Page 125 of The Space Between Stars

Weeks together, and Niklaus had placed full trust in a man he knew nothing about. He would no longer yield blindly to the son of a traitor who’d seen his father, and thousands of others, back into Creation’s fire. Everything Calver had led him to believe might have been a manipulation—an act of treachery against the Red Wing. Niklaus had been so desperate for information on Thyatira, he would have believed just about anything.

Niklaus signaled.

Calver’s expression pulled inward.

And yet he was going to discuss it with Thyatira’s second-in-command?

Mastico only then seemed to notice Niklaus was there. He turned to face him, eyes hard, mouth flat, as if Niklaus had suggested he swallow his dowaga whole. The destruction Niklaus had taken the blame for that morning was likely to still be fresh in the Major General’s mind.

Niklaus argued.

Niklaus would wager that single signal was as close as Calver would ever come to begging.

“Well?” Mastico asked.

Traitor or not, he and Calver had not yet settled their score. “He’s requested that I translate. Can’t blame him. I have a way with words.” Scowls flew at Niklaus from every angle. He flashed his teeth. “Hush, now. The pleasure is all mine.”

Mastico’s tent was spacious enough to sleep twenty men. Rugs boasting bright geometric shapes had been laid over the sands inside. An attendant instructed them to remove their boots upon entry and directed them to a low table. They sat with legs crossed, and Mastico called for a tea-laden tray to be brought.

Calver palmed his cup, but never brought it to his lips. His suspicions mirrored Niklaus’s own; this could be a very carefully laid trap. But if it was a facade, Mastico sure as Chaos made it convincing.

“I take it you don’t remember me?” he began.

Calver gave his standard unrushed, calculated stare before lowering his chin.

“The last time I saw you, you might have been five? And Kian not much older.” Kian’s glare could have boiled the water in his cup. “Thadinar and I… we studied together under Torbast Calisto. For a long while there was hardly a thing we didn’t do together.

“Until your mother came into the picture, that is. Her father was a merchant. They traveled to Kaidech to fulfil a trade contract with Azadonia, before the quarantine. She’s the one who introduced me to my wife, before we were relocated to Seraphinden. Your mother was lovely, in every meaning of the word.”

Calver watched the Major General with his blank-canvas face. Mastico, who didn’t seem to know how to communicate with him, just kept speaking, his testimony filling the table like a meal. Niklaus did not feel satisfied.

“And you must know, I tried to clear his name when—when things went wrong.”

Calver finally signaled.

Niklaus cleared his throat and translated, the words surprisingly level considering his hangover and the still simmering anger.

“I was. Back then, I was his second.”

Calver wasn’t the only one.

Mastico set his elbows on the table and sighed heavily. “We were on a training run. Routine surveillance around the Thaligan cliffs. Thadinar received a message from a Blue Wing courier and burned it after reading. He told me it was nothing. Lying was not one of his talents—it bothered him. Deeply.” Mastico rubbed his thumb against his forefinger and leveled his eyes on Calver. “That evening he had our numbers turn inland. Then he disappeared. Deserting is a criminal offense for basic infantry. For a general? He was the first. When we learned the Chori fleet had moved into Casowhatan’s harbor in our absence, it seemed like a bad dream. We didn’t want to believe it. It’s been twenty years, and I’m still not sure I believe it.”

Mastico’s nose twitched. His fingers drummed against the table. “There are some people that claim space in your life. People that you would place more faith in than you might yourself. Your father was a lot of things. A deserter was not one of them. And yet the evidence was outstanding.”

Calver’s usually glassy eyes turned to shards, and Niklaus realized for the first time that his and Calver’s feelings toward Thadinar Curtaim might be the same. His anger chipped. Calver had been a child when it happened. It’s not like he was in any way involved. Calver had rescued him. Calver had listened to him. But… how far did a man’s nature stray from his maker’s?

“His body was uncovered in Chori territory, weeks later.” For a moment, Mastico said nothing. “I was told, behind closed doors, that the Prime had placed your father in a classified squadron, and that there was more harm to be done in trying to clear his name than help.”

Niklaus echoed the signal without the venom.