Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection (122 page)

She was hungry. She grabbed the sandwich and rolled on her side to prop up on an elbow.

He settled cross-legged on the floor with his own sandwich. “How goes it?”

“Mmhmm….” At his quizzical expression she quit trying to talk while chewing, instead hastening to finish her bite. “I’ve connected the relevant instruments into the module and they seem to be accepting the interpreter. I still need to retrofit the broadcast antennae to accept instructions from the module. Any progress on the power?”

“Yep. It’ll be 2.4° cooler in here. Can you handle it?”

She groaned. “You ask too much.”

“Yeah, well, we also have to go without the gases and heavy metals scanners, but I doubt we’ll miss them.”

“Is that all?”

“No. You need to increase the safety catch on the LEN reactor from 105% to 109%.”

She cringed and considered the implications. A reactor overload meant either a catastrophic loss of power or a catastrophic loss of ship. But it was rated safe to 117%.

“All right. But tell me that’s everything.”

“That’s everything.”

“Thank god.” She eyed the readout coming from the junction box to confirm it hadn’t started throwing errors or spewing gibberish. “By the way, when I was writing the interpreter I had an idea, so I checked the data we recorded in Metis.”

“And?”

“I think the interference in our communications was due to a negative quantum field of sorts. Kennedy and I did a project in college on what, if anything, could interfere with a pervasive quantum field like the exanet. Well, mostly I did the project. She had to go home for her brother’s wedding, so I doubt she’d remember it. Anyway, the answer was ‘not much’—but a competing quantum field would decohere the entanglement. The code for this shield includes a -1 measurement point in addition to 0 and 1, which is exactly the sort of thing to cause problems.”

Caleb shrugged as he took a sip of water. “What do we do about it?”

“I fed a tiny portion of the dampener field into the comm system. In theory it will shield the qubits on this end from the interference. There’s not much else I can do right now.”

She motioned for him to hand over his water. He complied while giving her an odd look, and she got the impression he had only been halfway paying attention.

“So let me see if I get this straight. You want us to merge with Artificials?”

Her head shook behind her sandwich. “Not merge. Connect.”

“But something tells me you’re talking about a deeper connection than a remote interface.”

“It has to be, because using an interface is little more than
talking
to an Artificial. Even real time, in the middle of a battle a conversation is not going to be enough. There’s a doctor on Sagan who’s at the forefront of cybernetics research. She’s been studying ways Artificials might learn by internalizing the human experience—or individual people’s experiences.”

“Forgive me if I’m skeptical.”

“I don’t blame you. Look, the simple fact is we likely can’t defeat this invasion without using Artificials, and not merely as consultants. Only we can’t risk using Artificials, not alone. But if some people—battlefield commanders or ship captains or I don’t know exactly who—were to share a more symbiotic interconnection with them? In theory you’d have those strengths of humanity—creativity, unpredictability, ingenuity—thinking and acting at quantum speed. We—”

You have not yet departed.

Shit. “Get out of my head, Mesme.”

Caleb regarded her curiously; she made an obscene gesture at the low ceiling.

My warning was not made in jest. You are no longer safe here.

“Fine, I get it. We’ll be leaving soon.”

Silence followed. Satisfied he was gone, she frowned at Caleb. “We need to hurry.”

55

EARTH

L
ONDON,
E
ARTH
A
LLIANCE
A
SSEMBLY

M
IRIAM LOCATED HER DESIGNATED
seat in the Assembly Chamber, engaged in the required formality of greeting those she knew by sight and squared her shoulders to the required formality of the venue.

The designated seat appeared to be something of a seat of honor, on the second row and relatively near the center of the semicircle auditorium. She appreciated the recognition but didn’t have time for honorariums or honorifics; she didn’t even have time to be here. Nevertheless she recognized the necessity of making the trip to London in this specific circumstance.

Her last visit to the Chamber had been to accept a Medal of Honor posthumously awarded to David by the Assembly. She allowed the memory to wash over her, all the pain and pride and honor and despair.

The crowd grew hushed as the Secretary stepped up to the podium and gaveled the session to order.

Assembly Speaker Charles Gagnon replaced the Secretary at the podium. He drew in a weighty breath and raised his eyes to the audience. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Representatives and honored guests. These last weeks have been a difficult, trying period for us all, and unfortunately the dark times are not yet drawing to a close.

“Those of us serving in the Assembly are civil servants, working to do the best we can for our constituents and the Alliance. Like everyone else we are not perfect. We make mistakes. But know this: we always act in a manner we believe is right given the information available to us at that point.

“A few short weeks ago I stood before you and made the case that Prime Minister Brennon did not deserve to lead us in a time of war. I believed it to be true, as did a majority of the Assembly. I do not regret that vote.”

He notched his chin up, high and tight. “Now, however, evidence has been brought to the Assembly’s attention calling into question the information upon which the Vote of No Confidence was based. In light of this new evidence a number of Representatives have requested the opportunity to change their votes. Such a procedure is not feasible under the Assembly Regulations. However, legal counsel has determined the Assembly may undertake a superseding vote, the results of which will override any prior vote on the precise issue at hand.

“Therefore, Mr. Secretary, I resubmit Special Assembly Resolution SGR 2322-3174 for an official vote.”

Miriam took advantage of the minutes required for procedures and rules and the casting of votes to enjoy a rare moment of peace—a moment when she wasn’t making decisions which saved and cost lives, when she wasn’t juggling 56,300 ships and 28.2 million servicemen and seventy megatonnes of supplies spread across twenty kiloparsecs.

Then she was reminded why she didn’t seek out such interludes. They only allowed her to remember her daughter was gone. Weeks had passed since anyone had heard from her. If her ship had been disintegrated in space there would never be evidence of it, never an answer to what had happened to her.

