“Eyes just uploaded their new assessment of the Ileri exclusion-zone defense systems, Captain.”
Captain Nia Andini, commander of the SDV Iwan Goleslaw, looked up—which only had meaning as her vessel was under thrust—from the AR window from which she’d been reviewing the post-transition engineering status report. “And just how dead would we have been, XO?”
“They’ve identified two of their three railgun installations so far, one of which was only twenty-four thousand klicks from our emergence point, so very dead.” Andini winced and the XO nodded. “They had us painted within thirty-five seconds and the gun was aimed only twelve degrees off our trajectory when we popped back into normal space. It was on target and ready to fire in under a minute. We’re lucky they aren’t as trigger-happy as Shenzen.”
She cocked her head at her XO. “I assume they’re not pointing it at us still?”
“No, but they’ve got two targeting radars on us at all times. And one squadron of heavies is burning to shadow our assigned orbit, unless I miss my guess.”
“I expect you’re right.” She unbuckled her lap belt and stood to stretch, which barely brought her head to her XO’s shoulder, even though he was short for spacer-born. Andini had flown attackers before switching to the command track. That she’d been able to take up gymnastics again and put some muscle back on after making the switch back had been a welcome change; every gram counted in those flying coffins.
“Keeping us painted is a rather aggressive step,” the XO said.
“I warned the minister that emerging in their EZ was unnecessarily provocative.” She rolled out her shoulders as she turned slowly, observing her combat information-center crew at work. The ship was at Condition Two, one step shy of full battle-readiness but fully able to defend itself, if not bare the full length of its claws. The CIC crew wore their soft suits at their stations, arrayed in front of her command dais like an orchestra’s musicians before the conductor, though they all faced the giant display tank across the compartment instead of her on the dais. Crew murmured softly to each other, or to their comrades elsewhere on the ship. Andini had served with captains who kept their CICs dark, lit only by the glow of the fixed screens and open AR windows, but she favored light bright enough to read by. Darkness on a spacefaring vessel meant something had gone wrong, and things that went wrong in space could kill you with incredible swiftness.
“And speaking of the minister...” the XO said, just above a whisper, as the one person Andini had to answer to—here in Ileri space, at any rate—climbed the steps into the CIC.
Ping Dinata, Minister Plenipotentiary for Technology Constraint, filled the picture in Andini’s mental dictionary for the word ‘dour’. She was medium height with broad shoulders and hips, neither skinny nor fat, with light-brown skin and long, straight hair she wore in the traditional ministerial side-braid. Andini wondered if the woman’s face was capable of smiling, then wondered how she’d react if the minister ever cracked one.
She checked her clock. “Conference time, number one. Tell Ears we’ll take the call from the dais.”
The XO acknowledged and hurried off to be Somewhere Else before Dinata reached the command dais steps.
“Good day, Captain,” the minister said as she pulled herself up onto the dais. “Shall we shift to your briefing room to deliver our message to the Ileris?”
Andini shook her head. “I’ve instructed my communications team to route the message to us here on the command dais.”
Dinata’s brows drew down. “That seems unwise, given the sensitivity of the matters we’re here to deal with.”
“The crew has been fully briefed on our mission, including the contingency plans,” Andini said as she waved the spare acceleration chair out from its normal stowage compartment. “I have complete confidence in their willingness to take whatever action is deemed appropriate.” She settled herself into her own chair and gestured for the minister to do the same. “And in the event the Iwan Goleslaw needs to go to Condition One in the course of our—discussion—I’d prefer to be in my CIC.”
Dinata tried to brush off the implied risk of violent action. “Surely the Ileris wouldn’t dare fire on us.
No one has ever dared fire on one of our SDVs before. That’s why the Assembly chose to send this vessel.”
“Ileri is one of the First Fourteen, Minister, with the military to match,” Andini said. She related what the XO had passed on about their emergence. “My ship may mass as much as a sizable fraction of Ileri’s navy, and we’d blood them badly if it came to a fight, but please do not doubt which side would win.”
“Do you really think they’d risk starting a war?” Dinata asked. But she sat down in the spare seat, usually reserved for squadron commanders using the ship as their flag.
