was about to thank Okoro when something on the tablet caught his eye. "This ship, the Ezekiel, it was at Hope, and part of the convoys that were attacked?"

"Good spot, Commander." Fabian stepped forward, tablet in hand. "The Ezekiel stopped at Hope Station for a couple of days before being part of a convoy Hamasa attacked six days later. Barnabas-class ship, a third of the size of an Alliance warship, and used as a light cruiser. On its own, nothing remarkable."

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"That's right. The Ezekiel is part of Admiral Jansen's company; it reports back to her."

Garrick pursed his lips. It could just be a coincidence, or someone under Jansen's command had leaked something. While not proof of her guilt, it was suspicious. "Well done." He stood to look them each in the eye in turn. "Very well done. I have a feeling our investigation is just starting."

#

Even though the Phoenix Rises and the Mandrake were the same specification, with the same crew complement and had been in service for roughly the same length of time, coming back to the Mandrake was like coming home. The people all knew him here, so instead of blank looks as he walked the arteries of the ship, he got nods of respect. That said, he still felt on edge at being back. Maybe it was because he had spent the last four days trying to uncover more information about the Ezekiel and the role it might have played in the theft of the bomb plans, but now he saw potential traitors everywhere.

When the Phoenix Rises arrived at Caxis, he had sent a coded message to Admiral Allison with his findings. The Admiral had invited him on board to give an update, but before Garrick met with him, there was something else he needed to resolve--Marcus Fenig.

Looking back, he wished he had arrested Fenig the first time they had crossed paths. If he had, this mess would never had taken place. It made him question the regulations that he had adhered to for so long; the ones that were meant to protect the citizens of the Alliance. He wanted answers from Fenig. However, when he arrived at the detention centre, the guard stopped him. "Sorry, Commander. Admiral Allison is expecting you in his briefing room on the bridge." The woman looked apologetic.

"My appointment with him isn't for another hour. I wanted to meet the prisoner before I met with the Admiral."

"Sorry, sir. The Admiral made it clear you must report to him first."

Puzzled, Garrick left and made his way through the bowels of the ship, wondering just what the Admiral was up to. He stepped off the lift and onto the bridge. Chi-Young turned and nodded at him and pointed him along to the briefing room without a word, not that Garrick minded--he still didn't trust the Captain. When Garrick entered, Allison was staring out at the planet Caxis. Clouds obscured much of the view of the surface from orbit, but it was still a breathtaking sight.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Allison said without turning.

"Yes, sir."

"To think of all the trouble this one small planet has caused across the Perseus Arm."

"They're almost not worth the effort." He would never forgive Caxis for what they did to the Alliance.

"Oh?" Allison turned to face him. "Is not every life is worth the effort?"

"Not if they cause harm to the greater good."

"What about caxeal? Do we not need to ensure the Alliance get access to the treatment?"

"We should invade, I know there are Admirals that agree.

"Caxis would destroy their sources before the Alliance could ever secure them. No, we're in this for the long haul," Allison said, and took a seat at the long table. "Join me, Mr Karn."

Garrick didn't buy that excuse, but he wouldn't question Admiral Allison.

"Now, tell me how your assignment on the Phoenix Rises is going." Allison crossed his legs.

"We captured the Whisper, and she has proved a valuable source of information. Though in all honesty, Admiral, Jansen and Peterborough have been uncooperative to the point of obstructive."

"I suspected as much. Did you get anything out of her?"

"From what she told me I identified the Ezekiel as the ship most likely to have delivered the package to her, so as to find the leak that's the next place to look."

"The Ezekiel," Allison said. "That's a ship in Admiral Jansen's task force? What did she say about one of her vessels being involved?"

"I haven't told her yet, I wanted to speak with you beforehand. I thought if I made a progress report to both of you it would be harder for her to block a request to search the Ezekiel."

"Mmmhm." Allison stared back out the window. "I appreciate you telling me first, Commander. Proceed with your plan, and if Jansen tries to block the Ezekiel, I'll intervene."

"That's not all we got out of the Whisper." Garrick jumped in before the Admiral could leave. "She revealed that the information in the package was to do with building a gravity bomb."

"Building a bomb... That is a useful piece of information. I wonder; who would be crazy enough to even consider doing such a thing?

"Hamasa didn't say."

"Hamasa?"

"The name the Whisper gave. If you hadn't intercepted the traitor's ship, the Caxian government would have that information now. What I don't understand is what they would do with it--they don't have the facilities."

"The Alliance has always suspected Caxis of secretly constructing warships, not that we have been able to find any evidence, but a gravity bomb is a step too far. There are only two facilities that can make one across the Arm, it's a very, very dangerous process. That said, having the plans would give them power, and quite a bargaining chip with the Alliance to recognise their breakaway worlds."

"So what should our next steps be?"

"You need to monitor the Admiral. Get to the bottom of this leak, find the Ezekiel and go along with whatever Jansen's planning. You need to build her trust, it's important you don't tell her we've discussed this."

Understood. And you, sir?".

"We'll follow up the lead on the gravity bomb. As I said, only a few facilities could make one given the need for them to be located in a suitable stellar nursey, though their location is a closely guarded secret. It wouldn't take long to visit, provided we can get the Secretary General's office to tell us where they are. We'll keep an eye out for links to the Ezekiel--there must be something."

"Thank you, sir. You can expect my report by the end of the day." Garrick got up to leave.

"One other thing before you go, Commander –you're doing a great job with this. Keep it up."

Garrick's heart swelled with pride. He had waited years for a chance to impress Allison, and he would not to let him down. He nodded once at the Admiral and left the room.

Garrick headed back through the Mandrake to the hanger where his hopper was, though when he passed the detention block, he stopped dead. For all his respect for Allison, something still nagged at him about Marcus Fenig. He stepped inside the detention centre, but to his frustration the duty officer stopped him again.

"Sorry, sir. The Captain just took him out for an interview."

Garrick swore under his breath and rushed back out into the corridor. He went in the opposite direction that he came from, and sure enough, he found Marcus Fenig being led away in handcuffs down the corridor by Chi-Young and two guards.

Garrick stayed back as they moved through the ship to keep him from seeing him. A single guard took Fenig inside a nondescript meeting room, leaving another guard stood outside. When Garrick approached her, she held up a hand. "The Captain asked for no interruptions, sir."

Garrick stopped himself before he snapped back at her, it wasn't her fault. "I understand." With a sigh, he left the guard behind to head back to the Phoenix Rises.