He sat down his tea."My stars.Is there any evidence of this?"
She shook her head."I cannot find any.I have even consulted the--I have checked with my confidential sources and have found no evidence that the Rhimodians could do that, or ever would."She almost revealed her direct contact with Bahran.
She needed to be more careful.
Bringing this peace treaty together was more complicated than she ever thought.Though, at this point, she had no way to stop.It must come together, no matter what.
Jeke either didn't notice or didn't care about her sources.He rubbed his brow.He had a scar on his brow that ran very close to his eye.It gave him a stern look, but whenever Caoimhe looked past that, she could see the compassion and warmth in his eyes.
That was the main reason she had wanted to speak to him.
"This is startling."
Caoimhe shrugged."It could be a lie.Father could have said it just to scare me.He has been known to do that before."
"Regardless, it is worth exploring.It would certainly make a great deal of the decisions that have come down through the hierarchy make more sense."
She didn't want to guess what he referred to, and perhaps it was better that she didn't know.
"Well, if it helps.It is not why I wanted to speak to you, though."She set her teacup down and laid her hands in her lap.A display appeared on the table, asking if she was finished with the cup.She tapped her affirmative response and watched as the cup dissolved right before her eyes, back into the processor.
"It isn't?Well, then, your majesty, what did you want to speak to me about?"
"The Rhimodian prisoners of war my father has."
Jeke blinked, his face stone-hard."The what?"
"The Rhimodian prisoners of war."She handed him a data card."What I have learned is here.I have the location.Rather the location route.I need them found, whatever procedures being performed on them stopped, and prepared to be returned to their people."
"We do not take prisoners of war."
"The Terran Empire does not take humanoid prisoners of war.Evidently, the Emperor does not believe the Rhimodians are proper humanoids.He believes they are made, so therefore they are not real.Whatever that means, exactly."
"I am--I do not know what to say."
"Admiral, I need you to find these prisoners.I don't know how many there are, but I want to know everything.We must get them ready as soon as possible to return to their people.I will not have the Terran Empire holding them any longer than necessary.Regardless of how the negotiations end, I will have these men returned to their people."
"Of course.I will do whatever I can."He glanced at the data card, then back at her."If I may ask, how did you learn of this?"
She forced a smile on her face."Unfortunately, Admiral, that is my little secret."
"I understand."He looked away, then brought his gaze back to her."Was there anything else?"
"Yes.One other thing.I do need to know about the state of the war, Admiral.Casualties on both sides, please."She trembled because she didn't really want to know what that number was, but she had to find out.
She had to know if it was close to the genocide percentage.
"I will ask, why do you need to know this?Surely there are other things you can concern yourself with, especially with your peace talks."
"That is exactly why, Admiral.I need to know how close we are to ending the war.My father's way."
"And what way is that?"
"Genocide, Admiral.He wants the numbers down under the genocide percentage, so he can wipe them out.I need to know how close we are, so I know how much time I have left."
The Admiral nodded, and this time, his face did pale slightly."I will get you those analyses as soon as possible."
"Also, I want to know about the refugees on the worlds that have been hit the hardest by the fighting.What are we doing for them?"
