Adric, Emperor of Gloran, glowered at A.Q. Tanel as the man stood just inside the door to Adric’s personal quarters and nodded.
“All three of them?” Adric asked.
“Almost simultaneously, My Lord,” A.Q. said. “The formal message from Kosnett was expected, though we were a bit surprised that he summoned all his Cruiser-Captains to a meeting first. That both Khan and Zaman sent messages in code at almost the same time can be chalked up to both of those officers being aboard Urumchi and not being able to send a coded message until they returned to their own decks.”
“And none say anything useful?” Adric demanded.
“Correct,” A.Q. replied. “Kosnett asks for a formal, private meeting with you, separate from a large event similar to you hosting him here. Khan and Zaman each simply say they have information critical to your decision-making.”
Adric ground his teeth at that. It suggested that Aquitaine had found or manufactured evidence at odds with the story of piracy. Badly at odds. That Emperor Kerenski would be moved to a predictable course of action. Were Khan and his cousin both trying to dissuade him, having found the truth?
Khan he could see finding something out. No doubt Kosnett had summoned his Cruiser-Captains in order to tell them. To prepare them.
Kira Zaman had been invited aboard Urumchi by Command Centurion Lau, so Arteshbo was close by the flagship right now, with Mardonius and Darius remaining in protective orbit of Two. Presumably she had found something as well, and intently contacted her cousin and emperor at first opportunity.
“How formal?” Adric asked. “How private?”
“Kosnett suggested you and Fleet-Captain Povoloi, meeting with him and Command Centurion Lau,” A.Q. replied. “Nobody else. Not even Ambassadors Gavraba or Babatunde. That suggests a heavily military conversation, rather than a diplomatic one.”
“He expects me to start shooting immediately,” Adric concluded.
“Gloran does have that reputation,” A.Q. pointed out helpfully with a wry smile. “Khan is an aggressive commander, which was why you sent him. He would be their baseline example of a Gloran Cruiser-Captain. Kosnett would have expectations thus set.”
“And he wants to prevent a war,” Adric concluded. “Something has come up so ugly that he expects me to gather up my fleet and go hit someone. Talk to me about Ewin again.”
“While he was visiting Dalou, a supposedly-rogue Ewin Baron attacked the former pirate base at Meerut, getting his ass utterly handed to him in the process,” A.Q. laughed. “Rather than take a diplomatic approach, or even sail home to survey the damage, Kosnett immediately pounced on the Baron’s home base and finished him off as a threat, capturing the man’s flagship and only drydock right out from under his nose with security troops.”
“And Ewinhome?” Adric pressed.
He’d read all the reports composed by Khan and various spies, both aboard Khan’s ship and embedded in Ewin society at various levels. A smart emperor spent a lot of money on his external espionage services. Almost as much as his Security Ministry efforts.
“The first time, Kosnett’s mere presence seems to have triggered a meltdown between various unstable personalities, wherein they attempted to settle decades-old differences with orbital combat, however ill thought out in the moment. Kosnett withdrew, hauling the First Minister with him to their Eastern Frontier, where a plan was organized to sail back and do something about a bad drunkard of a king.”
“Only after Kalidoona had signed a treaty of trade and peaceful intentions with Dalou to secure his border while he was gone,” Adric pointed out. “Kosnett’s idea.”
“And the daughter of the Shogun signed it,” A.Q. nodded. “She travels with Kosnett in both official and unofficial capacities.”
“Unofficial?” Adric sat up straighter.
“She has temporarily enlisted in the Aquitaine fleet for training, Adric,” A.Q. replied. “Junior officer, but I get the impression from reports that she is competent and Kosnett appears to be grooming her for something big.”
“Or giving her the training she needs to actually become Shogun, when other Cruiser-Captains would balk,” Adric replied. “Making sure that his preferred candidate can ascend when she’s ready.”
“Would they allow it?” A.Q. gasped.
“Kosnett must think so,” Adric replied. “Imagine if I just cast aside Khan’s various denunciations and accepted Kira Zaman openly as a cousin and possible heir. My gut instinct is that Kosnett is about to change Dalou that much.”
“Morninghawk?” A.Q. asked.
“Indubitably,” Adric agreed. “They stopped at Urwel while coming here, just to show support for the man and his efforts to generate trade on that triangular section of space. Do we have anything similar here?”
“Only Vilahana,” A.Q. replied. “It has never mattered before this, because everybody pretty much accepted the gap leading outward as something of a natural boundary between Aditi, Dalou, and Gloran. That was before Kosnett, however.”
“Indeed, before Kosnett,” Adric agreed. “What changes now?”
“There are any number of petty worlds out there,” A.Q. shrugged. “Most are neutral to some degree, because nobody cared.”
“We need to care,” Adric ordered. “Find the right people to find the right maps. And maybe I need to also have a meeting with this young woman as a formal thing while we’re all here. If she can get those stupid punk chauvinistic drunks at Ewin to deal with her as an equal, then she is not a pushover.”
“Do we respect what Kosnett’s trying to do?” A.Q. asked, scowling now.
“Look at what he has accomplished in a single year, Tanel,” Adric pointed out. “And if he intends this daughter to be Shogun, it is in our best interests to know who she is now. Isn’t that what Kosnett is about? Meeting one another and talking?”
“Should we look to sign a similar treaty with Dalou as they did with Ewin?” A.Q. asked.
“Get a copy of it and run it past all the legal officers you can find,” Adric decided. “Send home for some if we didn’t bring the right minds, and have them delivered here as soon as possible. Maybe we propose to Dalou a copy of the exact same thing they signed with Ewin, scratching out only the names.”
“Why?” A.Q. asked, not seeing it.
Adric wasn’t sure he saw it, but he also saw the vast scope of changes that had occurred since Kosnett’s first encounters at Vilahana. The Zen-Mekyo Syndicates utterly broken and swept onto the tailings pile of history, Carinae II notwithstanding. A joint squadron representing every nation, including former pirates now, operating together to capture Meerut and turn it into a thorn in both Ewin and Dalou’s sides simultaneously. Dalou possibly looking at a Crown Prince sailor and a woman Shogun. Ewin maybe broken to the bit and halter for once by the superior firepower of Aquitaine. Trade at Urwel.
And now Kosnett had turned his eyes to Gloran.
“Because Kosnett gets things done,” Adric said simply. “And everyone else has been unsettled by his arrival. This might represent a once in a generation opportunity to change things. Or lock things in. Best we do them on our terms.”
Adric paused and let his eyes unfocus a little, seeing something ten thousand light-years away on a dim horizon.
“Change is coming, A.Q.,” he pronounced. “We need to be in control of it when it does, or it will sweep us under and wash Gloran away. Ewin is probably grappling with that every day. We must not let it overtake us.”
A.Q. nodded and accepted that as the dismissal it was, departing quickly and leaving Adric alone.
A possible future Shogun was here, empowered to make deals. Each of the Five Nations—six now with Meerut if Kosnett was as serious as he seemed—was present, and could also offer connections, which seemed to be Kosnett’s purpose.
Trade, as he loudly proclaimed. Diplomacy.
As well as change at a fundamental, dangerous level.