“Is it likely? No. Possible? Absolutely,” Andini said. She opened a channel to her communications officer. <Ears, we’re ready. Patch us in, please. Holo to the dais display.> Ears acknowledged and images of two conference rooms materialized between her and Dinata. Labels appeared seconds later identifying one as belonging to the Ileri Minister for Interstellar Affairs, while the other showed Government House on Ileri Station.
Interesting. Quite senior enough to not give offense or be dismissive, but not the very top of their government. The intelligence briefing on Ileri’s Prime Minister had noted that she was known for being a skilled negotiator. Using Ngo, the Interstellar Affairs Minister, as a buffer between the head of state and the Saljuan minister struck Andini as a savvy move. More immediately, she felt the knot of tension in her neck that had been present since just prior to emergence relax a bit; she’d half-expected to be dealing with Vega, the Defense Minister, which would have made for a very different conversation. Though Vega was on the call; she sat two seats away from Ngo, like a weapon close at hand, ready to be grasped.
She noted, though, that the Commonwealth ambassador sat next to Ngo, a likely indication the Star Republic’s chief rival supported its prospective member. Andini silently offered thanks to the merciful Father that Amazonas, the Commonwealth warship she’d been told was en route to Ileri, hadn’t yet arrived.
Once introductions were made, Ngo, a soft-featured woman with a melodious voice, came straight to the heart of the matter. “Minister Dinata. The message you broadcast after your unconventional arrival into Ileri space indicated you wish to conduct inspections as specified in the Accords of Year 83 Post Exile. Perhaps you would be so kind as to elaborate on that request?”
Even as Dinata drew breath to speak, Andini felt the knot of tension return.
“We are not making a request, Minister Ngo,” Dinata said flatly. “That is a notification. A statement of intent.”
There was a three-second delay as the signal and the return message bounced from ship to station and planet.
“Notification typically arrives ahead of the inspection team,” Ngo said.
Dinata flicked the fingers of her right hand as if brushing off a fly. “It is the right of all signatories to the Accords to conduct unannounced inspections at any time. The Star Republic chooses to exercise that right at this time.” She fixed her gaze impassively on the video pickup as if she could bore through the intervening kilometers into Ngo.
A private message window popped up and Andini waved it open, down by her left knee as Ngo and Dinata continued to spar. <Ears. What is it?>
<We just received an encoded burst transmission, Captain. We’re decrypting it now, but the header codes are from Anomalous Cases.>
A sick feeling in the pit of her stomach arrived to match the literal pain in her neck. <How long to decrypt and verify? And where did it come from?>
<Should be ready in about a minute. It seems to have come from Ileri Station.>
<Tight beam?> Please let it be a tight beam.
<No, ma’am. They used a directional antenna but it’s radio frequency, not laser.>
Andini was grateful that gymnastics competitions in her youth had given her the ability to fix an expression on her face despite whatever she felt inside. <What are the odds the Ileris intercepted the message and traced it?>
Ears frowned. <Very high they intercepted it, I’d think. Whether they filtered it out from the background chatter, that’s harder to say, but if their traffic-anomaly detection is any good, they’ll have it isolated shortly. As far as tracing it?> Ears shrugged. <To the station, certainly. Maybe to the specific antenna they used. Beyond that, I really couldn’t say.>
<The Anomalous Cases team risked exposure to send this to us?> Andini asked.
<That seems possible.> Ears glanced aside at another AR window. <It’s decrypted. Eyes only to you, the Minister, and Major Nkruma.> Nkruma commanded the four-hundred-person inspection and security team.
<Send it.> A new window popped up and Adina skimmed the précis with a sinking feeling. She saw Dinata tilt her head, no doubt reading the report in a private window of her own.
Vega, the Defense Minister, took over after the brief lag. “Minister Dinata,” she said after the most recent lag gap. “I wish to formally deliver a protest from my government to yours regarding an espionage operation directed against the safety and good order of the Republic of Ileri.” The protest document appeared in the main projection field over the table as it simultaneously hit Andini’s inbox.
