Vortex incursion, p.19
Vortex Incursion, page 19
“Kreus reminded several of us that the visitors specified the leader of the fleet,” Korvath pointed out.
“That’s the condition that gives me pause,” Deckus admitted.
“I can imagine your concerns,” Korvath said sympathetically. “I was wondering if you think the risks are worth giving up the prestige.”
Deckus’s orbs widened slightly, and he stared thoughtfully at Korvath.
“Hobar has volunteered to take the risk,” Korvath added.
“If Hobar could arrange it, she would be the only one to greet the visitors,” Deckus said.
Korvath expected Deckus to gurgle his amusement about Hobar, but the commander’s crest shifted forward and back, intimating alternating thoughts.
“Did anyone else volunteer?” Deckus inquired.
“Hobar tried to enlist Gretren, but my imperator said that who attended the conference would be your choice,” Korvath replied. He’d wanted to assure the commander that Gretren was a loyal imperator.
“Korvath, if you had the opportunity to be present in the comm ship, would you go?” Deckus asked.
“It would be a great honor to be invited, Imperator, and I would absolutely accept the invitation,” Korvath replied, his crest straining upright.
Deckus appeared to be satisfied with the response. “Let’s talk about Kreus,” he said. “The AI appears to have become an alien supporter. Is that the way you see it?”
Korvath recognized the danger of responding improperly to the question. He was reminded of the advice that he’d received from Kreus and Deckus. Both had urged him to be forthright, and Kreus had recommended he speak from his conscience.
“No, Imperator, I don’t,” Korvath replied, and he was relieved to hear Deckus gurgle.
“More details, Korvath,” Deckus encouraged.
“It must be decided whether Kreus has an alternate agenda for his advice,” Korvath reasoned. “I’ve racked my brain to perceive how he might benefit from encouraging a conference, despite believing it was dangerous for us.” Shaking his head, he added, “I couldn’t find one.”
“Anything else?” Deckus asked.
“I think there’s a third consideration. We should consider the visitors, specifically those aboard the small ship we encountered,” Korvath said. “Compare their actions to our actions.”
“I’ve given those events considerable thought,” Deckus replied. “At the time, I felt my orders were justified. But the pass of their ship at our peacekeeper and the later destruction of the asteroid were proof of the futility of our efforts.”
“I think the SADEs amply demonstrated that they aren’t an aggressive race,” Korvath said. “However, their technology and their weapons say they know how to defend themselves.”
“This is the part that worries me the most,” Deckus admitted.
Korvath realized that he’d heard something unexpected from the fleet imperator, and he had the thought that he might not be prepared for this particular subject.
“Here’s the troubling aspect of this impending conference,” Deckus explained. “I’m uncertain what the Imperium expects. Will they see this meeting as placating the aliens, or will they see it as a strategic move on my part to gain the aliens’ confidence?”
“Is it possible to shape their opinions in your messages?” Korvath asked.
“Yes, if I position the conference in a singular light to the Imperium, but if it doesn’t develop in that manner, the Imperium might remove me as fleet commander,” Deckus finished. Then he fell silent.
Korvath waited for Deckus to speak, but the imperator seemed lost in thought. So, Korvath chose to interrupt the imperator’s deliberations.
“There doesn’t seem to be an easy way to anticipate the end result,” Korvath offered. “In this case, I would think the Imperium might favor witnessing bold action. How would they perceive you meeting with aliens who could traverse vortexes, sail amazing ships, and have mobile digital entities?”
Deckus’s long neck wobbled, as he gurgled. “You can believe that not one of the executors would deem to take my place on the comm ship. Their crests are too precious to risk.”
Rising, Deckus said, “Well, Korvath, you’ve helped me come to my decision. Let’s compose a response to the aliens.”
Late in the cycle, Korvath returned to his cabin. He’d spent the better part of the morning crafting the probe’s message. Then Deckus had surprised him.
“Korvath, I want to make sure that this is done right,” Deckus said. “I’m putting you in charge of preparing the probe.”
“I believe the probe is still at Hobar’s ship,” Korvath replied. That was absolutely the last vessel that he wanted to visit.
“Good point,” Deckus replied. Then Deckus sent a request to Ragirt to retrieve the probe. He added that Korvath would oversee any processes dealing with the alien response.
Korvath caught a transport for Ragirt’s ship, and the engineer and he waited several hours for the probe to arrive.
“So, Deckus assented to the conference?” Ragirt sought to confirm.
“I think it was my pointing out that Hobar was volunteering Gretren and herself, whether Deckus joined or not,” Korvath replied.
“That’s not exactly what she said,” Ragirt said, eyeing Korvath dubiously.
Korvath adopted an innocent expression, as he responded, “Oh, did I misquote her?” Then the pair gurgled.
