Free Orphan Brigade by Henry V. O'Neil Page A

would have been passed even higher if his information was important enough.”
    â€œThat’s true, but once the group got back to Force control the alien probably wouldn’t have continued up the chain with the scout.” He shook his head. “None of this makes any sense.”
    Reena waited, comfortable in his embrace and enjoying the rush of warm water, but after a time Olech merely leaned his head against hers and went silent. She admired his ability to mentally dismantle the many complex machinations of their political rivals—­and allies—­but she’d also come to know when he’d simply shut down the machine. She let him rest for a time, then spoke.
    â€œThere is one thing we do know, and we’re going to have to prepare a response. The heads of the coalition planets are never going to believe that the alien selected Jander by chance.”
    â€œApparently it did. The thing told Jan that it believed his status as my missing son was what blew its cover.”
    â€œI don’t doubt that, but none of the other heads, or even your fellow senators, are going to believe it. And it doesn’t help that it took place in Glory Corps space.”
    â€œThe Senate’s Own.”
    â€œThe most political corps in the war zone. Add in that this was Jan’s first assignment, and it stinks of some kind of secret negotiation gone wrong.”
    His hands had tightened on her shoulders, making Reena understand that Olech had never even considered this possibility. The fingers relaxed almost immediately.
    â€œWhat should we do about that?”
    â€œNothing.” She shifted around to look into his eyes. “They won’t believe any explanation we offer anyway. If they make an outright accusation, we ask them just why we told so many ­people about the alien if we were clandestinely communicating with it. And why, if we were trying to keep this quiet, we had Jan bring the thing to a corps headquarters where it was promptly incinerated.”
    â€œKeep going.”
    â€œBelieve it or not, we got lucky when Jan turned you down. If you’d made him an ambassador after so short a time in the war zone, it would have proven all the suspicions. But he went back out, and as a new lieutenant looking for assignment to a combat platoon, so they’ll at least have to wonder. About that, and about something else.”
    â€œWhich is?”
    â€œIf this really was a secret meeting between your son and this incredible creature . . . what do you know now that they wish they knew too?”
    T he room was in the very core of the broad tower that stood in the dead center of the Unity Plaza complex. It was physically blocked off from the outside world and, although it wasn’t as large as Olech’s pool-­cum–safe room, its ceiling was just as high. Its bare gray walls lacked Reena’s artistic touch, and its only fixture was a high-­backed chair with black cushioning. All hard angles and no legs, the seat looked like it had been carved out of a block of dark stone.
    Olech Mortas sat down in it, alone, as the chamber’s doors sealed him inside. His thoughts were scattered now, something he recognized as his mind’s reaction to having focused on too many interconnected issues for too long. Using a complicated series of secure video communications, he’d personally briefed the alliance’s senior leaders on the alien’s appearance. Despite their loudly stated surprise, Olech suspected some of them had already learned of the creature’s existence. It was impossible to keep the story hidden, and the disinformation campaign for the masses had already begun. As suggested by both Reena and Hugh Leeger, Olech had not disclosed the entity’s telepathic communication with Jan.
    No matter how the truth was shaded or bent, there was no denying that the alien represented an enormous change to the war. And even though he’d been