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“My friends, thank you for coming to this special emergency episode.” In the visualization on the back of the seats in front of Elys, Les Conlen leaned closer, looking sincere. “I hate to tell you this, and I hate that it happened, but we’ve been tricked.”
The day after Wirth’s evidence of the Republic buying off Alyansan show hosts became public, the mediators felt confident enough in City Support’s progress to let Elys’s bodyguards return to their regular duties. On her first afternoon alone in what felt like weeks, Elys read a transcript of last night’s Les Conlen’s Truth Hour in a car taking her to another meeting with City Support.
In the Republic, every single one of the entertainers who’d helped create the CRU dispatch delay would’ve doubled down on their incorrect information and found someone else to blame. Most of the Alyansan ones had quietly dropped their CRU-demanding messages, but not Conlen. Elys had to keep reminding herself to close her mouth so the two Alyansans in the car with her didn’t wonder what she was gawping at.
“Reliable sources have told me, in person, that the Republic lied to me and you to make us confuse the city,” Conlen said in the transcript. “This, Bencivenni’s death, all the fear, has been an attack by off-worlders aimed directly at you and me. And it was a fatal one.”
Conlen was using his new message to feed into his off-world conspiracy theory, which... Had been closer to correct than Elys’s naturally occurring error theory had been. Hers was still the much more likely scenario, even though it wasn’t what happened this time. Alyansans’ sudden behavior change had caused the problem, but only an MCAI would’ve made the mistakes that delayed CRU and expert deployment.
It was a good thing that all Alyansa had needed Conlen to do was stop his CRUs-for-all-problems rhetoric. The missile and mortar sound effects in the transcript suggested that he’d found an exciting new source of content: the possibility of an Alyansan war with the Republic. According to even the most basic history about the place, Alyansa had never gone to war with anyone.
The Republic, on the other hand, had never met a station it wouldn’t go to war with. They might be looking for a way to destabilize Alyansa without having to send its military against the CRUs on their home turf, like they had with Reznikov. Conlen might have a point.
That would be Off-world Affairs’ problem, not Elys’s. As she’d expected, the Republic ignored their request to stop turning Alyansan entertainers into Republic mouthpieces. Off-world Affairs had yet to convince the Republic to lower the reward for Elys, but that wasn’t, and shouldn’t have been, their top priority.
––––––––
As determined as Elys had been the day before, the Off-world Affairs and Trade Archonate message that hit her inbox the next morning made her want to stay in bed. “The Republic Information Service has sent a representative to speak with us, and we’d like to have you and Taia Nadal present to advise.”
Elys wasn’t ready to talk to any RIS representatives. But Taia knocked on her door talking about how Off-world Affairs “needed her input” and citizenship and duty. By the time Elys had consumed enough coffee to allow for conscious thought, she was wearing professional clothes and sitting in a car headed west, away from the simulated sun rising behind the mountains.
“Not that your viewpoint isn’t invaluable,” Elys made Taia smile with the emphasis, “but why do you think the OWA invited you?”
“The city must’ve told them to. It doesn’t always say why it does what it does.” Taia scooted over a seat to make room for someone the car stopped for on the way. “You know what would be nice to have?”
More time, more coffee, a planet the Republic hadn’t mapped and laid claim to yet. “What?” Elys asked.
“A way to tell everybody in Alyansa what happened,” Taia said. “I wish we could wave those payment records that prove Eidolon Holdings is the RIS in front of all the show hosts and everyone following their advice. I want to tell them all, ‘Hey, the Republic is using you like the simplest tools in the universe! Don’t let them.’ If Alyansans got mad about that, then the hosts would stop doing unpopular bits and the city wouldn’t have any weird data to get confused by.”
“There has to be a way to do that.” Elys tipped her head against the headrest. She really could use more coffee. “I know this conversation is public, but it’s hard to find in the archives, let alone get people to listen to it.”
“Do we know if this conversation we’re going to will be archived?” Taia asked.
“The message didn’t say.” Elys signed “Nisse?”
