"So you've made it to the Ezekiel then?" Hamasa was lying flat on her back in her cell this time.

"That's right. Admiral Jansen had to pull them out of manoeuvres on the far side of the Arm." Garrick sat on a chair in Hamasa's cell. He had visited her several times now, and Garrick found that he enjoyed her company, even if her views were extreme. Garrick had realised that profit wasn't all that motivated her. There was some underlying purpose, and whatever it was he could tell that she would kill for it--he respected that.

"What's your plan?"

"We'll be checking the records of who went onto Hope Station and speak to each one."

"You can do better than that, Garrick. You have to--the information's out."

He knew she was right, and they couldn't afford to fail, not with the future of the Alliance at stake. "What would you do?"

"Torture them until they talk." She shrugged.

"Torture? No way." Not after his experiences on his homeworld.

"Why not?"

"It's illegal for one, and it's morally wrong--the prisoner is unarmed, unable to defend themselves. The end doesn't justify the means."

"Now Garrick, that's where your wrong." She got to her feet and walked towards him. "Consider this--what would you do if your only family, plus hundreds of other colistasis sufferers, need caxeal to survive, and the Alliance started hoarding caxeal for the benefit of those on Icheon?"

"That's not--"

She held up a hand to stop him. "Would you leave them all to die, or would you save them if that meant someone had to die? One life isn't worth millions of lives."

"That's a made up argument--"

"No, it's real. It's what happened to my sister." She jabbed a finger at him. "The reason I'm acting now is that I didn't back home. I hesitated, questioned what was right and wrong and watched her die. Don't make the mistake I did."

"The situations aren't the same though."

"You're right, they're not. In my case, it was one person I was trying to save. In yours, it's the millions of caxeal sufferers, not to mention the trillions that could be in danger should an enemy of the Alliance gain the ability to produce their own gravity bombs.

"Just remember what the cost would be if you don't get the answers you need." Hamasa lay back down on her bed. "Getting your hands dirty is a necessary sacrifice by those that have strength for those that don't."

Garrick couldn't argue with that. If Allison hadn't got his hands dirty in freeing Garrick, he would have been hung on Aklovat. If Garrick had stopped Marcus Fenig, none of this would have happened. "We'll see," he said, knowing it was a weak answer. His wrist link chimed with a message from Captain Peterborough asking him to make his way to the hanger. "We've arrived at the Ezekiel," he told Hamasa.

"Well don't let me keep you, I'm not going anywher." She swung her feet up in the air.

"See you soon." Garrick nodded at the guard to open the field in the cell so he could leave. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he felt like Hamasa understood him better than those in his unit.

#

Garrick watched the dock hands readying a hopper to take their party to the Ezekiel. He looked around the bustling hanger for a sign of the Captain, taking in the sight of Alliance military efficiency at its best. Several larger troop transport ships were sat in the hanger with their ramps down, ready in case the Phoenix Rises ever had to storm a ship or station. Smaller hoppers were stacked up the walls of the hanger, with one now being removed and lowered by a large robotic arm for them to use. He found Peterborough sat off to one side watching the action pass him by.

"I like the noise," Peterborough said after Garrick sat down next to him. "Covers the ringing in my ears from those blasted the riots."

"You were there on Caxis during the riots? I didn't know."

"I was--so much loss of life. Can't say I'm surprised Caxis wanted to leave the Alliance, we never did much for them."

"Captain..."

"This is all off the record, Commander." He winked at him, though Garrick didn't find it funny. It was borderline treasonous, but he was powerless to stop it.

Peterborough must have mistaken Garrick's silence for an invitation to continue. "Did you know the protests started on Partheus? Admiral Allison's homeworld?"--Garrick shook his head--"Scores of arrests all because people were speaking out against the Alliance. The protests spread to all educational institutions--what started as protests soon turned into riots after an Alliance officer shot a student and a lecturer. The Alliance shut them down by force--my force," Peterborough sighed and shook his head, haunted by the memory.

Something about the way he spoke bothered Garrick. "You speak about the Alliance in the third person, do you not feel part of it?"

"Is that what you took from the story?" Peterborough raised an eyebrow.

"The way you're talking isn't very becoming of an Alliance captain."

Peterborough scoffed. "Here I am trying to give you an important lesson about consequences and you're sitting there accusing me of treason."

"Treason is not a laughing matter, Captain."

Peterborough shifted in his seat to face Garrick. "Commander, I've been serving the Alliance since before you were even born. That makes me more than qualified to be the person to say--don't fall into the same trap."

"I don't know what you mean." Garrick experienced a flash of uncertainty. Had Peterborough been listening in to his conversation with Hamasa? He had paid off the guard to not record those conversations.

