Caines mutiny, p.77
Caine's Mutiny, page 77
part #4 of Caine Riordan Series
Downing smiled back. “It is helpful that you have agreed to this list of infractions without debate, Ambassador. That will shorten the process of resolving the grievances.”
“Mister—Downing, I believe? I did not claim responsibility for these acts. I simply recited the list I believe you would have recited to me, probably with far more details than were needed.”
Sukhinin frowned. “You said yourself that Ktor were involved in all these acts.”
“They were. But not upon my orders.”
“Ridiculous. They—”
“There is nothing ridiculous about that assertion, either as a fact or an extenuating circumstance that absolves the Ktoran Sphere from direct culpability. However, there is the further matter of violations by other members of the Accord, including your own, which certainly problematize your presumption of unilateral guilt. Those violations include two separate species attacking your own homeworld, your subsequent counterattack into Arat Kur space, culminating in an attack upon this system, at which point you threatened to unleash a viral plague that would depopulate their homeworld, and perhaps their entire polity. And recently, your forces trespassed in Arat Kur space and attacked Hkh’Rkh forces on Turkh’saar in the course of extracting a band of human renegades who had been raiding and pillaging that planet. And let us not forget the unsettled matter of your colonizing 70 Ophiuchi, a system that you were not permitted to claim, according to the permitted pathways of settlement established by the Accord.”
“Of which the Terrans had no knowledge,” Alnduul amended. “Also, in this matter, and the others you cite, they are still not members of the Accord and so, are not bound by it.”
“True, but they are a protected species. And whose job, ultimately, is it to ensure that they were properly informed regarding 70 Ophiuchi? Who was to be the guarantor of their behavior toward other powers while a protected species?”
“The Custodians, as you imply. But your implication ignores other, crucial facts. If we had been given a clear mandate for first contact when we asked for it, we could have informed the Terrans in a timely fashion. But the Accord refused to give us that mandate.”
“That is hardly our affair.”
“Yet it is your doing. Timely first contact was prevented due to objections mounted by the Ktoran Sphere and the Arat Kur Wholenest. In any event, the failure was not the Custodians’: we were prevented from making contact when we advised. And the other violations of which you accuse the Terrans were direct responses to being attacked by another protected species—the Hkh’Rkh—and two member states: yours and the Arat Kur’s.”
“We did not attack the Terrans.”
Riordan felt his face grow hot. “You attacked this Terran. Fired a rod into my back and damn near killed me. You, personally, Ambassador. And then you followed up by doing the same thing to my—to Elena Corcoran. All perpetrated after you had surrendered along with the Arat Kur headquarters staff. And let’s not forget the CoDevCo executives you suborned, who unleashed their battalions of clones against the population of Indonesia.”
Shethkador smiled. “All of which has been explained. Advising other species or your world’s corporations is not a declaration of war, Captain—oh, it is Commodore now, isn’t it? And my attacks upon you and Ms. Corcoran were, as I have already explained, in response to what I perceived to be imminent threats upon my life. I was surrounded by your soldiers, after all.”
The more Shethkador lied, the easier Riordan found it to remain calm. “Those lies change nothing, Ambassador. Your dubious diplomatic privilege notwithstanding, you interfered in the affairs of a protected species by advising, aiding, and abetting military operations against it. So far as the Accords are concerned, it doesn’t matter whether you were holding a weapon yourself or not.”
Shethkador’s smile dimmed slightly. “Which actually brings us back to the silent enablers—or should that be architects?—of all this misery: the Accords themselves. A set of agreements which have now been violated so many times in such quick succession that their unsuitability is more nakedly evident than ever before.
“And whose fault is it that the Accord is so flawed? Its crafters, the Dornaani.” He leaned back further, smile restored to its full ironic width. “Unless I’ve missed somebody, we now have accusations of violations and duplicity leveled against every known intelligent species. What wonderful Accords: the one thing they have achieved is to establish that everybody is guilty of something.”
Downing nodded. “Very well. So let us resolve these violations. Let us have each one delineated and brought before the courts of the species whose laws were violated.”
Shethkador had clearly not expected that response, deflected it with a dismissive wave. “An ingenuously quixotic suggestion. If we started down such a path, we would spend decades trying cases for which we do not even have a common basis in law.”
“I’m not talking about a common basis in law: I’m saying let each species decide upon who, finally, is responsible for the violations they purport to have suffered.”
Shethkador’s sudden impatience seemed to be motivated, in part, by a desire to get off the topic. “You are prattling about something that cannot be done. The Accord, as flawed as it is, recognizes the futility of such actions. That is why there is no provision for it. Rather, the Ninth Accord indicates that all such disagreements must be submitted to the Custodians for arbitration—which would no doubt be resolved in your favor.” His sidelong glance at Alnduul lasted no longer than his pause. “However, you remain a protected species. You are thus protected against aggression and trespass, but only so long as you constrain your own actions to those permitted by the Accords.” Shethkador smiled. “But you have not constrained your actions accordingly. So legally, the Custodians may not protect you any longer.”
