Supremacy's Outlaw: A Space Opera Thriller Series (Insurgency Saga Book 3) by T.E. Bakutis (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📗

we intend to extract Jan safely, we need to know exactly what we are dealing with.” He looked at those gathered. “And if elements of Ceto’s government are backing the Truthers despite President Mendoza’s very public claims to the contrary, you will have precisely the leverage you need to get the CSD to stop chasing you forever.”

Fatima’s gaze softened. “Bharat ... there is no going back once we crack this bottle of champagne. You know this.”

“And I know you’ll get my family out.” Bharat held Fatima’s gaze. “I’ve been down here far too long for even Kinsley’s memory scrubbing to hide what I’ve seen from Tarack. We escape Tarack now or never, and if I expect you to risk yourselves for my family, I must be willing to risk myself for yours.”

Fatima thumped his shoulder, then turned to Kinsley. “Well then, Kinsley. Let’s see what our planet’s naughtiest senators are hiding.”

Bharat’s stomach did flips as he considered all that might go wrong. Kinsley hopped into the autotruck and placed one hand on the small silvery box in the back. “Pass me Senator Tarack’s decryption key, Bharat, and I’ll pass it through the wire.”

Bharat couldn’t send the decryption key to Tarack’s drive wirelessly, of course, without allowing the disc to send its signal back out. Fatima had kept the data disc locked in Kinsley’s Faraday box since she’d picked it up from Jaxon Cole, days ago, and Bharat had no illusions its battery was dead. Wired signals were all that entered or left the box now.

Bharat brought up an AR window, eyed the decryption key into it, fixed his eyes on Kinsley, and blinked Send. She blinked as she received the data, then looked down at the box and got to work. Her eyes went distant as she looked beyond, likely waiting for the decryption algorithm to finish.

“Thank you,” Emiko said quietly, from his side.

Bharat nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak. He couldn’t completely convince himself that he hadn’t just killed his family, but he had to believe Fatima would get them out. He had to believe he’d see them again after this was over, because believing anything else would require him to simply give up.

“Decryption complete,” Kinsley said, and Bharat noted the hint of excitement in her voice. “Give me a moment.”

They all waited impatiently as Kinsley proceeded through a series of hmms, ohs, and ews. Soon enough, she nodded and focused. “Confirmed. Ceto senators are funding the Truthers.”

“Fuck all,” Fatima said. “Who needs the Supremacy to screw us over when we’re doing it ourselves?”

“A small contingent of senators within Ceto’s government is funding them, to be more specific,” Kinsley said, “as well as apparatus in their employ. And it’s not simply killing. Indeed, the killing seems to be a cover for their actual operations. The documents suggest significant spycraft at work, likely aimed at the Supremacy specifically, and Phorcys in general.”

“Who’s behind it?” Emiko asked.

“Senators Lozano, Beil, Yu, Callahan, and Parrish, with the aid of General Melton. And Commander Graham Esparza.”

“Unsurprising,” Fatima said. “He is a truly horrid man.”

“What about Lieutenant Coffman?” Bharat asked. “Is he with these Truthers?”

“His name wasn’t mentioned,” Kinsley said, “but given he works directly for President Mendoza, and Coffman is basically Mendoza’s right hand, and the blackmail material specifically mentioned Mendoza is unaware of the senator cabal, it seems unlikely. You were right, Bharat. This is precisely the leverage that could acquire pardons for everyone.”

“No wonder Tarack asked for twenty million,” Fatima said grimly. “Anyone who acquired this disc could literally blow up the armistice unless they got everything they wanted. Yet if Tarack has information we’re running operations against her people on Phorcys, why hasn’t she blown the whistle?”

“Because we Advanced are not Tarack’s people,” Bharat said, “any more than you are down here. Tarack is a being motivated entirely by greed and self-interest. If she hasn’t revealed this information yet, she’s run the numbers and determined she will make more money from a cold war than a hot one.”

“Remind me to thank her next time I see her,” Emiko said.

“Not if I thank her first,” Fatima added darkly.

“So what now, then?” Emiko continued. “I mean, we may know a way to get the CSD to stop hunting us, now, but that still doesn’t get Jan out of Truther prison.”

“Jan will get himself out,” Fatima said.

Kinsley tilted her head. “You think so?”

“Yes,” Emiko agreed, with a firm nod to Fatima. “And we’ll need to be ready when he does get out, because he’s almost certainly going to fuck up his escape somehow.”

Fatima glanced at those gathered. “So, all of you will set up surveillance, hunker down, and break out the cards until Jan busts out. When he does run screaming out of there, you’ll pick him up and hide him somewhere. Valor’s Squall, perhaps?”

Emiko frowned at her. “You aren’t staying?”

“It’s been too long since I’ve had space under my legs,” Fatima said. “Also, I have a job.”

Bharat blinked at her. “I haven’t delivered Jan yet.”

“That’s not solely your responsibility any longer,” Fatima said, “and now that we’ve decrypted the data disc, your family is in Tarack’s crosshairs. It’s time I kept my end of our bargain.”

Bharat felt a rush of relief, and fear. “We can’t fail.”

“I don’t fail.” Fatima thumped his arm and smiled. “Now, let’s go drown your family on a boat.”

15: Buried

If there was one thing Jan Sabato could do well, it was pass time within the same four walls without going insane. Rafe came and went often, of course — Rafe had the run of the entire base, unlike Jan — but the solitude Jan had thus far enjoyed was wearing thin. He couldn’t escape if they wouldn’t