The False Admiral Read Online Free PDF Page B

all my readouts were green.
    The trainees slipped effortlessly into their suits. They’d obviously practiced this extensively; until recently there had been a war on, and they were bound for ship duty. They had to be ready to suit up quickly in a depressurization scenario.
    To them, this technology was business as usual. Imperials take everything for granted.
    I smashed the emergency carbon over the manual release with my elbow, and Nils yanked it down. The seal broke with a hiss, and a few centimeters of space appeared between the doors. Together, we pried them open. No power meant no decontamination, so we had to go in with our helmets activated.
    I squeezed through and dropped to my knees beside the firstbody. I couldn’t tell which was Tremma; the upper half of this one was severely burned, and both bodies were in bulky tech suits intended to protect the wearers during heavy repairs and labor.
    They hadn’t protected these two well enough. The second corpse was badly burned too, his whole body.
    When I met him briefly, years ago, Tremma had seemed to take pride in his ability to prepare for problems before they arose. He hadn’t seen
this
coming.
    He and his pilot officer were dead. Dead in the airlock, nothing but blackened remains.
    Swallowing, I got back to my feet. I could see what had happened, even if I didn’t understand the how or the why. I herded the trainees back into the ship, deactivating my helmet once the seal was engaged again.
    This changed things. I had to think this through.
    Something heavy struck me across the back. It would’ve been my head if I hadn’t chosen that moment to move. I crashed to the ground, and Deilani’s boot slammed me in the gut. Nils shouted something, probably an expletive. Salmagard slipped between me and the lieutenant. She didn’t touch Deilani; she just blocked her with her body.
    â€œOut of the way,” the taller girl snapped. Salmagard said nothing, but held her ground.
    â€œWhat are you
doing
?” Nils demanded, still frozen in place.
    â€œThere are two
dead men
in there, and
this
is not an admiral,” Deilani said, making as though to move around Salmagard, who again managed to block her without touching her. I spat out a mouthful of blood. Good thing I’d deactivated my helmet, or that would’ve been all over my faceplate. “Listen to him talk—he’s noteven an officer. Listen to his
accent
. Where’s his uniform? Look at him move. He’s
not one of us
.”
    All very good points. I rolled over to probe my ribs. To have them cracked again so soon would be very upsetting. The deck was freezing, and the dim corridor blurred briefly. If I’d known this was coming, I’d have taken a larger dose when I injected a few minutes ago.
    Strategically taking painkillers in advance. That was something a real admiral would do.
    â€œLT, he was in an admiral’s sleeper,” Nils said, holding up his hands. “You
can’t fake that
.”
    â€œThen what was wrong with it? Things don’t go wrong with admirals’ sleepers.”
    â€œSomething in the seal. I
told
you.”
    â€œWhich could have been caused if there was an unscheduled resuscitation,” Deilani snapped. She had me there. “He’s on chems. He probably screwed something up when he went back in.
He
killed them, and
we
saved him. He can’t be an admiral. He’s not even
Evagardian
.”
    â€œAm too,” I said, wincing.
    â€œShut up. They were the only people on the ship. None of
us
did it, and that leaves him.”
    Deilani’s reasoning was far from airtight, but it was understandable under the circumstances. Salmagard continued to protect me. She was well aware of the penalty for laying one’s hands on an officer, which was why she could use only her person as a shield to protect me. She kept her hands clasped firmly behind her back.
    Nils stared at me. He’d been suspicious