"You think Cody is the leak?" Kressa asked, her expression blending looks of disbelief and mild resentment as she gazed across the office to where Halav sat behind his desk.

The general shook his head, his expression carefully neutral. "I didn't say that, Kressa. I simply said I want to talk to him about it."

"Why?"

He sighed and leaned forward in his chair. "Because I—"

The chime of the door announcer interrupted his answer.

Kressa glanced over her shoulder, but the varipaque wall and door were set to full opacity, concealing the identity of the visitor.

Halav activated a control on his desk and the door and surrounding panels faded to one-way transparency.

In the reception room outside the office, Aidan Terling stood speaking to someone in one of the chairs.

The general activated his comm. "Nico, show Mister Terling in, please."

"Yes, sir!" a shrill voice piped from the reception area.

From the depths of the large chair Terling faced, the young red-headed boy Kressa and Jaris had rescued from the Taasian emergency shelter bounced to the floor. He started toward the door, beckoning crisply for Terling to follow. The look on his round, freckled face was comically stern in his meticulous attention to duty.

A smile tugged at Kressa's lips despite the heated discussion she was having with Halav. The general had all but adopted the orphaned Nico and was heaping as much attention on him as he could manage—mostly in the form of eagerly performed duties, including having the boy escort Terling into the room, a job Halav could have accomplished using the controls available within arm's length on his desk. Kressa knew the other Taasian children had found families or individuals to take them in, but she doubted any of them had as devoted and caring a guardian as Halav was turning out to be.

Nico reached the office door and opened it. His bright green eyes beamed at Halav as he motioned Terling into the room.

The general smiled at Nico, and then nodded to Terling. "What can I do for you?"

"I was at Communications speaking with Governor Shaw when a call came in from Stingray One," Terling said as he stepped into the office.

He tousled Nico's mop of red hair as he passed the boy, and Kressa smiled again. Evidently, Nico had charmed his way into Terling's heart, as well as the general's.

"Westlex has arrived at Teneia," Terling continued. "He's speaking with Captain Mathan now. They will be calling here shortly to speak with us."

"Have a seat while you wait." Halav gestured Terling to a chair near Kressa's, and then instructed Nico to return to his post in the reception room.

As Terling approached, Kressa considered standing to salute him, but decided against it. Terling had refused Halav's offer of a commission in the Confederate forces, compelling the general to give him the lesser standing of civilian advisor. Accordingly, she kept her greeting to an acknowledging nod.

He returned the nod and took his seat.

"We're trying to determine where our information leak might be," Halav told Terling, and then glanced at Kressa. "Where were we, Ensign?"

"I asked why you wanted to talk to Cody. He's not the leak, Hal, I'd—"

The general held up a hand. "I told you I'm not accusing him. But, right now, everybody's suspect. I've checked all the base personnel who could have known about your trip to Calton, and I'm convinced they're clear. That means it's time to start looking at less obvious sources. Cody's been spending a lot of time off the base since he returned from Marasyn."

"He's looking for Tyler," Kressa said, and then glanced aside as Terling's stoic expression twitched at her mention of the bounty hunter. She turned an accusing look on Halav. "Someone called off the official search."

Halav sighed. "What else could I do? Every lead came to a dead end, and word on the street says Tyler left Arecia at least a week ago. How much time do you expect me to waste trying to find one man?"

"I expect you to spend whatever it takes. Sir."

The general shook his head, glanced at Terling for support, got none.

Halav returned his gaze to Kressa. "Tyler's not worth it."

"No?" she asked. "He never tried to kill you, Halav. And his actions didn't get one of your friends killed."

"You don't know it was Tyler who told Gaunis about the th'Maran children," Halav said.

"Don't I? Who told him then? Cody? B'Okhaim? Who else knows how special the children are?"

"Fine, Tyler did it," Halav acquiesced. "But that's not the issue. I want to know who told Gaunis about your trip to Calton."

"It wasn't Cody," Kressa said, and then lowered her eyes from Halav's aggravated look. "All right, enough defense of Cody. But why him?"

"Like I said, I've cleared everyone whose responsibilities let them know about your trip to Calton. The only other people who could have known are those who were at the command meeting when we gave you the assignment. That was me, Jonathan, Mathan, Captain Vel, Ciroen, Emre and yourself. I trust all of them. But, if you'll recall, Cody returned from Marasyn that night, and he showed up at the conference room near the end of the meeting. He may have overheard us talking about your trip."

"So you think he ran off and told Gaunis?" She shook her head. "He'd just lost Janae, he was hurt and angry. He—"

"Kressa, sometimes the death of someone you care about is just what it takes to push you over the edge," Halav said.

"Forget it, Hal. Cody's not like that."

