CADE HAD BEEN SUMMONED to the Captain’s office. He thought it was to submit his report on the interrogation, but Shard didn’t care at this point. Shard was screaming. He had been for some time, and Cade didn’t think it was going to stop anytime soon.

In the monitor behind them, they watched Xander Pacius. he was lying on a cot in a large cell with his surviving senior staff. They had placed themselves around him like some sort of honor guard for their bloodied and bandaged captain.

Even now Shard was trying to figure out some new way to make Pacius talk, or as Cade privately suspected, punish Pacius for what he had done to Shard’s ear. What Shard wanted was revenge, but failing that some magic solution to their problem. The prisoners weren’t any more helpful than Pacius. A few were willing to talk, so willing that Cade or Shard usually only had to ask a question before they got a litany of facts. The problem was these facts were mostly lies told to avoid further interrogation.

“We’ve interrogated over half the crew, and we have nothing I can use!” Shard bellowed, not for the first time.

“Captain, have you considered your tactics may be to blame?” Cade said evenly. He had been making this point to Shard now for some time, and it showed no signs of sinking in. Cade wondered if it would have been better to simply execute Shard back during the incident with Pacius, then Cade could have gotten on with the questioning without his disruptions.

“What do you mean?” Shard asked, Automatically. Both Cade knew he wasn’t actually going to listen to the answer, and wouldn’t understand it if he had, still it was in Cade’s nature to try.

“They’re scared. Terrified even.” Cade said eventually.

“Of course they are. They should be.” Shard said, confirming for Cade that he had indeed completely missed the point.

“They are so scared, they will say anything to avoid looking like Pacius. In a very real way, you’ve broken them.”

“So?

“In the time since their capture, they’ve seen you destroy civilian craft, destroy their ship,kill many of their comrades, and even cripple their captain. All of this in an attempt to extract information, an attempt that was a failure.

The session with Pacius had become a point of contention between the two of them in the last few days. Cade waisted few opportunities to remind Shard that it was his rash actions that had lead them to this impasse, , “Most of them will now tell you whatever they think you want to hear. The rest see their captain, see that he didn’t talk, and see it as an inspiration. They won’t talk now no matter what you do to them.

Shard began pacing the room, absently scratching at the mass of bandage that was covering his reattached ear. He was considering something, and for a fraction of a moment, Cade thought he might have actually gotten through.

Those hopes were dashed though when Shard spoke again.

“Maybe if we step up the interrogations.”

“I don’t see how you would do that short of crucifixion.” Cade said flatly.

“Or maybe start executions. If I start killing some of them, the rest will have to start giving me things I can use.”

At this last comment, Cade stood up and walked out in disgust. As the door closed behind him, Shard was still pacing.

Cade had given everything to the UPE. He walked the halls of the Enigma contemplating his meeting with Shard and, for the first time, wondered if he had made the right choice. He had volunteered for this post. Knowing tensions were high in the Frontier, he wanted to be right in the middle. He knew Shard was a loose cannon. That’s why the UPE had sent him out here. They admired his brutality. Cade had hoped to provide a sense of restraint to the man, or at the very least be a visible reminder of the consequences for damaging the mission.

Cade had never questioned his duty before, all his adult life, he had served aboard UPE starships. He had given them his skills and his life, and in return, they had made him a Lambda. They had given him power. If Cade needed to, he could eliminate any officer if he felt it necessary in the course of his duties, Cade had done this several times, and it was never an act he took lightly.

Shard was endangering the interests of the United Planets of Earth in the Frontier. There was no question there were terrorists in the gaps between the stars, but Cade no longer believed Pacius and his crew were among them. Shard however couldn’t separate  acts of defiance from acts of terrorism, to him, they were one and the same. Shard needed to find a connection, a link between terrorism and the S.M.MC for his ownreasons, and those reasons had nothing to do with protecting the Fronteere worlds.

The main reason Cade hesitated terminating Shard that day in the interrogation room was that their primary order was to stop the protest at Archer’s Agony, and to capture Captain Xander Pacius of the S.M.M.C . Even though Cade objected to how Shard had accomplished this, there was little doubt he had accomplished it. Their secondary orders were to  restore and maintain order in the Frontier. While he doubted the efficacy of Shard’s approach, he didn’t think he could justify eliminating him to his superiors, not when by all accounts Shard had accomplished their primary objectives so decisively. Shard was following orders, and he was following them with the fervor and tenacity that had seen him promoted through the UPE ranks. Those Who posted Shard to this mission knew who he was, and had to expect that things would have gone something like this.

What power did Cade really have in this situation? He had little authority to directly affect the course of the mission, The only real thing he could do was remove captain Shard, and he had determined he couldn’t justify it. He was also powerless to help those held captive by Shard. This, more than anything else, was bothering him. He had dealt with prisoners before and seen worse interrogations than Shard was performing. Cade had even conducted a few himself, but those had all been for what Cade believed to be good reasons.

This one was different. All these people were guilty of was not wanting the UPE to control every aspect of their lives. He knew this was how they saw the Helix earrings. Cade could understand and even empathize with them. He had seen all the good the UPE could bring to a planet if they chose to. The events of the last few weeks had really shaken him though. Everything cade had ever done was because he believed it was, in the end for the greater good, but he wondered now. If people should not rule themselves, then who should? Should it be men like Shard? Men who would kill at the slightest show of defiance? What about the men who employ him? Men who knew exactly what he was and turned him loose on people. Cade couldn’t do much about most of the ills in the UPE, but maybe he could do something about this one. Maybe he could help Xander Pacius, who had said nothing even when he thought it would cost him his life.

Cade would free their captives, and Shard would have to accept it because as far as he knew, the orders would be coming from his own command structure, Lambda Command, an authority above the UPE. navy.

So, resolved, Cade set out to forge an order from Lambda. It was an order to cease all interrogations and immediately  release all prisoners. The relief it brought to his conscience made him feel like this was the best thing he had ever done. His superiors wouldn’t like it, but he believed he could make them understand. If asked what he was hoping to accomplish, he’d say he was trying to save lives.

…

Cade and Shard stood and watched as members of his crew escorted the Deviant Rising’s survivors down the embarkation ramp and onto the space station Archer’s Agony. It had only taken a couple hours for the Enigma to reach Archer’s Agony after Cade had sent the orders. Shard had fumed the whole way. Even now, as they were watching their prisoners walk to freedom, Shard was insisting,”If I had a little more time with them, I know i could have gotten something.”

“Possibly. It doesn’t matter now.” Cade said, watching a couple people help Xander Pacius down the ramp.

“Those damned cowards in command don’t have the thrust needed anymore. They’re too used to peace. They don’t understand the threat these people pose to their precious security.”

“You know as well as I do that Lambda Command will have what they want.”

Shard gritted his teeth. “I promise… That man, he’s a terrorist… And I will kill him personally one day.

Shard said, trying to bore a hole in the back of Pacius’s back with his eyes.

Cade took a moment to marshal himself before replying, “I am sure we will see him again.”

Of that Cade had no doubt...

Next Chapter: Chapter 9: Aurelium Ignition