Huang nodded. ‘I would have found a way to destroy their base. Their defences must be useless – you got in easily.’
‘We took them by surprise,’ said Kai. ‘They did not detect our approach.’
‘I thought the sledge looked like a stealth machine,’ said Geoff. ‘But how did you get into the dome?’
‘After landing, I had what I call a visualisation,’ said Kai. ‘I saw Leona, and I asked her for help. When I reached the Unidome, a hangar door opened and she was there in person.’
‘I like Leona, but I’m surprised she’s been so . . .’ Maura paused to think of the word. ‘. . . proactive, on our behalf?’ she finished, making the statement a question.
‘I do not know how she did it, but she told me where to go to find you two,’ said Kai, looking at Maura and Geoff, ‘and also how to get past the security barriers. Then she watched Securopa’s cameras to see where their sentries were posted and relayed the information to me telepathically.’
‘You knew Geoff would join us,’ said Maura, giving Geoff a beaming smile.
‘I think he enjoyed creating havoc, setting off the sprinklers and fighting the guards,’ said Kai, laughing. ‘It was a great diversion.’
Leona came in from the communications room. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but OPDEO has put up another satellite,’ she said. ‘I think it’s searching for our base. We mustn’t use the pagoda hologram if their satellites are in the sky.’
An Invitation
Leona led them back to the room they’d thought was a recording studio, but they now understood to be a communications centre. They squeezed inside, filling the space. Leona had patched the OPDEO satellite positions through to the wall screen. In his time in the Unidome, Geoff had known her to be a competent office manager, but he had no idea that she had such technical expertise.
‘Can we can send OPDEO a message?’ Kai asked. ‘We would have to do it without them knowing where it has come from.’
‘If you time it exactly right, you can bounce a radio signal off combinations of the outer moons,’ said Geoff. ‘On to Io and back to Europa. I don’t think they’ll be able to trace it if you do that. I’ll work out a signal route.’
‘Thanks,’ said Kai. ‘I have written a draft. Please tell me what you think.’
‘Can we send it in code?’ asked Maura.
‘I can transcribe it into OPDEO’s high security cipher,’ said Leona. ‘I’ve got their encryption package on my com-pad.’ Geoff looked up in surprise, but said nothing.
Geoff and Maura read through Kai’s draft:
To General Flannery, Chief of Staff, OPDEO, The Hesperian Federation’s base, Europa.
Dear Sir,
This communication comes to you from a delegation comprising representatives from the Hesperian and Khitan communities, under the auspices of the Unified Nations Committee for Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). We send you our greetings. In order to avoid the unhelpful involvement of other terrestrial organisations, we would be grateful if you would treat this communication with the highest level of confidentiality.
Our objective is to promote peace and harmony between the geopolitical groupings on Earth, and to establish the arrangements necessary to benefit all living beings within our Solar System.
As we believe you are aware, this moon supports an indigenous life form, which lives under the sea. These beings, which we call ‘Thiosh’, possess a high degree of intelligence. Theirs is an ancient civilisation whose imperative is to avoid conflict with humankind. Indeed, their scientific knowledge is sufficiently advanced for them to be able to offer expertise to help us develop new technologies for the benefit of all. In return, they ask only to be allowed to live their lives in friendly cohabitation with people from Earth.
Because of the different nature of their bodies, it is difficult for the Thiosh to negotiate directly. They have granted our delegation the great honour of speaking on their behalf. Please indicate your willingness to meet with us, in order to explore the possibilities and necessary safeguards arising from cultural interaction.
We are sending you this message from a location which we regret we cannot, at the moment, disclose. Please reply via your recently launched satellite, in a transmission which can be received from anywhere on the hemisphere facing Jupiter.
Yours in peace,
Joint Hesperian/Khitan delegation.
‘It seems very generous to me,’ said Geoff, ‘considering their interrogation techniques. But if we want a good outcome, I guess we should be forgiving?’