"What makes you an expert on the kid?" Halav asked. "You've known him—what?—seven, eight months? And during the past six he was on Marasyn. With Tyler. You've told me more than once how taken he was with the man."

"But Tyler killed Janae! Even if Cody and Tyler were friends before that…" She shook her head again. "He's just not like that."

"I don't know much about the people involved," Terling broke in, "but is it possible that this Cody blamed the Confederacy for what happened to—what was her name? Janae? Was she his girlfriend?"

Kressa nodded solemnly and looked at him. "She was a th'Maran girl. Tyler used her to help him escape from Marasyn, and then killed her. But Cody wouldn't blame us for it. If he blamed anyone, it was himself—and Tyler. Besides," she went on, returning her gaze to Halav, "Ciroen and Dania followed him after he left the meeting. If he left the base, they would have told us."

"Maybe he waited until later that night," Halav said. "Or even the next day."

"Isn't there some way you can find out?" Kressa asked, certain that such information would clear Cody of the general's suspicions.

"I'll check with the vehicle pool." Halav tapped a control on his desktop and turned his attention to the inlaid computer screen and keypad.

While Halav called up the information, Kressa glanced at Terling. He appeared lost in thought, and she decided to turn her own thoughts to renewed consideration of the identity of the leak. She'd spent a good portion of the two-day hyperspace journey from Calton to Arecia pondering the problem, but few of her thoughts had ventured into consideration of the command meeting as the source. Maybe the meeting had been wired. Teneian equipment supposedly assured that none of the base was bugged, but the Patrol had come up with devices to counter Teneian equipment before.

No, that couldn't be the answer. If the meeting had been wired and the information found its way to Gaunis, he would have known why she'd gone to Calton, and the Salkairs need never have bothered capturing her. So, if it wasn't a wire; it had to be a person. She ran mentally through the roster of people at the meeting: Halav, Jonathan, Captain Mathan, Dania, Ciroen, Emre, herself. And then Cody arrived. But hadn't someone come with him? Hadn't—?

"Got it," Halav said.

Kressa looked up to find the general studying the screen on his desk.

"Cody and a Corporal Gatal checked out a car the evening after the meeting," he said. "They logged their destination as Cint-Istep, and came back after about three hours." He glanced up with a slight frown. "Pretty inconclusive one way or the other."

"You might try questioning the corporal," Terling said.

"Good idea. I'll—"

"Warren!" Kressa exclaimed, suddenly recalling who else had been at the meeting. "Scott Warren—the Guard member I brought from Terra—he was at the meeting, too. Remember? He brought Cody."

"I'd forgotten about him," Halav said. "He was there for several minutes. In fact, he didn't leave until after the meeting was over." He returned his attention to the computer screen and tapped a series of commands onto the keypad. "Let's see if he's made any trips off the base."

Kressa waited nervously, almost fearful of what the vehicle pool files might reveal. She was the one who brought Warren to Arecia and onto the base. If he really were the leak…

With a sinking feeling, she watched Halav's expression fade from neutrality through interest to open concern.

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"Warren logged out a car about an hour after the meeting," he said, reading from the screen. "He registered his destination as Cint-Istep and was gone for nearly five hours. Four days later, he went into the city again." He glanced briefly at Kressa. "That was while you were at Calton. Does any of that prove anything?"

"It could," Kressa said quietly. "Do you know where he went in the city?"

"The pool just logs stated destinations. There's no way to know if he went into the city at all."

"Does the log show the ID numbers of the cars Warren took?" Kressa asked.

The general nodded.

"If he went into Cint-Istep and didn't know his way around, he may have linked into the city's nav computer. The city keeps records on that, doesn't it?"

With a nod, Halav recorded a message instructing his Intelligence people to check into Warren's movements, and then switched on his comm and glanced through the clear varipaque door into the waiting area.

"Want to do me a favor, Nic?"

The boy slid from his chair. "Yes, sir!" He dashed enthusiastically into the office.

Halav smiled. "Take this to Keth B'Okhaim's office," he said, passing the data card to Nico. "Tell him to get on it right away."

"Yes, sir."

"Get going."

Nico saluted and ran from the room. Halav watched him with an affectionate look, and then glanced at Kressa.

"Keth should be able to get the files from the city computer in a few hours, a day at the most." He paused and caught Kressa's gaze. "How much do you know about Warren?"

"Nothing, really," she admitted. "I'd never met him before this trip to Terra."

"How did you meet him?" Terling asked.

"I ran into him on the street outside where some th'Maran were staying. I was supposed to take them to Arecia, but the Patrol had already moved in. Warren warned me against trying to save them. He was right, too. The place was thick with Pattys."