She was impressed by the Ileris’ thoroughness, sending it to her personally as well as to the conference channel. Vega probably knew that messages to her personally would be logged, regardless of what Dinata chose. She popped open the message to see the Ileris had, indeed, intercepted the Anomalous Cases signal. That was a fast bit of work. She prayed they weren’t able to crack the cipher.
Dinata’s eyes returned to her vid pickup. “This is immaterial,” she said impassively. “My government has received information that the government of Ileri, in conjunction with the government of the Commonwealth, has come into possession of Exile-grade mind-domination and reprogramming technology, in direct violation of the Accords of 83 PE.”
Andini heard the gasps in the locals’ conference rooms quite clearly. She didn’t blame them; the specter of the Unity Plague which had driven their ancestors not only off of Lost Earth, but out of the solar system, loomed large in the Saljuan consciousness. When the cabal of plutocrats and their religious fundamentalist allies had unleashed the nanoware agent that gave them control over the infected populace, her world’s people had fled up Earth’s space elevators with so many others. Unlike the Ileris, or the Novo Brasilians, her forebears hadn’t ended up on a garden world.
She locked her face into full-bore commander mode. This was Dinata’s operation to run, the Commandant had made that abundantly clear. She had her concerns about the ministers’ methods, but not about their ultimate goal.
“The Republic of Ileri categorically denies this charge,” Ngo, the Interstellar Affairs Minister, said.
Three more seconds ticked by.
Dinata shook her head. “It doesn’t matter if you deny it or not,” she said. “My mission is to determine whether or not this is true, and if so, to exercise our lawful rights to ensure any illegal material is destroyed.” To Andini: <How long until we reach orbit?>
Andini glanced at the mission plot. <Two hundred twenty-seven minutes and change.>
“My government is not going to allow you to conduct a fishing expedition,” Vega chimed in before Ngo could respond.
Dinata leaned forward. “Minister. Captain Andini informs me we will achieve our initial parking orbit in approximately four hours,” she said. “We intend to dispatch an inspection team escorted by Major Nkruma’s troops to Ileri station. We shall provide you with flight plan prior to launch. Please prepare to receive them and make arrangements for them to conduct their inspection. I expect full cooperation under the provisions of the Accords. If cooperation is not forthcoming, I will recommend immediate interdiction of the Ileri system.”
Vega braced up, and Andini recalled the woman’s combat record as a peacekeeping-force commander. “Minister, we have no intention of cooperating until the matter of the espionage team has been resolved. We believe they are involved with the kidnapping and assault of Ileri citizens.”
The Commonwealth ambassador spoke up at last. “Speaking for the Commonwealth, Minister, while we respect your rights under the Accords, we advise you against precipitous action in exercising those rights. Enacting Interdiction without positive evidence of compromise is most emphatically not recognized under the Accords, and the Commonwealth will respond appropriately.”
That finally broke Dinata’s implacability, and she actually sneered. “Your people are just as complicit in this matter, Ambassador,” she said. “And you’ve been skirting the abyss for decades. You’d see us all made the thralls of the force our ancestors fled.” Her mask descended again. “We’ll speak again once our vessel attains its orbit.”
Dinata made a chopping motion with her left hand, below the pickup’s view. <Ears, cut the signal,> Andini ordered.
“Captain Andini.” She heard Dinata’s voice as if it came from somewhere far away, instead of a little more than a meter to her right.
“Yes, Minister?” Her voice was steady, at least.
“How quickly will you be able to launch the inspection team’s shuttle once we achieve orbit?”
“We can be ready to launch almost immediately, Minister, but there may be a delay until Iwan Goleslaw is in proper position relative to the station for rapid transit.” Her hands moved to call up the navigation plots.
“Very well. I want Major Nkruma’s team on the way to Ileri Station at the earliest practical opportunity.” Dinata pulled herself to her feet and made for the steps. “Please tell Major Nkruma I’m on my way to brief him personally.”
“At your direction, Minister,” Andini said. She called her XO. “Keep the ship at Condition Two and prep a shuttle. The hunt is on.”