Duty, Honour, Love
Chapter 40

Jane followed Dareia out of the complex she caught her breath in the raw air she hadn’t realised how cold it was out here she turned up the heater on her thermal suit. Kathleen was with a guard both bending over a body lying in the snow. Dareia recognised the body as that of John Whittaker. He wasn’t dead only unconscious but she was sure once he did wake he’ll wish he was.

“We’ll put him in Cell Stitcher two.” Kathleen directed the guard who picked up the body and carried it towards the medical shuttle. She glanced over to Jane and Dareia. “Shame you missed the party.” She grinned at her jest and followed the guard.

Jane felt Dareia’s confusion in her mind. She told her what Kathleen was saying and felt Dareia’s gratitude. It warmed her in a way she couldn’t describe.

“He’ll be transported to Hawthorn.”

Professor Nichols hurried out to catch the last part of Kathleen’s conversation. “What are you doing!” he demanded.

“Taking him to Hawthorn you don’t have the facilities to incarcerate anyone here. And I not having you chain him to a chair and use him as a punch bag!” Kathleen glared at the guard who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

“This is Terran Empire territory!” Nichols remarked.

“No that only extends inside the main doors of you complex. Whittaker was detained outside,” Kathleen stated.

Nichols glared at Kathleen then dropped his gaze when she didn’t flinch. “You win this one Doctor Morin.”

“That wasn’t hard was it?” Kathleen told him.

“I’m not sending my people all the way to Hawthorn for his trial!” Nichols declared.

“You won’t have to telepathic evidence is admissible in a Confederacy court,” Kathleen countered.

“Is that true,” Jane whispered to Dareia she was amused by the contest of wills between Nichols and Kathleen. Her money was on Kathleen.

“Yes,” Dareia replied using the connection between them.

“I’m washing my hands of this whole affair,” Nichols conceded. “Just take him away and we have a proper funeral for Julianna!”

Kathleen looked across to Jane and Dareia hoping it would be an uneventful journey home. “We’ll be out of your hair once I’ve finished my report!” She turned to Jane and Dareia. “Best we get inside and finish our investigation. The sooner we do the sooner we’re out of here?”

“Surely it is cut and dried,” Nichols repeated. “John killed Julianna?”

“Motives?” Kathleen said.

“Yeah like you said Randolph was guilty but you never checked if he was?” Jane interrupted her voice seething with anger. “He was innocent!”

“I’m sorry about that,” Nichols tried to apologise. “Mistakes happen?”

Jane’s voice cut across his. “What did you just say! Randolph was beaten within a inch of his life because of a mistake?” she drew a deep breath. “Have you heard of innocent until proven guilty. It is one of the fundamentals of the Imperial legal system?”

“Stop this now!” Kathleen commanded getting everyone’s attention. “This isn’t the best place for that sort of argument. I’ve got to make sure our prisoner is safe and secure and then present my formal report. I am the chief pathologist here!”

Dareia felt Jane’s anger through their link. She sent Jane calming thoughts in hopes she wouldn’t be pulled into Jane’s anger.

“You are angry I know and understand,” she sent to Jane through their link.

Jane gave her a look despite all the problems Dareia had piled upon her she hadn’t the heart to be angry with her. “How come I’m pissed and you’re calm as a cucumber. I thought we were sharing?”

“Training and this isn’t a perfect link otherwise we’d be doing everything in sync. And that would be totally weird.”

“Ok.” Jane shivered at that.

“Yes.” Dareia sensed others close, others from Jane’s crew. She turned to face them as Jane did.

The crew saluted banging their hands to their chest the typical Imperial salute. Whereas the Confederacy salute was a hand angled to the brow.

“Sir?” They addressed Jane. Sometime in the past some Emperor ruled the all officers regardless of their gender should be addressed as ‘sir’. “Can we go home now?”

Dareia automatically scanned their thoughts. She saw everything they had and were planning. They were stealing supplies to make a run for it. It was why Randolph had been were he was and how he found the body. What alarmed Dareia was the fact they’d been prepared to take hostages. She conveyed this to Jane.

Jane’s anger fluttered through their link Dareia did what she could to stop it overtaking her. “So Randolph stumbled onto Julianna’s body,” Jane stated coldly as she glared at her crew. “While looking for stuff to steal. Do you idiots realise this is Imperial Territory and you could be executed for mutiny. Are you so stupid as to take your own people, people you pledged an oath to protect? How can you be so stupid!”