“Preposterous,” replied Downing. “Our settlement of 70 Ophiuchi was to be a mediated matter. But before it could be, two members of the Accord attacked us and brought another protected species, the Hkh’Rkh, along for company.”
“So, according to your own admission, your violation at 70 Ophiuchi was what triggered the subsequent violations against you. You cannot claim protection when you yourselves began the sequence of violations.”
Caine couldn’t help laughing. “There’s a specious argument if I ever heard one. We unwittingly violated the pathway of permitted expansion before we knew you or any other exosapients existed. We were party to no contract at that time. Only once we attended Convocation were we informed that we were a protected species and what that entailed. And a few weeks later we were attacked. But we had to see to our own defense while we waited for the legitimate protection forces to arrive.” Riordan looked at Alnduul. “Sadly, those forces never did arrive, at least not in the form we were promised. And they haven’t shown up to handle the aftermath, either.”
Downing nodded. “With the exception of our friend Alnduul, we can’t even get the Custodians to respond to our inquiries right now. So does that mean we’re supposed to put up our weapons and return home?”
Shethkador was no longer in a pose of sybaritic ease. “There is nothing that legally validates your continued presence here or in any systems other than your own.”
Riordan had had enough. “We waited for the rules to work for us once, and it almost cost us our world. Don’t count on us being that optimistic, or gullible, again. So when it comes to Turkh’saar, we had a pretty stark choice: either wait for the Custodians, who still haven’t shown up to confer with us about the first violation of our protected species status, or deal with the situation ourselves. Thankfully, the Slaasriithi helped us, in the interest of trying to avoid another war.”
“Even so, a violation is a violation. And you violated the territory of two other species when you interfered at Turkh’saar.”
“By that logic, spitting on the sidewalk is as great a crime as mass murder.”
“Law is neither coherent nor reliable if it excuses some crimes while punishing others. I repeat: a violation is a violation.”
“Happily,” interjected Downing, who placed a restraining hand on Riordan’s arm, “the Accord’s arbitrations assess each deed in the context of the extenuating circumstances, and then assign fitting penalties if it is, in fact, held to be a violation. If the Accord were not capable of making such basic juridical distinctions, then we would have no interest in becoming part of it.”
Shethkador’s smile returned. “So, we return to my first assertions: that the decisions—and therefore, the problems—of the Accord ultimately rest with the Custodians. Who are now in the uncomfortable position of having to punish all, none, or only some of the violators. And if they choose the latter, it will be incumbent upon them to explain how that is anything other than favoritism.”
Alnduul stirred slightly. “I cannot speak for all the Custodians, but in every case that has come to us for arbitration, the severity and multiplicity of the infractions guides our decisions. And never have the proportions of blame been so uneven as in this case.”
“And there’s another factor to be considered, Shethkador,” Riordan added. “Your violations weren’t simply mistakes, or even opportunistic. They were premeditated, with malice and aforethought.”
Shethkador smiled. “I should like to see you prove it.”
Riordan’s answering smile was wider. “Okay: I will.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
PLANET TWO (“HOMENEST”), SIGMA DRACONIS
Tlerek Srin Shethkador’s smile faltered. “If you are speaking of the actions I listed earlier, I once again disavow them. They were the crimes of a rogue group, members of a House that the Ktoran Sphere identified as dangerous both to itself and the interests of interspeciate amity. That is why we Extirpated them.”
Downing frowned. “I’m sorry: you did what to them?”
“They were Extirpated.” When Downing still stared at him, uncertain, Shethkador continued, agitated. “They were removed, excised, exterminated. What word will make it most clear? We are not weak or irresolute in correcting a wrong once it is detected, and our methods are final.”
Riordan stared at him. “Not final enough, it seems. But it’s not their deeds that damn you: it’s your own. Specifically, you repeatedly claim that you weren’t behind the war that the Arat Kur and Hkh’Rkh waged upon us, that you were simply a friendly party called in to give advice.”
“That is true.”
“No, that is a lie. And we found the proof in the Turkh’saar system, where all three of the powers that attacked us probably hoped it would remain hidden. Because what we found there indicates that the attack on Earth wasn’t caused by the events of the last Convocation. Rather, it appears the disastrous outcome of that meeting was actually carefully orchestrated by you and the other species to provide a pretext for war.”
Riordan glanced at Alnduul to see if there were any signs of surprise. The Dornaani not only appeared unruffled but serene. Of course, maybe this is exactly the revelation you’ve been hoping for but couldn’t unveil yourself, lest it look like, well, favoritism.
Riordan shifted his attention back to Shethkador. “We surveyed the debris in the BD+56 2966 system, particularly around the gas giant in the seventh orbit and Turkh’saar itself. The Slaasriithi did not merely destroy normal interstellar infrastructure: they stumbled upon and eliminated the logistical apparatus for the invasion fleet that struck us at Barnard’s Star about a month after Convocation ended. Which means that the facilities were already there long before Convocation was convened. Which in turn means that the Arat Kur and the Hkh’Rkh were using the system as a joint staging area. From which they would have had to be advancing before word of the outcome of Convocation could have reached them. In summary, both species went to Convocation with the intent of starting a war that would commence immediately afterward—because their forces were already in motion.”
