No denial that the Parthenon was still her government. No protestations of having gone rogue. She was trying to be impassive, but he’d seen the twitch when he talked about the others being in deeper shit just because she was around.
‘I’m no Nativist,’ he told her. ‘I don’t automatically assume anything the Parthenon does is inimical to human interests. Because we’re all human, right?’
The tiniest nod, small enough that maybe she didn’t realize she’d made it. And the Parthenon had its own Nativist equivalents, its hardliners, and so maybe Solace wasn’t one of them. Always preferable to deal with non-fanatics.
‘This is where you give me at least the cover story of why you linked up with these reprobates.’
She smiled, so unexpectedly that he was slightly taken aback. ‘That’s a good word for them.’
‘And the cover story? Only I was expecting you to go long on how the Parthenon was our front line against the Architects. Always had been. And that’s how you ended up involved?’
A blink. ‘The information about the Architect came out later. As you’re probably aware. And I won’t deny my government’s interested in it now. Of course we are. Who wouldn’t be? It’s a problem for all of us.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’m Myrmidon Executor Solace, Heaven’s Sword Sorority, Basilisk Company.’ And, after a beat, ‘Angels of Punching You in the Face.’
‘Huh.’ He assimilated that. ‘Quite a salad of competences going on there. Basilisk is a mass loom gunner, isn’t it?’
She looked surprised that he knew, nodded shortly.
‘From soldier to spy is quite a jump.’
‘I’m not a spy. I’m just tasked with working outside our territory. That’s all Executor means.’
‘But you didn’t bring your mass loom . . .’
‘Aren’t you glad?’ Hugh hadn’t managed to replicate the Partheni’s huge gravitic weapons, and that still smarted.
‘So why are you here, if not to prep for the next Architect invasion?’ And he was too confident now; he’d let something slip, because:
‘You know that already. You’ve talked to Olli and she’s told you.’
Havaer smiled, not quite sure what had given it away. ‘Well, you’ve got me there. And?’
‘And Idris is a free man. It’s his choice.’ Real feeling now, in her voice. ‘My people would rather I twisted his arm: guilted him, forced him, kidnapped him, even. And I haven’t. It wouldn’t be right. But you’ve no right to stand in his way, if he decides to work for us. He’s free to make that choice.’
‘He’s a military asset,’ Havaer told her automatically and, having been frank, decided that frankness was the way to go. ‘I can seek authority to detain him to keep him out of the hands of a foreign power, one we may well be at war with in the near future. That is literally something I can do as an agent of Hugh and Mordant House. In the same way that your own heads of staff would slam the door the moment one of your weapons techs decided that a luxury apartment on the Berlenhof Archipelago sounded like a cushy retirement option. Est-ce compris?’
She nodded sharply, hating him but understanding him. Maybe she hated herself a little too. Because the pair of them knew damn well that her next order might be to cut loose from the Vulture’s crew and take Idris with her. Whether he wanted it or not.
*
Havaer took a break then: grabbed some kaffe, ordered his notes. Between Kris and Olli, at least, he had a good idea of what had gone on with the Oumaru and the Architects. And nobody had reported any planets missing recently, so maybe the Oumaru was a one-off event. Except his racing heart didn’t believe that.
It’s what everyone will tell each other. That one fluke doesn’t mean they’re back. They’ll tell that to each other, and nobody will believe the news is true. He was trying to imagine the wave of panic spreading across the Colonies, once elusive rumour became hard evidence in the form of a wrecked Oumaru. Mass evacuations, worlds defecting pell-mell to the Hegemony, apocalyptic cults and survivalist brotherhoods and – yes – the goddamn Nativists would find some way to capitalize on it as well. Betrayed! they’d shout, and get in the way just when Hugh needed unity. To Havaer, as a professional agent, the thought of the paperwork alone filled him with dread.
And he knew the Parthenon wanted their own pet Int, too – not exactly hard to guess, even if Olli and Solace hadn’t independently confirmed it. And right now, if the Architects were back, the Parthenon would be even more determined to get an Int on their side.