Lionheart: The Unseen Saboteur part 2 (4 of 4)

Here's the fourth segment of part 2:

	For perhaps the twentieth time Reanyn lifted the piece of paper Lieutenant
Trielle had given him and scanned it with his eyes.
	There were fourteen names there.  Admiral Nyntoch wasn't one of them.
	Damn Nyntoch!  Everything else seemed to point to him.  He even provided
false testimony for Dainvillo's alibi.  And yet...  He could not have been
the one who gave Dainvillo the instructions for programming the Astrolabe.
	But if not Nyntoch, then who?
	He sighed.  Whoever was behind this, he was powerful.  After his encounter
with the commandant in the Garden, Reanyn had went immediately to D Dock to
examine Dainvillo's corpse.  There was no sign of the body, and after asking
the dock supervisor - a short, powerfully built elf named Tahlonnis - he was
told that it had been taken to the High Keep for autopsy and assessment.
	He had thanked the man and immediately proceeded to the High Keep, an
imposing structure which was actually four separate towers surrounding one
larger central one, connected by thin arcing bridges of stone.  It was
constructed of smooth marble laced with red veins (which lent it a light
pink color).
	The mages there had been less than helpful.  He had come to not only to see
Dainvillo's body but also to find out what if anything the mages might have
learned from the insectare's corpse.
	At first, they claimed that there wasn't any insectare corpse.  That he
must be mistaken.  As for Second Lieutenant Dainvillo's body, it was
restricted to him, as it was not his case.
	Reanyn had not taken this news well.
	Eventually (after a superisor had been summoned) the mages admitted that
they had recieved the insectare's body and that it was under study, but that
orders had come down that it was to be kept `Fleet Priority' secret.  Which
meant that under no circumstances would Reanyn be allowed to see it or gain
access to any files on what the autopsy and investigation of the body
revealed.  The mages were polite but firm in their refusal to help him.
	At last, after more debate, the supervising mage had relented somewhat, at
least in the matter of Dainvillo's body.  The second lieutenant's death was
not Reanyn's case, but he was allowed to view the body from a distance,
strictly for the purpose of identification (as Reanyn had informed them that
he had met the man only the day before).  This served more as a concession
to a frustrated Reanyn than any real service; the second lieutenant's body
had already been officially identified.
	So Reanyn was allowed to enter a small cubicle and gaze out through a
glassteel wall on the room adjoining.  The body was atop a worktable there,
half turned away from him, but visible.  The moment Reanyn saw it he sighed.
  There wasn't much left of the body; it had literally been crushed to
pieces.  But the head was intact, and fully recognizable.  There was little
doubt that it was the same man he had met the day before.  As he turned
away, he realized he had been hoping against hope that the lieutenant was
still alive, that he had somehow faked his own death.  That there was still
some hope that Reanyn would be able to make sense of this whole
investigation.  But now...
	Dainvillo had promised to bring him the packet of papers that the insectare
had brought for Colonel Alynium.  He had said that Alynium was no traitor,
had suggested that the document the insectare brought was proof.  But
Dainvillo was dead, and Reanyn could only assume that the papers were now in
the hands of whoever had ordered his assassination.  Probably, if they were
as damaging as Dainvillo had suggested, they had been destroyed.
	Reanyn had returned to his quarters, uncertain what to do next.  Whoever it
was that Geyrrin was working for, they were powerful.  He found his actions
frustrated at every turn - first Trielle had been reassigned, then Dainvillo
was killed, and now in one fell sweep he was denied access to nearly every
shred of physical evidence he had found so far (meaning both the insectare's
and Dainvillo's bodies).
	Duty or honor?  Unbidden the thought leaped to his mind.  It wouldn't be
difficult to turn his report.  Tell them what they wanted to hear.  A scro
infiltrator assassinated a colonel.  Easy.  They didn't want to know
anything more than that anyway.  And besides, what proof did he have?
Nothing.  He was fighting a shadow conspiracy, and he couldn't even prove
its existance.  Maybe if he had the document the insectare had brought,
maybe that would be proof.  Or Dainvillo's testimony.  Or even
circumstantial evidence...
	But all that was gone now.  He didn't even know who it was he was fighting.
  He had thought it was Admiral Nyntoch - had wanted it to be Nyntoch.
Everything had seemed to point that direction.  But Nyntoch's name wasn't on
the list.  Nyntoch, however he was tied into the matter, didn't have
clearance or knowledge of how to reprogram the Astrolabe.  And he didn't
have authority over any of the men who were on the list.  In fact, two or
three of the men on the list had authority over Nyntoch...
	Abruptly Reanyn straightened, scanning the list again.  Yes, that's it!  It
has to be!

