The Naked Truth (9 page)

Asler sighed. It all came back to Susan. He couldn’t release the tension from his body. Broad bands of it held him tightly even in the company of an old friend. “You’ve been talking to Commander Finar.”

Salis leaned forward, the smile disappearing from his face. “Yes, I have. You’ve become attached to this woman.”

“She is incredible. Brave, beyond what I had expected, intelligent, loyal and highly sensual. She has talents in m’ittar that are completely unpredicted in humans.”

“That is a concern, Asler. Both that you have become so attached and that she has wild m’ittar. Are you completely certain of her innocence?”

Asler’s lips pressed tightly together as anger pulsed through his L’inar. “She is Ya’lenali.”

Salis leaned back, his features once again relaxing. “So you have made your choice. I wish you well. If she is your intended, well, we’ll get her back. Have you performed M’itta lensahn?”

Asler’s shoulders relaxed as his friend spoke about the ritual mating without any sense of judgment. Salis’s easy acceptance of his choice and his offer to help meant many things, not the least of which was likely acceptance of a human as mate by most of the Inarrii.

“Not yet. It was amazing though. She doesn’t really understand, but she actually initiated the beginning herself. I had told her some of the meaning of the L’inar, and she understood what she was offering, at least on some level.” He ran a hand across his jaw. The L’inar along the sides of his face had risen slightly at the thought of Susan’s actions in bed, when she had thought he was asleep.

Salis laughed. “You are looking a little heated, my friend.”

“Someday, when you have made your choice, I will be there for you, my friend. I need her. And I am afraid. She has no one to protect her.”

Sue shivered as a chill passed through her. Despite the fact that she was now fully clothed in her uniform, she felt exposed and cold under the watchful eyes of the Starforce Inquiries Board and the guards they seemed to feel were necessary. Her chill matched the uneasy sensation of frustration that was quickly building inside her as they asked the same questions again and again.

“Who is the leader of the terrorist group Terran Purity? Who held you captive?” The questions came again. They seemed to be getting as frustrated as she was. “What is your involvement with the group?”

“I am not involved with any terrorist group. I am a loyal member of Starforce. I was held against my will and tortured.”

“Describe the terrorist leader.” This was where the trouble began again. Asler had been right, some of the memories were damaged, some scrambled.

“I’m not sure. He hurt me…”

“We are aware of the extent of your injuries, Captain Branscombe. The question is when did you receive them, before or after you told them the location of the first Treaty talks?” demanded a young lawyer. He banged his fist against the table as he spoke, his impatience growing with the volume of his voice.

She missed the quiet of the alien ship, the peace in Asler’s arms.

“Your attention, Captain Branscombe! Describe again what it is that you can remember, please.”

“I’m sorry. As I mentioned, when As…Examiner Kiis and I reviewed the memories using his process of m’ittar, it changed some, and even removed some. I can’t describe those things.”

She tried to remain calm as she spoke. This was the third day of questioning, and everyone, herself included, were growing tired of the same responses. She couldn’t give them answers—those had been left behind with Asler.

If I could just go back… Loneliness left a bitter taste on her tongue. Bereft without Asler, it was only the knowledge that what she had witnessed would be passed on and possibly save the Treaty that kept her going. No one believed her sudden loss of memory.

“Let’s go back to your time with the Inarrii,” a newcomer commented.

Sue looked up at his tone. Something was off with the way he twisted his lips. She had seen him attending the question session yesterday and the day before, but this was the first time he’d spoken. She didn’t recognize the insignia he wore.

“I’ve had some recent information about this m’ittar.” Sue stiffened at the tone of his voice as he continued. “I’ve had detailed reports on the mind contact and how the Inarrii use physical contact to smooth the way, so to speak.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, her voice as cold as the chill racing again down her back.

“I understand you were practically nude when we collected you from the Inarrii ship Horneu. That you were confined to quarters with Kiis the entire time you were onboard.”

Rage chased away the chill Sue had been feeling. Only the base commander had known that. How could he have exposed her this way? Davies hadn’t attended any of the hearing so far. Perhaps this was why.

Her heart pounded. “Aside from the two days I spent in the medical lab healing from torture, that is correct.”

