Echoes of the Storm

Chapter 26

The GPC swerved around military and civilian traffic moving through the streets away from Corona Headquarters. Berg stared ahead, every bump in the road like a punch to his chest. Densiger had been executed... What could he say to Costarossa? The woman's knuckles on the steering column were white, her face gray like the ash lingering in the air.

They'd witnessed a senseless act. Cold-blooded murder.

Humiliation? Anger? No matter what Norse said, Berg never believed those emotions would drive him to commit such a violent and useless deed. He could still be a loyal servant of the Grand Emperor and faithfully serve Corona.

Costarossa slowed to take a turn, cursing when she spotted Corona patrols stopping pedestrians to check IDs. Her grip on the controls looked tight enough to strangle someone. Her arms trembled.

This was a side of his subordinate Berg hadn't seen, not that he could blame her. Berg clenched his teeth, trying to focus on finding Tic Ford. "When we get to the base, we'll talk to staff who were on duty at the time of the attack. See if we can put together a picture of where patients were evacuated," he said, working through his investigative plan for the day. The information was all in the initial reports, but the first responders may have missed something. "We'll get a lead on Ford and his friends' trail. Some nerve, right? Hitting a hospital at the base."

Costarossa grunted.

"Are you with me?" Berg asked.

Costarossa nodded grudgingly, but punched the steering column. "What makes Norse think Ford was behind this?"

He really didn't need to walk Costarossa through Norse's logic, but talking about Ford was preferable to thinking about their dead friend Densiger. "Ford escapes with Payntz's help," Berg said. "Payntz is arrested, interrogated. Payntz is moved to Odala'a, which is attacked. Payntz goes missing after the patients are accounted for. It all adds up."

"We have no absolute proof that Ford was at the MedCenter," Costarossa reminded him. "Payntz never revealed anything during his interrogation."

"We do have a missing body at the MedCenter. A body that was on Payntz's ward and disappeared while he was on duty."

Costarossa's face was gray. "A body without a description," she argued, her voice shaky. "Nothing to tie to Ford. It's a dead end."

Berg shook his head. "I don't think so."

"You shot Ford point blank."

"Yeah, and I saw him fall to the ground before I closed the shuttle's hatch."

Costarossa shouted, "How could he survive?"

"There's point blank..." Berg pointed to his head, then his heart, "and point blank." He touched his collarbone. "I must've aimed too high—probably hit him in the shoulder. The blast took him down. It just didn't kill him. The medics found him, but no one had a clue who he was."

Costarossa pulled the GPC to the side of the road. For a moment she was quiet, but finally turned and gave Berg a long, pointed look. "Maybe you did it on purpose," she said.

"What's that supposed mean?" Berg asked.

"You couldn't kill Ford, just like you couldn't bring yourself to shoot Densiger."

What the Colonists? That was absurd. "The two situations don't compare. Following orders to get rid of a known collaborator is one thing—"

"Why didn't Norse want Ford brought in for a public trial? Seems like that would be a far better signal to the resistance and to the Riga," Costarossa said. "Why has he changed his mind?"