She’d also found solace in the fact that making Nolan come to them would have the added benefit of further interrupting his precious schedule, as he never seemed to care much for theirs.
Secretary Nolan took his time. She’d taken to pulling at a loose string at the elbow of her all-terrain suit, Lee looking on with mild amusement while they waited.
“He’s taking extra long though, isn’t he?” she asked, the string from her sleeve having long since drifted down throughthe polished grates by her boot by the time the doors before them opened.
Nolan had closeted his usual disdain this afternoon. Which left in its stead—a look of hesitancy? Dare she say, he look pleased even? Of course, some of that pleasure dipped with his brows as she beamed back at him.
Mission accomplished.
Unamused, he beckoned them follow. Kat snuck a glance towards the doors on either side of the hallway as Nolan led them past. So many doors, and still so many secrets not even she and Lee had happened upon during their years at the Academy. But as usual, they didn’t run into anyone on their way in. Rounding the corner to his office, Nolan scanned his hyperband on the plate by the door, and she and Lee strode inside.
“I love what you’ve done with the place,” she sang, eyes going to a stack of clutter along the previously pristine surfaces of his polished desk as she sank into one of the facing chairs, crossing one leg over the other.
Lee gave a light cough, to which Kat ignored as he claimed the other chair. But she managed to sit still while Nolan settled behind the safety of his desk.
“You had a good match today,” Nolan said, glancing upward at her almost strategically as he straightened the pile on his desk. She noticed he didn’t seem to include Lee with this sentiment. He kept his tone otherwise polite and professional as he continued to address them. “Now what may I do for you? I assume this has to do with your recent mission AX71-AR to planet De Zolar?” He motioned to his holoblock.
Kat’s eyes narrowed.
“No,” Lee said. And both she and Nolan’s eyes shot to him. “But it does pertain to mission AX27-AR, and a ship formerly called Segura.”
Nolan’s reaction wasn’t the surprise she’d almost wished he’d shown. And although his mouth didn’t curve up in a smile, she would have sworn it was victoriousness, almost a fierceness to his eyes as he sat up straighter. “Very well. And what do you have for me?”
Kat blinked, her lungs tightening, as something else clicked into place. “You wanted us to come to you,” she said slowly.
Nolan shifted his eyes to her as she continued. “It was you. You’re the one who left our security clearances intact, knowing we’d eventually find it and guess that it was you.”
She shook her head. “But I don’t understand, why?”
Nolan’s face was inscrutable as he studied them. “Situations change. But I did have hopes the Commander’s brightest might find theadditional helpuseful at some point,” he said, still watching them with narrowed brows. “And although I cannot confirm or deny your accusations at this time,” he said, holding their gaze, “I would prefer that we keep this knowledge between us. Were a breach in security to be found and made known, any discrepancies would need to be reported, and thereafter revoked.”
“Commander Blanche doesn’t know,” Kat demanded.
“And she’s not going to. You’re aware, I presume, who’s at the helm calling the shots these days?”
“General Narron,” Lee muttered.
Nolan raised his chin just a fraction. “They came to an arrangement shortly after your debriefing. Her priority is and will always be with her cadets. And with some of them being so close to their final term—” he paused, eying them very directly, “—she preferred you be left out. She would never ask anything of you that would put that future at risk.”
A phrase Kat had heard much too frequently last term flipped through her head.Do not engage.
“He’s planning something… Something dangerous. Something to which he feels the people of Segura may still pose a threat. And something Commander Blanche doesn’t want us involved in,” Kat guessed, to which Nolan again raised his chin. And although they’d already run through the implications and guessed as much, to see it confirmed was like dousing her veins in ice water, her very lungs seeming to constrict with the strain.
“You don’t agree,” Lee challenged. And Kat would be impressed with Lee’s boldness except for the fact she was also dying to know his answer.
“I support Commander Blanche’s decision, and her explicit instruction to suspend this information tohigher clearance only,” he said, speaking very particularly with his wording, “which is why I won’t tell you that when we were going through the raid files, our arguments against General Narron’s moreprogressiveplans lacked sufficient evidence.”
“Why does he want to find them so badly?” Lee asked. “What do they have on him?”
“Your guess is as good as ours. A guess I had hoped you might be able to shed a little more light on…” Nolan said, actually losing his mask for a few seconds. But then he quickly recovered, rising once more to his feet. “In the meantime, I appreciate you coming by to clarify a point pertaining to missionAX71-AR to planet De Zolar,” he said again, very slowly and deliberately meeting their gaze. “I believe you will find the raid materials to be in order, should you ever wish to revisit that particular mission again.”
Nolan’s eyes sparkled as he came around his desk, an added liveliness to his step as he led them back outside. “I trust by now you can show yourselves out?”
FuckingNolan.
She and Lee were back outside the Command wing doors, before either of them bothered to do more than curse his name.
“Something about working with that man always makes me want to violently throw things,” she muttered, grinding the toe of her boot into the floor.