Shethkador’s smile was a great deal less natural, now. “And what if your delegation had agreed to abandon your illegal settlement in the 70 Ophiuchi system? That would have meant these forces were invading without cause. Which makes your entire hypothesis flawed and ridiculous.”
“That criticism conveniently leaves out a few key facts. First of all, it was established by the Accord, not us, that our delegation had no power to make policy: we were there to observe and represent our species. And that was all. So we couldn’t offer to withdraw from 70 Ophiuchi and the Arat Kur knew it: they were assured that they’d still have an axe to grind with us after the Convocation had concluded.
“But if, by some quirk of fate, the matter had been settled, one look at a star chart shows what the contingency plan must have been. Given their shift limitations, the Arat Kur fleet elements already had to be in 61 Cygni as the final jump off point; it’s the only system from which they can reach Barnard’s Star.
“Of course, 61 Cygni can also be reached in one shift from EV Lacertae, quickly enough to call off the invasion in time. But the only ships which can reach it in one shift are Ktoran ships. Neither the Arat Kur nor the Hkh’Rkh have sufficient range. So in the event that the Dornaani had allowed us to make a last minute concession to all the Arat Kur demands at Convocation, there was only one way to prevent the fleet from making its final shift into battle: a Ktoran courier. Or to, put it another way, your material support was a key part of their invasion plans.”
Downing leaned forward. “Of course, all of that is just the tip of the iceberg. Fleet logistics, such as those the Slaasriithi destroyed at BD+56 2966, don’t get built overnight. And the strategic decisions behind them—such as delegating all ground operations to the Hkh’Rkh and all spaceside combat to the Arat Kur—take a while to work out, to optimize. Each side has to ready itself for its role in the coming war. And that is the work of years, not weeks or months. Or would you assert otherwise, Ambassador Shethkador?”
“I will make my rebuttal when I have heard this fabulation through in its entirety.” Shethkador’s tone was nowhere near so bold or dismissive as his words.
“Very well. As it turns out, we were alerted to the problems in Turkh’saar by Yaargraukh, one of the members of the Hkh’Rkh delegation to the Convocation. While he did not speak for the Patrijuridicate, he opted to contact us by back channels to see if it wasn’t possible for us to intercede in the matter of a human incursion on the planet. Naturally, you know what we found there.” Downing plainly waited for Shethkador to object to that assumption; when no interruption occurred, he continued. “However, what we did not anticipate was that Yaargraukh would be compelled to seek asylum with Commodore Riordan and return with him.”
Shethkador’s eyes opened slightly wider, but he did not respond otherwise.
“Consequently, we have gained a rather unique perspective on the probable timeline that must have been involved in the war preparations. In short, between his intimate knowledge of the politics and projects of the Patrijuridicate during the period in question, and Ambassador Yiithrii’ah’aash’s detailed recollections of the concurrent proceedings of the Accord, we learned that the Arat Kur and the Hkh’Rkh actually came into contact ‘unintentionally’ in 2111 and determined that Turkh’saar was to be a nonmilitarized codominium.”
Downing shrugged. “However, given the nature of the wreckage that we found in the system, it is quite clear that this agreement was a sham, concocted to mislead the other, unsuspecting members of the Accord. We’ve run orbital backtracks on a variety of small, mostly intact platforms, all of which indicate that they were inserted into their orbits sometime between 2114 and 2116. As much as five years before Convocation.”
Alnduul shifted so that he could stare at Shethkador.
The Ktor waved a dismissive hand. “And what do we have to do with the connivings of two alien species? Is there any evidence that we were present, that we helped ready them for this invasion?”
Caine leaned forward. “Not recently, no, but I wonder who made sure the Hkh’Rkh were ready to participate?”
“You are deaf or obtuse, Commodore Riordan. I said we were not in the system at that time.”
“If there’s anyone being obtuse, Ambassador, it’s you—and willfully so. I’m not talking about your actions in the system recently; I’m talking about three and a half centuries ago. Give or take a decade or two. But I’d lay odds that your ships were in the BD+56 2966 system within ten years of the disappearance of the Arat Kur shift-cruiser Katek Hud. We found its wreckage on Turkh’saar, along with evidence that it was the means whereby the Hkh’Rkh achieved supraluminal travel: a prerequisite for them to be a useful partner in the invasion of Earth.”
Shethkador stretched. “So you found a missing Arat Kur starship on Turkh’saar. And the Hkh’Rkh found it before you and derived the principles of the shift-drive from its remains. Again, what does this have to do with the Ktor?”
“Perhaps a great deal, since the Katek Hud disappeared in the Ross 508 system, over forty light-years from where it crashed on Turkh’saar. Or should I say, was brought down in such a way to make it appear to have crashed. There’s a file waiting to be distributed to Ferocious Monolith and Olsloov as soon as this meeting is over. In it, you’ll find all the forensics establishing the circumstances of the Katek Hud’s descent and hard landing—because you can’t really call it a crash. Interestingly, there were no Arat Kur remains or artifacts at the site, not even their grooming and other domestic implements. The ship was improbably bare when it came down on Turkh’saar.”