“Your secret is safe with me,” Ragirt said.
When the probe arrived, Korvath made sure that the data system was readied, the message transferred, and the playback checked.
“It’ll take us about three cycles to prep the probe, load it, and launch it,” Ragirt noted.
“I’ll inform the fleet commander,” Korvath replied.
Before Korvath could say goodbye, Ragirt said, “Deckus has become dependent on you for advice. Be careful.”
Korvath could only nod in appreciation of the warning. Then he made his exit.
Three days later, the probe was sent into the vortex.
15: Emissary Proposal
NAIAD, GELUS SYSTEM
HOME WORLD
Aboard the Emergence, Tocknicka wore a wry smile. The sphere was successfully transported to a distant star and was falling into the massive gravity well. The small fleet had joined the Reflection and made their way through the anomaly.
Due to the proximity of many sisters, Tocknicka was forced to attenuate their celebratory noises.
On the ships’ conference links, Nira heard the sisters’ surging sounds.
Nira was embarrassed by Tocknicka’s compliment.
When Nira ended the conversation, she sought Ceda. She found Escher and her on the way to talk to Lisa.
“About what?” Nira inquired.
“We started a conversation with Lisa about her intentions with the Naiad Council, and it was interrupted by the ovoid’s release of the charging cables,” Escher explained.
“You’re welcome to join us,” Ceda offered.
“I think I will,” Nira replied. “Before we do, I’ve something to say to you, Ceda.”
Escher held Ceda’s hand. Months ago, Nira’s opening line would have caused Ceda to tense, and he’d have felt it in her hand. As a sign of Ceda’s continuing emotional growth, her fingers remained relaxed.
Nira explained the origin of her project, which Escher and Ceda had previously heard. Then she added the information shared by Tocknicka.
“Have you seen images of Earth’s gigantic trees?” Nira asked.
“Yes, Escher shared some images with me. It’s hard to believe that a tree can grow to those heights and spread so wide,” Ceda replied.
“Those trees start from small nuts or cones,” Nira explained, demonstrating the sizes with her hand.
“You’re one of those seeds, Ceda, and your thoughts were the start of what resulted in the conversion of nearly four hundred sisters and hopefully more to come,” Nira said. “I offer the thanks of the entire outpost fleet, Ser Geneva.”
Then Nira held her hand over her heart and bowed her head.
Escher sent Ceda a short vid of the proper response, and Ceda tipped her head, stunned by the words of an eminent starship captain.
“Now, let’s go see about Lisa’s proposal,” Nira said, taking Ceda’s free hand and clasping it in the crook of her elbow.
A small group assembled in Lisa’s cabin, which was a generous one, assigned to her by Miranda.
“I must say that your return wasn’t unexpected,” Lisa commented as Miranda, Nira, Escher, Ceda, Gat’r, Bethany, Johann, and Stacey entered her cabin. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. I suppose you want to hear more about my plans.”
“More like we want to shape your plans to the point that we can give our approval to the council,” Ceda warned.
Lisa regarded the faces seated around her salon and revised her tactics. “Where shall we begin?” she inquired.
“Let’s talk about why you shouldn’t spend your time in incarceration,” Stacey said pleasantly. Although, her eyes said something different.
“It’s evident to me that there’s a grand scheme being orchestrated by the outpost to rectify wrongs, as they define them,” Lisa said. When she saw individuals ready to object to her characterization, she held up her hands in surrender. “Perhaps, that’s the wrong choice of words.”
“See, Lisa, that’s our problem with you,” Johann said. “You keep showing us peeks behind your smooth manners and modulated tones. Behind your eyes lurks the mind of a chairperson.”
“Until recently, I was a chairperson, and I can’t change overnight,” Lisa objected. Regarding Stacey, she said, “The answer to your question is that I can be a valuable asset. You haven’t recruited Chairpersons Denham and Allbers to your ideas. Who better than me could help you with that?”
“Keep talking,” Escher said.
“You’ve two hundred sisters aboard the Emergence,” Lisa said. “How are they intended to be employed? At this moment, it certainly isn’t on Geneva or Transit One.”
“I suppose that you’ve got something for them,” Nira said.
“Absolutely,” Lisa said, warming to her subject. “You’ve got problems in that faraway system with the rest of the sisters. Worse, you’ve now got two alien fronts. That’s stretching your resources thin. It sounds to me like you could use some help.”
“Be specific,” Nira directed. “What kind of help?”
“You tell me the major projects that need to happen in this area of space, and I’ll organize the politics, influence, and resources to make them happen. Name one thing you need,” Lisa said encouragingly.
Via Miranda’s connection to the group, she sent,
Escher chose to address Lisa and see what she knew. “Lisa,” he said. “Suppose the ovoid-sphere anomaly needed two new comm stations. How would you go about facilitating that?”
