"I've not called to gloat, Will."

"Oh sure you have. My prized student's gone rogue and escaped the station, taking with her the highly sensitive plans for the new defense corvette that she acquired using the training, skills, and identification documents I provided her, which she will very likely sell to the very men against whom that ship was designed to defend. And on top of that, Gabriel and Solenis, of whom I have always been distrustful, are there on the transport, headed home like good little soldiers. Gloat, Mark. Go on."

I didn't call to gloat, you ass. Be quiet and listen. You're in deep shit."

"Oh really? Imagine my surprise."

"The bureaucrats that have been pouring money into this project for the past four years are going to push forward in spite of this. They won't let all those billions go to waste; they'd rather lose men than money. They'll order the engineers to find all the weaknesses and fix them, but if it was that easy it would have already been done. Some flaws won't be found, and some are impossible to mend without compromising the design. And when those ships -- and those men -- get blown up, someone's going to be blamed."

"Don't be a fool. I'll be court-martialed long before any of those ships are built."

"Not if I have anything to do with it. I'm going to tap my contacts, see what I can do. I don't think I can stop the court-martial, but maybe I can at least keep you out of-"

"No."

"What?"

"No. Don't do anything, don't tap anyone."

"Goddamnit Hale, they will crucify you for this. You'll lose everything, your commission, your decorations, your service record; a lifetime down the drain. Don't be a martyr, Will. It doesn't suit you. Spending the rest of your days in an IF prison in orbit around Jupiter doesn't help anyone or solve everything."

"Marcus, I have given my life to the IF, to serving it, defending it with my life, with the lives of those under my command. Through it all I have trusted in its justice. I have trusted the IF to always do what is right. How can I throw away that trust now, when the IF's sword is at my throat? I will trust in the justice of the IF as I always have, to do what is right."

"This isn't about justice. It's about blame. They can't find Kinoshita, so they'll come after you. But your hands are clean, Will. You're innocent, of the crimes they're accusing you of, at very least. The blood is on her hands. Save yourself."

"Not from the IF. I'm not like you, Mark. My loyalty is unconditional."

". . ."

"Do you have the package I gave you?"

". . . yes."

"Give it to them, please."

"What should I say?"

"Nothing. Just give it to them. Or if you must tell them something, I had nothing to do with it."

"I'll be sure to mention that."

"See that you do. This doesn't mean that I don't think they will always serve only themselves. I do, and they will. But I've been watching them for two years now, and whether they are on our side or not, they don't deserve what I've put them through. I'd just like to give back what I can."

"Your secret is safe with me."

"You see the best in people, Mark. Even when it isn't really there. If you haven't lost that by the time they let me out, then you could set me up with a loan and a room to help be get back on my feet."

"I'm pulling strings whether you want me to or not. You aren't going to prison."

"I'll be pleading guilty, and testifying, Mark. Good luck."

"And I can't change your mind?"

"It was you that made it for me, many many years ago. Back when you were a bit more idealistic yourself, if I recall."

"I'm too old for idealism. Realism was just too insistent. I'd have thought you were too."

"Not everyone grows out of it. But perhaps I will have, then, the next time we meet."

"Perhaps."

"See you in ten to twenty-five, Mark."

"We'll see."