Dreadnaught

“Yes. His superiors said he should have let us die. I know this because several of us were required to testify to events that day. Against our will, but in individual interrogation units we could hardly concoct consistent lies. For his punishment, Rogero not only lost his command of a ground forces unit but was also assigned to the labor camp as one of the Syndic officials there. That was a Syndic idea of a joke, Admiral. Since Rogero had cared enough about us to save us, he would be forced to be one of our jailers.”

It made sense. “He was one of the senior Syndic officers at the camp, and you were one of the senior Alliance officers, so you had contact again on a regular basis.”

“Yes, sir, and I knew something of his character from the actions that had resulted in his being there.” Bradamont paused. “You and . . . Captain Desjani . . . are probably best suited to understand how I felt when I realized my feelings. It was not . . . something that I sought or welcomed. When I discovered he felt the same about me . . . impossible. He is a decent, honorable man, Admiral, even though he was trained to act differently. But . . . we both remained true to our duty. I never betrayed my oath to the Alliance, I never dishonored my ancestors, no matter what some—” She broke off.

“I see. The Syndics obviously took it poorly, too. You were sent to another prison camp, and he was exiled out here.”

“Not initially. CEO Drakon had some pull back then and was eventually able to get Rogero back under his command, after I had left that labor camp. Admiral . . .” She hesitated longer this time. “There is a highly classified matter, involving Alliance intelligence and myself. I doubt that anyone in this fleet is aware of it, or was ever read into it. But I can’t in good conscience leave you as my fleet commander unaware of it. The Syndics were allowed to believe that my feelings for Rogero had turned my loyalties. I have been feeding them occasional reports for years, through Alliance intelligence, which always provided me with the supposed secrets and misleading information that I was purportedly leaking to Rogero.”

Another surprise. “What did the Alliance get from this? Just a channel to send bogus secrets to the Syndics?”

“And messages that occasionally came back from Rogero, supposedly providing intelligence on Syndic activities.” She shook her head. “I have long suspected the messages from Rogero weren’t really from him, and that if they were, they also contained no real secrets, just disinformation, both sides playing the same game so both could imagine success while neither actually benefited.”

“Do you have any proof of what you’re telling me?”

Bradamont shook her head again. “No, sir. Just the contact information for my Alliance intelligence handlers, back in Alliance space.”

“That’s a dangerous game to play.” Geary finally sat down, eyeing her. “Is it possible that Lieutenant Iger has anything based on what Rogero reported? Do you know what Alliance intelligence reports called him?”

“Red Wizard, Admiral.”

“Do you have a cover name that was used in those reports?”

“White Witch, sir.”

Geary reached for his controls. “Lieutenant Iger. Do you have any intelligence reporting on file that was sourced to a Syndic source code-named Red Wizard?”

Iger couldn’t prevent a baffled frown, but turned slightly to consult his database before turning a now-surprised look on Geary. “Yes, sir, but I have no record that you’ve ever been read into that program, sir. You would have been provided any information derived from it, but that source and code name is tightly restricted.”

“Do you know the real name of that source?”

“No, sir. That wouldn’t be in the files on any ship, to prevent it from being compromised in the unlikely event any of our files survived the ship being destroyed or captured.”

“Has Commander Bradamont ever been read into that program?” Geary asked.

“No, sir! With her . . . background that would be . . . very unusual. With a security flag on her record, it wouldn’t happen.”

“Do you have anything on a source named White Witch?”

Iger checked, looking uncomfortable again. “Admiral, I have to ask where you’re hearing these code names. These are highly restricted compartments.”

“Is White Witch related in any way to Red Wizard?”

“Yes . . . sir, though the identity of that source is also not available to me. Admiral, I really have to insist that I can’t talk about this any more unless you’re formally read into these programs and sign the necessary security agreements.”

“That’s all right. Thank you.” Geary ended the call and waved Bradamont to a seat. “What you told me checks out. Now what, Commander? If Rogero was sending you information, contacting him directly now might create problems for him.”

“I agree, sir.”