Free Dark Space: The Invisible War by Jasper T. Scott Page A

then. Brondi’s in for a surprise.”
    Atton nodded. “We’ll have her back soon. The tougher part will be finding a new crew for her.”
    “Yes . . .” Ethan trailed off and his eyes drifted out of focus. He had been responsible for killing the original crew by unwittingly carrying Brondi’s super virus aboard the ship.
    “It’s not your fault, Ethan,” Atton said.
    “We can agree to disagree on that.”
    “If anything Kurlin Vastra shoulders more of the blame than you.”
    Ethan’s eyes came back into focus at the mention of Alara’s father. “Are you going level any charges against him?”
    Atton just looked at him. “Well, that’s up to you now. I’m not the overlord anymore.”
    “I’m not going to do anything. I’d be a hypocrite if I had him tried and not myself. Besides, we were both Brondi’s pawns, even if he knew exactly what he was doing and I didn’t. For now, I think it’s best for us to keep all of that as quiet as possible. What about the guards who interrogated Kurlin? Have they been sworn to secrecy?”
    “They have, but I’m not sure we can trust them to keep quiet for long. Everyone lost people close to them on the Valiant . It’s only a matter of time before the guards talk to someone, or maybe even plot to kill Kurlin themselves.”
    “And what do they know about me? You said that Kurlin revealed my part as the carrier for his virus. He met me you know, so if he ever sees me without my holoskin . . .”
    Atton raised an eyebrow at that. “When would he have a chance to see you without your holoskin? Besides do you really think he’ll try to pin blame on you when he’s just as guilty? He did mention there was a live carrier for the virus who infiltrated the Valiant , but you weren’t named. Kurlin seems to have assumed that you died aboard the Valiant with everyone else, so you’re safe. The greater problem is what will happen to old Kurlin if the crew finds out what he did.”
    “They’ll murder him,” Ethan replied.
    “Right, and we still need him to produce more of the vaccine, just in case the plague spreads through Sythian Space, too.”
    “I didn’t think of that,” Ethan said. “Where are the interrogators now?”
    “One of them just brought us breakfast.”
    Ethan frowned. “Well, that’s going to help me sleep at night. Couldn’t we have them reassigned somewhere else? Maybe we could leave them on the transfer station.”
    Atton nodded. “I would recommend that, yes, but that won’t shut them up forever, it’ll just isolate them for a while. Eventually the news will get out.”
    “Well, let’s hope they keep their mouths shut.”
    “A more permanent solution would be to assign them to the boarding party for the Valiant . . . .”
    Ethan’s eyes grew wide as he understood what Atton was implying. He felt a sharp pang of disappointment to think that his son would even consider such a thing. “Atton . . .”
    The boy shook his head. “I can see you don’t approve, but think about the greater good here. Part of your responsibility as overlord is going to be making the hard decisions—doing the things that on the surface seem wrong, but for the greater evil they will prevent.”
    “Wrong is wrong, Atton.”
    Atton smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You can’t afford to see the world in black and white, Ethan. Right and wrong are often just shades of gray. I’m surprised I have to tell a smuggler that.”
    Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “Ex-smuggler. I lost everything because of my own moral compromises. If it weren’t for that, you and your mother and I would never have been separated, but instead you grew up without me there, and your mother is . . .” Ethan trailed off, shaking his head. “Missing.” That was as honest as he could afford to be with himself right now.
    “Look, all I’m saying is that we need Kurlin. I don’t care how you keep him alive, but you’d better, or many more people will die.”
    Ethan nodded. “Fine.