Chapter 23

"At least you've finally admitted that the food from the galley is safe to eat." Bren said as he shifted Sophia's med chair closer to the small table that served as both desk and dining table in his quarters. His voice was soft as ever; the revelation that Philip Esterhazy was a spy had distracted him for only a moment.

The best Sophia could give him in response was a faint grimace that was intended to be a smile. She was too busy kicking herself mentally.

How could she have forgotten something so important?

For as long as she could remember, she'd known to hold her tongue whenever Philip was in residence at Kyr Castle, to precede him into any room, and follow him out. To assume that nowhere was it safe to speak her mind. It had become merely another reason among many to keep her opinions and plans to herself.

It must have become too much like a second nature to remain silent around Philip, because she'd completely forgotten why she had to. Not even short-term memory loss was excuse enough to stop her from berating herself. So many things depended on her ability to remember who was friend and who was foe, and who was both or neither!

"Sophia. Are you paying attention? Sophia? Respond, Pilot Forrester."

"What?" She reached out reflexively to slam the comms button - which tended to stick - and then realized she wasn't in the Warlock at all. She frowned up at Bren, "What? I was thinking."

"Think out loud." He commanded, "I've been holding my tongue for the last ten minutes because of what you said in my negotiation room. I need to issue orders, and I'm waiting on your advice."

Sophia winced at his blunt words, "I appreciate your caution. I was simply beating my poor brain to remember everything I could about Philip and his eavesdropping devices."

"Start with the basics. Is it safe to talk at all?" He nudged her plate toward her slightly, and Sophia took the hint. Only then did Bren continue eating. She wondered how long he'd been trying to get her attention.

After a moment to collect her thoughts that took longer than she would admit to anyone, Sophia spoke. "Yes, it's safe. For the moment, at least. Philip isn't permitted to use any equipment that actively seeks out sound or data. He can use only passive listening devices, as I said before. And so far he's had no opportunity to leave any devices around where we might talk."

"Has he ever been caught using more than passive technology?" Bren's voice was knowing.

Sophia grinned at him, glad to have someone on her side for once. She didn't believe that Philip could be trusted either, "No, but he's rarely under direct oversight, so who's to say whether he's occasionally more zealous in his information gathering techniques?"

"So nothing can be said as long as he or his devices are within what distance? Thirty feet?"

Sophia nodded.

"How small are these portable listeners?"

It took a long time for her to remember, "About the size of your thumb. They can be easily hidden, but also easily found."

"What about his ship's equipment?" Bren mused, "You said it monitors comms channels, which is why I'm here talking to you instead of to Miller."

She inclined her head slightly, since her mouth was full.

"What else does it do?"

Sophia reached out for her water and washed down the food she'd just swallowed. If anyone had asked her right then what she'd eaten, she would have been completely unable to answer. "That's the problem. I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm remembering everything I should, and it's been years since I saw a full accounting of the equipment on his ship."

"Probably no chance of finding out now." Bren muttered, "Since that packet gives him full diplomatic immunity."

"And worse, since he's here as the highest ranking member of my entourage, unfortunately, he's completely inviolate. You have to treat him as though he was my equal. Full rights and privileges. Apart from matters of safety, you have no reason to deny him any access to anything on the Silvana."

Bren sighed and pushed his empty plate away, reached into the nearby floor locker. He pulled out a glass bottle of what Sophia recognized as expensive Disith brandy and unhooked the cap while he stared at the viewscreen hanging above the table. There was a meditative air about him as he sipped from the bottle, so Sophia went back to her dinner and let him think.

Halfway through her meal, his air changed, and he tapped his comm in response to a voice that she couldn't hear, "No problems? Good. Come see me in my quarters, I have a report I want to review with you."

Bren spoke again only after Sophia had finished eating. He cleaned up the dishes and put them in the dumbwaiter slot as he laid out his plans. "For the time being, we can use paper notes for anything sensitive, instead of the comms. We'll make up some excuse to keep him quartered in a heavily monitored sector, so he can't tap into the channels using active listening devices. Finally, I'll assign some kind of honor guard to him so that it will be harder for him to leave devices anywhere else on the Silvana."

"If he's constantly attended by an honor guard, he'll ask why I'm not." She pointed out.

"You have an honor guard: you have me." Bren seemed to think that was an unassailable arrangement. Sophia couldn't help but smile. She let the statement pass without comment.

"We need him silenced, since we can't get him off the ship." He turned back to her, his green eyes sharp behind his glasses. "How much can I get away with?"

Sophia shifted in the med chair and ran her fingertips over the sleeve covering one of her arms. The injuries she'd sustained while boarding the Silvana were now mostly healed, but she still felt achy and abnormally cautious because of her most recent crash. "Not a single thing, I'm afraid. As much as I would like to see you put him back on the ground by force or by guile, there's no way to do it. I am his highest priority, and none of us can change that."