“You do not suspend negotiations because saboteurs attempt escalation,” I say. “You continue them and isolate the saboteurs.”
“Our Council?—”
“Your Council will appear complicit if talks collapse immediately after Alliance-linked operatives attack trade routes,” I interrupt calmly.
Silence spreads across both sides of the channel.
I nod to the officer again.
“Transmit prisoner statement,” I say.
The feed plays: the man kneeling, blood at his lip, voice low as he says,You exposed him. You didn’t dismantle what he built.
Voss watches it through to the end.
“You are suggesting organized continuity,” he says.
“I am suggesting your enemy survived the truth,” I reply.
The room behind him grows still.
“Alliance will conduct internal sweep,” he says finally.
“And talks continue,” I add.
He hesitates, then nods once.
“Yes,” he says.
The channel cuts.
Rethan looks at me.
“You pressed him hard,” he says.
“I pressed him where optics matter,” I reply.
The tactical officer clears his throat again.
“There’s more,” he says quietly.
“Show me.”
The projection shifts to a dense cluster of encrypted traffic buried deep inside Alliance infrastructure—so deeply embedded it resembles routine maintenance chatter.
“Detected during corridor disruption sweep,” he explains. “Encryption pattern matches Valen-era command architecture.”
I step closer, studying the lattice of code.
It isn’t loud.
It isn’t active in the obvious sense.
It’s waiting.
“They seeded a fallback,” I murmur.
Rethan’s jaw tightens. “Contingency instructions?”
