Kaur turned to Arya.
“Repeat that?” she said.
“Fleet Command just sent us an order to break formation, Kaur,” Arya said. “Ordered us to move into a spot right in front of Khandoba’s squadron.”
“Anything else with the message?” Kaur asked.
“An unspoken or else seemed prevalent,” Arya looked up and scowled.
“Who signed it?” Kaur asked.
“Senior Director Parvez,” Arya replied. “Oh, I have Phil calling. Stand by. Oh. Shit. You need to take this, maybe in your office.”
“Negative,” Kaur said. “If we’re at that point in the game, all of you need to be aware of what is happening. Put him on my personal screen. Everyone listen.”
“Hello, Kaur,” Phil was there a moment later. “I’ll explain later, but I’ve already read the orders Senior Director Parvez just transmitted. What are your plans?”
Phil had read them as fast as Arya had decrypted them? Had they broken the main Consensus codes? Oh, my.
“I had considered challenging his authority to issue such orders, Phil,” she replied instead, understanding what that would mean. “I’m currently attached to your command until removed. They can’t have any reason to suddenly order me out except guilt. An acknowledgment on their part that they already know why I’m here.”
“It’s not worth your career to buck them right now, Kaur,” Phil told her carefully.
“No, that’s where you’re wrong, Phil,” she countered sharply. “It is exactly the oath we all took as officers, regardless of the uniform. As Emperor Kerenski notes. That’s why I was at Vilahana that day when you arrived. Trying to do the right thing. Same goes here. Doubly so when the Gloran Emperor himself is willing to ask questions instead of just blowing things up. I want answers. They will supply them. If my career is worth anything, I’d like them to tell me exactly what that oath is supposed to be about.”
“Understood,” he said. “Given the circumstances, would you like to take the flag and handle these negotiations?”
Kaur wasn’t the only one that gasped on her bridge. Phil was offering her the chance to go out in a blaze of glory if she wanted. But what was the alternative? With a quiet whimper?
She considered it for a long moment. Looked at the surprise on Arya’s face. The shock on Indra Korrapati’s, who had taken Nam’s spot as Kaur’s Weapons Officer. The determination on Jagadish Mishra’s.
“Yes, Phil, I think it would be appropriate,” Kaur replied.
Phil nodded and Kaur clicked the line that connected her with both the squadron as well as the entire Gloran fleet currently settled behind them.
“Aquitaine forces, this is Kaur Singh aboard Aranyani. I have the flag,” she said simply. Sternly. Calmly, even, though her heart was racing. “Arya, open a line to Senior Director Parvez aboard the station. Stand by to retransmit the entire conversation unencrypted on Channel One.”
Arya’s jaw dropped open, but she could at least say later that she’d been following orders. Might get both of them arrested at the same time, but then again, it might not.
What was their oaths worth, after all?
Senior Director Parvez appeared. Kaur knew the face, but couldn’t say she’d spoken more than a handful of words with the man in her life. Political commander, at the top of the scale where he met with the government rather than commanding ships or even fleets.
The image on her screen gave the impression of being tall and corpulent, as so many of them were when they got to that level. No longer working hard to stay in shape. Enjoying the fruits of their career.
In her head, Kaur only whispered quietly about the amount of corruption she’d mostly turned a blind eye to in her time. Five and ten percent deals under the table for such petty things as contracts to service warships in somebody’s particular port station rather than another one. No-bid contracts.
Back scratching that didn’t look all that impressive with the sorts of eyes Kaur brought to the field of battle today.
“You were given specific orders, Commander,” he said bluntly. “Is there going to be a problem?”
On her various screens, no squadrons were currently maneuvering to become hostile. But then, nobody had been expecting this, and they’d outrun any messages if there had been a spy who could spill.
Still, blaze of glory.
“First Centurion Kosnett is currently seeking the whereabouts of the Aditi Light Strike Cruiser Kartikeya, Senior Director Parvez,” Kaur replied in a flat, bureaucratic voice. “He has placed me in temporary command of this combined force. The First Centurion would like to ask the captain of that vessel some pointed questions. Perhaps read their flight logs. The Gloran Emperor has accompanied us today. He also has questions, which is an improvement over his original intentions. Who would be the correct person to come aboard RAN Urumchi for such a conversation?”
She muted the line and just sat there, scowling. The lag was long enough that she could see the impact of her words in the way his nostrils flared angrily. Followed by a hint of concern in his eyes.
He stared at her for a few more seconds, possibly remembering that she was in the process of disobeying a direct order.
Or worse, ignoring it entirely. She had the flag today. That was for the entire, combined force. Aditi might have more warships in system and local orbit, but they were not currently organized in any manner to be a threat to Phil. Or the Emperor.
Trying to become such a threat was an admission, too.
This was as high as the stakes got, but she could just continue to broadcast everything in the clear. As she was doing. Phil was poised to unleash havoc. Angrily.
And Parvez knew the name Kartikeya. That much was obvious. His eyes didn’t have the blankness of ignorance when he considered that name, like an innocent man would.
“You are disobeying an order, Singh,” he tried instead, perhaps remembering how the conversation had started, all of twenty seconds ago.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I’m willing to be Court Martialed over this, Senior Director. I will ask my associates to testify in open court. Demand it, as a matter of fact. Or we can just broadcast everything to the entire system, right now on every channel a ship like Urumchi is capable of overloading. You haven’t answered my question.”
She hit mute on her end so he didn’t hear her growl. Not yet, anyway.
All of the Gloran captains and a great many of her friends had looked askance at her after the truth had come out. Kartikeya was an Aditi vessel, after all. Supposedly a friend.
Parvez glowered at her.
“You can come aboard the station and we’ll talk,” he snapped.
“No,” Kaur snapped back. “You and whoever else can come aboard Urumchi. Or Glanthua’s Stand. I haven’t asked Adric Kerenski which he ship would prefer. It was his world that was attacked. He may demand that you attend him on his flagship. Phil Kosnett offers neutral ground. At least for now.”
As in, Phil might decide that he has to take sides in this matter. You probably wouldn’t like that outcome, either. You might come to regret a great many things, if you decide to make Phil Kosnett your enemy, because he’s made friends with the entire rest of the Cluster.
Somebody off-screen at that end had obviously waved a hand to get his attention, because Parvez’s face turned that way. Sound stopped as they muted so he could be told something.
His scowl turned a little white. Then a lot white. Like maybe somebody important had called on another line. Or been listening and wanted to know more about why Kartikeya was an important enough name that the Gloran Emperor was personally involved.
“Stand by, Aranyani,” he said abruptly. “We will get back to you shortly.”
And he cut the line from his end.
Phil was back a moment later in the internal line.
“Nicely done, Commander,” he said. “Subtle. Threatening without being threatening. Penetrating in the right quarters, and problem-causing in others because folks will want to know more.”
“Do we expect a reply quickly?” she asked.
“No,” he shook his head. “I think we’ve opened the perfect can of worms for them to have to deal with for now. I expect that folks will need to talk for a bit. I would recommend that ships stand down one alert level and start rotating crew members on watch shifts.”
“You would recommend?” Kaur asked, confused.
“You have the flag, Aranyani,” he smiled. “What are your orders?”
Oh. That’s right. She had the flag.
“I think you should take over at this point,” Kaur replied.
“Gladly,” Phil said, cutting over to another line.
“This is Kosnett, I have the flag,” Phil said. “All vessels move to your orders for holding pattern for now, while we await developments.”
Kaur breathed out heavily. She’d just committed the most polite mutiny she could think of. And even threatened her superiors over an open line. But it had been worth it.
She had upheld her oath.
Let the rest of them say that.