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increased his chances of meeting that
fate back on Earth?
    “Fear?” Evan felt the sweat trickle under his shirt. His hands
shook. His left knee ached. He needed a drink. “What do you know about fear?”
    Joaquin ignored the question. “Most especially, we need to emphasize
that there were times during the voyage home that you didn’t think you’d make
it back to Earth alive.”
    His stylus broken, Evan dissipated the urge to twitch by tugging
on his security cuff. My electronic leash. Nice of his jailers to make
the black-banded monitor look like a timepiece. He wondered if it fooled
anyone. “Living through two months of crappy food and cramped quarters isn’t
going to win me any sympathy from this crowd. It’s their way of life.”
    “Keep your voice down!” Joaquin glanced anxiously at Veda.
“Remember your place. No one has to tolerate your pithy commentary anymore.” He
clucked his tongue, then returned to his note taking.
    Evan felt the lump in his gut grow and twist. Not long ago, people
stood in line to tolerate his pithy commentary and whatever else he cared to
dish out. It had been six months since the life he’d always known had ended.
Six months since the roof had caved in.
    And we know who snapped the support beam, don’t we? Evan
could see her face as clearly as if she sat across the table from him. Hair as
short and black as Veda’s. Eyes as dark. Skin as smooth. Look, as cold.
    Jani, who killed the Laumrau and, before that, his Uncle Rik. Whom
he tracked down and pulled from the gutter eighteen years later, because he had
needed her a lot and still loved her a little. Who repaid him first by killing
his friend Durian, then by destroying his life.
    Jani.
    “Excuse me.”
    Evan looked up to find Veda standing before him. Up close, he
could see the fine etching of lines that decorated the corners of her eyes. So,
there were smiles bottled up in that well-conditioned body. He wondered for
whom she saved them. He tried to inject some softness into his
expression—imagining what lay hidden under that trimly tailored summerweight
shirt made it easy. Grey isn’t her color; he forced himself to focus on
her face. No, it would have to be soft yellow or cream, something that would
complement the undertones of her skin . . . .
    Joaquin’s puckered asshole of a voice shook Evan out of his sexual
reverie. “Have the vanished rosters reappeared yet, Colonel?”
    A muscle throbbed in Veda’s cheek. “No, Mr. Loiaza, they have not.
The ranking documents examiner has been contacted, however, and we hope to have
them first thing tomorrow morning.”
    “Do you?” Joaquin managed to inject more cynical skepticism in
those two words than less-skilled attorneys could in an entire summation. “I
find it very distressing that documents that could play an important role in my
client’s defense have gone missing as easily as last week’s newssheets.”
    Veda’s chest rose and fell. Evan found the movement hypnotic.
    “Not a very skillful diversion, Counselor.” The Judge Advocate’s
representative, a geeky youngster whose name Evan kept forgetting, drew up to
his full-yet-unprepossessing height. “Let’s not lose sight of the essential
facts. Your client is responsible for ordering the deaths of sixteen members of
this Service. Add to that his collusion in the deaths of the Bandan research
team at Knevçet Shèràa and his role in the illegal importation of idomeni
augmentation technologies—”
    “All alleged, Counselor. My client has not been charged.”
Joaquin’s voice grew dangerously soft. “He’s here to assist you in your
investigation of Jani Kilian’s murder of her commanding officer. Unless you’re having
difficulty uncovering documents pertinent to that case, as well.”
    The meeting ended with a terse assurance from Colonel Veda that
the documents would be available by morning. Evan watched her stalk out of the
conference room, his eyes greedily recording the sway of her walk in