But just as Telon had avowed, the Alliance—or the Ithian half, actually—had managed to convince most of the galaxy that none of this had happened at all. That all human subspecies had evolved individually on their separate worlds after they, the Ithians, had terraformed those worlds to make it possible. They claimed there never was a so-called Original Earth. Discarded centuries of Draxian history as rubbish and childish myth to replace it with a false narrative that Ithis was the true cradle of civilization.
A movement stopped Dek’s musing cold, and she went still.
She caught a flicker of shadow. A wisp. The mere impression of a figure squatting near the rim of one of the excavations—not twelve steps away—one hand extended downward toward the dig. But as soon as she’d locked on target, the figure seemed to vanish,
She knew it was no product of her imagination.
“Freeze! Identify yourself!”
The figure jolted, and she spied it again. It angled its head her way—but then its features seem to dissolve into nothing. There was one sure way to determine if this thing was flesh or illusion. She raised her stunpulse.
Dek fixed on the sound of oncoming footsteps, sensed the vibrations through the soles of her boots. Before she could lock on target, a hard uppercut to her jaw sent her sprawling and her stunpulse tumbling. She braced for a follow-up attack, but it never came. Whoever her assailant had been, he’d once more evaporated into the still air.
Telon!
Dek gave her head a shake and fumbled for the emergency alert on her wristcom.
Fifteen sectas later, all of Site D was lit up brighter than a spaceport jumpdeck.
“What in Hades, A-Com!”
Major Remm was the first to reach her, followed by Sergeant Garr and three other members of her team.
“Locate Telon!” she ordered, cradling her jaw.
Remm vocalized her order to the men still on the main level and turned back to her after getting a reply. “He’s not in his quarters, A-Com.”
Dek staggered to her feet. “Find him!”
“No need to go looking,” Telon replied from the shadows near the lift. “I’m already here.”
She spun to discover him standing not ten steps behind her and leveled the business end of her stunpulse on him. “Don’t. Move. A muscle.”
Telon wasn’t talking.
He sat rigid in a chair in the SecCom office, his expression hard, refusing to answer any of Major Remm’s questions. He’d denied hitting Dek, and his steady eye contact spoke to her gut. She didn’t get the sense he was lying. So what was he hiding and why wouldn’t he answer the major’s questions?
Only Dek and Remm were present for the interrogation. She didn’t want a room full of agitated security men posturing or spreading rumors about what was said. They’d probably gossip anyway, and she’d be hard-pressed to keep the scuttlebutt under control. Another test of her leadership abilities.
Major Remm was getting frustrated with Telon’s silence. Even the seasoned veteran had limits to his patience. He leaned down to get in the visitor’s face. “It’s not in your best interests to stay mute. If you claim you weren’t the one who struck the a-com, you’d better start answering my questions or you’ll be sent to our brig until you are ready to talk.”
“With all due respect, Major,” Telon finally responded in a flat tone, “I’d like to speak to the a-com in private.”
Remm straightened and looked her way.
Dek drummed her fingers twice against the desk, scrutinizing Telon’s body language. If she was reading him right, he seemed willing to talk…but only to her.
“All right.” She gave the detainee a look that was both a warning and a promise. “You can standby outside, Major.”
“Are you sure about this, Dek? I mean A-Com?”
She took a spot directly in front of Telon and answered. “I’m willing to give him five minutes, Major. No more.”
Remm nodded peevishly and took his time making an exit.
“Let’s try this again,” Dek said with a chill in her tone. “What were you doing in the Lower Cave?”
He fixed her with a hard look. “Dek, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Trying to establish a rapport, was he? Those tactics didn’t work on her. “Answer the question.”
“I wasn’t the person you surprised in the lower cave. And I’m not the one who hit you.”
“If you weren’t there, how is it you know I surprised someone?”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t there. I said I didn’t do the things you suspect me of.”
“But you admit you were present in Lower Cave,” she countered. “You’ve been briefed that any areas of the site beyond the structures is off-limits, so explain your actions. In detail.”
“I was observing.”
Well, at least she’d gotten an answer. It just wasn’t the answer she wanted. “Observing what, exactly?”
“You, A-Com.”
She froze, staring him down. “Observing me?”
“It wasn’t my intention to surveil you. Until you made it my objective.”
“Explain.”
“You left your quarters via the roof hatch. You remained on the roof for some time, performing a systematic scan of the area. You seemed to be on high alert. Your body language concerned me enough that when you climbed down the rock wall, I followed.”
He’d been there with her on the roof? “I was equipped with night vision. How is it I never saw you?”
“Because I didn’t want to be seen.”
A niggling suspicion formed in her mind, but she set the thought aside until she could get initial answers. “Let me repeat my former question. What was your purpose in surveilling me?”
“Your actions required investigation. I can’t disclose my reasons.”
She folded her arms and started to pace. “Tell me everything that happened up to the point you made your presence known.”
“From the quarters area, I followed you to a rock ridge. You seemed to be tailing someone. The ridge concealed two lifts, but you didn’t engage them. Instead you entered a maintenance hatch and descended a ladder to a lower level. I followed you, discreetly, at a distance. When you reached the bottom, you then exited into a lower chamber of the cave system. By the time I reached the base of the ladder and stepped outside, you’d made your way into what looked like a dig site.” His gaze probed hers, looking for confirmation. She gave him nothing, not even a blink of acknowledgement that he’d recognized Site D for what it was. “And then your assailant moved on you. I was headed your way to render aid when your men showed up. That’s when I announced my presence.” He eased back in his chair. “How is your jaw?”
She gingerly rubbed the nasty purple bruise spreading over her lower face but sidestepped his question. “Where was your partner during your…excursion?” Dek glanced at his empty shoulder. “And where is she now?”
“In her crate in my quarters.”
“Why?”
“It wasn’t time to engage her.”
She could confirm that claim with the team members who’d checked his quarters. As for the rest of his story, a full investigation would prove if his account was true, or if he was a blatant liar. Though neither Telon nor her attacker were visible in the surveillance cams footage, impressions had been taken and environmental DNA samples had been collected. She’d get her answers.