In the end, he decided the safest place for her would be in the brig of Arelius's planetside facility. He'd talked to the commander there and stressed the importance of keeping her isolated but not abused. Regular meals, normal room temperatures, but no time outside her cell, and nobody went inside with her unless she was fully restrained. When the master at arms saw her, Jackson could already see the man underestimating her because of her small stature, and he had to stress all over again that she was dangerous.

"Two meters by two meters?" she said when he escorted her down to her new home. "Veritable luxury, Admiral."

"When this is over, one way or the other, someone will figure out what to do with you."

"So, I imagine you're off to help shore up the defenses around New Sierra. Clock is ticking, after all."

"It's nothing you need to worry about anymore," Jackson said. "I've authorized deadly force if you try something stupid while you're here."

"I feel you'll come to regret not just having me killed and tossed out of the boat on the way in, Admiral," she said sadly. "We all have a role to play. Any mercy you've shown me will just be viewed as weakness by the people who will send the next one."

Jackson didn't respond. He watched her pace through the transparent barrier for a few moments before buzzing back out through the heavy security door.

"Little spitfire, eh, Admiral?" the master at arms asked, his arms folded over his ample midsection as he sat his ass on the guards desk while the man tried to look around him to see the monitors.

"Chief, I'm going to say this once more because I feel like we're not on the same frequency here," Jackson said. "That woman is a highly trained, dangerous operative who has already killed a handful of people on two different ships. She's here to await trial. Don't fall for her tricks, don't engage her in conversation, and do not give her an opening to get out of that cell. Got it?"

"No problem. We'll keep a good eye on her."

"Fat sack of guts is useless. A disgrace to the uniform," Barton grated as they left the building and walked towards their shuttle.

"He's not the best or brightest I've seen in Fleet," Jackson admitted, "but he's the type who usually finds one of these hidden assignments and digs in like a tick. This is easy money, and you really don't have to put up with any of the normal military stuff like you would aboard a starship or on a colonized world."

"Treading water to retirement," Barton snorted as they walked up the rear ramp. "Like I said…useless."

28

Admiral Xiao couldn't believe his eyes when the man had walked by. It had been Jackson Wolfe himself, no doubt about it.

Xiao had been brought to—well, he didn't actually know where he was—not long after the psychopath CIS Agent who had destroyed his taskforce out of spite had turned him over for interrogation. As it turned out, they hadn't had much use for him, focusing instead on Commander Agata Elin. He knew her as his ship's intelligence officer, but the biometric data the CIS people had collected had convinced them she was someone else entirely. Someone high-profile who excited them greatly.