				*	*	*

	"Corporal?"  Reanyn knocked again.  "Corporal, I need you."
	The door opened, and a flustered-looking Corporal Siltanis stood there.
"Yes sir?"  He looked like he'd been sleeping.  His eyes were blurry and his
hair was in disarray.  His shirt was only half tucked in.
	"I need your help, Siltanis.  You are familiar with Vice-Admiral Evian?"
	The man looked startled.  "The right hand to the Grand Admiral?  Of course,
sir.  Who isn't?"
	"We're going to pay him a visit."
	"Right now, sir?"
	"Right now, corporal."

				*	*	*

	"Step in, High Captain.  Let's see...  Al'Nuoth, was it?  What can I do for
you?"
	Vice-Admiral Sandur Evian was a tall, dignified elf, with short silver hair
and green eyes.  He was an older man, though not ancient by any means, with
a quiet, reserved face and a gentle mouth.  As the chief assistant and clear
successor to the High Admiral, Evian was also an extremely busy man.  Reanyn
and Corporal Siltanis had waited two and half hours for an appointment.
	Reanyn stepped into the spacious office.  The corporal stood just behind
him and to the left, looking a little nervous.  Ordinarily he would have
preferred to wait outside rather than intrude on an officer as important as
Evian, but Reanyn had requested his presence.  "I need a witness," Reanyn
had said during their journey here, and he would say no more.
	"I'll come right to the point, Vice-Admiral.  I was given the charge of
investigating the murder of Colonel Alynium."
	Evian looked perplexed.  "I have nothing to do with that investigation,
high captain.  Why come to me?"
	"Because, sir, I have discovered incontrovertible proof of who ordered the
assassination.  You."
	There was a moment of shocked silence.  "I'm not certain I understand,"
said Evian.
	"I think you do, Vice-Admiral.  You ordered the death of Colonel Alynium
and the insectare he was meeting.  And later, as a direct result, the death
of Second Lieutenant Jevar Dainvillo."  Reanyn tried to keep his voice from
trembling.  He was facing the second highest ranking officer in the Fleet
and throwing accusations of murder.  Accusations like that could get him
court-martialed and thrown in prison, even if they were leveled against much
lower ranking officers.  Corporal Siltanis had gone white as a ghost, his
eyes as wide a saucers.
	Evian's voice turned hard.  "I think you have me confused with someone
else, high captain."
	"I don't think so, sir.  The evidence against you is overwhelming.  You are
the only one who could have given that order.  You served as head of Fleet
Intelligence for nearly seventy years, and you've maintained your contacts
with that organization.  When Colonel Alynium got in your way - or whatever
he did that you didn't like - you used your connections to make contact with
a Tyliath-Venhi'er agent and arranged for his removal."
	The Vice-Admiral was utterly still.  "I don't know what you're talking
about, high captain.  I think I should call security and have you escorted
out."
	It isn't working, thought Reanyn.  He had no proof, no evidence.  If Evian
called his bluff...  Desperate, he went on the offensive.  "Call them, sir,"
he said icily.  "You can have me thrown out.  But if you do, I assure you my
next stop will be at Admiral Lylanna's offices to deliver my report.  My
full  report."
	There was a beat of silence.
	Taking the other man's hesitancy to mean that Evian was uncertain, Reanyn
pushed on.  "The report that contains the details, testimony, and evidence
that incriminates you.  I haven't delivered it yet, admiral.  I know that
you gave the order - the proof is overwhelming - but I don't know why.
Everyone keeps hinting that I'm doing a disservice to the Fleet by bringing
this out in the open.  At least one innocent man has died over this.  I want
to know why."
	The Vice-Admiral was still quiet.  "What... evidence do you have to support
your accusations, high captain?" he asked, choosing his words with care.
	He's buying it!  Reanyn realized, with a surge of triumph.  But he hadn't
admitted anything yet.  "Only you could have given the order, admiral.
Nyntoch was plainly involved; he gave Dainvillo his alibi.  But Nyntoch
couldn't have instructed him on how to reprogram the Astrolabe.  Only you