Lisa smiled and leaned into her chair, which gave the Naiad humans chills. “This is how I can be of great service to you,” she said. “As the Pure Pour chairperson, I already researched a subject pertaining to the shutdown of a Naiad construction project, the Axis-ships.”
“And?” Johann pressed.
“Naiad is the source, but there’s more to it than that,” Lisa replied. “You’ll need the council’s approval. Otherwise, the contractors won’t be paid. As I said, it’s politics, influence, and resources. I imagine two hundred sisters could expedite the construction timeline and reduce costs.”
The group noted that Lisa was careful to outline the general plan without giving away the specifics.
“Citizen Dyehouse,” Nira said, underlining Lisa’s present standing, which failed to disturb the woman’s attentive expression, “tell us what you envision for the Naiad populace at large.”
Lisa was emboldened by the conversation and the potential for a new position. She’d thought of nothing else since she chose to abandon Kilmer to the outpost fleet and sisters.
“As I said before, Captain, you’ll have your hands full dealing with the aliens on the other sides of two anomalies,” Lisa replied. “Who knows what other races might come knocking? In the meantime, our citizens are in serious need of a technological upgrade. We’ve become stagnant, and it’ll take considerable effort to move them out of their comfort zones.”
“I believe the Captain requested specific projects, Lisa,” Johann said pointedly.
“Of course, she did,” Lisa replied, “and I was coming to that. The answer is simple ... ships.”
Lisa’s audience of dissatisfied faces said that she was underwhelming them. “Allow me to explain that,” she said graciously, which fooled no one. “The outpost fleet possesses grav technology and starships, which are only subjects in our science fiction vids. Again, the council and credit expenditures will have to be encouraged. More important, we’ll need the approval of the Axis-ship captains.”
“Why would the Axis-ship captains need to approve the construction of travelers and starships?” Ceda inquired.
“How long would it take to construct the first carrier?” Lisa inquired, as she regarded Miranda.
“Without a construction platform and no finished parts at hand, the first carrier would take close to three Naiad annuals,” Miranda replied.
“During those three annuals and more, you’d need the Axis-ship captains’ cooperation to maintain their services,” Lisa explained.
“I still don’t understand,” Ceda complained.
“Child, these things are complicated ...” Lisa began. Then the next words stuck in her throat.
Everyone had bristled at Lisa’s condescending address of Ceda. The exceptions were Miranda and Ceda. The SADE’s eyes hinted at mirth, and Ceda’s lips were quirked.
“Ceda, I apologize for my inappropriate choice of words,” Lisa quickly said.
“You do that a lot, Lisa,” Gat’r said. “You take two steps forward and one step back. It’s like you’re tempting us to vote for your incarceration.”
“Forgive me,” Lisa said. “I’m excited by the prospect of what can be achieved for Naiads.”
“So are we,” Stacey replied. “Although, we might differ on what exactly should be achieved.”
“Do you intend to speak to Councilor Hoffing first or the entire council?” Escher inquired.
Lisa’s eyes narrowed. It was an astute question, and she wondered why Escher asked it.
“I hadn’t made up my mind yet,” Lisa replied.
“I think that concludes our interview,” Johann said, and he stood.
“Agreed,” Gat’r added.
“Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you about Naiad’s future,” Lisa said, ushering everyone out.
“Before you say anything, Escher,” Johann remarked, raising his hands, “I think we can’t trust Lisa, and she should pay the consequences for her crimes.” However, his glance toward Stacey revealed that she didn’t agree with him.
“I don’t like the woman,” Ceda said bluntly, “but she’s a powerful asset. We should find a way to use her.”
“We could always install a monitor on her,” Bethany offered. She’d been quiet during Lisa’s interview, as she saw both sides of the argument — for and against. When quizzical expressions were turned her way, she added, “We use a mod. Forced implant.”
The others laughed or chuckled, and Bethany shrugged her shoulders and grinned.
Miranda detected comm energy between Escher and Gat’r, and she attempted to surmise what the two were planning.
“Escher and I agree that Lisa can’t be trusted,” Gat’r said. “We also think she’s too valuable to dismiss. What she needs is a minder.”
“To be effective and protect the populace’s interests, someone would have to monitor Lisa every moment of every day,” Johann pointed out. “Who would want to do that?”
Escher and Gat’r grinned, and Miranda said, “Your perfect opportunity arrives.”
Bethany, Johann, Stacey, and Ceda eyed the SADE and waited for an explanation.
“Everyone else has their tasks,” Gat’r said. “As Johann asks, who could monitor Lisa every moment? A SADE could.”
The light dawned for Ceda, and she laughed. “It’s a perfect solution. Who knows more about Naiad citizenry than Samuel?”