Archiving will be delayed to allow experts to review the conversation for safety concerns. Which put it around the same security level as mediator conversations. That meant it was about something serious.
The travel time gave Elys a few more minutes to consider what she needed to ask this RIS representative to get Alyansa enough information to stand a chance at defending themselves from the Republic military. Elys couldn’t think of any questions that’d make someone as manipulative as an RIS officer share state secrets.
At the Off-world Affairs building, Nisse appeared on the sidewalk between Elys and Taia. “I received the route to the meeting location. They’re expecting you. Just follow me.”
“Why are they doing this in person?” Taia walked confidently through pale halls decorated in Alyansa’s official yellow and navy blue color scheme.
“It didn’t occur to me to ask.” Elys had spent the past two years attending every summons in person.
The digital assistants led them to a conference room full of formally dressed strangers. Someone wearing a pickup much brighter yellow than the one on the person beside her, and two people facing Taia and Elys as they entered with their pickups facing away from the, nodded before returning their attention to the empty table they sat facing. The dream emanating from the center of this meeting table very slightly relaxed Elys, which made her wonder what else it might be doing. Some of the mixtures that accompanied the relaxing sensation were embarrassing, if not intentionally dangerous, in the Republic.
Elys and Taia sat at the table too, bringing the others’ profiles into range. One of them, a white man named Odell Guliyev according to the profile, was a diplomat with the Republic affairs section of Off-world Affairs. He was listening to someone whose profile identified her as Minoru Nishikawa, one of Alyansa’s mysterious lawyers, say “...don’t like how the emigration numbers are growing, either. It’s a small increase, but it’s not normal. I believe it’s related to the city’s difficulties. Research is ongoing, of course.”
The profile beside the person with the very bright pickup described her as Ann Guo, Archon, Republic Affairs Bureau. Elys connected to the visualization. The tabletop filled with reports, records about the city’s malfunctions, and Winoc Krebs.
Her first reaction had her clutching the table’s edge with both hands to keep herself in her chair, not running for the nearest car out of Port district. No amount of dream relaxation would help her cope with this.
Krebs had talked to Off-world Affairs before her. He must’ve poisoned them against her. When she entered the room, nobody had reacted like they mistrusted her, but these diplomats lied politely for a living. Or for whatever satisfaction they got out of their roles in Alyansa, anyway.
But the Krebs in front of them stood too still to be a live visualization. It was a placeholder image. He hadn’t connected live, although he intended to.
If Krebs was in real time communication range, he might be coordinating the latest attack on the city. Would she be lucky enough to watch Taia arrest him? The thought made her smile despite the pulsing, sickening dread sinking from the base of her skull through her whole body at the thought of talking to Krebs in his official capacity.
Guliyev, the diplomat, studied Krebs’s placeholder image, twisting a ring on his finger as he stared. To Elys, he said, “You spoke with Mr. Krebs recently, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” Elys sat back in her chair, frustration driving her shoulder blades against it with an audible thump. “Then he left the planet. I knew whoever was manipulating the city had to be working in real time, but that was before I learned he was — could’ve been working through intermediaries, namely the show hosts.”
“By the way, why did you ask us to come here in person?” asked Taia.
“He asked.” Odell nodded toward the Krebs placeholder image.
While Taia and Elys exchanged concerned glances, a live version of Krebs replaced the placeholder image, intersecting awkwardly with the chair which occupied that physical space. He wore an Earth-style suit in a cut that had stayed the same for centuries, and that carved-in, rotting, patronizing smile that made Elys want to walk through him on her way out the door.
The diplomats and Taia stood to greet him, although only Krebs offered that nod-and-chest-touch gesture that Alyansans reserved for in-person meetings. Elys remained seated.
“Thank you all for joining me.” Krebs’s Republic accent made Elys shudder, even though it wasn’t much heavier than her own. His gaze swept over everyone in the room, but it hung on her longer than anyone else.
The Off-world Affairs people made diplomatic noises in their various dialects while Krebs read their profiles. “Where is he?” Elys signed to Nisse, under the table where the visualization wouldn’t show her message to Krebs. Nisse blinked in acknowledgment and vanished to ask the city for help.