"I'm just saying, Commander, you can trace a lot of this back to the Alliance overreacting to anyone who stepped out of line. They placed the value of so-called unity above the lives of those students. Don't make the same mistake."

Garrick said nothing, he was sure he would say something he would regret.

"Can I be honest with you, Commander?"

"Of course."

"You spend too much time with that woman."

Garrick bit his tongue.

"Have you seen her record? She's a thief, murderer, traitor--just does whatever she's paid to do. No honour." He shook his head.

"She's proved valuable information."

"Yes, she has. But you have to ask yourself, what's in it for her? I can't work it out."

"Maybe she just wants to put things right?"

"Do you believe that," Peterborough said. "Believe me, I know her type. Stay away from her... What do I know," he muttered when Garrick stayed silent. "I'm just an old man." He got up and left Garrick to his thoughts.

#

Garrick sat there on his own for another half an hour stewing over what Peterborough had said. The man was a disgrace, and that he was the Captain of this ship was all the proof he needed that there was a traitor aboard, the only question was whether it involved Jansen.

By the time the ground crew signalled that the hopper was ready he was so pent up with frustration that he could have boxed twelve rounds and still have energy left. He boarded the ship and took his seat next to Peterborough. They didn't make eye contact.

Garrick was about to signal he was ready to take off when Fabian, Okoro and Ramsey filed in behind him. Garrick felt a slight tinge of guilt that he hadn't spent as much time with them as he ought. He wondered if they knew he had almost forgotten them here. Garrick nodded at them, but they didn't return it.

He shook his head and turned attention to the mission at hand. Garrick didn't quite know what to expect. The crew of the Ezekiel had only been told it was for some kind of inspection. He wondered how they would react to their accusations. Either way, with his unit behind him they had more than enough back up.

Out of the viewport, Garrick could see the Ezekiel sitting in space. The ship was similar in shape to the Phoenix Rises, like a cone lying on its side with the peak chopped off, but it was much smaller. From his reading, Garrick knew that it was a light transport used to ferry support staff and analysts, which made the question about just what they had been doing when they had been ignoring Allison's summons even more interesting to him.

The journey was short, and soon enough Garrick steered them into the ship and sat the hopper down on the Ezekiel's hanger floor. From the viewport next to him, Garrick could see a handful of people there to meet them. Peterborough led the way out with Garrick following behind him. His unit filed out in formation, cradling their rifles. He had his hand resting on his own side arm, though Peterborough had brought no weapon with him.

"Welcome to the Ezekiel--my name is Elizabeth Pierce, I'm the XO of the ship." Pierce was about as aged as Peterborough in Garrick's estimation but she looked far fitter than the other man. Garrick noticed that she too was wearing a weapon strapped to her hip.

"Good to meet you." Peterborough held out a hand, which Pierce took without hesitation. "Captain Peterborough. This is Commander Karn, and the rest of his unit. They are on the Phoenix Rises on detachment from the Mandrake."

"Ah, Admiral Allison's ship?"

"That's right, ma'am," Garrick said.

"I used to serve with him, you know." She smiled at him. "Great man."

"That he is." Why hadn't Allison mentioned Pierce when he had told the Admiral about the Ezekiel, he wondered. He may not have known.

"Let's not reminisce here, I'll take you to the Captain." Pierce gestured to the hatch behind her. "But before we move, I must ask that you turn over your weapons to the seargent-at-arms." A man stepped forward next to her.

"Absolutely out of the question," Garrick said. "You don't have the authority to issue an order like that."

"I have to agree with the Commander." Peterborough wore a frown. "You have a weapon yourself, and we are here under the orders of Admiral Jansen."

"IIn that case, I'd prefer it if the rest of your officers stayed with the ship. Fire regulations, you see--something that is the sole responsibility of the commanding officer of a vessel. Unless that's an issue, Captain?"

"No issue at all." Peterborough didn't hesitate, though Garrick was deeply uneasy.

Garrick turned and signalled Okoro to stay put, but with his back turned to Pierce he mouthed at her--'stay on your guard'.

The Ezekiel was not as new as the ships Garrick was used to. It had been in service for over 20 years and it showed. The walls were faded, and there was no ship AI to help manage the vessel. The crew, however, were anything but faded and old. Garrick thought that those they walked past looked energised and were eyeing the visitors from the Mandrake with an aloof confidence.

Unusually, Garrick thought, they weren't being taken to meet the captain in her room on the bridge, but instead Pierce took them a few decks down to a nondescript briefing room . She led Peterborough and Garrick in. "The Captain won't be a minute." Pierce smiled sweetly before leaving them alone.