could have done that, admiral.  Nyntoch acted because he was ordered to.
Ordered by you.  I have physical and circumstantial evidence to support this
as well, but most damning is the testimony of them men involved."
	"Don't be ridiculous," said the Vice Admiral, a tiny smile of amusement
playing at the corners of his mouth.  "Nyntoch is an Admiral.  Technically I
outrank him, yes, but our fields of duty do not overlap.  There is no
situation I can envision in which I would issue him orders, and he knows it.
  Why should he obey orders from me?"
	Reanyn shook his head, his adrenaline still racing.  That note of amusement
in the admiral's voice meant that he thought Reanyn was bluffing.  "Don't
insult me, admiral.  Did you really think I wouldn't discover that Nyntoch
served as your aide during your tenure with Fleet Intelligence?  Many of his
present duties still overlap with Fleet Intel.  I told you I have testimony
against you, admiral.  Not Nyntoch's, no.  He would not betray you, and so
he will be condemned with you, but I have testimony.  Not direct testimony;
Dainvillo didn't even know who you were.  You were too careful for that;
that's the way with you intelligence men.  But I've got the man who gave
Dainvillo his orders.  He turned over the man who passed the orders down to
him.  And so on.  I've formed the whole chain, admiral.  A chain that points
straight to you."  Reanyn forced himself to silence.  That last bit had been
pure guesswork, and reckless at that.  But the vice-admiral had been on the
verge of calling his bluff, he had to try something.
	Apparently it had been on the mark, for Evian's slight smile had vanished.
He looked troubled, but he said nothing.
	"Why, admiral?" he pressed.  "Why did Colonel Alynium have to die?  What
was so important that you commissioned his assassination?  So important that
when Dainvillo turned stag on you, you commissioned his death as well?"
	Evian's lips were tightly pressed together, his eyes narrowed.  He sat back
in his chair and steepled his fingers.  "I'll thank you to lower your voice,
high captain."
	Reanyn leaned forward.  "Answer my question, admiral," he said coldly.
"Two men are dead, by your command.  Why?  Was Alynium a traitor?  Was he
passing sensitive material to our enemies?  Or was this some private dispute
between the two of you?  And having him murdered was just your petty way of
having him removed.  Why, admiral?  Why?  You owe an answer.  Not just to
me, but to every honest officer in the Fleet.  And most especially the two
men who lay slain by your command!"
	Evian was fairly quivering with rage.  "How dare you raise your voice to
me?" he demanded.
	Reanyn rode right over him.  "Or is the truth even more terrible?  Because
if Alynium wasn't a traitor, then perhaps you are!"
	"Enough!" shouted Evian, leaping up from his seat.  "I am no traitor!  What
I did, I did in service to my Fleet!"
	There was a moment of shocked silence.  Reanyn rocked back, stunned.  It
wasn't an admission of guilt, not a convictable one.  If the words were
written down, they would not read as an admission.  But as the admiral cried
it aloud, everyone in the room knew without doubt that it was.
	Evian blinked, surprised at what he had just done.  His anger seemed to
drain away, and he sat again.  When he spoke, his voice was quiet, somber.
"Nain Alynium was an honorable officer.  He served under me in the First
Unhuman War.  He was a friend.  I will not see his name stained."
	He paused, and a long moment passed.  Reanyn remained silent, sensing that
the time for forcing the issue had passed.  The vice-admiral was a broken
man.  He sat hunched over, his eyes resting on nothing.
	A flash of anger passed across his face.  "But he was a fool.  `An honest
fool is the most dangerous man in all the world.'  That's how Skyflower put
it, and it's true."  His eyes came up, locking with Reanyn's.  "He was a
good soldier, but he just didn't understand the Fleet.  He was always
pushing for a more aggressive stance against the goblinkin.  He maintained
that if we were at war then we needed to be at war, totally and completely
at war.  Clear targets.  Clear objectives.  Clear strategies.  Bolstered
troop forces, better equipment.  Promotion by merit.  Demotion when it was
