Iannis arched a brow, then looked around the cabin. “Unless I’m very much mistaken, we don’t appear to be in a closet. In fact, I believe I’m taking you straight toward ‘the action’, as you put it.”

I smirked. “You’re such a smartass.”

“Your attitude is clearly rubbing off on me.” Iannis kissed me, quick and hard. “In any case, I will do as you suggest and assign an appropriate punishment for Rylan.”

“What about Thorgana Mills?” I asked, now that we were on the subject. “She’s on her way to Dara now, isn’t she?” I had very mixed feelings on letting her out of state—she was incredibly dangerous. But the Minister had insisted on her extradition, and since she was a resident of Dara and her crimes were national rather than local, we had no choice but to relinquish her. The Minister hoped to get her to reveal additional information on the recent plot to kill and supplant him. There were probably other plots we had yet to discover, but it would not be an easy task to drag them out of her.

“She will be leaving within the next few days,” Iannis confirmed. “I don’t intend to let her set foot off Prison Isle without the most stringent security.”

“Damn right.” He’d better have a veritable army accompanying her.

“There is also the matter of dealing with Father Calmias,” Iannis said. “He is proving quite troublesome.”

“How so?” Despite his vicious, genocidal gospel, the famous preacher struck me as rather harmless, physically. He had a grandfatherly air about him, and besides, he was human. The prison guards shouldn’t be having any trouble with him.

“Though he obviously incited the humans to riot and rebel, as you witnessed yourself, we can find no proof that he has done anything more tangible to aid the Resistance. The law is unclear on whether that is enough grounds for prolonged imprisonment, once an emergency is over. Many of his supporters are demanding that he be freed.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” On my way back from Shiftertown the other day, I’d taken a ride through Maintown to see how the humans were faring. Like the other sections of Solantha, repairs were underway. But I’d seen quite a few posters plastered around town with messages like ‘FREE FATHER CALMIAS!’ and ‘FATHER CALMIAS IS INNOCENT!’.

“He’s not innocent though, and, surely, you can charge him for preaching genocide, or something like that,” I argued. There was no way a man like him should be allowed to roam free in the Federation—he never mentioned the Resistance in his sermons, only the Ur-God and His plans, but it stood to reason he must be in Thorgana’s pocket.