"You say you ran into him on the street," Terling said. "And you hadn't met him before? How did you know who he was? Did he introduce himself?"

Kressa thought back to her visit to San Francisco. Had Warren introduced himself, or had she merely assumed his identity based on his presence and his knowledge of the th'Maran? She remembered thinking that she was in his domain and the burden of proof was on her, but she could not recall precisely how their introduction went. She shook her head.

"I don't remember."

Terling nodded, straight-faced and thoughtful, and then glanced at Halav. "Did Warren have ID when he arrived?"

"He cleared Admin, so I assume he had enough to prove he was who he said he was. I could have them run a verification through one of our links with the Patrol infobase."

Terling shook his head. "That wouldn't prove anything. If Warren is working for Gaunis, the Patrol computer will back up any story he's telling."

Halav nodded and studied Terling for a moment. "Why all the interest in Warren? Do you suspect him for any special reason other than the ones we've presented?"

"Kressa mentioned he was with the Terran Guard forces. Richard had a contact in their group." He paused and lowered his gaze, his expression growing thoughtful again. After a brief moment, he looked up. "I believe his name was Atkins."

"We know about Atkins," Halav said. "He was the one who tipped off the Patrol about the th'Maran, but they picked him up right after that, and no one's heard from him since."

"It's possible he recruited this Warren fellow before that happened," Terling said. "Or—" His gaze drifted to Kressa. "You said you'd never met Warren, Ensign. Do you have any proof the man you brought to Arecia is, in fact, Warren?"

Kressa frowned and shook her head dejectedly, beginning to fully understand how big of a mistake she may have made. But how could she have known? Jamie said Warren would be waiting with—

She cut off the thought. The deed was done; no amount of excuses or remorse would change what had occurred.

She looked up, met Halav's sympathetic gaze, and then turned toward Terling. "I'm sorry. You're right. He could be anyone."

Terling gave a single curt nod, and then his expression softened almost imperceptibly. "Don't apologize, Ensign, you may have done nothing wrong. And even if Warren is the leak, you're not to be blamed." He turned to Halav. "General, I suggest you contact your Terran forces immediately."

"Agreed. And I'll get a couple of my people to keep an eye on Warren."

"A discreet eye," Terling cautioned.

"Of course. I'll also see what we can find out about where Warren's getting credits these days, and compare it to the information from the Salkair records. Kressa, I may need your help with that."

She nodded and started to speak, but a tone from the comm interrupted her.

"General? Sergeant Conlun here, Communications."

"Go ahead, Sergeant."

"We have a call coming in from Teneia, sir. It's routed through Captain Mathan's office on board Stingray Two."

"Patch it through my conference circuit." Halav pressed a button on his desk.

"Right away, sir. Communications out."

A meter-square section of wall to the left of the general's desk slid downward, revealing a large communication screen. Kressa glanced at it as the monitor flickered on to display two comm windows. The first of the windows showed Jonathan's relaxed image. On the second was Captain Mathan aboard Stingray Two, orbiting Arecia.

Kressa noted the bitter expression on Mathan's face and wondered if Jonathan's talk with him while she was at Calton had made anything more than a temporary change in the Teneian's attitude. Well, she couldn't expect miracles overnight. Yet this was the same Captain Mathan who devised and successfully carried out the Stingray charades at Calton and Dar. Perhaps something else had him upset.

"Good afternoon, captains," Halav said cordially.

Mathan returned the greeting with a curt nod, still frowning, but Jonathan smiled broadly. His blue-green eyes swept the room.

"General, Terling, Ensign," he acknowledged each of them in turn. "Just the people I need to talk to." His gaze landed on Halav. "How are things on Arecia?"

"Quiet, just the way I like it," the general answered.

"Enjoy it while you can," Jonathan said cryptically, and then shifted his eyes to Kressa. "I see you made it back from Calton in one piece, Kres. Have you and Halav been staying out of trouble?"

She tried to look cross, but then gave up with a smile. Evidently things were going well on Teneia for Jonathan to be in such high spirits.

"We were just trying to figure out who the leak is," she said.

"And?" Jonathan asked.

"We have a few leads."

"We have more than a few leads," Halav said. "We may have found him."

"Good," Jonathan said, "but don't arrest anyone yet. We may still need him as an envoy to Gaunis."

Halav gave him a puzzled look and started to question the comment, but before he could say anything, Jonathan turned his attention to Terling.

"Mister Terling, if you wanted to hit the High Admiral where it would best get his attention, where would you attack?"

"Terra," Terling answered after only a moment's consideration. "For personal, as well as professional reasons."

"Those being what?"