“Well.” Krebs clasped his hands in front of him, probably attempting to look sincere. “Because I know we all have much to do today, I’ll get to the point. Yes, I am aware of your city’s difficulties. I’d like for them to stop just as much as you would.” Elys doubted that. “And so, I’ve negotiated this offer. If you’ll deliver Elys Kundakçı to a location of our choosing in Mayari orbit, then the unfortunate disruption in the city’s housing assignments will cease, along with any further interference in emergency response.”
Elys drew in a deep breath and fought to stay upright under a sickening sensation of freefall. It was Krebs causing the city’s error. All this time.
In her fantasies, he’d been responsible for the city’s trouble and she’d revealed the truth. The people he’d wronged came to give him what he deserved, for letting the RIS disappear thousands of its citizens, for her imprisonment, for his failures and lies and all he’d helped the Republic do to the universe. The revelation wasn’t supposed to be anything like this.
The Alyansans didn’t need her to solve the problem she’d identified for them. She’d made herself expendable, and Krebs had just offered to pay for the privilege of getting rid of her. Her thoughts dissolved into crackling, empty panic in her skull.
“Mr. Krebs,” Taia said before Elys could run for the door, “that is not possible.”
“Alyansa is under no extradition treaty obligations to the Republic,” said the Off-world Affairs lawyer.
“She’s a citizen,” said Nishikawa. “We don’t give citizens to anyone.”
Expendable or not, these people were all treating Elys like an Alyansan first. Whether the rest of Alyansa agreed with these individuals or not, Taia and the Off-world Affairs diplomats were buying Elys time. But what could she do against the RIS?
“I hope you’ll give me a moment to explain the Republic’s interest in her return.” Krebs stood with eyebrows raised in polite expectation of an interruption. Elys was too busy comparing potential exit strategies to offer one, and everyone else was too polite. After a beat, Krebs continued, “Ms. Kundakçı knows information that’s very important to us. She’s revealed some of it to you — Elys, you’ve lost your clearance, by the way — and she’s something of a walking security risk. We’d be quite willing to negotiate with regard to what parting with her might be worth, if the return to normal city functioning doesn’t appeal.”
“I’ve got ideas on how to improve what you’re already doing to protect Alyansa and the city,” Elys told the diplomats, speaking louder and faster than their proximity required. “Ask Jules, I’ve run a few past them. I identified the attack vector. I can still help rebalance the city, harden it against future RIS attacks.” Not that she knew how to do that, yet. “That’s the goal, right? Krebs won’t—”
“I’m quite capable of explaining what I am willing to offer,” Krebs said.
Can’t find him, said Nisse in text on the tabletop in front of Elys. Must be within seventy-thousand kilometers for real-time exchange of this quality. The city and Off-world Affairs will keep looking.
While Elys read Nisse’s words, Taia spoke to Krebs in a tone that invited no argument. “This is not a negotiation. We’re not accepting anything from you, and Elys, you don’t have to defend yourself. That’s our job. You’re safe here.”
Ann Guo banged her “I agree” sign on the table twice, rattling water glasses against the table.
“Returning Ms. Kundakçı to us would also grant Alyansa the substantial reward we’re offering for her, of course,” Krebs said.
The Off-World Affairs people exchanged glances, although Taia’s was more incredulous than the others. “What do we need Republic money for?” she demanded. “That’s what started this trouble in the first place.”
“It has its uses,” said Odell thoughtfully. “Mr. Krebs, we need to discuss this proposition further. Please leave us your contact information.”
Krebs said some sanctimonious farewells and disconnected. While the Off-world Affairs personnel discussed applicable Alyansan agreements, Elys turned to Taia. “Thank you.”
Taia smiled, although her eyebrows scrunched a little, like she mostly felt sorry for Elys. “Of course. I don’t even know what there is for them to be talking about. So it was really Krebs behind the city’s delays and mistakes, huh?”
