“The Emperor has given a direct order,” Rakal said. “The civilian legal process should be followed for civilians, but what is Internal Security against the old guard?” There was a note of bitterness in their voice that threw Kiem off for a moment. The Emperor had called him General Fenrik, Kiem remembered, when she barely gave anyone else their title. General Fenrik was the Emperor’s generation, back when the military had been vastly more powerful than the civil infrastructure. Rakal was young, could not be more than forty. “Count Jainan may not come to much harm.”

“May not?”

Rakal glanced around before they answered. “There are drugs.”

Kiem took a deep breath. “I’m not going to let this happen.”

“I will not be drawn into this line of conversation,” Rakal said. “We did not speak about this. However,” they added. “If Jainan were to somehow … walk out of military custody, I believe that would change matters.” They looked Kiem right in the eye. “The treaty situation is changing hour by hour. I believe if Jainan were to somehow leave, I would be able to keep his case under civil authority and stop him from going back in.”

“Right,” Kiem said. He took another breath, and said again, “Right.”

Rakal gave him a hint of a nod.

Kiem canceled the call. Then he raised his wristband and spun up the Thean Ambassador. As he strode back to his and Jainan’s guest suite, he wrote out, Jainan falsely arrested. Petition for release, and added a précis of everything the Emperor had said. He finished just as the door of his rooms shut behind him.

Then, and only then, he entered the high-urgency code that was only supposed to be used for a life-or-death situation, and called Bel.

He waited so long he started counting the seconds. A minute. Ninety seconds.

Eventually, though, the soft waiting pattern dissolved into Bel’s face. She was in what looked like a privacy capsule at the shuttleport, distracted and drawn with

worry. “Kiem?” She looked at him and behind him and seemed to reassure herself he wasn’t in immediate danger. “I’m literally about to get on the shuttle, they’re calling the passengers now. I can’t talk.”

“Jainan’s been arrested,” Kiem said. He could hear his voice crack. “They think he killed Taam and tried to kill me. I need to get him out before they interrogate him. I need your help.”

Bel’s eyes widened, but only for an instant before calculation spread across her face. “Let me guess,” she said. “Major Saffer.”

“I’m sorry,” Kiem said. “You can still go tonight. Just delay by half a day, I’ll book you on a new—What?”

“Saffer’s somewhere behind this,” Bel said. “And if you’re worried about interrogation, that means the military have him. Hell fucking damn it.”