"Not if my hunch is correct," Jackson said. "For now, we keep her busy and away from the bridge. I also want the access codes to my office changed. She'll be working down in CIC for the time being. I'll let her know."

"What do you need from me, sir?"

"I want you to quietly brief Chief Petty Officer Munoz about our suspicions, and then the two of you will search Lieutenant Trapp's quarters when she's not there," Jackson said. "I'm going to put you in touch with Agent Pike first and let him tell you what you should look for. If Trapp is our spy, it would explain a lot, but it also means she's skilled in tradecraft and won't leave any evidence just lying about."

"Pike," Barton sneered. "Sorry, sir. I know he's your friend, but I can't stand him."

"I hear that a lot."

17

Councilman Makov seethed as he read the latest dispatches.

"She gave them the location of our stealth ships?" he asked, shaking his tile at the man across the deck from him. Undersecretary Illya was in charge of making sure all the military movements directed by the cabal stayed hidden from the majority of the Council. Lately, he'd been shadowing Councilman Makov, keeping close at hand now that they were rolling into the final phase of their ambitious plan.

"Our conversation was brief, but she claims the Saber's sensor analysts had already detected gravimetric wake signatures from the ships repositioning," Illya said. "She hoped by coming up with the crucial answer, she'll have cemented her bond with Wolfe."

"She takes too many risks," Makov growled, tossing the tile back onto his desk. "Her moves on the Jericho were foolhardy. If she's caught—"

"Then she'll be arrested." Illya shrugged. "The Feds don't torture people, and she really doesn't know all that much. She's been given enough information to effectively do her job."

"Don't believe all of our own propaganda about the Federation." Makov shook a warning finger in Illya's face. "Admiral Xiao had surrendered his taskforce to save his people, and that psychopath Agent wiped out the entire flotilla, forcing Xiao to watch. Just to make a point."

"And we turned loose a psychopath of our own, who then used antimatter bombs on a populated planet. There is enough filth to go around, Councilman. But none of that matters. We need a mad dog like Vadim Kohl if we're to win this war decisively and minimize the bleeding," Illya said.

"Sometimes, I think starting down this road was a grave mistake, Illya," Makov said. "What started as an interesting project out of an obscure think tank generations ago has now drenched our hands in blood, and there's no stopping what we've set in motion."

"I read the briefs from the information the Darshik gave us, same as you. If humanity is to survive against some of the horrors in this part of the galaxy, we have to be unified. The Fed's system can't do it, and neither can the Alliance, at least not as it exists now. We need a better way, and we need it quickly."