"First, Terra is Gaunis's premier power base; its loss would hit him hard—harder even than losing Calton," he added with a hint of a satisfied smile. "Secondly, it's Richard's home planet and he served as aide to the Terran area commander for four years. He knows the world and its defenses."

"I see," Jonathan said. "And how is the Emperor of Calton these days?"

"The governor is doing well. He wants you to know that he's made a number of promising contacts within the Patrol's upper echelons."

"Do you think he'd like to participate in planning the takeover of his home planet?"

"Excuse me?" Terling said.

"The Confederacy's going on the offensive," Jonathan said. "We're going after Terra, which I also believe to be our best choice as a target." He paused to smile again. "Let me set up a scenario for you. We're going to make it look like we're planning to attack Terra. Gaunis will know the day of our planned attack and the fact that we're going to hit with everything we have, but he won't know that we know that he knows. Follow me?"

Terling nodded.

"Okay, I need you to come up with the strategy Gaunis will meet us with—offensive or defensive, whichever you believe he'll choose, with whatever forces you think he'll decide to use."

"I believe that can be done."

"Very well," Jonathan said. "Get to it. I'll be there in six days to hear your ideas. Until then, Captain Mathan has all the details of our side of the plan, and I'll be here on Teneia if you need to speak with me." He paused for a moment, and his gaze shifted back to Halav. "General, there's a rather large concession we're going to have to make if we're to beat Gaunis at his own game—" He broke off at a low signal from the general's comm.

Halav answered the call. He frowned at the image that appeared on his desktop screen.

"What is it, Major?" he asked.

"Sir, we just lost contact with Lepan. Their last transmission indicated a large force of Patrol vessels moving toward the planet. They reported as many as four dreadnoughts, perhaps more, and then the signal cut out."

Halav glanced up sharply, and Kressa followed his gaze to the conference screen. Jonathan looked suddenly uncomfortable—clearly, he'd overheard the major's report—but there was something else in his expression that Kressa could not place.

Captain Mathan was looking off-screen, stone-faced, apparently receiving similar news from his own people, but when he turned back to the video pick-up, he made no move to give orders in response, showed no reaction at all save for a hardening of the disturbed look in his eyes.

"General?" the major's voice questioned into the silence that had fallen over the room.

"Stand by, Major!" Halav snapped, still watching the comm screen on the wall. "What's going on, you two?" he demanded. "Mathan, get your ship to Lepan."

Mathan frowned. His brown eyes narrowed momentarily, and then he shook his head. "I'm sorry, General, I can't do that. Captain Westlex has communicated orders from Teneia—"

Halav did not give Mathan time to finish before turning to Jonathan. "What in hell's going on, Jon? What happened to your promise to defend our worlds?"

Jonathan looked suddenly miserable. "It's that concession I was going to tell you about. We can't afford to face Gaunis at our present strength. We—"

"So you're planning to attack one of his worlds instead?"

"Halav," Jonathan soothed, "hear me out. Gaunis knows how to destroy a Stingray, and he has the power to do it. If we react to this attack and face him under circumstances he's devised, we'll lose this war in an instant. But if we can hold out a while longer—even if it costs us a few worlds—and meet him on our terms, we may be able to beat him."

Halav continued to stare incredulously, amber eyes dangerous. "And what about the people on those 'few worlds,' Westlex? People whose lives you promised to protect?"

"Damn it, Halav, I don't like this any more than you do, but listen to me! Please. What would happen to those lives if we were to go in and try to defend Lepan with only one Stingray? They'd be forfeit for sure, used as a pawn by the High Admiral. But if we don't respond to the attack, there won't be so much fighting. Maybe there won't be any at all if Gaunis is using as much force as it sounds like—and if the people of Lepan remember what happened to Taas. If they surrender peacefully, no one will get hurt."

"I see," Halav answered in a voice that indicated the exact opposite. "Don't you think it would be polite to at least advise the Confederate worlds you've decided not to defend them any longer?" There was an angry, sarcastic edge to his voice.

"No, General, that would be worse," Terling said. "Word could get out and there would be panic on—"

Halav's gaze snapped to Terling. "You agree with this decision?"

"Yes, I do. If I understand the plan behind that decision correctly, I can't see any other way to achieve our ends."

"And what ends might those be?" Halav asked.

"To force High Admiral Gaunis to abandon his attempts to destroy the Confederacy. To return the Patrol to the course its creators intended." Terling's eyes met the general's. "To win this war."

Halav held Terling's earnest gaze, silent, suddenly reflective. He let out a long, slow breath, and Kressa watched as the heated light faded from his eyes and his features relaxed.

"So we just sit around and wait while Gaunis takes our worlds," he said bitterly.

"Wrong, General," Jonathan said, his voice incredibly steady. "We plan."

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