Chapter 16

Anderson was hardly in a better mood than the last time Mark had seen him. But he was relieved, deeply relieved, that Jason was back, and that he was mostly unharmed. He waited anxiously to see the evidence Mark had found. He had been briefly informed by Mark while the team was still on the Phoenix, but wanted to see for himself the two sets of evidence Mark had discovered.

He looked up as Mark entered, saluted, and set two fat folders on Anderson's desk.

"Chief, this is a print-out of what we found on Spectra. Two very divergent sets of data, one meant to make us believe that Jason is a traitor, the other proving beyond any doubt that the attack was not planned in advance, and that Jason had nothing to do with it, except hold back the attackers while we made our escape".

Anderson raised an eyebrow.

"And how can you be sure that the second set is the genuine one?"

Mark had to stop himself throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. Still, he couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice when he spoke.

"I knew you'd say this! Well, run all the tests you can, I am sure you will find I'm right".

He almost added that the other members of the team had tried to stop him presenting both sets of evidence, fearing exactly this reaction by Anderson.

"Get a grip on yourself, Commander", said Anderson calmly. "This is not a game. I'm just as upset as you are."

"Fine way you have of showing it!" Mark blurted out, then recovered quickly. "I mean, sir!"

"Tell me about the conditions of the rescue. What happened exactly?"

Mark tried to calm down and relate the story as objectively as possible. He told Anderson about the first building they entered, the token resistance put up by the guards, their eagerness to speak, G-Force's infiltration of the second building, how he found himself facing Jason outside the interrogation room, how the two of them forced the goons in the Control Room to own up to the deceit Zoltar had created in order to discredit G-Force, how the goons had actually boasted to Jason about how they had framed him. And how despite all this, Jason had held out during the interrogation and had played an active part in the recovery of the evidence.

When he finished speaking, Anderson examined the two sets of documents. He looked up at Mark, still standing to attention in front of the Chief's desk.

"Take a seat, Commander. This may take some time".

Anderson ran tests on the electronic data and read the print-outs. The time codes he found corresponded to what Mark had told him. The first set, the one purporting to present evidence of treachery in the higher echelons of the ISO, was actually manufactured after the attack at Traitor's Pass. The second set, the one Mark believed to be representing what had actually happened, was made after Jason had been captured, thus showing that the plot was actually hatched after Spectra had Jason in their hands.

He took of his glasses, rubbed the lenses clean, put them back on again.

"I tend to agree with you Commander".

Mark let out a sigh of relief, even before Anderson had finished speaking. He sat up a bit straighter in his chair.

"We will have to run more diagnostics, but it seems that your story checks out. It also seems to check out for a different reason."

He suddenly looked weary, as if he had a difficult duty to perform and would prefer not to.

"The other reason your story checks out is that after you left, I also sent Cronus to Spectra. I asked him to try to make contact with his...assets there, to see if there was any story going round about the attack at Traitor's Pass. He did manage to contact one of Riga's agents on Spectra, and the agent got the same information from his own contacts in the Spectran leadership. Jason was indeed set up, and now I can argue in front of the Federation Council for his innocence based not only on your evidence, but also on that collected by Cronus".

He looked straight at Mark, bracing himself for the young man's reaction.

Mark was reeling. Anderson had actually mounted a parallel operation on the same objective without telling him! Of course, it was the Chief's prerogative. Of course, the Chief could use his "assets" as he pleased. But it was, for Mark, a fundamental betrayal of trust. The Chief did not entrust him with the details of Cronus's mission. He was not told that another team was after the same evidence. He was not told that his own work, and that of his team's, would not be enough. He swallowed, suddenly understanding how Jason must have felt when he had first been accused of treason.

"Why?" he asked the Chief, trying to hide how hurt, irrationally perhaps, he felt.

"Why didn't I tell you? I have to make choices, Mark. I chose to tell you only, of all the members of G-Force, of my suspicions concerning Jason, because I didn't want these suspicions to go any further if it was not necessary. And I also chose not to tell you about Cronus's mission as I wanted you to focus entirely on your own mission, without worrying about another team operating there. And yes, Mark, I do worry about what will be revealed in case you, any of you, are captured. This is not meant to belittle you or your team, or your courage. But I have to consider all the possibilities. The same way I didn't think Jason was a traitor, but I had to consider the possibility. I am sorry if you feel you have been wronged. But as I told you, this is not a game. I have no time for petty egos so if you're going to show yourself as having a petty ego, please leave now, go spend some time on the airfield, if you wish, and then come back".

Anderson knew that his speech was, perhaps, more stern than the situation warranted. Despite his rank, Mark was still young and his pride was easily wounded. He had been brutally honest in explaining to Mark why Cronus's mission had been kept secret. Having G-Force worrying about another team operating on Spectra could have hampered their rescue mission. The evidence Cronus collected was from sources different to the ones G-Force had had access to. In case G-Force had been captured, Cronus's mission would have been one less bit of information to reveal to Spectra – if it came to that. Finding out whether there was a mole in the ISO had been Anderson's priority, and he had succeeded in his mission.

Mark clamped down on a torrent of expletives that were threatening to escape his mouth, and tried to banish the burning feeling of hurt he felt. He remembered how angry Princess had been, when she had been first told about Mark's secret instructions on Spectra, and understood her better too. But he was determined not to let his...disappointment, yes, that's what it was, show.

"Chief, no problem. I'm glad both G-Force and the Rigan team accomplished their missions".

Anderson looked relieved, but only for a moment.

"Good, Commander. Because there's something else you need to know. This evidence is enough to clear Jason of any suspicion of treason. However, there is still the matter of his disobeying a direct order during combat. Jason will be court-martialled, and there's nothing I can do about it."

To be continued.

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