The crew recoiled under Jane’s verbal assault.

“Shit Randolph squealed on us!” one crew said spitting venom.

“I know because I read it in your minds!” Jane lied unsure why she was protecting Dareia. She should by rights lay the blame at Dareia’s feet but she couldn’t bring herself to do that.

“Impossible!” the crew said together.

“I’m a telepath, I might be a new telepath you fuck ups!” She perpetuated the lie. “I know everything.” Dareia was the one that knew everything she just communicated it to Jane through their link. “You’d risk of the lives of those you were supposed to protect for your own selfish gains!” She whirled to look at Kathleen. “You’ve got two spare Cell Stitchers. I say we load these two losers into them and let Hawthorn Security deal with them. They aren’t any crew of the Ori.” As loath as she was to put her crew into Cell stitchers she knew it was the only way they could transport them home.

“Good idea!” Kathleen said with an evil grin.

The crew looked horrified at that. “We haven’t done anything!”

“But you are going to!” Jane told them. Actually Dareia was feeding the information but it was her putting it into words.

Kathleen moved quickly and both the crew dropped to the floor before they could resist further.

“I was getting tired of their protests.” Kathleen shrugged dropping two empty hypos to the floor.

Jane just stared at her open mouthed. “You didn’t have to do that?”

Kathleen pointed at the Confed guards. “You load them into the Cell Stitchers with the others.” She gave Jane a look. “Come on you two I still got my report to do.”

Without anything better to do Jane and Dareia followed Kathleen inside. Professor Nichols was waiting for them.

“I’m removing my crew to Hawthorn. I’m sorry for that. I was really sure they’d be better off here, my mistake?” Jane apologised as much as she hadn’t wanted to.

Nichols waved it off. “It’s certainly been a learning process. That will be ok.”

“Corporal Barnett and the others in my command will be staying. I suggest you put them on menial tasks for the next six months.” Dareia hadn’t got the ok from Karasena to warn the Terrans about the impending attack. After all they’d be safer here out of the way. “Be assured they are on report until Captain Karasena says otherwise.”

“Of course,” Nichols replied. “This way.”

They followed Nichols to his office. It was a surprise to the three women how large it was. It even had shelves of real books and a wooden desk. Nichols sat behind the desk and indicated for them to sit on the black couch the lined one of the walls.

He nodded to Kathleen. “You keep insisting you have a report to make?”

Kathleen walked into the centre of the room looking more assured than she ever had. She was in her element here.

“Juliana Kimble was two months pregnant at the time of her death, which also caused the loss of the child she was carrying.”

Nichols went pale. “Oh God!”

Kathleen silenced him with a glare. “The lack of defence wounds on her hands and arms indicate that she was unprepared for the attack. I suspect she knew her attacker and was expecting him.” She glanced at Jane giving her a nod. “Which she wouldn’t have had it been a stranger.” She turned back to Nichols. “Most of the stab wounds are on her abdomen.” She paused. “It’s obvious from the location that she must have told him about the baby a fatal decision on her part.” Kathleen nodded to Jane and Dareia. “A telepath will be able to confirm this from his thoughts?”

Dareia spoke to Jane mind to mind confirming what Kathleen said was true.

“I can confirm that,” Jane said perpetuating the lie that she was the telepath. In truth she wasn’t sure what she was. She felt sick with what she was receiving from Dareia’s mind the images too graphic for her to comprehend. “We’ll make sure he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Kathleen handed Nichols a small plastic square. “This dataslice holds my full report and the details of a toxicology screening. I’ll leave this in your capable hands I’ve already commed a copy to Hawthorn General.” She glanced at Jane. “”Ready to leave?”

“Certainly,” Jane replied rising and Dareia did the same mimicking Jane’s movements.

Kathleen paused at the door of the shuttle. “We aren’t going to have another incident of the way home I don’t have any Psycodrine left?”

“No,” Jane said adamantly. It was too late for that for her.

“I’ll look after her,” Dareia said.

Somehow those words warmed Jane’s heart she wasn’t sure why but Dareia made her feel safe, made her feel wanted. Despite what had happened to her she felt for the first time in her life to be truly wanted. They boarded the shuttle and it took off in a blast of soggy snow.