Free Dark Space by Jasper T. Scott Page A

tracks well.”
    “Hmmm. We’ll have investigators look over the confiscated material for clues. Dismissed,” the commander said with a wave of his hand. They began turning to leave, but Vance shook his head and pointed at Ethan. “Not you.” Ethan stopped and turned back to the commander’s desk.
    Once the others had left, the commander raised his eyebrows and leaned forward. Taking that as his cue, Ethan spoke up. “I was on my way back to the Valiant when I stumbled on Guardians Three and Four. They were already under attack, so I joined the fight. The rest is as Three already said.”
    The commander shook his head. “I’m not interested in any of that. I want to know what happened to your mission and why you’re back here without your wingman.”
    “My mission was a fair success, sir.”
    The commander’s ice blue eyes narrowed. “So you tracked down Lieutenant Gerbrand’s killer?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And he’s dead?”
    “Not exactly. The killer is a bounty hunter named Verlin.”
    The commander waved his hand impatiently. “One of many aliases. I already know that; we sent you on this mission with that information. What else did you find out?”
    “He’s working for Brondi.” That wasn’t actually a part of Ethan’s cover story, but it was true, and it would help maintain his cover better than the lame excuse he’d been given. Moreover, he gained some small personal satisfaction from selling Brondi down the river.
    “Brondi, hmmm? Not too surprising. Well, then what are you doing back so soon? Your mission isn’t over.”
    “I was unable to pursue the bounty hunter further. He retreated aboard Alec Brondi’s corvette, and I felt it would be better not to follow him without backup. I tried to comm the Valiant for further orders, but the comms weren’t getting through.” Ethan went on, “When I realized the commnet must be down, I went back to the rendezvous with Six, but his fuel lines were jammed, so I left him on Forliss Station to make repairs while I came back here to refuel and report.” In reality, Six was also dead, also killed by Verlin.
    “Interesting.” Vance steepled his fingers under his chin, and his angular features grew even more vulturine as he contemplated the news. “Well, I’ll file your report, and we’ll see what command has to say, but if all of that is true, and Brondi has taken to openly opposing the fleet, he’s going to be in for more trouble than he’s bargained for.”
    “Yes, sir. May I be dismissed now, Commander?”
    “Of course. You sound like you could use some downtime. Your voice is a little strange.”
    “Strange, sir?” Ethan asked.
    Vance nodded. “Like you’re hoarse. You sure you’re not coming down with something?”
    Ethan hesitated before shaking his head. “Not that I’m aware of, sir. I must just be tired.”
    “Well, barring any emergencies, I’m taking you off active duty until Six returns with his report, so go get some rest. We don’t need you making the other pilots sick. Dismissed.”
    Ethan nodded and turned to leave the commander’s office. He let out a long sigh as the door swished shut behind him. Damn you, Brondi, with all your millions of sols, you couldn’t afford to get me a better vocal synthesizer? My voice is a little strange? That can’t be good. He would just have to speak as little as possible until his mission was over.
    Ethan walked down the corridor to the rail car tunnel at the end, punched the summon car button, and waited for the next car to arrive. He needed to retreat to his quarters for a vaccucleanse and to formulate a plan to sabotage the Valiant . Ethan watched as the control panel beside the doors to the rail tunnel ticked down the ETA for the next car. After a moment of idle contemplation, he realized that he didn’t even know where his quarters were, so he pulled the mission data card Brondi had given him out of his pocket and slotted it into the input just behind his right ear to