If she stopped to ponder the implications she might break. And Admiral Miriam Draner Solovy did not break.

The vote tally flashed on the oversized screen floating high above the chamber, saving her from further wallowing.

SGR 2322-3174:  Vote of No Confidence in Steven Brennon

For:                78

Against:        432

Cheers erupted from those who had never stopped supporting Brennon, polite applause from the rest. She supposed the seventy-eight votes were opposition party members who simply refused to make an exception on principle rather than politics.

“The Vote of No Confidence in Steven Brennon having now failed to pass and the position being vacant pending investigation, Steven Brennon is hereby reinstated to the office of Prime Minister of the Earth Alliance to serve the remainder of his term.”

Brennon stepped onto the dais and met Gagnon halfway, greeting him with a firm handshake and clasp of a shoulder as if to show to the galaxy he bore no grudges. There was no room for grudges.

“Representatives, guests, citizens, I won’t waste your time with platitudes. We all find ourselves deceived and at the moment we face the greatest threat to our existence humanity has ever known. The full extent of the deception is only now beginning to come to light, but my administration will follow it to wherever it leads. In the next twelve hours I will review the state of the war against the Federation and determine whether its purpose remains valid.

“Most of all I pledge to turn the full wisdom, experience and strength of the Alliance government and military toward meeting the growing threat of an alien armada. These are our worlds. Our citizens. Our families and friends. We will not abandon them to suffer and die. We will not allow those lost to have died in vain. We will not let humanity fall.”

Miriam reminded herself to feel vindicated. Alexis was now unquestionably cleared of any involvement whatsoever in the bombing; the conspiracy to instigate the war with Seneca was exposed and being dismantled. Her personal reputation had never been stronger.

She was proud of the role she had played in these events. She had emerged out of the flames unscathed. Yet without David, without Alexis, it seemed a hollow victory and one she’d as soon not dwell on.

After the session concluded the people around her stood and began milling about while Brennon shook hands with the VIPs on the dais. She stood as well and had spotted a former colleague deserving of a greeting several rows back when a hand rested on her arm.

“Admiral Solovy? If you’ll follow me?”

She recognized Brennon’s Chief of Staff and nodded. She was happy to leave behind the suffocating pressure of politicians and glad-handlers.

The Chief of Staff guided her through the crowd to a side door and down several halls to a nondescript conference room. “Can I get you anything, Admiral?”

She noted the pitcher of water on the table and shook her head. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“The Prime Minister will be here momentarily. I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

Miriam poured a glass of water and began to prepare for the upcoming conversation, but she had barely taken a sip when the door opened. Brennon instructed his security detail to wait outside before allowing the door to close behind him.

“Admiral Solovy, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. I do apologize for asking you to travel to London. I realize you’re stretched thin and are doubtless needed elsewhere.”

“It’s not a problem, Prime Minister. You have a mountain of difficult work ahead of you. I’m happy to do whatever I can to ease your transition and help get you back up to speed on matters.” Her words felt unduly stiff; it wasn’t as if this was the first time she’d spoken to a Prime Minister, or even this Prime Minister.

Brennon chuckled softly, easing the tension in the room. “Matters, indeed. I wish I had the luxury of sitting back and appreciating the irony of being in this position once more. Instead I’m being asked to return in order to preside over the extinction of the human race.”

“Not a chance, sir.”

“Good. Which is in fact why you’re here. Forgive my fatalism.” He subtly adjusted his posture. “Admiral, you have served as the clearest voice of reason in the room from the beginning of this disaster. If we had listened to you weeks ago when you presented your data on the aliens we might have been better prepared. Lives
would
have been saved. For this reason and many more I won’t bore you by listing, I’m naming you Chairman of the EASC Board, effective immediately.”

She had known it was why she was here. Not in the sense that anyone had come right out and said it, but it was the most logical conclusion. She and Brennon had a decent working rapport before the world had gone mad. In her opinion Rychen arguably made a better choice—his character qualified him and his combat experience exceeded her own—but she imagined he would have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of the field.

“I’m humbled, sir. I’ll strive to serve to the best of my abilities.”

“You’re not serving anymore, Admiral. You’re leading. Which is why I’m also using my executive authority to promote you to Fleet Admiral.”

“Sir?” That she had not been expecting.

“I’m sure you’ll use the power with proper judiciousness. But the simple fact is, I need your unvarnished, undiluted advice and opinions. And because I’m likely to be a horrifically busy man, I need you to be able to act without consulting a committee when the situation requires it.”

For the first time in a long while, she found herself overcome by uncertainty. Of herself, of whether she was up to the challenge.

Naoborot dushen’ka, I think you will be spectacular at it.

“Understood, sir. Thank you for your trust. I assure you I will endeavor to be worthy of it. I realize your time is short, as is mine, but allow me to give you the first piece of unvarnished advice right now. Make peace with the Federation. Not a cease fire or a truce or an armistice, but true peace—and do it quickly.”

Amusement tinged the curve of his mouth. “My Chief of Staff was contacted several hours ago by a representative for Chairman Vranas, proposing a summit of both governments’ leadership.”

“Accept the proposal, sir. They were as much victims of the conspiracy as we were, and I have every reason to believe they are amenable to ending the war. If we expect to be able to fight these aliens, we need their help and they need ours.”

He considered the matter for several seconds, then nodded. “If humanity is annihilated because we were too busy squabbling with one another to manage a proper stand, we probably deserve the annihilation. I’ll begin making the arrangements tonight.”

“I’m glad to hear it, sir.”

“I meant what I said out there at the podium. Don’t leave our soldiers exposed to a surprise raid by Senecan forces until we untangle this war, but otherwise every person, ship, weapon and tool should be focused on these aliens. We must slow them down until we can find a way to stop them.”