“I knew it.” The words Elys had anticipated saying for weeks sounded hollow. No wonder he’d been worried when she talked about testing the city’s system-wide efficiency with the Castillo series. If the city was operating efficiently but still delaying CRU deployments, then its inputs had changed, like they would if the RIS convinced Alyansans to make new and widespread demands of their MCAI, taking advantage of its attentiveness to Alyansans’ preferences as well as their needs.
Another thought set her laughing, drawing confused looks from the Alyansans in the room with her. “Jules was right too.”
Now that Krebs was no longer standing in front of her, her brain offered a longer-term solution than “get up and run.” It still took her a moment to get her laughter under control.
“The education initiative, the one Public Education is running to get Alyansans to stop making mass changes that increased CRU deployment time,” Elys said. “Even if it includes evidence that Krebs and the Republic were attacking the city through the show hosts,” which would solve the communication problem she and Taia discussed earlier, “it’s going to take time to convince people to stop demanding CRUs and new apartments. City Support was still cleaning up after the CRU dispatch delays when this eviction situation popped a screw. The city’s going to struggle while City Support rebalances to correct both of these issues at once with no time to test corrections.”
Nishikawa brushed a strand of dark brown hair off her gold-complexioned cheek. “Are you saying we need to convince Mr. Krebs to stop what he’s doing immediately?”
“If you can get him to, yes. He’s never listened to me.” Nobody acted surprised at the reminder of Elys’s work for the RIS.
“I don’t think negotiating with him would be productive,” Taia said. “His terms are unreasonable and likely to stay that way, and he doesn’t care about the best interests of Alyansa.”
“That’s the truth,” Elys said. “But City Support could really use time to finish the rebalance and to let the education initiative take effect, without any more new trends causing problems.”
The Republic had sent people here to recapture Elys once. She could run to an independent station and hide for a while, but what would she do there? Nothing as interesting as what Alyansa offered. Meanwhile Taia would be here, doing her best to keep her neighbors safe.
Elys took a deep breath and started talking before she changed her mind. “What if you do what Krebs asked? Not, you know, hand me over and forget about me,” she added as Taia inhaled to argue, her lovely brown eyes widening in alarm. “Just long enough to make him stop what he’s doing and give City Support a chance to get a handle on things. Plus, you get the money or whatever else Alyansa needs from him, and I can look for whatever the Republic has planned for Alyansa next. That’ll take... An hour might be enough, although City Support could use all the time they can get. It’d be nice if you could keep him in orbit around Mayari for that, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
You’re assuming the attacks aren’t pre-arranged and scheduled. Nisse’s text hovering on the left side of Elys’s vision made an excellent point. Elys would love to dig into how the city defined assumptions, when she had the time and access.
“This is what mediators do,” said Taia. “If you have an expert who can keep his ship still, mediators can go in and take that ship apart and let the city in to get any information we might need.”
Elys shook her head. “How would they know what to look for?”
“Go with them, then.”
“That wouldn’t give City Support the time they need to rebalance the city without interference,” Elys pointed out.
“Maybe he brought three-hundred friends.” Nishikawa was probably referencing the 298 populated worlds the Republic claimed, which everyone rounded up. The implied reminder that only about another hundred populated worlds remained independent was not a welcome one. “I believe they’d kill Elys and the CRUs, if they thought they could do it without panicking the other independent stations.”
“Let them try.” Taia’s eyes gleamed with genuine excitement about that potential fight, in a way that reminded Elys that she’d only known Taia for a few weeks. There was plenty more to learn about her. But all the Off-world Affairs people were frowning, scowling, or shaking their heads.
“Sending anything that looks like a military force against the RIS threatens war.” Guliyev was spinning the ring on his finger again. “A justifiable rescue would be more widely understood on the universal stage.”
Taia’s worried frown deepened. “I guess, but what you’re talking about is really dangerous.”
“I know.” The plan, such as it was, made Elys’s stomach ache and her leg bounce against her chair.
The Alyansans had saved her from the Republic twice now. Besides, she couldn’t sit still and let Alyansa become another Reznikov, or let the city come close to making the terrible choices the RIS MCAI had made.