Murmurs raced through the Board. They were frustrated at the lack of progress in this investigation; would they now take this out on her in a different way? For the first time, Sue felt frightened. The Inarrii and their understanding of sex was different than that of the general populace of Earth. It seemed that no matter how far Earth advanced, the differences in the sexes and the importance of the male/female relationship were points of contention.

The annoying man stood. “So, you were alone with an Inarrii male, attempting mind contact to review the very memories you claim to no longer be able to access. He claims you are innocent of any involvement with the terrorists, and has made a report to this council to that effect.” He paced closer to where Sue sat facing the Board. “Tell me, Captain, you were pretty good at giving the terrorists information, and evidently Kiis was…satisfied by you. What have you got for us? Nothing but claims of broken memories.”

Sue bounced to her feet. “How dare you. I have done nothing wrong! I told the terrorists where the ships were meeting, but only because I felt certain that we could defeat them. And because if they didn’t know, they would have chosen some other target, one less able to defend itself!”

“What target?” He stood face to face with her.

“I don’t know! I can’t remember,” she cried out, tears of anger and frustration threatening to spill from her eyes.

“Did you have sex with them?” he yelled. “Did you fuck the terrorists and then the Inarrii to gain favors? I hope it was good, Captain, because it’s over now.”

She lunged at him, her nerves broken. Anger had pushed her where fear and frustration couldn’t. She grabbed the man but before she could strike him, the guards were on her.

“Take her away,” he said, his face calm. “In our next round of questioning, we won’t be as patient as we have been.” He turned away from her and looked at the Starforce officers attending the inquiry. “We need answers, gentlemen.” He addressed the Board, some of whom were now on their feet in alarm. “The Earth Council has given me the authority to disband the Board here and take control of this investigation. We need answers faster than you are going to get them, if you ever do. I will now be using a different method. You will be allowed to attend, if you feel the need, but I have every power to conduct an inquiry in any method deemed necessary. Are we clear?”

Sue struggled as the guard applied force bindings. Her mind rebelled. Not again! She couldn’t stand it again—not this, not torture. Some of her memories were gone, scrambled past repair, but she clearly remembered the pain, the desperation to make it stop.

She collapsed as the guards began to drag her. “Asler!” Her mind called for the only man she felt safe with.

Asler slammed his hand against the force barrier separating him from the inquiry. “How can they allow this?” he demanded to Salis. His Co-Examiner stood beside him, along with Commander Finar and the human emissary, Starforce Major David Brown. “Look at her, she’s terrified.” He couldn’t drag his eyes from Susan as she was brutally taken into custody.

“They must have answers, Examiner Kiis. The presence of an agent of the Starforce Intelligence Department is very serious.”

“We have to stop this. I can hear her fear. She is calling out for me and is terrified they will harm her. I don’t think she can stand to go through this again, Major Brown. Her mind is very raw at this point. Despite her bravery, we’d only begun to heal her.” Asler’s voice broke on the words. He shook his head at the grave expression on the human officer’s face.

“There is nothing we can do. It is only because of the Treaty that you can be here to observe at all. Diplomatic immunity is all that keeps you from being questioned as well, Examiner Kiis. Your position is tenuous at best.”

“Commander Finar.” Asler addressed his friend and commander. “We must do something. It was because of my choice of method that Susan cannot retrieve the memories that would now clear her name. She cannot answer their questions. Please, I will do anything. I will undergo questioning myself as to what was observed. You know very well that my word should be all that is needed to find her innocent.”

Susan was being dragged away, collapsing against the guard’s grasp, her arms in force bindings. Her mind reached out and called his name.

Asler slammed his hand again on the force barrier. He caught Finar’s quick gasp. “You heard her, didn’t you? She has m’ittar, strong enough to call out to everyone in the city, I’d bet. Her mind will be broken, that resource lost. We must save her.”

Finar broke the silence he’d maintained throughout the inquiry and Asler’s rant. “Yes, we must.” He stared at Asler. “Are you truly ready for the ramifications of being questioned on this matter? If your own memories are exposed, you may be forced to abandon your entire career before this is over.”

“I’m ready.”

“I hope so. What we do now may change everything.” Finar turned to the human emissary. “Major Brown, I hope you will accompany us. We must return to the ship and speak with our own Council before we interrupt the Treaty talks.”