After several minutes Garrick turned to Peterborough. "Doesn't something strike you as odd here, Captain?"

"I have to agree with you, Commander. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but stay alert."

Garrick didn't need to be told. He unclipped his side arm ready in case things turned sour.

After over an hour of waiting, the doors opened and Pierce walked in with another woman bearing a captain's insignia. She had her ginger hair tied up in a bun, and her lined, freckled face wore a deep frown. "Apologies for the delay, Captain. I was tied up on something urgent."

"Not to worry, Captain..." Peterborough said.

"Hennessey, Captain Hennessey."

"Pleasure to meet you." Peterborough shook her hand.

Garrick didn't know how Peterborough restrained himself after the outrage they had just endured. They were here under Allison's authority to demand answers of the Ezekiel, and its Captain had the gall to make them wait for this long?

Hennessey sat down in front of them, the frown still set on her face. "It's caused great disruption to pull my ship out of its operations to come out here. I hope that the Admiral has a good reason."

"Admiral Jansen always has a good reason, Captain," Peterborough's good manners slipped. "We have some questions about your movements in and around Hope Station, as well the attack on your convoy by the fugitive known as the Whisper."

"Oh, come on, Captain." Hennessey threw her arms up in the air and scoffed.

Garrick bristled, that was not the reaction he had expected.

Peterborough continued undeterred. "You made a stop over near Hope Station. Who from your crew travelled to the station? We'll need a manifest of everyone that left the ship."

"We can provide that." Hennessy nodded at Pierce who stood up and left the room. "But I cannot see why you need it? And why did you need to ask that in person?"

"It's quite a sensitive matter, Captain."

"Get to the point, Peterborough. We've wasted enough time."

Garrick snapped. "With respect, Captain Peterborough is here at Admiral Jansen's request, under her and Admiral Allison's authority."

"And who might you be?"

"Commander Garrick Karn. I'm the lead on an investigation into a potential traitor in the Alliance military. Someone on this ship leaked information about a classified weapons project to rogue agents--"

Hennessey laughed humorlessly. "Get real, Commander."

"You will give us that list, Captain, and we will need to speak to every person who left your ship. I trust that won't be an issue?" Peterborough asked with no hint of a smile.

"We'll do as ordered, but I want to put on record my displeasure about the whole situation. This is a farce."

"Another thing, Captain. Your movements over the past month." Garrick lent forward. "Just what have you been doing hiding away?"

"That's classified, Commander," Hennessey spat.

"Admiral Jansen will expect an explanation, Captain. The Admiral had questions about why it took you so long to receive and respond to our messages."

"This inquisition insulting. If you weren't here on the Admiral's request I would have you thrown off the ship."

Garrick jumped up. "Let's drop the pretence. You and your crew are traitors to the Alliance. You leaked classified information, and now you're trying to cover it up through bluff and bluster."

"Commander!" Peterborough tried to pull him back to his seat, but Garrick resisted.

"Commander Karn you are way out of line." Hennessey stood to face him putting both hands on the table and leaning in. "You do not understand what you're talking about."

I don't have time for this. "You haven't even denied that you're traitors--" Garrick was sure that he saw Hennessey reach for her firearm, and within a split second he had his own drawn and pointed at her, and Hennessey had hers pointed at him.

Peterborough jumped to his feet with both hands raised. "Hennessey, Garrick--for God's sake, put the guns down."

"She's not complying with this investigation. We have to arrest her."

"You're on my ship, Karn. You don't get to pull a gun on me."

Garrick heard the door open and turned his head an inch to see Pierce walk inside. She froze, a look of horror on her face, before reaching for her own weapon. He wasn't sure who fired first--himself or Hennessey. If it hadn't been for Peterborough pushing her gun arm upwards, Garrick would have been killed. As it was, the pain was almost unbearable. He dropped to one knee and clutched his hand to the bleeding wound on his left shoulder.

His vision blurred, but he could still hear Hennessey's gun going off.

Garrick groped around for his gun and forced himself to his feet only to see Peterborough drop to the deck in a crumpled heap.

Hennessey turned to him, poised to fire, so Garrick emptied his clip in her direction. The firing stopped and Hennessey was also on the ground.

Garrick remembered with a start that Pierce was also in the room, he turned to see her pointing a gun at him. Garrick rammed her with his good shoulder, knocking Pierce to the floor. He hit her with the butt of his pistol to knock her out.

Garrick touched his wrist and told his implant to contact Okoro. "Get here now." Garrick gasped from the pain. "Consider all Ezekiel personnel hostile."

"Understood. Hang tight, sir, we're on our way."