“If I can stop the city from letting somebody else die in the street, or kicking more kids out of their home, I’d like to do that,” Elys said, more to Taia than to anyone else in the room. “Okay? I want to. And I might be able to get Krebs to tell me what other surprises he has lined up for us, and anything else that might help the city defend itself. Once you get me back from him and he loses the money he paid you, that’ll make him look silly and his project that much less profitable.”
After Krebs left, the Off-world Affairs staff had stopped talking aloud and started signing. When Elys glanced over at them, they were all watching her and Taia, and nobody was signing at all.
“You should take the money,” Elys said. “Just get him to pay you before you hand me over, then put the money somewhere he can’t take it back from. If he wants to get it back officially, he’ll have to tell everyone how he lost it. I don’t think the RIS would appreciate having all that in a public record.”
“A favor, if he has the authority to promise one, would be more useful,” said Guliyev. “I don’t believe he does, though.”
Elys’s text transcript showed Guliyev saying the same naïve thing she’d heard. “Even if he did, he wouldn’t follow through.”
Taia frowned. “This sounds dangerous, dishonest—”
“Bold! Brave!” Ann Guo signed.
Ann Guo and Nishikawa started talking at the same time, and Nishikawa deferred to Ann Guo in favor of doing something in a separate visualization not shared with the group. “Very dangerous,” signed Ann Guo. Contextualizing body language said she was considering it as an option. “You want to go alone?”
“Yeah.” Elys thought she’d just said that. This time she signed and spoke for maximum clarity. “I want to do this. He’ll see it as an expensive, fast solution.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Taia snapped. “You’re worth much more than that reward the Republic put on you.” Elys only meant that she was a security hole Krebs would pay to close while eliminating an expert witness to his incompetence, but Taia’s sentiment made her smile.
“This is a horrible idea,” said Taia. “You can’t.”
“I believe she could, if we’re careful,” said Nishikawa.
“She shouldn’t,” said Taia. “You know she shouldn’t. We should ignore Krebs and focus on repairing the city.”
“I’m not qualified to help with the rebalance. I’m really not,” Elys said when Taia frowned like she was about to argue. “I could get the certifications for this specific MCAI quicker than most people, but I don’t have enough context now. I’ll get in people’s way. Nobody else can take Krebs’s focus off the city for a while. I might even be able to find out how far away the Republic invasion is, or what he’s planning next.”
“You could put a behavioral hold on Krebs, or send him home,” Taia said to the diplomats. “He just admitted to sabotaging the city and as good as said he’s going to keep doing it. If he’d said that in Alyansa, a CRU would be on their way to visit him now.”
“As much as he deserves it, physically separating him from the planet hasn’t solved the problem,” Elys pointed out. “He could’ve done this from Republic space. I would love to see you remove him from play, but the Republic might just send another RIS officer to pick up where he left off. The city needs to learn to defend itself against any variation of this attack. Teaching it takes time.”
Taia looked to the diplomats. “There must be someone better qualified for off-world operations who can do this.”
“Not someone this Krebs person would accept,” said Guliyev, crushing a hope Elys hadn’t known she’d been entertaining until just then. “We could make someone look like Elys, but that would take at least a month.”
Life in Alyansa could get a lot harder in a month if Krebs kept convincing people to disrupt the city’s behavior predictions. “That’s too long,” Elys said. “Taia, I know you can get me back. You did it twice, and I’ll do my best to get out on my own as soon as I know what we need to know to defend ourselves. Besides, if they sent someone else, how would that person know what to look and listen for?” Elys also had ideas about accessing the RIS MCAI. The less she said about them, the less would end up in the public archive through direct recording or gossip.
“You could record the questions for an off-world operative ahead of time.” Taia’s protests had lost their surety, though.
“Krebs won’t wait a month to launch his next attack.” Elys took a deep breath. When she released it, she was smiling. “He confessed.” In the course of threatening her and everyone in her new home, but, still. “Now let’s take his operation apart.”