“Most systems on the battleships were destroyed, and those that still functioned had been wiped clean when the crew abandoned ship,” Carabali eventually reported. “But the fleet-system code monkeys had told us that these unusual worms would not be affected by normal system wipes or sanitizing, and they were right. We found traces of those worms in a number of places.”
So Boyens hadn’t withheld information about the alien worms. It seemed the Syndics really didn’t know about them. “What systems were affected?”
“We can’t be certain,” Carabali admitted. “The enemy battleships were so shot up that functions had been automatically routed by damage-control routines through any available processor and internal server or network. As a result, we can’t isolate which specific subsystems on the Syndic ships were originally infected by the worms.”
“Thank you, General. Excellent work.”
“Will there be more work for my Marines, sir? Somewhere on a planet’s surface?”
“I don’t know, General. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.”
Geary rubbed his eyes again, wishing he could get some real rest. He had retired to his stateroom, but the compartment felt more like a prison than a refuge just then. How long would the politicians talk? The politicians had hauled CEO Boyens out of his confinement to assist them, which might or might not be a good sign.
Calling up a display, he pulled out the scale to see what was happening. Near where the hypernet gate had been, the mass of merchant ships carrying FACs still hung almost motionless, as if waiting for orders even though their mission had been completely overtaken by events and even though there was no longer a hypernet gate through which attackers could arrive to be ambushed. The lone HuK that had arrived via the hypernet gate before its collapse had begun transiting across the edge of the star system toward the jump point for Mandalon, but at a velocity that suggested it didn’t expect to receive orders to jump anytime soon.
Captain Smyth on Tanuki had been a whirlwind of activity, directing the other auxiliaries to close on the most badly damaged warships and provide extra assistance in fixing the most serious damage.
Geary had spoken to Commander Lavona on Adroit, formally appointing her commanding officer until further notice and hinting broadly that he wanted the investigation into Captain Kattnig’s death completed very soon and what he expected the results to be. Lavona had seemed more than pleased to follow Geary’s lead on the matter. “I don’t know why things happened the way they did in the battle, but he was a good officer, Admiral.”
“He’ll be remembered that way,” Geary promised.
Geary watched his fleet move, scanned status reports on casualties and damage and repair status, and waited, feeling oddly impotent for a fleet admiral.
When the summons for his presence in the negotiation room finally came, Geary deliberately paused to check his uniform, then walked with a measured pace through the passageways of Dauntless until he reached the secure compartment near the intelligence spaces. Marines stood sentry outside, some of them providing security and some of them the guards who had brought Boyens here and would return him to confinement afterward. Inside the room, the Alliance senators and Syndic CEO Boyens were seated around the table. No virtual presences or active comm screens showed any Syndic leaders or negotiators. Costa appeared belligerent and stubborn, Sakai slightly uncertain, and Rione as usual was masking her true feelings. Syndic CEO Boyens simply seemed depressed.
Rione slid a data unit toward him as Geary took a seat. “We have an agreement. The new leaders of the Syndicate Worlds have signed on to terms essentially matching those the Alliance grand council proposed.”
The news was so much at variance with the expressions around the table that Geary had to think through it twice to be sure that he had heard right. “Isn’t that good?”
Sakai nodded. “It’s very good, Admiral.” He frowned a bit, his eyes meeting Geary’s. “What you see is in part a sense of disbelief. None of us can quite accept that formal hostilities between the Alliance and the Syndicate Worlds will finally come to an end. War between us has been a fact of life for as long as any of us have lived.”
One of the words caught Geary’s attention. “Formal hostilities?”
“Yes.” Costa let the one word drip acid. “The Syndic leaders, the former ones, pushed their planets too hard. The new leaders have confessed that as best they can tell what we saw at Atalia, at Parnosa, and here is happening in pockets all over Syndic space. Rebellion. Revolution. In some cases anarchy.”
“The Syndicate Worlds,” Rione continued, “are falling apart. We drove the last nail into the coffin of the Syndicate Worlds when we wrecked the flotilla here. By so doing we eliminated the last major mobile force responding to the orders of central authority.”
“It wasn’t responding to orders from central authority before you destroyed it,” Boyens said in dejected tones.
“Granted. In any event, that flotilla was the last existing means by which central authority might have suppressed the factors tearing apart the bonds that have long held worlds and peoples in check. The process is playing out at varying rates all across Syndic space, but the bottom line is that the new leaders of the Syndicate Worlds no longer control all that used to be the Syndicate Worlds. It will also complicate the return of Alliance prisoners of war, and the fleet may well have to take actions to ensure individual star systems abide by this agreement to return and account for all prisoners.”
He finally understood the expressions. “Then the treaty means nothing.”
Sakai shook his head. “No, Admiral, it’s not that bad. We no longer need fear attack from forces operating under the control of the Syndicate Worlds.”
“But the successor powers to the Syndicate Worlds are another matter,” Costa spat. “The Syndics here don’t have a good handle on what’s happening everywhere else in Syndic space, former Syndic space, that is, but they do know individual star systems and blocks of star systems are breaking away. They’re going to try to maintain the Syndicate Worlds, but the odds of that being anything like the old Syndicate Worlds in terms of size and strength are pretty low.”