Maura pursed her lips. ‘Breckenridge is a vile bollix, that’s for sure, but we don’t know about the others. Let’s play along, but watch our backs.’
Kai and Leona went off to the communications room leaving Geoff and Maura browsing in the e-library. ‘Chen was right. This is an amazing place,’ said Maura. ‘The network hyperlinks thousands of reference books and academic papers. I wonder how the Thiosh got hold of them all?’
‘I’ve been wondering that too. And they’re translatable from English into dozens of Khitan dialects.’
‘The Khitans don’t seem to be the aggressive tykes we hear about on the Hesperian news. D’you think there’ll ever be an end to wars on Earth?’
‘If we can offer Thiosh technology in exchange for peace, perhaps we can make the two sides see sense. They can either hate each other in their pig ignorant stupidity, or else they can cooperate and build a better future for all.’
Kai entered the library carrying a printout. ‘Geoff, Maura, we have got an answer,’ he announced. ‘Tell me what you think.’
We send our greetings to the Joint Hesperian/Khitan delegation on Europa.
As you have realised, we have known for some time about the presence of intelligent life in the ocean of Europa, and it has always been our greatest priority to preserve and, indeed, nurture the extraterrestrial creatures that have developed here so far from the sun. We appreciate the extraordinary scientific importance of this discovery, and you have my word that our colony here at the frontiers of space exploration would never on any account do anything to the detriment of this fascinating life form.
We thank you for the initiative you have taken in offering to meet us to explore how we can further our common interests. We understand that you have established an amicable relationship with the Thiosh race and can speak for them. We look forward to learning from you how you have achieved this level of communication, which clearly has potential benefit for all humankind. Please be assured that, given your status as representatives of the Thiosh, we shall grant you all full diplomatic immunity.
Our only reservation with regard to your proposal is that, while you offer yourselves as intermediaries on behalf of the Thiosh, we require that their own representative is also present. You referred to their ancient civilisation and, by implication, we assume they have a leader who could be party to the discussions, notwithstanding the technical difficulties of ensuring a safe environment for him (or her, as appropriate) during the conference. Please confirm that the Thiosh leader is willing to attend. We are compelled to make our agreement to negotiate conditional on the Thiosh leader’s presence, in order to minimise the risk of any future misunderstanding.
We surmise that your base on the Jovian hemisphere has been recently constructed, and we welcome the opportunity your presence on the moon offers for mutual cooperation. Please let us have the grid coordinates for your location so that we can set up a more permanent line of communication.
Assuring you of our very best intentions for the success of our future joint enterprise,
General Flannery, Chief of Staff, OPDEO.
Maura threw her arms in the air and inadvertently leapt off the floor. She sank slowly to the ground, shaking her head. ‘Holy Mother, what a load of shite! Do they really think we’ll believe all that baloney? This guy’s as devious as a Ballysax bookie.’
‘On no account should we tell him our location,’ said Kai.
‘What do you thi
nk, Geoff?’ asked Maura. ‘Shouldn’t we be escalating this up to the Hesperian Government?’
‘The Khitans are just as involved. We cannot approach one side and not the other,’ said Geoff.
‘The Empire and the Federation are intent on war. I do not think the powers on Earth will agree to help the Thiosh,’ said Kai.
‘You’re right,’ said Geoff. ‘What do either of them know about Thiosh? Our best hope is to make some sort of pact with OPDEO, and then present it to Earth as a fait accompli.’
‘As my great-granny might have said, I trust Flannery like I’d trust a tinker,’ said Maura.
‘I haven’t heard that word for a long time,’ said Geoff. ‘But there is a chance we could reach an agreement. They’d do a deal if they could gain some benefit. But it would need to be shared with the Khitans or else it would upset the balance of power.’
Kai looked thoughtful. ‘We do not have to decide ourselves. This base was built by Thiosh, and we are here because of them. As human beings, we delight in our own pride. But everything we have learnt about the Thiosh suggests they are cleverer than we are.’
