Page 197 of Reaper Said Mine

Dawson points at him without looking away from me. “You can be replaced by someone quieter.”

“Not with my cheekbones,” Bellamy says.

I hold Dawson’s gaze. “The Combine anticipated the diplomatic collapse. There are financial records, private security movements, pre-positioned shell freighters, and falsified distress transmissions already spreading through public channels. Alliance fleets are moving on assumptions shaped by bad data.”

Dawson’s smile fades by increments.

“Give me the drive.”

“No.”

His eyebrows rise.

“Excuse me?”

“I said no.”

Bellamy’s mouth tightens, but he wisely says nothing.

Dawson takes one slow step toward me. “You work for this network.”

“I am aware.”

“Material gathered during assignment belongs to IHC-Now pending editorial review.”

“Emergency independent upload access. You approved it.”

“For field transmission under mortal danger.”

“War counts.”

His face hardens.

“You are not uploading anything until Standards, Legal, Defense Affairs, and executive leadership review every line.”

“That review will take days.”

“Then it takes days.”

“Fleets are moving now.”

“And if you are wrong, we trigger panic across three governments.”

“If I am right and we sit on it, we help manufacture a war.”

Dawson’s eyes sharpen. He likes conflict when he controls the camera. He likes it less when it walks into his office carrying receipts.

“You are emotionally compromised.”

I feel Bellamy shift beside me, ready to intervene.

I lift a hand slightly.

“Yes,” I say.

Dawson blinks.

I continue before he can enjoy himself. “I am emotionally compromised because I have seen what happens when powerful institutions manufacture narratives around civilian death. I am emotionally compromised because I watched a station full of refugees and workers brace for bombardment while commentators here argued over whether the warlord has good lighting. I am emotionally compromised because I know the man at the center of this crisis, and knowing him makes the lies easier to spot rather than harder.”