Page 75 of Alien Burn

Khalzin was receiving medical care. The residence was secured. Ruthak's inspection unit had joined the search for Fiviel and Graecey, but the latest report still showed only mapped ground and equipment readings.

He rubbed the back of his neck and reopened the broker's reply. Beneath the warehouse report lay an index of local enforcement cases recovered under the wider Kerde inquiry, with a complaint about relay delays and a fee Dhomhes would argue about if he ever had a free afternoon again.

Dock theft. Fraud. A cargo dispute mislabeled as assault. Several closed homicides.

The supporting reports had not come through. No addresses, witness statements, or inventories. He sent the case numbers to the security commander with a request for the full records and any retained Alliance correspondence concerning the applicants.

Someone had brought explosives expertise to Kantenan. He wanted to know what else had arrived with the volunteers.

He asked the guard to send in his operations lead, then carried the cold plate to the sideboard.

Then he opened the new civil-record return. Loric Vandrel and Gilorn Rhysgarrd were brothers. Different public names; the same parents. Roemary's uncle belonged to the family his broker had warned him about before the platform burned.

Dhomhes didn't believe in coincidence.

His operations lead arrived carrying a hot drink and a display. He set both within reach, with the requests awaiting Dhomhes's authority marked at the top.

“Look at these.”

He gave him the warehouse report, the broker's account, and the list of missing case records. The guard read them without speaking.

“The explosives investigators have the first two,” Dhomhes said. “Keep after the regional office for the rest. I want the source reports, including any material held separately by the Alliance. Ask the broker to follow the money as well. His cargo contacts know where hired weapons are advertised. Has anyone been offering paid work against the program?”

“I'll send the request.”

The guard made a note.

Dhomhes took a drink. It was hot enough to hurt and bitter enough that he took another mouthful.

“Now Roemary Vandrel.”

The guard looked up.

“She knew something about the sequence of the platform charges,” Dhomhes said. “Now we know who her uncle is. I want the original enrollment correspondence, not another summary. Who arranged her place, and when? Check her father's business interests against the freight accounts from Barnak's case as well.”

“Preserve her residence access records and comm traffic records,” he continued. “Don't disturb her device. I want to know where the connections go, and whether they coincide with changes to the program's movements. The same for any outside contact associated with the attack inquiry.”

“And her companion?”

Dhomhes's hand tightened around the cup.

The guard noticed. Of course he did.

“Sereya's safety is part of the residence watch,” Dhomhes said. “If she's being used to carry messages or run errands, we need to know. We do not assume she knows why.”

“Should we separate them?”

“Give all the volunteers the option of separate rooms in the secured wing. Quietly, through the housing staff. No one should need permission from another volunteer to move.”

It wasn't enough. Not if Roemary was what he feared. But dragging Sereya out of her room without an explanation she could trust would not make her feel safer, and warning Roemary exactly where he was looking might endanger more people than the woman beside her.

“For the immediate watch, put two of ours inside the existing residence detail,” he said. “Coordinate with the commander. No gap while the teams change. Any unscheduled visitor or movement gets checked before it's allowed through.”

“All volunteers?”

“All of them.”

The guard gathered his notes.