‘Of course, they must have a plan,’ said Geoff. ‘I think you telepathists should put your heads together and ask the Thiosh what to do. I can’t help. I’m lacking in that department. I think I’ll go down the gym and do some mental weight training.’
‘Don’t move Europa off course when you’re flexing your brain,’ said Maura.
At precisely 16.00 CHT, Kai taxied the rocket-sledge into OPDEO’s service hangar. The Unidome’s airlock inner door operated automatically to allow the delegates to pass through. Now they were inside, the seriousness of their situation weighed heavily on Geoff. From any rational point of view, to return voluntarily to OPDEO’s base so soon after they’d only just escaped with their lives was the height of madness. But, whichever way Geoff looked at it, they had no choice but to go through with the conference, even though OPDEO had previously considered him and Maura to be dissident outlaws. Would they go back on their promise of diplomatic immunity?
A young woman in uniform met the arrivals and offered to act as their guide. She took their names and asked if they minded having their photo taken, for ‘security reasons’. At the Saazat’s request, Kai had instructed them not to bring weapons. They’d expected to be searched but, in the event, they were simply asked to sign a declaration that they weren’t carrying any harmful substances or equipment. Geoff wondered whether Kai’s crew had some ion guns hidden in their luggage. But there was probably no point; the OPDEO military staff and the Securopa guards outnumbered them – a thousand to one.
Geoff had forgotten how hot the environment was inside the dome. Then he wondered if the sticky feeling in his armpits was due to nervous tension. As their guide led them along a red carpeted corridor to the conference chamber, Geoff heard a piano playing ragtime jazz. It wasn’t the synthesised version popular in the Hesperian Federation before he’d left Earth. This sounded like the original music of more than three hundred years ago. The melody grew steadily louder until they entered a circular hall where a group of OPDEO staff, both military and civilian, were chatting in groups. The pianist, dressed in white evening dress, sat at a gleaming Steinway. Coloured spotlights pulsed in time with the music, refracting and reflecting light through transparent streamers hanging from the ceiling. Most of the seating had been removed and tables were laid out for a buffet comprising both Hesperian and Khitan delicacies. At various points around the hall, an array of viz-box screens cycled a series of slides. There were sequences showing the construction of the dome, and how OPDEO had made the Europan colony self-sufficient. A video detailed the care the organisation had taken to protect extraterrestrial environments, and another showed how OPDEO used various resources from planets and asteroids to help Earth’s underprivileged people.
They were joined by General Flannery who shook hands with each of them and welcomed them to the conference. He offered them refreshments, asked about their journey and apologised for not sending his own personal transport to collect them. He invited them to take a selection of canapés from the buffet and, as the general appeared to be eating the same food, they sampled the cuisine. Geoff sipped rare vintage wine from a crystal glass. Much of the tension he’d felt earlier left him, but he knew he had to remain alert. Flannery explained they would begin the conference proper in the morning and, until then, he hoped they would relax and enjoy the entertainment he’d arranged for them.
The general made a call on his com-phone and three couples entered, dressed like members of a burlesque dance troupe. Geoff now realised what the general had meant when he’d promised ‘entertainment’. A smiling adjutant introduced Huang to a woman clad in a one-piece leather suit, laced across her prodigious breasts. Chen, however, seemed unable to take his eyes off a waif-like girl whose elfish face was half-tattooed with stars. The officer noticed Chen’s interest and brought her over to meet him. Soon, both Khitans were laughing and joking with their new companions.
‘This is terrible,’ Maura whispered to Geoff. ‘I never thought OPDEO would stoop this low.’
‘I think they’re trying to soften us up in some extraordinary way. Whatever the reason, I don’t like it.’
The guide introduced Maura to a young man wearing his shirt open to the waist. Maura took him to one side and invited him close so she could whisper in his ear. Whatever it was she said, his neck and face flushed a rosy hue; he straightened quickly and strode away. Maura came back to where Geoff had been joined by a girl in a thin gauze evening dress. She removed the woman’s arm from his waist and told her he was already spoken for.
