City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett Page A

of the spire, which looks toward the ocean and the cliffs. But before the cliffs is the bland little structure she saw on the way up here, lined with miles of razor wire. “What in all the hells is that?”
    “A halted attempt at expansion, General,” says Nadar smoothly.
    “Expansion?”
    “Yes, General.”
    Mulaghesh looks at her. “No, it isn’t.”
    Nadar’s confident expression wilts. Biswal glances back and forth between the two of them, his face inscrutable.
    “I’ve seen expansions before, Captain,” says Mulaghesh. “Lots of them. And that’s not one. More to the point, I spent a lot of time reviewing requests and proposals to try to expand Fort Thinadeshi. None of them broke ground. Which that out there obviously has.”
    Nadar looks to Biswal, who looks back at her as if to say,
I told you so.
Nadar frowns, nettled, and says, “With all due respect, General—and I think this is something you expected—this is an intelligence compartment that I don’t believe you’re read into.”
    “Maybe, Captain.” Then, casually, “Is this that thing about the metal?”
    Nadar looks like she’s been slapped. “The…The metal?”
    “Yeah. The metal you found around here.”
    “How…You…” Nadar struggles to control her reactions. “How was it that you came to be, ah, informed about this, General?”
    “I’d seen reports on something about it back when I was on the council.” This is a lie, but since very few ever know what powerful people see and do, it’s an easy one to believe. “I suppose that was before it got formally compartmentalized, though. I thought it was just some curiosity. But if it’s big enough for compartmentalization, and for you all to build that out there for it…it must be pretty damn curious indeed.”
    There’s a long silence.
    Biswal leans back in his chair and chuckles. “The years have been kind to your mind, Turyin. You’re a sight cleverer than I remember.”
    “I’ll take that as a compliment, sir,” says Mulaghesh.
    “General Biswal,” says Nadar, now quite flushed, “I…I do not consider the intelligence orders we have regarding our affairs here to be anything to laugh at. If there has been a breach of this compartment we need t—”
    “I recall once hearing a young captain very tactfully tell me,” says Biswal, “that one can both respect and obey Ghaladesh while remembering that it is over a thousand miles away.”
    Nadar’s flush deepens. “This is still an alarming revelation. Even if it
is
General Mulaghesh who’s aware of the situation here. My concern is that, if she knows, someone else could. That poses a serious security breach.”
    “You’re right to be worried,” says Biswal. “But this breach didn’t happen on
our
end—something I’ll happily tell Ghaladesh. Perhaps we ought to be grateful to General Mulaghesh for making us aware of the breach in the first place.”
    “I’m just here on the touring shuffle,” Mulaghesh says. “I don’t wish to be an intrusion.”
    “You aren’t,” says Biswal. “This
project
is an intrusion. It’s wise to seek your discretion, though—and the best way to be discreet is to know exactly what it is we need to be discreet about. Captain Nadar, will you please read General Mulaghesh into this compartment and give her the full briefing on Operation Arc Lightning?”
    Nadar makes a face as if she’s just been asked to swallow a spoonful of some very foul medicine.
    “I don’t wish to waste any more time discussing this absurd diversion,” says Biswal quietly, holding up his hands. “Please, Nadar. Show her the most recent eccentricity our nation has chosen to spend money on, rather than more walls, more soldiers, and more support.”
    “With all due respect, General,” says Nadar, “this flies in the face of proce—”
    She stops talking as a round of small
pops
echoes across the battlements. Mulaghesh looks up, alarmed. “Is that gunfire?”
    Neither Biswal nor Nadar seem