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.“I know she will,” he said.So far, there had been no sign of the aliens, but he was sure that would change.In their place, he’d picket the systems between Terra Nova and Target One, if only with a couple of starships.“I have faith in her.”The hatch bleeped, then opened.Ted lifted his eyebrows when he saw both the CAG and one of his squadron commanders, looking like naughty children.He half-expected to see a Marine escorting them into the office.But they were alone.“Admiral,” Schneider said.“We need to talk with you.”Ted had a sudden sense of doom.“Very well,” he said.He nodded to Anderson, who picked up his terminal and left the compartment.“Talk.”Chapter Fourteen“Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Ted said, once the halting explanation had come to an end.“You’ve been having an illicit relationship since Alien-1, you’ve continued with the relationship ever since returning to Earth.and you are now being blackmailed.Correct?”“Yes, sir,” Schneider said.“You absolute idiot,” Ted said.He shook his head in disbelief.Everyone knew that the regulations on sexual relations onboard ship were skirted more than anyone cared to admit, but there were limits.A relation between two people of different ranks would always suffer from a power imbalance, raising the prospect of coercion and naked force being used to push someone into bed.How could a relationship develop properly when one party could punish the other at will? And that, he knew, didn't even take into consideration the damage it would do to morale.Everyone would be looking at Schneider’s past decisions now, hunting for any signs of favouritism he might have shown towards his lover.She’d survived when so many others had died, Ted knew.Had she been deliberately kept out of the line of battle? And how many others had died when she should have died? He might have done nothing to help or hinder her career and it would still be disastrous to both of them.They should both be thrown into the brig, pending an investigation and court martial, followed by dishonourable discharge.“It’s at times like this,” Ted continued, “that I wish we’d kept the lash, rather than rum and sodomy.What the hell were you two thinking?”Rose Labara met his eyes evenly.“We were thinking we were about to die,” she said, simply.“We did not believe there would be any future for either of us.”Ted understood.He’d almost crawled into a bottle when it seemed the aliens had them trapped in a dead end.Schneider and Rose had found what solace they could in each other’s arms – and if it had stopped there, it would probably have gone completely unnoticed.But instead, they’d kept up the affair and finally run into real trouble.Someone was using their affair as a weapon against Ark Royal and her crew.“There may not be,” he said, bluntly.He silently awarded them both points for coming forward, even at the cost of their careers.“I doubt either of you can look forward to a comfortable life in future.”“Yes, sir,” Schneider said.Oddly, he sounded a little relieved.“We will face whatever judgement you choose to mete out.”“I’m glad to hear it,” Ted said, dryly.“I’m going to call the Captain and Major Parnell.The latter, in particular, has some counter-intelligence experience.You are going to sit down with him and go through everything that happened, right from the start, in the hopes of locating whoever is trying to blackmail you.Once this affair is finished.”He paused, meeting their eyes.“Once this matter is finished, I will make my decision concerning your future,” he warned.“I suggest you don’t try to hold anything back.”“Yes, sir,” they said, together.“I can’t afford to take either of you off active duty and toss you into the brig, no matter how much you deserve it,” Ted added.“However, I will expect you to remember just how much trouble you’re in and refrain from doing anything that might arouse suspicion.You will not meet in private for any reason.Do you understand me?”The two lovers exchanged glances, then nodded reluctantly.Ted was old enough to be Schneider’s father – barely – but he wasn't so old he’d forgotten what it was like to be in love.They had to have developed feelings for one another or they wouldn't have stayed together after their first return to Earth.Being told they could not see one another would hurt.But they could have done a great deal of damage if they’d been caught earlier, he thought, crossly.He had never been one to care about what his crew did on their time off – he knew standards had slipped a great deal while Ark Royal had floated uselessly in the Naval Reserve – but this was different.This could have seriously damaged his ship’s reputation.He considered his options, briefly.It was the Captain who would have the final responsibility for deciding their fate – or it would have been, if the two pilots hadn't been mixed up in blackmail and espionage.Fitzwilliam could have punished them how he saw fit and the Admiralty would not have objected, not when they were reluctant to cast doubt on a Captain’s role as master of his ship.But with intelligence staffers mixed up in the whole affair.Ted knew they might be offered amnesty in exchange for cooperation.Or they might be put in front of a court martial board afterwards anyway, no matter what they did.“Dismissed,” he said, quietly.“I expect you to inform me the moment they get in touch with you.And don’t fuck up.”He watched them leave, then tapped his console and called both Fitzwilliam and Major Parnell to his office.The Marine had a nasty scar running down the side of his face that hadn't been there before, Ted noted, but he didn't ask any questions.Everyone, even the Marines, had been suffering badly from emotional whiplash since the return to Earth.They’d probably resorted to boxing matches to keep their skills up.“We have a problem,” he said, bluntly.He recorded all conversations in his office, thankfully.“You need to listen to this.”Captain Fitzwilliam said nothing until the recording came to an end, then swore.“Someone is trying to blackmail one of my crewmen?”“Yes,” Ted said, shortly.It was a particularly nasty case, he had to admit.Schneider wasn't the only one at risk.His family – and his lover – would also be imperilled if the recordings were released.“And they may have more complex motives than money.”“It is a pity we don’t have the original recording,” Parnell observed.“It would be informative to have some idea of just where they were filmed.”“That raises another set of questions,” Ted agreed.“What are we dealing with here?”Parnell considered it slowly.“I think they’re right and its someone international,” he said.“A spy – probably more than one – is on the ship.”“Wonderful,” Ted said.“We have three foreign ambassadors, thirty-two foreign support staff of various ranks and a handful of others.”“But the spy might be a British crewman,” Parnell said.“Although in that case approaching Schneider and applying blackmail might be unnecessary.”He shook his shaved head.“They will need something they believe Schneider can get for them,” he added.“Otherwise there would be no point in playing the blackmail card too soon.”“Those stupid idiots,” Fitzwilliam said
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