“Sir, I’d like to report…” Finn started.
Dallas held up his hand, his voice going cold. “Let me finish, Captain.” He turned his steely gaze to Renna. “We know the truth. We know you’ve been working with the traitor all along.”
“What?” Renna demanded. “That’s impossible. Dr. Samil is the traitor! She’s been working inside MYTH to bring it down for years. She drugged me and tried to kill me. Why the hell would I work with her?”
“I’m sure that’s what you want us to believe. But I have proof that you’ve been working with Dr. Samil for months.”
Renna’s gaze darted around the room. Jayla’s eyebrows touched her hairline, and Blake’s brown eyes were wide and shocked. Even Finn’s jaw had dropped.
“That’s not true, sir. I only met Samil a few days ago.”
Dallas frowned into the holo. “You’ve lied to us from the beginning, Renna. You knew about the traitor inside MYTH. You knew she’d been plotting against us for years.”
Renna jumped to her feet. This couldn’t be happening. “No! I swear, sir. We only learned about the existence of the traitor Pallas at Navang’s facility.”
“That’s enough of your lies, girl,” Dallas roared. “I have the proof.” He hit a button and his image was replaced with the same grainy video Renna had seen at Wall’s.
“But, sir, Renna said she had permission to search those files,” Finn said, interrupting the playback. “She was looking for a way to stop Pallas.” He squeezed her hand under the table.
Dread curled like a snake in Renna’s stomach as she waited to see what Samil had done this time.
“She did not have permission to do this,” Dallas said. The screen cut out again, this time to an image of the black market on Lenue. Renna recognized it from when she’d first met Wall.
Oh, gods. No. She’d intended to sell the communicator chips she’d stolen from Dr. Aldani’s facility but had stumbled across Viktis first. She’d decided to hold on to them, to help MYTH. She’d chosen the right path. But now, here on the screen, she watched as her holo-self stopped at one of the booths and passed something over to a vendor.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Viktis said. “She could have been buying a sandwich.”
“Wait,” Dallas growled.
Across the room, Jayla had leaned forward to watch the video. Blake’s hands were clenched together on the table, his knuckles turning white. She didn’t want to even glance at Finn for fear of what she’d see in his gaze.
Renna watched as the scene continued with her walking away, then cut to the man she’d supposedly sold something to. He went inside his shop and plugged a chip into his computer. The image on his computer filled the screen.
She curled her shoulders forward, hunching against the weight of the evidence against her. That was the data she’d gathered on the MYTH leaders and headquarters she’d gotten only a few days ago, plus detailed schematics on defense systems, technology, and troop movements that she’d never seen before. All there for viewing by the highest bidder. She knew how it worked. He was pulling together a sell list. She even recognized a few of the names as buyers she’d sold to in the past.
Somehow Samil had spliced together different footage to frame Renna perfectly.
“We were able to intercept the man’s comm and retrieve the data, but this breach of security is grounds for treason,” Dallas growled.
“Major, I can assure you that wasn’t me. I copied data from your database to use to hunt down Pallas. That’s as far as it went,” Renna protested. “You have to believe me. I want to stop her, not take down MYTH.”
“I believed you when you said you were working for us. I believed you when you said you were looking for Captain Finn. I believe now that you’ve lied to us from the very beginning.”
“Sir, if I may—” Jayla started.
“You may not.” Dallas’s voice was like a whip, cutting through her words. “I am not discussing this any further over a holocom. Commander Jayla, you will bring in Captain Finn and the Athena immediately to MYTH HQ. And you will bring the traitor, Renna Carrizal, in wearing cuffs.”
“What about Dr. Samil?” Renna demanded. “She’s still out there. She’s still trying to destroy you. And Major Larson is with her. He’s been feeding her information for years. He was on the admiral’s board, for f**k sake! Why aren’t you going after him?”
“We have upgraded our systems and removed all of Dr. Samil’s access. Major Larson has been dishonorably discharged and all of his access removed as well. Admiral Usamov is confident the threat is contained. Right now, you’re our biggest problem. A problem I can’t wait to deal with,” he said ominously.
She could feel the fury coming off of him in waves, even through the holo. Too bad there was no way in hell she was going back there to face him in person.
Finn stood up to face the holo. “Sir, please…”
“I’ve had enough out of you, Captain. Get your ass back to base before I try you for treason, too.” Dallas glared at them all and then snapped off his communicator.
Renna stared straight ahead. She couldn’t stand seeing the distrust and hatred on everyone’s face. Samil had succeeded in turning everyone against her.
“Renna, how could you?” Jayla asked accusingly. “We trusted you.”
Her gaze flew to the other woman’s. “You don’t believe that do you? You know how devious Samil is. She’d do anything to protect herself, and I’m a convenient scapegoat.”
Jayla shook her head. “It was on the screen, Renna. You saw it yourself. Why do you keep denying it?”
“Maybe there’s another answer,” Blake suggested. His brown eyes were troubled. “You wouldn’t betray us, right, Renna?”
“Of course not,” she snapped. “This is all Dr. Samil’s doing. You should know me better than that.”
“But you copied that information yourself. How else did it get there, along with the chips you stole from Aldani?” Finn asked, not meeting her gaze. A muscle jumped in his jaw.
Renna jumped to her feet and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re kidding, right? You’re all walking right into Samil’s trap. This is what she wants—me locked up, Finn and the Athena grounded. And when there’s no one else to fight her, she’ll strike. She’ll destroy everything. You can’t let her win.”