Remnants of Trust
In this follow-up to the acclaimed military science fiction thriller The Cold Between, a young soldier finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a deadly conspiracy in deep space.In this follow-up to the acclaimed military science fiction thriller The Cold Between, a young soldier finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a deadly conspiracy in deep space.Six weeks ago, Commander Elena Shaw and Captain Greg Foster were court-martialed for their role in an event Central Gov denies ever happened. Yet instead of a dishonorable discharge or time in a military prison, Shaw and Foster and are now back together on Galileo. As punishment, they’ve been assigned to patrol the nearly empty space of the Third Sector.But their mundane mission quickly turns treacherous when the Galileo picks up a distress call: Exeter, a sister ship, is under attack from raiders. A PSI generation ship—the same one that recently broke off negotiations with Foster—is also in the sector and joins in the desperate battle that leaves ninety-seven of Exeter’s crew dead.An investigation of the disaster points to sabotage. And Exeter is only the beginning. When the PSI ship and Galileo suffer their own "accidents," it becomes clear that someone is willing to set off a war in the Third Sector to keep their secrets, and the clues point to the highest echelons of power . . . and deep into Shaw’s past.
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REMNANTS OF TRUST
A CENTRAL CORPS NOVEL
Elizabeth Bonesteel
HarperVoyager an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by Voyager 2016
Copyright © Elizabeth Bonesteel 2016
Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Author photo © Virginia Bonesteel
Elizabeth Bonesteel asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008137830
Ebook Edition © November 2016 ISBN: 9780008137847
Version: 2016-10-21
For Alex
Contents
T minus 8 yearsâCanberra
At least, thought Elena, Iâll die in a Corps uniform.
She faced down the gun, looking not into the barrel but into the eyes of the man holding it. Keita had brown eyes, but in the frigid, rainy afternoon of this dying planet they looked jet-black and devoid of light. He had alwaysâfor as long as she had known himâlooked angry, but she thought she saw something else as he stared at her through the gunâs sight. Not fear, not that. Keita had never been afraid.
He looked lost.
The others were clustered behind him in the meager shelter of a crumbled cement wall. Savin was stoic as always, weight on one foot, but she saw his left hand resting on the grip of his pulse rifle. Jimmy had placed himself between Keita and Nireeâs prone figure, the medic shielding his patient. Elena knew his expression without looking. The loud argument, in a shattered alley next to a public square, was risking their exposure. Jimmy would be annoyed with her.
âGet the fuck out of the way, Shaw!â Keita yelled.
She did not move. âStand down, Ensign,â she said evenly.
âShe killed the lieutenant! She set him up! You were there! You saw just like I did!â
Behind her, the girl she was protecting made a small sound, and Elena wanted to tell her to shut up. âShe was a prisoner, Keita,â she said. The child had been in chains, used as bait. Keita had seen it, even if they had been too late to keep the lieutenant from being gunned down. âLieutenant Treharne was trying to save her, and now you want to kill her?â
The gunâs barrel never wavered. âI will blow a hole through you, too, Shaw.â
At that, Jimmy couldnât keep silent. âKeitaââ
âShut up, Jimmy.â
She and Keita said it in unison, and she almost laughed. But it was time to bring the confrontation to an end. âYouâll have to blow a hole through me, then, because Iâm not fucking moving,â she said. âMake up your goddamned mind. We donât have time for this shit.â
Seconds passed. Elena could hear the girl whimpering behind her, and fought off irritation. What good were tears? Tears wouldnât make him put the gun down. Elena needed him to stop reacting and start thinking. She knew he could do it. She had seen him do it. She had served with him for six months aboard the CCSS Exeter, and despite his pretension of brainless thuggery, he was far more thoughtful than his usual manner betrayed.
âWhat about you, Savin?â Keita addressed the other infantry officer. âYou with me, or are you going to listen to some fucking songbird?â
The nickname sounded ridiculous in context. But Savin, in his typically taciturn fashion, responded immediately:
âSongbird.â
Keitaâs gaze faltered, and for a moment she caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes. Then he lowered his rifle, swore loudly, and stalked off.
The girl behind Elena began to sob openly. Elena ignored her, catching Savinâs eye. âGive him thirty seconds,â she instructed, âthen get him back here.â Savin nodded and trotted after his friend. She turned to Jimmy, who had witnessed the entire exchange with growing incredulity. âCan you move her?â she asked.