deserved, regardless of the noble standing of the offending elf."
	I agree with him, thought Reanyn silently.
	"But the Fleet doesn't work like that," Evian continued.  "It never has.
`Quick and decisive' is not within the Imperial elven mindset.  And Alynium
began to believe we couldn't win...  or that if we did, it would take so
long and cost so much that it wouldn't be worth it."
	Evian shook his head.  "That's been the situation for years.  The Fleet has
prosecuted the war, and Alynium has worked here on Lionheart, continually
trying to streamline the fighting forces of the Fleet.  He had some success,
and the Fleet is the better for his efforts, but he was no politician, and
in most things he was frustrated.  And then the damn scro..." his voice
trailed off, and he shook his head in disgust again.
	He sighed, then continued.  "Alynium got word through the intelligence
services that there was a splinter group of the scro leadership that wanted
to negotiate an end to the conflict.  Their people had contacted our people,
just broaching the possibility.  I don't know how he learned of it; Alynium
was never an intelligence man.  But he found out about it somehow, and from
that moment on his fate was set.
	"He came to me with it, asking for my help in setting up an advance meeting
whereby the scro could send us a proposal for a possible treaty.  I tried to
reason with him, to make him see the folly of entertaining any such notion.
He wouldn't listen, and I knew his position was too high for me to simply
order him to silence and ensure that he never had a chance to act on what he
knew.  He would open his mouth and tell others of the possible treaty.  I
knew this had to be contained.
	"I told him I would arrange a meeting if he would keep silent about the
whole affair.  He didn't even ask why, he just assumed it was part of how
things like this are done in intelligence.  He kept his mouth shut, I
arranged the meeting.  And I arranged for Dainvillo to be there to `cleanse'
the situation.  Simple."
	He was looking at Reanyn, awaiting a reaction.
	Reanyn was quiet a moment.  "So," he said at last, "the papers the
insectare brought were a treaty proposal."
	Evian nodded.
	"Where are they?"
	"Safely destroyed.  And since we killed the messenger, the other side will
understand our response to them."
	Reanyn shook his head.  He wasn't angry anymore, he was just bewildered.
"You ordered the deaths of two good officers over a treaty proposal."  It
wasn't a question, but his voice registered his disbelief.
	"The Fleet can't afford peace, high captain.  Not with goblinkin.  Not
ever.  It is as simple as that.  The nobility wouldn't stand for anything
less than unconditional surrender, and they would probably still call for a
war of complete extermination even then."  He shook his head.  "And yet,
what if the demands were reasonable?  What if the scro were willing to
retreat to their own spheres and leave elven lands alone?  There would be
those who would support the idea of a treaty.  Officers and enlisted men
alike.  The nobility would never allow any treaty to stand.
	"Think about it, high captain.  Thousands have died already, worlds have
been scourged.  Do you really think that all of elvenkind would accept a
treaty?  Half of them are howling for blood and vengeance.  And yet some
would.  The Fleet would tear itself apart."  He snorted.  "Not that they
would ever keep any treaty anyway.  It was just another attempt to weaken
us, to weaken our resolve in this war.  They have spies; they know the
political system that drives the Fleet.  It was an attempt at sabotage, high
captain.  An attempt to render the Council of Worlds and the Council of
Admirals impotent with debate over a `treaty' the scro never intended to
honor."
	The vice-admiral shook his head again, wearily.  "I couldn't allow that to
happen, high captain.  It had to be contained.  What I did, I did for the
Fleet."
	For a moment Reanyn stood silent, unmoving.  At last he turned and started
for the door.  Corporal Siltanis looked shaken.
	"What will you do, high captain?" asked Evian.
	Reanyn looked back over his shoulder.  "Two loyal officers are dead," he
said.  "I will do my duty."  He nodded at Siltanis.  "Come, corporal."

