warriors.”
“Go away,” she said into the pad. “I want to talk to Monica.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible unless you tell me why you attacked Ensign Hastion.”
“I didn’t want to hurt him.” Her muffled voice was flat. “I just wanted to go home.”
“Go home?” Shauss repeated incredulously. “Surely you didn’t intend to steal one of the evacuation pods?”
“Yes, I did!” Her head snapped up and she glared at him. “Can you blame me?”
Kellen closed his eyes for several seconds and Tiber had the distinct impression he was counting. Then he opened them and looked at Tiber.
“Her condition?” Kellen asked.
“Bruising and low-grade brain trauma.”
“Does she require treatment?”
“I’d like to administer ferilyde, but she won’t let me near her.”
Kellen focused on Miss King once more. “Miss King, if you wish to suffer the effects of brain trauma while we discuss the consequences of your actions, so be it, but if I were you, I’d accept the ferilyde treatment, just in case you’d like to speak in your own defense.”
Then he said to Shauss, “Escort her to Tactical One when Tiber is finished with her. Don’t take your eyes off her until then.”
* * * * *
Garathani medicine was a thing of beauty, she admitted reluctantly. After permitting the painless ferilyde injection at the base of her skull, she’d felt a hundred times better within seconds. Any other injury to her skull would just have to heal on its own—there was no way she was subjecting herself to computer scans of any sort.
When she entered the tactical room, escorted by Tiber and Shauss, she was too focused on the occupants to give the room more than a cursory glance. It was unnerving to find the ever-annoying Zannen standing guard inside the door. The skin on the back of her neck prickled as she walked past—no doubt he was tracking her with his black gaze the way a buzzard eyes a wounded calf.
And, oh Lord, Minister Cecine had been brought into this and he didn’t look happy about it. He stood by a window with his arms crossed over his chest. Kellen sat at a long table, which was surrounded by at least a dozen chairs.
“Please be seated.” Commander Kellen gestured to the chairs opposite him
“I’d rather stand if it’s all the same to you.”
He nodded. “As you wish.”
She was grateful for Tiber’s presence beside her. She could practically feel concern emanating from him.
Kellen didn’t wait for the minister to sit before he launched his offensive.
“Miss King, you have made it eminently clear that you cannot be trusted to supervise yourself,” he said. “I’ve discussed this with the minister and we see only two alternatives. You may spend the rest of your stay with us in the detention bay or join the ranks of the recruits and take mates to supervise your activities.”
Well that was a no-brainer. “I’ll take detention.”
“Very well,” Kellen said. “Be aware, however, that there is no privacy in a detention cell. You will be confined by a transparent containment field at all times. You’ll eat, sleep, bathe and use waste facilities in full view of the guards, and your activities will be recorded by Empran. You will have no visitors. You may exercise only within the confines of your cell. Your access to Empran will be restricted to entertainment files.”
Jasmine’s hands got clammy as she stared at him. “That’s ridiculous. Even death-row inmates on Earth get to leave their cells for an hour a day.”
“Death-row inmates on Earth do not have the potential to end thousands of innocent lives in the blink of an eye.”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone,” she said in an uneven voice. “I just wanted to go home.”
“Be that as it may, you could very well have killed yourself and everyone aboard this ship in your ill-advised escape attempt. You have no training and no experience operating an escape pod.”
Jasmine bit her lip. It hadn’t occurred to
“Go away,” she said into the pad. “I want to talk to Monica.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible unless you tell me why you attacked Ensign Hastion.”
“I didn’t want to hurt him.” Her muffled voice was flat. “I just wanted to go home.”
“Go home?” Shauss repeated incredulously. “Surely you didn’t intend to steal one of the evacuation pods?”
“Yes, I did!” Her head snapped up and she glared at him. “Can you blame me?”
Kellen closed his eyes for several seconds and Tiber had the distinct impression he was counting. Then he opened them and looked at Tiber.
“Her condition?” Kellen asked.
“Bruising and low-grade brain trauma.”
“Does she require treatment?”
“I’d like to administer ferilyde, but she won’t let me near her.”
Kellen focused on Miss King once more. “Miss King, if you wish to suffer the effects of brain trauma while we discuss the consequences of your actions, so be it, but if I were you, I’d accept the ferilyde treatment, just in case you’d like to speak in your own defense.”
Then he said to Shauss, “Escort her to Tactical One when Tiber is finished with her. Don’t take your eyes off her until then.”
* * * * *
Garathani medicine was a thing of beauty, she admitted reluctantly. After permitting the painless ferilyde injection at the base of her skull, she’d felt a hundred times better within seconds. Any other injury to her skull would just have to heal on its own—there was no way she was subjecting herself to computer scans of any sort.
When she entered the tactical room, escorted by Tiber and Shauss, she was too focused on the occupants to give the room more than a cursory glance. It was unnerving to find the ever-annoying Zannen standing guard inside the door. The skin on the back of her neck prickled as she walked past—no doubt he was tracking her with his black gaze the way a buzzard eyes a wounded calf.
And, oh Lord, Minister Cecine had been brought into this and he didn’t look happy about it. He stood by a window with his arms crossed over his chest. Kellen sat at a long table, which was surrounded by at least a dozen chairs.
“Please be seated.” Commander Kellen gestured to the chairs opposite him
“I’d rather stand if it’s all the same to you.”
He nodded. “As you wish.”
She was grateful for Tiber’s presence beside her. She could practically feel concern emanating from him.
Kellen didn’t wait for the minister to sit before he launched his offensive.
“Miss King, you have made it eminently clear that you cannot be trusted to supervise yourself,” he said. “I’ve discussed this with the minister and we see only two alternatives. You may spend the rest of your stay with us in the detention bay or join the ranks of the recruits and take mates to supervise your activities.”
Well that was a no-brainer. “I’ll take detention.”
“Very well,” Kellen said. “Be aware, however, that there is no privacy in a detention cell. You will be confined by a transparent containment field at all times. You’ll eat, sleep, bathe and use waste facilities in full view of the guards, and your activities will be recorded by Empran. You will have no visitors. You may exercise only within the confines of your cell. Your access to Empran will be restricted to entertainment files.”
Jasmine’s hands got clammy as she stared at him. “That’s ridiculous. Even death-row inmates on Earth get to leave their cells for an hour a day.”
“Death-row inmates on Earth do not have the potential to end thousands of innocent lives in the blink of an eye.”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone,” she said in an uneven voice. “I just wanted to go home.”
“Be that as it may, you could very well have killed yourself and everyone aboard this ship in your ill-advised escape attempt. You have no training and no experience operating an escape pod.”
Jasmine bit her lip. It hadn’t occurred to
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