Bytes of Passion

Chapter 28

Teegan watched through the monitor as Skylar paced in her cell. His gut clenched, seeing her so distraught. She'd come through the ordeal without a Ephram on her, but far from unscathed. Even now she was mumbling to herself and wringing her fingers. Skylar sank against the wall and drew her knees to her chest. She was coming apart and all he could do was stand there and deal with an idiot who refused to let him see her.

"She will be assigned an advocate, though she doesn't deserve one," Dennison said from behind his desk.

The pompous ass had his feet up on the desk, flaunting his power over him. Skylar's innocence was far from the point of this little meeting. Teegan was still piecing together everything that had happened. He'd been two hours out from Yarnen 3 when a DSPS ship caught up with him and notified him that there was a bomb aboard. They sent sniffers inside and out, finding enough charges attached to the bottom of the hull to blow his ship into so many fragments they'd never identify it or him. Then, at gunpoint no less, DSPS forced him to get on the com to speak with a terrorist.

Terrorist... the fact that they'd called her that still burned. She'd sounded so relieved to hear his voice. He'd said all of three words to her 'Are you okay?' before they ended the transmission and arrested him.

Though he'd been cleared of any involvement with the terrorist incursion on Yarnen 3, they wouldn't allow him to speak with Skylar. From what he knew of the situation so far, she was a hero and didn't deserve to be locked up. Dennison had done worse than charge her with terrorism this time. He'd branded her as one of the architects of Devon's Disciples. He'd single handedly ensured she'd receive a death sentence.

"I nearly had the Goldsmiths," Teegan said, still wondering how Garrox had found him.

"You and your overinflated ego thought you could carry out an op with a terrorist at your back." Dennison sneered. "And I was a fool to give you that chance."

"She's not a terrorist," Teegan said, barely keeping the growl from rising to the surface. He could not afford to anger Dennison. "No information was deleted, altered or otherwise affected. And she provided information on many of the key figures in Devon's Disciples, as well as show the DNI where they're vulnerable. How is any of that terrorism?"

"Hell, Mickaelson, she took over the DNI! She put the entire system at risk. They won't forgive her, nor will I. She made a fool of me!"

Teegan leaned into Dennison, inches from his face, and lowered his voice. "They held her hostage and threatened me. She did the best she could under the circumstances. Have you considered how things would have gone down had the Disciples used a hacker who intended harm? A hacker devoted to Devon would not have returned control of the system to the DNI. They would have destroyed it." He paused, giving Dennison a chance to absorb what he was saying. "She did what she had to do in order to survive and save my life. Even if your men had failed to find me, she wouldn't have caused any harm. It was a bluff. The network, the data... none of it was in danger. I'm sure of it."

"You said you didn't know about any of this. Maybe I was wrong about you and should throw your ass back into a cell."

Teegan forced himself into a military stance, to help him maintain control. "I know her, Colonel." He hated calling Dennison by his former military rank, as the man never deserved it, but he'd kiss the man's ass right now if it would help Skylar. "She's not an anarchist or a terrorist. There's no way she would have destroyed anything. They'll see that when they review the code. You can turn this into an opportunity. Show Council that she did everything she could to protect the DNI while saving lives. Make them see how she uncovered key players in Devon's Disciples and exposed weaknesses in their system, giving them the opportunity to improve their security before the next attack, because you know there will be a next attack. It's only a matter of time."

"You're an ass, Mickaelson."

With as calm a voice as he could manage, he said, "This isn't that different than Uros. If you had gathered all the intel before jumping to the wrong conclusion, they wouldn't have demoted you. You can use this as an opportunity, Dennison."

"I know all about how she was used in this."

Teegan slammed his fists against the desk, causing Dennison to jump. "You're punishing her because of me!"

"Damn right," Dennison said, blue eyes blazing as he rose to his full six foot four, trying to use his height to intimidate Teegan. It had never worked in the past and wasn't going to work now.

"Name it. Whatever you want. What will buy her the chance to be free, and I mean a fair chance?"

Dennison's eyes lit like a kid going into a toy story with grandparents who say he can have whatever he wants. "Full confession. You retract your accusations against me and tell them that that mess on Uros was all your doing."

Going from the military to DSPS was considered a demotion, despite rank or position in the DSPS. With that demotion came a loss of pay, benefits and what probably angered Dennison more than anything, respect. Teegan's accusation had no doubt been part of the reason Dennison now found himself n DSPS.

"Fine."

Dennison pushed a datapad to him. "Retract everything you said, in writing."

Teegan recorded lie after lie, making Dennison appear as if he'd been betrayed and hadn't been the one to make the mission the disaster that it was. While bile filled his gut at everything he wrote to make Dennison come off as a damn hero, Teegan pushed through his confession and hit send, with copies going to both Military Command and Council. He'd worry about the repercussions later. Skylar was all that mattered, and right now he had to get her out of that cell.

Dennison smiled, not in relief but with a smugness that made Teegan want to punch him in the face, more than once. "I knew you'd cave, you pathetic fool." Dennison tapped away on his datapad.

"And Skylar?"

"The entire incident on Yarnen 3 will still need to be reviewed by Council, given the nature of it, but I've submitted my report citing all the facts including her kidnapping by the terrorist known as Garrox as well as her predicament to save an innocent. Well, that'll be the last time anyone calls you 'innocent,' huh, Mickaelson? The DSPS of Picos officially recommends that Council not imprison or punish her or label her a terrorist."

"Thank you," Teegan said, his jaw tight. He did what had to be done, and would deal with the consequences to his own career in time.