					*	*	*

	"I have reviewed your report, High Captain Al'Nuoth."
	Reanyn stiffened.  He was already at attention, dressed in his formal
uniform.  It had been two days since he had submitted the report of his
investigation.  He had waited for a summons impatiently during that time,
half dreading it and half wanting to get it done.  Now he stood in Admiral
Lylanna's office again.  She sat at her desk, his report before her.
	"I find it wanting, high captain.  And very disturbing."
	Reanyn said nothing.  He had expected this.
	"Your conclusions about the nature of this crime are extremely disturbing,
as well as being unsupported by good evidence."
	He sighed.  He had expected this, yes, but he felt some need to defend his
work.  "I was denied access to most of my evidence.  But you will find my
testimony of the vice-admiral's confession corraborated by Corporal
Siltanis."
	She shook her head.  "Nevertheless, I find it wanting.  Should I publish
this report, high captain, I fear I would not be acting in the best interest
of the Fleet."
	There it was again.  The `best interest' of the Fleet.  Why, wondered
Reanyn, is the `best interest' always to suppress the truth?
	"And so I will not publish it, high captain.  I will not destroy the
reputation of officers such as the vice-admiral who have served loyally and
well.  I will not endanger the morale of the Fleet by acting against high
ranking and respected officers."
	Reanyn remained calm and expressionless, but inwardly he felt a great
sadness.  The men who had died deserved the truth.  For the investigation to
be suppressed was a betrayal of their honor.  As well as his own.
	"I will instead publish the original report that Commandant Geyrrin
provided.  I will publish it as official.  Colonel Alynium was murdered by a
scro assassin.  That is all.  You will depart immediately to return to your
commission aboard the man-o-war Vengeance, and you will speak of this matter
to no-one.  That is an order, high captain.  Do you understand?"
	Reanyn didn't answer for a moment.  Finally he gave a resigned nod.
	She held his stare for a long moment.  "Very well," she said at last.  "You
may go."
	"High captain?" she said suddenly, as he turned.  "You may be interested to
know that Vice-Admiral Sandur Evian has decided to resign his position.
After consideration, Admiral Nyntoch has also decided on premature
retirement.  Your actions have not been without consequence."
	"I did my duty, admiral," he said at last.  "Without duty, honor is false.
Whatever consequence my actions may bring, at least I was true to myself."
	She nodded, knowing what he meant.  Commandant Geyrrin had filed a
grievance against Reanyn, and an ugly rumor was circulating that the high
captain would soon be facing court martial.  The admiral had instructed him
to return to his commission in the field with all speed, but both of them
knew he would never be allowed to do this.  Already Reanyn had been
officially notified that he was not to leave the station until the grievance
Geyrrin had filed had been resolved, and a council had been convened to
determine the facts of the case.  To determine whether a court martial was
in order.
	Duty or honor.  He had chosen both, and he was satisfied.
	Reanyn straightened his back and went out of the room.



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