“I would be honored, sir. I have had the pleasure of meeting Captain Branscombe, and I don’t believe she had anything to do with the terrorists. And of course I am familiar with Inarrii dress and custom, so I am not inclined to believe any incorrect behavior, or at least according to Inarrii custom.” He grinned.

Asler caught the quick hint of affection in his tone and knew the man was thinking of his own new Inarrii wife, the first official coupling of the two races.

The tight feeling in Asler’s chest began to ease for the first time in days. Salis rested a hand on his back and Asler took a deep breath.

“Very good. Let’s go.” Finar nodded and signaled the transfer bubble to activate, encircling the four men for quick transport to the ship Horneu. In moments the transfer was complete, the human officer barely staggering as they emerged.

“Examiner Kiis and Fiiten, please take Major Brown to communications level one and have him report in to his commanding officer. I will be informing our Council of the current situation, and then we will call for an emergency meeting at the Treaty Center on the Earth Base.” He reached for Asler’s shoulder, gripped him hard. “Be ready, Asler. You will need to conduct a display of m’ittar publicly. You will have to display your memories of working with Susan. You will be examined and your relationship to her…it may end here. It will all depend on what we can reveal. Be prepared.”

“Examiner Kiis, as a matter of record, until after this hearing, you are deemed to be in the care of Examiner Fiiten. He will be conducting all inquiries.”

“I understand.” Asler nodded to Jannii and Salis. His back stiffened despite the fact that he knew this was the only way. It was take the chance of ending his career or risk Susan’s sanity. There was no choice.

One thing Sue remembered clearly was being burned. The memory stood out where many others seemed blurred. Some of that was what she and Asler had done to her memories by reviewing them the way they had. But she knew that some of it was her mind playing tricks on her, wiping out what wasn’t healthy for her to see. She knew that, but it didn’t stop her from resenting the fact.

She paced the small room she’d been given during the inquisition. Inquisition seemed an appropriate term, filled with the possibility of violence and not necessarily the truth.

At least it wasn’t a dank dark room on the junker. She’d made it out of that, survived if nothing else. Don’t believe it. You and Asler have discovered something important out of all that pain. Something that will help your world. Sue berated herself. Wall, wall, bed, toilet, sink—Sue paced the room again. Why didn’t he come? Thoughts of Asler competed for attention and were thrust aside. He didn’t come because he couldn’t. She believed he would be there if he could, she had to believe in what they had found together, even if they hadn’t said the words aloud.

Her councilor, who’d been suspiciously silent over the last day, had finally told her what was happening. The SID, Starforce Intelligence Department, had taken control of her case. Things were going from bad to worse—first the Confederacy had investigated, then the human board, and now she’d been passed on like a hot potato to the SID. The newly created agency had already achieved a ruthless reputation.

Sweat formed cold and clammy down her back. She hadn’t been warm since she’d left the Horneu. And that thought brings me right back to Asler. Sue shook her head and sat on the narrow bed.

“Attention, officer on deck,” the guard at her door announced as the door slid open to reveal Base Commander Davies.

He smiled at her, but she couldn’t bring herself to return the welcome. He’d betrayed her.

She slowly stood to attention. The tilt at the corner of his lips faltered and disappeared.

“Captain Branscombe. You look well.”

“Sir.”

“Everything will be fine, Sue. Just do your duty, answer the questions. You’ll be fine.”

“May I be frank, sir?” she asked. Her throat threatened to close in on the words as anger aligned with resentment.

“Yes, yes of course.” He seemed to be at a loss for words, surprise and dismay making the lines on his face deepen. A new experience for him, she guessed.

“How could you? How could you tell the SID that you found me half-naked onboard the Horneu? You don’t even know what was going on. You didn’t even ask. For years I thought of you as a father, someone I trusted. But you didn’t ask me what was happening, you just made assumptions and jumped right in. Now you want me to ‘do my duty’? My God, I’ve been captured, tortured, assumed to be a traitor. Then, when I worked to actually discover something that could help our world, you come in acting like I am an unsupervised and oversexed teenager?”

“I…I…” Davies stuttered over her revelation. “The SID? What do you mean?”

“The SID have taken over my case, apparently.”

He turned from her, sat heavily on the bed. “I had no idea it would come to this. I’d…heard some things about the Inarrii, and I thought…I thought you shouldn’t be coerced, or pushed into something after you’d been treated so badly. I just wanted you here with our people. I thought you would be safer.”