Objective Consequence (Book Two of the Subjective Justice series)

Chapter Seven: Daddy's Coming

Akio played the recording, again, and again and again.  This wasn't the Bolivar she knew. Stabbing her in the back and setting the entire vigilante group up for failure . . . He simply wouldn't. Bolivar was quieter than most, sure, but nothing he'd done had brought Akio to question his loyalty. It was as if they were pieces on a melva board, being arranged repeatedly by the enemy team every time their backs were turned. Was this her fault? Akio watched it play again. If she wasn't the leader, she doubted Bolivar would consider betraying them, unless this had been his intent the entire time. Reaching for her holopad to make notes and strategize, Akio hit nothing but air. That was right. She dropped it, again. 

There was a small chance that Bolivar was putting on a facade, to win the trust of the enemy's side for further information. Akio played it again. If that was the case, starshit he was good at infiltration. But, wouldn't Hawke have known? They were cousins, after all.

Her secretary, Lemi came in, placing another holopad on her desk and sweeping up the broken one. Akio turned off the recording device. It wasn't public knowledge yet, and it wouldn't be until her, Indra, and Hawke planned their next move. It was unnerving that someone so close could have been endangering them with shared information. Was it possible that others in the group were moles? It was bad enough that the vigilantes did not have a bountiful number of members, lacking the ability to surprise the Lizz was a death sentence.

The newer vigilante eyed the device with curiosity but the Lizz knew better than to question. "Call me if you need anything, Leader."

"Thank you, Lemi," Akio said with a smile. At least someone wasn't avoiding and hating her today. That was nice.

Absently, Akio found herself reaching for the small box in her pocket again. Saso. Why did she need to remember Saso? Something was off with Indra. In all the time she'd been with her girlfriend, Akio had never seen her this bad. Sure, there were times when she slept on the floor to avoid the sensation of the sheets, or even left the room because Akio's breathing aggravated her. Maybe it was wrong to never ask why. Akio simply didn't want to pry into her girlfriend's life when she wasn't ready to share. She'd open up when she was ready, or maybe she never would. It was Indra's business how that worked out.

But why? Why won't she just talk to me? We used to talk about everything and now, all we do is argue.

"Akio." Hawke's voice vaguely reached through her thoughts.

A sharp sensation tapped her arm. Akio reacted by instinct, grabbing the object and slamming the assailant to the ground, flicking a knife out of her arm and putting it to their throat. Golden-brown eyes stared up at her, playful and equally unamused.

Akio coughed, unpinning Hawke and putting the knife back in her arm. "Don't poke me with—" She looked at the cane in his hand. Why was that in here? Indra needed her cane. "That."

Hawke got back to his feet, brushing himself off. "Note to self, don't throw any surprise parties for Akio, might result in everyone getting killed."

Rolling her eyes, Akio scoffed, stung slightly by the remark even though she knew it was meant as a jest. "Not funny."

"I don't think you're going to gain any new information from the recording," Hawke said, taking the recording device and placing it in his pocket. "What now?"

The holopad glared up at Akio. She sat down at the desk, taking it in her hands and typing in a new password. "We need to find out what he's planning next. If you come to the conclusion that he is a danger, or truly a traitor then—" Akio paused. She didn't want to say it, but it was her job to make the hard calls. It was her job to do what was best for the majority. "Having someone with this amount of information betray us is a risk."