He shut down his system and secured all his files before leaving, then jogged the entire way to Dax’s office. An office he’d only been to once since they’d moved. Dax preferred to run most of the day to day business from the briefing rooms.
He made it in good time, his thoughts racing faster than his feet as he tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do to fix things with Nyx, along with working out why Dax wanted to see him so early in the morning. He didn’t have answers to either question by the time he arrived, which meant he’d be walking into Dax’s office blind. Not his preferred scenario.
He took a second to tug his uniform into place, and activated the door chime to announce his presence. Dax wasn’t much for protocol, and on any other day he’d have walked right in, but something told him today wasn’t the day to do anything casually.
“Ensign Erben reporting as ordered, sir.”
“Enter.”
Not good. No words of welcome. Dax hadn’t even used his name. He squared his shoulders, lifted his head, and opened the door to face whatever new hell the universe had decided to send his way.
Dax’s office was relatively spacious by station standards, but today it was packed.
Dax was at his desk. Standing beside him, his arms folded across his puffed-out chest in what was clearly supposed to be a power pose, was a man Eric hadn’t seen before. He was lean, with a hawk-like profile, close-cropped brown hair that showed gray at the temples, and a thin-lipped mouth that was currently set in an unpleasant little sneer.
“Good of you to finally join us, Ensign.”
Eric came to attention and snapped off a textbook perfect salute. “Sir. I came as soon as I received the summons, sir.”
Dax kept his features neutral, but Eric could tell his commander was not pleased with the way this meeting had started. The – he checked the man’s insignia and cursed inwardly – the new arrival was a Brigadier General, and he was clearly not in a mood to follow polite protocol like introductions.
His commander got to his feet. “Ensign Erben, this is Brigadier General Halverson and his aide de camp, Lieutenant Clooney. They’re here to review and to address some concerns raised regarding the operations of the Nova Force teams in this sector.”
He waded through Dax’s formal phrasing and came to an unpleasant conclusion. There was only one team assigned to this sector - theirs. Which meant Halverson and his lackey were here to poke their noses into team three’s business. Could this day get any worse?
Dax went on to identify the others in the room. Colonel Scott Archer, the ranking IAF officer for the station, and his aide, a demure young woman in a dark suit instead of an IAF uniform that Dax introduced only as Penny. “And you know Colonel Bahl, head of Nova Force. She is attending via hologram.”
He nodded to each person as they were introduced but stayed quiet. Once that courtesy had been seen to, Dax pushed his chair aside and remained standing. That was when Eric noticed that his commander was at least four inches taller than Halverson.
“At ease, Ensign,” Dax said a moment later.
“For now,” Halverson added.
Dax frowned. It was a minute expression, but Eric caught it. His commander was losing patience with Halverson, but given his rank, there wasn’t a damned thing anyone could do about it. Rank really did have its privileges.
His commander cleared his throat, then spoke. “You’ve been called to this meeting because there are allegations being made against you, Ensign Erben, regarding your recent conduct.”
“Sir? I’m not sure what conduct you could be referring to.” This couldn’t be about Nyx, could it? Had she been right all along? The list of things he needed to apologize for was getting longer by the minute.
“Let me refresh your memory, Ensign.” Halverson nodded to his aide, who tapped the data tablet in his hand. A second later a hologram shimmered into existence in the air over Dax’s desk.
Eric’s stomach twisted as he saw what was being displayed. There was a vid-capture of him jacked into the data node he’d used the day he’d sent his sprites – his very illegal sprites – out into cyberspace to look for Nyx. There was more, too, but the more he read, the more confused he got. It showed that someone using his codes had attempted to hack into the IAF system more than once over the last week, but the techniques they used were messy, outdated, and doomed to fail. There were black market inquiries about new identities and several offers to sell IAF data to a winning bidder, but again it was all crudely done, worded in such a way that even the most basic review would flag the communique with every law enforcement group in the galaxy.
“Look familiar?” the general drawled, looking smug.
“No, sir.”
“What?” Halverson barked.
“I recognize one thing in that collection, sir.” He pointed to the vid-capture of him. “That did happen, sir. But it occurred more than a month ago.”
“Not according to the date stamp.” Halverson pointed. “Right there. And I had it verified. This shows you were committing a breach of this station’s systems two days ago, which matches the dates on some of the other evidence, and it’s all been verified, too.”
He fought to stay in control of his mouth, and his temper, but some of his anger at being accused of betraying Nova Force and his oath of service bled into his next words. “Respectfully, sir. Whoever verified that data is an idiot. I am a loyal officer of the IAF and a proud member of Nova Force. I would not, under any circumstances, betray my oath or my teammates by selling IAF secrets.”
The aide pressed his mouth into a disapproving line so tight his lips almost disappeared. And now I know which idiot verified the images.
“But you do admit to breaking your agreement with the IAF and going into cyberspace without oversight or orders,” Halverson pressed on.
“Yes, sir.” There was no point in denying it. All he could do was make sure that no one ever learned that Kurt had known and didn’t report it.
“And there we have it. Commander Rossi, have this man arrested. I’ll see to the paperwork discharging him from service, and he can join his father on Tantalus Four. Maybe we can find them adjoining cells.” Halverson glanced over at his aide. “I assume his accomplice is already in custody?”
“No, sir. She is not. I have no record of the cyborg female being held in custody anywhere in the complex.”
They thought Nyx was involved in this mess? He was on the verge of defending Nyx when Colonel Bahl spoke up. “The ensign’s father has served his time and is now a free citizen of the galaxy. Whatever happens, his situation will not be affected by Ensign Erben’s fate.”
Halverson huffed. “Fine. The father was a minor concern, anyway. We have our main suspect right here.”
“And while the ensign has admitted to breaking the agreement, I must respectfully point out that his probation period has long since ended,” Dax spoke up next, his voice carefully neutral. “And while the other accusations against him are serious, that is all they are right now, accusations. Ensign Erben is entitled to a fair hearing, legal representation, and a chance to defend himself against these allegations. Furthermore, Nyx has been granted all the rights and privileges of a guest.”
“On whose authority?” the general demanded. “She’s a hostile asset at best, and potentially an enemy agent sent here to spy on us.”