hundred figure was too small.
“So they're warning people away?” she asked. “Telling them not to work for the imperial science programs?”
“It wasn't that kind of news,” Juarez said. “It was my impression that they were just interested in the statistics, nothing more.”
Statistics. Squishy let out a small breath. “I don't want anyone running an experiment on this until someone who has worked with anacapa drives for a decade or more looks at this.”
Then she excused herself and went to her office. She felt lightheaded and off balance.
The Empire was still experimenting with stealth tech, even after she and Boss had tried to shut them down. And people were still dying in the experiments. Over and over again, people were dying.
What would it take to convince the Empire that stealth tech was too dangerous to pursue? Or could it be persuaded?
Maybe she and Boss had been on the right track six years before. Maybe they should do everything they could to destroy the research. All of the research.
She didn't like the way her thoughts were going, but she recognized the feeling. She couldn't keep working here while people were dying back there. Particularly if they were following protocols she had developed decades before.
The scientists with the Empire's program were following faulty assumptions with old information, and that wasn't just dangerous to them. It was dangerous to the entire sector.
Something had to be done.
And she knew only one person she trusted to do it.
Q uint ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. He walked toward her. There wasn't a lot of room in this cabin. It took all of Squishy's strength not to back away.
“When the Dane entered imperial space,” he said, “I was actually hopeful. I thought you had come back to help us.”
“I did,” she said softly.
“No, you didn't,” he said. “You came back here to destroy us.”
Quint's words offended her. Squishy stood perfectly still, trying to control the anger.
“I did not come to destroy you,” she said. “People who destroy things kill people.”
“You killed Cloris,” he said.
Her cheeks heated. She made herself breathe before she spoke. Even then, her words were clipped.
“I didn't come to destroy you,” she said again. “I came to help you.”
His face flushed. The wounds disappeared in the redness. He took a step away from her, moving his head at the same time so she couldn't see his eyes.
“That's what I wanted to believe, Rose,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back. The posture looked terribly familiar. She did it all the time, and she realized, with a sinking feeling, she had learned it from him. “I wanted to believe that you could stop all of the deaths. Didn't you ever wonder how you got in so easily? Why no one cared that you'd been gone for so many years?”
She had wondered, then chalked it up to the Empire's incompetence. She figured people were watching her, but it didn't matter. She had an entire team, she had a way to contact them if she needed to, and she had no actual work to do until she destroyed the research station. For six months, her work had been blameless, although she made a point of stopping those experiments, the ones that would have resulted in someone's death.
He tilted his head back. “I believed in you, Rosealma. You're brilliant. I honestly thought you could fix it all.”
Her breath caught in her throat. It all fit: how she got in, why he kept showing up, asking the occasional question, keeping an eye on her, telling her she was doing well.
She shook her head. “I did fix things, just not the way you wanted.”
“You just set them back some, Rosealma. You didn't fix anything at all,” he said.
She almost, almost told him about destroying the backup research, but she didn't. The only thing her people hadn't destroyed was the scientists themselves. Someone destructive would have destroyed them too. But she wasn't destructive. It would take the
“So they're warning people away?” she asked. “Telling them not to work for the imperial science programs?”
“It wasn't that kind of news,” Juarez said. “It was my impression that they were just interested in the statistics, nothing more.”
Statistics. Squishy let out a small breath. “I don't want anyone running an experiment on this until someone who has worked with anacapa drives for a decade or more looks at this.”
Then she excused herself and went to her office. She felt lightheaded and off balance.
The Empire was still experimenting with stealth tech, even after she and Boss had tried to shut them down. And people were still dying in the experiments. Over and over again, people were dying.
What would it take to convince the Empire that stealth tech was too dangerous to pursue? Or could it be persuaded?
Maybe she and Boss had been on the right track six years before. Maybe they should do everything they could to destroy the research. All of the research.
She didn't like the way her thoughts were going, but she recognized the feeling. She couldn't keep working here while people were dying back there. Particularly if they were following protocols she had developed decades before.
The scientists with the Empire's program were following faulty assumptions with old information, and that wasn't just dangerous to them. It was dangerous to the entire sector.
Something had to be done.
And she knew only one person she trusted to do it.
Q uint ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. He walked toward her. There wasn't a lot of room in this cabin. It took all of Squishy's strength not to back away.
“When the Dane entered imperial space,” he said, “I was actually hopeful. I thought you had come back to help us.”
“I did,” she said softly.
“No, you didn't,” he said. “You came back here to destroy us.”
Quint's words offended her. Squishy stood perfectly still, trying to control the anger.
“I did not come to destroy you,” she said. “People who destroy things kill people.”
“You killed Cloris,” he said.
Her cheeks heated. She made herself breathe before she spoke. Even then, her words were clipped.
“I didn't come to destroy you,” she said again. “I came to help you.”
His face flushed. The wounds disappeared in the redness. He took a step away from her, moving his head at the same time so she couldn't see his eyes.
“That's what I wanted to believe, Rose,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back. The posture looked terribly familiar. She did it all the time, and she realized, with a sinking feeling, she had learned it from him. “I wanted to believe that you could stop all of the deaths. Didn't you ever wonder how you got in so easily? Why no one cared that you'd been gone for so many years?”
She had wondered, then chalked it up to the Empire's incompetence. She figured people were watching her, but it didn't matter. She had an entire team, she had a way to contact them if she needed to, and she had no actual work to do until she destroyed the research station. For six months, her work had been blameless, although she made a point of stopping those experiments, the ones that would have resulted in someone's death.
He tilted his head back. “I believed in you, Rosealma. You're brilliant. I honestly thought you could fix it all.”
Her breath caught in her throat. It all fit: how she got in, why he kept showing up, asking the occasional question, keeping an eye on her, telling her she was doing well.
She shook her head. “I did fix things, just not the way you wanted.”
“You just set them back some, Rosealma. You didn't fix anything at all,” he said.
She almost, almost told him about destroying the backup research, but she didn't. The only thing her people hadn't destroyed was the scientists themselves. Someone destructive would have destroyed them too. But she wasn't destructive. It would take the
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