“None of the successor powers have enough strength to constitute a threat to the Alliance,” Sakai said.
“Not yet,” Costa replied. “But there are wealthy former Syndic star systems with extensive shipbuilding facilities, the means, in time, to create their own fleets for defense or for conquest.”
Geary rubbed his forehead with his palms, thinking it through. “The big war is over, but we have smaller security threats all through Syndic space.”
“Which we can’t let boil over into bigger threats that might affect the Alliance over time.” Costa scowled at the table. “Which isn’t to say that a bigger threat isn’t still out there.” Costa rapped hard on the controls before her. “A Syndic courier ship arrived in this star system not long ago. Its transmission was relayed to us by the new leaders of the Syndicate Worlds, along with a request for assistance. One minute they’re trying to kill us, the next they’re pleading for help.”
An image of a Syndic CEO appeared over the table. Contrary to the outward calm and arrogance that Geary was used to seeing, this CEO appeared to be openly despairing. “We have issued numerous requests for defensive support that have gone unanswered. Now we are in urgent need of assistance. We have received an ultimatum from the enigma race, demanding that humanity totally evacuate this star system.”
“Enigma race?” Geary asked. “That’s what the Syndics call the aliens?”
Boyens nodded. “It didn’t seem to be an important piece of information. If it’s any consolation, only three of the new Executive Council members had any knowledge of the aliens before this. The others had never been cleared for the information. That’s CEO Gwen Iceni of Midway Star System on the screen, by the way. A decent, good person despite the CEO rank, if you’ll accept my judgment of her.”
CEO Iceni was still speaking. “The ultimatum doesn’
t allow any room for negotiation or compromise, and all attempts to contact the enigma race have gone unanswered except for reiteration of the demands. Aside from the fixed defenses within this star system, we have only a few minor mobile combat forces available. The flotilla once maintained in this region is gone, I’ve been told. Everything else was also stripped from this border and sent to fight the Alliance. Now we have no effective means of defending ourselves, but it’s impossible for us to get even half the humans here out of this star system before the enigma race’s deadline. We require help, everything you can send. Otherwise, most of the population will still be here and nearly defenseless when the ultimatum expires and the enigma race arrives to seize possession of this star system. We will fight, but we can’t hope to win unless we get help.”
The image vanished, replaced by a plain text document laying out the alien demands along with a deadline, which Geary saw was just over three weeks away.
Rione spoke into the quiet that followed the end of the transmission. “Another thing we feared has come to pass. The aliens are seeking to expand into Syndic space, taking advantage of Syndic weakness.”
“Seeking to expand into human space,” Sakai corrected. “Part of humanity is weakened, but every gain these aliens achieve will come at the expense of all humanity’s power to confront them later.”
“It’s a long way from that border to the Alliance,” Costa grumbled.
“That depends how you measure it,” Rione said. “In light-years? Yes. In jumps? Still a long distance. But by hypernet? Four weeks’ travel time.”
“Close enough,” Sakai agreed.
Costa frowned some more. “The grand council can consider the situation and decide what to do.”
“We don’t have time for that,” Sakai insisted. “The ultimatum will have expired before we could return from a journey back to Alliance space.”
“That’s too bad for the Syndics. The grand council—”
“Has already granted Admiral Geary the authority to make decisions regarding confronting the aliens,” Rione broke in. “We here can offer him advice, but he has the authority, granted by the full council, to decide on his course of action.”
And now everybody was looking at him again. Geary felt a sudden nostalgia for the old days, when he was just another officer, able himself to look toward whoever had gotten stuck with having to deal with whatever mess had arisen. But ever since the Syndic surprise attack at Grendel, ever since the days in Grendel leading up to that attack, everybody had been looking to him. Funny how he hadn’t gotten used to it.
He had known that the aliens might move. Now he had a specific situation to deal with, and a fleet that had finally won its war but would soon learn that another enemy needed to be faced.
There was someone else Geary could ask questions of, though, and he turned to face Boyens. “Why there? Why that particular star system? Why do the aliens want it first?”
“Because of where it is.” Boyens called up a display of that region of Syndic space, pointing to a star at the border with the aliens. “Midway Star System has that name because it’s so well positioned relative to other stars. From Midway, ships can jump directly to eight other star systems. It’s an excellent waypoint.”
Geary felt his jaw tighten as he studied the display. “Which makes it the defensive hinge for that entire sector, doesn’t it? If the aliens control Midway, they can threaten those eight other star systems and force their evacuation. The entire border defense falls apart.”
“One of the eight star systems is already under alien control, but that’s pretty much right. Too many star systems would be within jump range for us to defend. We’d have to fall back all along the border until we could establish a new line where jump ranges limited the number of star systems directly threatened.”
“We?” Costa asked sharply.
Boyens flushed slightly. “I meant the Syndicate Worlds.”
“There isn’t any Syndicate Worlds now.”
“That situation isn’t settled yet, especially in places like the border, but if we have to, we’ll form a new grouping of star systems along the border. We can’t afford to let that area break apart. Individual star systems couldn’t muster the resources to defend the region.”
