The Naked Truth Read Online Free PDF Page A

but didn’t miss the way she’d slid into a fighting stance, turning her back to the wall of the corridor.
    Salis made a small negating gesture, his emotions actively promoting calm in a way even the captain could likely feel. “My apologies, Captain Branscombe. I didn’t realize how this chance meeting would affect Officer Tariim. As you may have guessed, she was injured in the terrorist attack.” Salis bowed and left them, his path the same as the one Tariim had taken.
    Asler waited until they turned the corner of the hallway then apologized to Branscombe. “I am sorry about that. It is clear that Examiner Salis is treating Sergeant Tariim for emotional pain and expected that a confrontation with someone she blames for her injury would help her in some way.”
    Branscombe straightened. “Whatever.” She stared at the floor, her jaw clenched as she tried to deny the effect Tariim’s accusations had on her. “I’m sorry she was injured,” she muttered.
    He sensed the emotion behind her spare words. She meant it. More, she respected Tariim, as if she had spoken with an equal rather than an antagonist.
    “Come, we are almost there.” He considered the truth of her last statement as they walked the length of the hallway. Just because she was sorry an individual was injured didn’t mean she hadn’t committed the act. And yet instinctively he had protected her. His instincts were not something he could afford to ignore.
    They reached the entry to his quarters. He stopped, giving the security scanner a moment to recognize him. Captain Branscombe came close, but avoided bumping into his back.
    “Every entrance is protected by security scan,” he told her without turning.
    The door slid open, retracting into the wall, and he stepped inside. The first room acted as both social sitting area and office and included two long low benches, each wide and long enough for two beings to stretch out together. His command console was mounted into a workstation, and there wasn’t much more. He hadn’t personalized the space—this mission had been assigned to him at the last moment when his predecessor, Examiner Kintaar, had been killed in the line of duty—so the walls remained a blank canvas.
    He strode toward a bench but changed his mind at the last moment and settled down at the workstation, a position of more authority.
    The captain entered the space slowly and sat on the edge of the bench nearest to the door. She didn’t say anything. He watched her eyes darting about the room, taking in the darkened doorway to his sleeproom and the second exit to his private lavatory. Her hands gripped the edge of the bench cushion, but her spine remained stiff. He silently cheered her on—applauding her bravery after her recent ordeal. She would heal.
    “Captain Branscombe, you have been implicated in the recent attack on the Confederacy. As you know, you are now under investigation regarding what information, exactly, you gave to the terrorist group Terran Purity, and under what conditions.” He stated it flatly, laying the situation out for her. “All investigations in this matter are being conducted by the Confederacy. Treason—” he paused, looking at her pale face, “—can carry a penalty as severe as execution.”
    “Sir—”
    He interrupted her with a raised hand. “I am here to determine the truth, and to defend or prosecute you as necessary. It is in your best interest to cooperate with me completely.”
    “I have every intention of doing that,” she said through clenched teeth.
    “I assure you, we do not use torture.” He watched her take that in, absorb it. “But I will know, absolutely, if you lie in any way or attempt to hide information.” He rose, walked to her. “You will show me every moment of your time with the terrorists.”
    “Show you?” She didn’t look away from him, but he could tell she wanted to as her shoulders tilted slightly away.
    “When I touched you in the medroom, you flashed