Hellsky (Hunter-Killer #3)

Chapter 36 - Friends in High Places

Brackenshaw sat with her hands clasped together, legs extended and ankles cross, staring across the table at a man she knew and trusted with her life.

At least, until now.

The interrogation room had been converted from one of Stamm Basin's holding cells. Dealing with internal threats was something that, until now, the humans of Rychter hadn't needed to truly worry about. The cells on the base were generally reserved for a soldier who needed to sleep off too much shiner, or to separate brawling comrades when tensions within units spilled out. War was a stressful thing, after all.

This kind of formal interrogation, however, was not normal.

She looked at Boxley, trying to piece this mess together. Devon Boxley had served almost as long as she had – a Brekkan native down to his bones. They'd fought together in the Battle of Brekka, and in the campaign that followed it. He'd followed her into the worst kind of hell in the depths of the Scraegar Labyrinth, fought the hideous Crawlers in the darkest dark. He was man who'd been part of her platoon for years; a fine soldier, reliable and as brave as anyone she'd ever served with.

And now she was accusing him of treason.

How had it come to this?

The recording on board the Mammoth finished playing out in front of them, and the projector fell dormant again, fully revealing the Scout Sergeant sitting opposite her. To her left, Aurelia sat stiffly, her face barely containing the contempt that simmered just beneath the surface.

Boxley just looked at the projector for a second, his lips twisting into a remorseful smile as he slowly folded his arms and sank deeper into his chair. Eventually he did her the decency of looking her in the eye before he spoke.

"Bloody battlecams," he murmured. "How'd you get them so fast?"

Brackenshaw's jaw tightened. "That's all you've got to say to me? After all this time? After every piece of River-drowned hell that we've floated through, that's it?"

He straightened up again, the smile quickly fading from his face. His shoulders heaved with a heavy breath and he nodded.

"I suppose that's fair. For what it's worth, Lieutenant, I'm sorry you're the one on that side of the table. You were always a good officer."

"We got the footage because we have friends in high places," Aurelia snapped. "Friends in higher places than you, it would seem."

"Oh, you think so?" Boxley tutted, shaking his head. "Not that you'll ever know, but I'd love to compare notes on that someday."

"So you admit that you aided Nallas Parshar in smuggling an illegal explosive onto a military transport," she erupted. "And in so doing, you've helped restart a war with the Scraegans?"

"It's all on the recording." Boxley inclined his head to the projector.

"Everflowing," Brackenshaw muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. "I don't understand."

"Sure you do."

"Never took you for a fanatic, Boxley. You always seemed like you had more brains than that."

"Sorry I didn't meet your expectations." He shrugged. "But it's all a matter of perspective isn't it? You think I'm crazy for wanting to finish what we started fifty years ago? I think people like you are crazy for thinking we can turn around and make peace with the things that have been trying to kill us since we landed on this piss-damned planet."

"Watching bloody Lords, Boxley! We fought with the Scraegans – together, you and me. Side by side with those 'things'."

"Yes, I did, because there was something worse. The Crawlers are dead, Brackenshaw. They're gone. We don't need the Scraegans any more and by the River they sure don't need us. How long do you think it'll be before they start pushing north again? How long before they start attacking towns and murdering people?"