‘What was going on?’ she asked Geoff.
‘I was just being polite.’
‘Well, from now on you can be polite to me.’
Geoff noticed Kai and Leona had also shaken off their escorts, but Chen was improvising an energetic dance routine with his partner, and Huang was engaged in an animated conversation with his Amazonian friend. The four redundant escorts began dancing in pairs.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ said Maura. ‘I’ll ask our guide where we’re sleeping tonight.’
‘They’ve probably got our rooms wired,’ said Geoff. ‘I’ll tell Kai to watch out for bedbugs.’
‘Give him a while. Kai’s sharing his thoughts with the Saazat at the moment. I think Mettravar is trying to deal with some opposition within the Thiosh community. I’ll do the checking in for both of us.’
The Conference
Maura hadn’t been in the high-speed elevator before. Geoff held up four fingers and the gesture control system responded instantly, causing Maura’s knees to buckle as the lift accelerated. Geoff clamped his hands on her shoulders to hold her down as they stopped at the fourth and highest level.
‘You might have warned me,’ she said, smiling.
They stepped into a corridor and looked through a wall of glass at a panorama of sequin stars sprinkled over the blackness of the infinite void.
‘I’ll never get tired of this,’ said Maura. ‘It’s like seeing the universe for the first time. I’m glad I came to Europa after all.’
‘You never guessed you’d end up fighting for alien rights, though,’ said Geoff. ‘Do you regret anything?’
‘Not at all. In fact, right now, I’m looking forward to a night in OPDEO’s luxury accommodation.’
‘Did they give you key cards for our rooms?’
‘They didn’t have to, there’s iris recognition on the doors. They scanned us when we first arrived, apparently.’
‘Oh, yeah – when they took photos “for security reasons”. So, which are our rooms?’
‘It’s room singular, and it’s this one.’ Maura looked closely at Geoff’s face.
‘So, I do have to be polite then,’ Geoff said lightly. He pretended to be unsurprised at sharing a room to give himself a few moments to think. He wasn’t great at reading other people’s emotions but he could hide his own when he needed to. Maura
had fascinated him from the first moment he’d seen her. He loved her passion and natural rebelliousness. He’d also found her to be unpredictable – but now they would be together. It would be okay. He burst out laughing and kissed her.
‘I have to say I’m impressed by OPDEO’s taste,’ said Maura as she surveyed the flowing lines of the room’s décor, imbued with the natural forms of flowers and plants.
‘I expect OPDEO employed consultants. Is this Art Deco?’ Geoff asked.
‘More Antoni Gaudí. I love the arched screen through to the bedroom. It’s like the entrance to the Sagrada Família.’
Geoff felt the need to change the subject. ‘I must say they’ve given us a good bottle of champagne. Dom Pérignon, 2123,’ he said, untying the carbon fibre cage to release the stopper.
‘I hope this works out – the conference, I mean. It’s a wonderful opportunity for Hesperians and Khitans to cooperate. The Thiosh are a unique form of life.’
‘Flannery will only agree if he sees some advantage for OPDEO. And then only if it helps weaken the Khitan Empire.’
Geoff saw Maura’s face drop. Why do I always have to dash her hopes? But OPDEO cares for nothing and nobody except itself.
Maura’s eyes glistened in the room’s gentle light, and he longed to make her happy again. He picked up the internal com-phone and ordered a selection of exotic dishes from the room service menu: citrus tomatillo gazpacho, butternut squash and pear ravioli with rosemary sauce, and grapefruit mint granita for dessert. He felt the need to show initiative, and he was confident she would like his choice.
‘We’ll eat soon,’ he said. ‘OPDEO will have electronically pasteurized the ingredients for preservation, but they’ll taste okay. Shall I go in the shower first? I won’t be long.’ He planned to scan the food for drugs or poisons using the biometer he’d borrowed from Huang. He’d calculated their dinner would arrive while Maura was in the bathroom, giving him the chance to check it without causing her any alarm.
The Hesperian Dilemma Page 7