“By ‘we,’” Rione said, “you mean this time the populations of the star systems in the border area.”
“That’s right.” Boyens glared at the display. “Whatever’s left of them after this. Look, I know how you feel about us, and how you feel about me. But we have a common enemy here, a reason to stand together.”
“Why are they your enemy?” Sakai asked. “How has the Syndicate Worlds dealt with this enigma race?”
“I don’t know everything that’s happened,” Boyens insisted, “especially in the early years a century ago. I know we’ve been trying to learn their secrets, but as far as I know, we’ve never succeeded.”
“You provoked them,” Costa charged. “And now you want us to save your sorry souls from the fates you brought upon yourselves.”
“I don’t know everything we’ve done! But what does it matter? Whatever it was is history, done and gone beyond changing. Now, today, countless innocent humans will suffer if you don’t do something.”
Rione had been tapping controls softly and finally looked at Boyens. “It appears that if this star system is taken by the aliens, you’ll have to abandon more than twenty other star systems in order to reestablish a defensible border.”
Boyens stared at the display, then nodded. “Something like that. Several billion people would have to be pulled out.”
“Do you have enough shipping to do that?”
“In the border region? No. In all of Syndic space? I don’t know. I doubt it. We can’t draw on it now anyway.”
“What happens to humans left on planets the aliens occupy?”
“I don’t know. Nobody knows. There’s never been any contact, any evidence, any trace of them. Everything we sent in to try to find out something vanished itself without any trace as well.”
No one spoke for a while, then Rione turned her face to Geary. “Do we have a choice?”
“What do you think of that ultimatum?” Geary asked in reply. “Does it match what the other CEO said about it?”
“Yes. Blunt, direct, unequivocal, and not a thing in it that provides any clues to how the aliens think. It could have been drafted by a human.”
“Maybe it was, since the Syndics don’t know what happened to humans captured by the aliens.”
Sakai stared at the text of the ultimatum. “Prisoners? Slaves? Servants? Guests? Pets? If only we knew which of those applied.”
“You forgot ‘dead,’” Rione said in a quiet voice. “In any number of possible ways. We need the answer to that question. Without it, we have no way of knowing if peaceful coexistence is possible.”
“Peaceful?” Costa asked scornfully. “Whatever they are, peace seems unlikely. You saw what they did at Kalixa! They’re inhuman!”
Rione gazed back at Costa. “I recall some who argued we should use the hypernet gates as weapons despite knowing the devastation they would cause. The former leaders of the Syndics did make such a decision. Were these aliens to turn out to be human, it wouldn’t bring me any comfort.”
Costa flushed but directed her attention back to Geary. “Well, Admiral, what will you do?”Give thanks that I never got involved in politics. Outwardly, Geary just gestured toward the ultimatum and the star display. “I want to talk to some of my officers before I make any decisions.” He started to get up, then focused on Boyens again. “Is there anything else you can tell us? The more I know, the more likely I am to decide to go to the aid of those people.”
“My people,” Boyens muttered. “I’ve told you what I know. Except one thing. You’ve accused us of provoking the enigma race, of causing their hostility toward humanity. I told you that I don’t know what the Syndicate Worlds did in the first decades after contact, and that was the truth. But our o
rders for the last decade at least have been to avoid doing anything that might incite the aliens, anything that might increase tensions or cause problems. I always believed that was because we couldn’t afford to fight on two fronts at once. Maybe there was another reason. But we haven’t done anything in a long time.”
“Perhaps these aliens have long memories,” Sakai said.
Boyens stared at him, then nodded. “Maybe. I won’t swear nothing happened. But I don’t know of anything. Certainly nothing recent.”
“There are compartmentalized activities,” Rione noted. “Actions kept from the knowledge of even those operating in the same regions. Would you have known of those?”
Geary could see the hesitation in Boyens. He didn’t need an interrogation cell to know the Syndic CEO was trying to make up his mind whether or not to lie. But, finally, Boyens shook his head. “No. Not necessarily. But why would anyone have done such a thing?”
“Why did the Syndicate Worlds start the war with the Alliance?” Geary asked.
Boyens met his eyes. “I don’t know. I guess they thought they could win. I don’t know why they thought that.”
“Surely there is speculation among Syndicate Worlds’ CEOs as to the reasons?” Rione said.
“Not all that much. It doesn’t matter. Didn’t matter. It mattered a century ago, when they made the stupid decision to start the war. If we talked about it, that’s all we said. It was stupid. But the reasons the war started ceased to matter a long time ago. We were stuck with it, that was all, and nobody knew how to stop it.” The Syndic CEO lowered his head, but not before they saw his pained expression. “Believe me, some of us wanted to stop it, but since we didn’t know how, we had to keep fighting.”
“Thank you. Admiral, will you have your Marines escort CEO Boyens back to his room?” Rione waited until Boyens had left with his escort, then sighed. “My advice is to go to the defense of the former Syndic border. If we let it crumble, and allow these aliens to establish control of numerous former Syndic star systems, the mending may be beyond every capability the Alliance possesses.”
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