them and they used Detoine's skin in their rituals to try and get him back."
"And the rest of Detoine?"
"They ate him. To absorb his heroic warrior spirit."
I shuddered involuntarily. "That's a close enough pattern to be worth investigating. That's your angle. Keep me posted."
She gave me a thumbs-up and turned to go. I stopped her before she got to the door.
"Why do you think Hunter is covering this up?"
She shrugged. "We don't know that he is. He was still in a security camp down on Wunderland when all that happened, he probably doesn't even know about it. Remember, Hunter-of-Outlaws is a kzin. His personal honour is the core of his identity."
"Meaning?"
"Getting involved in a cover-up is risking his honour, so he probably isn't. But if he is, it'll be something big. Very big."
She went off to start her inquiries and I sat at my desk and pulled up the files on the Kdapt cult. Service number K78131965—Squadron Leader Jean-Marc Detoine. Valour Cross, UN Cross, UN Medal and bar, Flight Medal and two bars and a dozen lesser awards. He had forty kills in atmosphere and eighteen in space. UNF Command put a lot of pressure on when he went missing and the Goldskins turned Tiamat upside down. They found nothing. n
"And the rest of Detoine?"
"They ate him. To absorb his heroic warrior spirit."
I shuddered involuntarily. "That's a close enough pattern to be worth investigating. That's your angle. Keep me posted."
She gave me a thumbs-up and turned to go. I stopped her before she got to the door.
"Why do you think Hunter is covering this up?"
She shrugged. "We don't know that he is. He was still in a security camp down on Wunderland when all that happened, he probably doesn't even know about it. Remember, Hunter-of-Outlaws is a kzin. His personal honour is the core of his identity."
"Meaning?"
"Getting involved in a cover-up is risking his honour, so he probably isn't. But if he is, it'll be something big. Very big."
She went off to start her inquiries and I sat at my desk and pulled up the files on the Kdapt cult. Service number K78131965—Squadron Leader Jean-Marc Detoine. Valour Cross, UN Cross, UN Medal and bar, Flight Medal and two bars and a dozen lesser awards. He had forty kills in atmosphere and eighteen in space. UNF Command put a lot of pressure on when he went missing and the Goldskins turned Tiamat upside down. They found nothing. n