Reclamation (Book One of the Art of War Trilogy), page 28
McKone inclined his head. ‘I can have my men arrange a private audience.’
Howarth turned back to the President. ‘We also think we should begin to countenance the possibility that the destruction of the Tiberean Mission Station was… machinated.’
The atmosphere in the room changed. The President looked triumphant.
‘I bloody knew it,’ he said, slapping his palm on the table. ‘I told you it was too much of a coincidence. I told you.’ He was looking at Pike and Scarcroft, who were both sitting at the other end of the table, looking wretchedly tired. Neither of them said anything.
‘We believe that the so-called “military exercise” organised by the kaygryn militia was a charade,’ Howarth continued, ignoring Aurelius’s insufferable tone, ‘and that the irregulars ascended the mountain with the STO batteries with the deliberate intention of provoking an orbital rail strike.’
‘Why?’ McKone asked softly. It was not a question born of ignorance but rather of interest.
‘We think that the kaygryn were aware of the presence of the mission station, but did not have the means to destroy it in any credibly deniable way.’
‘They sacrificed themselves?’ Pike grumbled, unconvinced, from his apparent reverie. ‘Four hundred of them?’
‘The threat to the provar cruiser had to appear believable. They surrounded the station in the hope that the force of the strike would be enough to disable it and perhaps kill the occupant. We believe the attack on the crusade fleet, the destruction of the corvette and the deaths of the militia are all part of the same strategy.’
Silence descended on the room. After a few moments, Scarcroft said, ‘To what end?’
‘That is what we are hoping Iyadi will be able to tell us,’ Frost said. ‘Whatever the reason, we are clearly dealing with fanatics.’
Aurelius reclined in his chair. ‘Everyone’s a goddamn fanatic these days,’ he said quietly. ‘These… your theories, they do not change our stance with the provar.’
‘No, sir, I didn’t expect they would.’
Garrick had to conceal a smile. Aurelius appeared to have missed the barb.
‘How do we find this Iyadi character then?’ he asked.
Frost took a deep breath. ‘On board the Achilles,’ he said, lips pursed in anticipation of the President’s censure.
‘What do you mean?’ Aurelius asked sharply.
‘Sooner or later, we are going to have to evacuate the kaygryn civilians from Anternis,’ Josette said, breaking her silence. ‘With the Ascendancy in orbit, it will be the only safe passage off the planet. It is likely that Commander Iyadi and other militia figures will try to get aboard among the refugees. We should let them. An operation on Uvolon to try and locate and detain him there is not presently viable. If Iyadi reaches Navem Sigma, we can detain him on our own terms.’
‘As soon as the provar see you’re evacuating kaygryn, they’ll destroy the Achilles,’ Pike said.
‘No,’ Josette said simply. ‘We can secure safe passage for kaygryn refugees at Gonvarion.’
‘Don’t think I don’t see through your bullshit, Chevalier,’ the President said, his voice level. ‘This intelligence farce is something you’ve cooked up to staunch your bleeding heart over these sodding refugees.’
There was an uncomfortable silence during which a large number of the room’s occupants took an intense interest in their dossiers.
Josette met the President’s gaze, unflinching. ‘We are looking at evacuating ten thousand kaygryn civilians at most. Ten thousand out of the millions who the provar will decimate once we leave Uvolon. So no, this is not some “intelligence farce” I have just cooked up. In fact, it’s not even my damn plan!’
There was a vulnerability to her, then, that Garrick could see. Her years as Commissioner for Refugees had written themselves into her DNA. Despite her façade, she cared too much – too much for this kind of heartless, remote work, where casual remarks dictated the lives of thousands. But then, he supposed, she was a better person for it.
The President waved her quiet with a decrepit hand. ‘All right, calm down will you. Even with these damn stims I still feel like death warmed up. Howarth, will any of this interfere with our… contingency?’
Howarth looked visibly uncomfortable as all eyes focussed on him. ‘No, sir,’ he said, clearing his throat.
Aurelius nodded. ‘The rest of you will find out about this later,’ he said dismissively. ‘Just collateral in case this situation blows up in our faces. We are walking a very fine line here between legitimate self-defence and hostile provocation. A very fine line indeed.’ He sighed, toying idly with his holo. ‘Are you sure you can get kaygryn aboard the Achilles without it being attacked? Why can’t we get UNIS on Anternis to just pick him up?’
‘UNIS equipment has been comprehensively destroyed,’ Frost said. ‘All our orbital feeds and our mission station are gone. Orbit is hostile, and the situation on the ground is unstable. We’re down to a skeleton crew, and in any event, we believe they’re compromised. Picking him up on Navem Sigma would be much safer, and with a much higher chance of success.’
The President scowled. ‘I’m going to need guarantees on this before I can authorise it.’
‘I will speak with my men on Gonvarion,’ McKone said. ‘Although, by all accounts, the summit today has not gone as well as I’d hoped. I fear our early successes with the Achilles and Commander Vance will not be repeated. We have underestimated how much the provar hate the kaygryn. The demands for apologies, sir, have not gone down well.’
‘Yes, yes,’ Aurelius said impassively, not taking his eyes from the holo. ‘Fleet Marshal?’
‘Yes, sir?’
‘When is the second detachment of ships due to arrive over Uvolon?’
‘About five o’clock tomorrow morning, sir,’ Scarcroft replied. ‘I have authorised the dispatch of the 7th Fleet, as per your request.’
‘Well, I suppose if a push comes to a shove, we can always engage the damned provar cruiser in orbit. We have the firepower, I assume, to now do that?’
Scarcroft inclined his head. ‘It might not be wise–’
‘I didn’t ask you whether it was wise, did I?’ Aurelius snapped. ‘I asked you whether it was possible.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Scarcroft said, his voice smooth. ‘It would be possible for the 7th Fleet to engage and successfully destroy a solitary Ascendancy cruiser. Easy, even. However, it is my understanding that the Ascendancy have, as of this morning, also pledged to send more of their own ships to Uvolon.’
‘Then we’ll send more ships, for God’s sake! This is the United Nations, damn it! I will not be kowtowed and bullied by these cob fanatics! Understand?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Scarcroft replied. Garrick felt sorry for the man. It seemed that he had borne the brunt of the President’s temper more than anyone else.
‘Thank you,’ Aurelius said, turning to Howarth. ‘Do whatever needs to be done to pick up Iyadi. You have full dispensation to track down and detain any other persons of interest. Find out what the hell is going on. Your men on Gonvarion will be able to speak with the kaygryn skarls there.’
Garrick looked up and met McKone’s eyes very briefly. ‘What men on Gonvarion?’
Aurelius looked at him, squinting. ‘What?’
‘Excuse me, sir, but you said that Commander Howarth had men on Gonvarion. What men? I thought the summit was a diplomatic one.’
‘We have assets on Gonvarion providing security for our diplomatic detachment,’ Howarth said easily. ‘Standard practice.’
‘It’s standard practice to have EFFECT agents doing bodyguard duty?’ Garrick asked. Something in Howarth’s tone, a tiny modulation of his voice, was warning him against pressing his line of enquiry, but he ignored it. ‘This has got something to do with the Xhevegans, hasn’t it?’
‘Strike Commander, this is an intelligence matter that does not concern you,’ Josette said, piping up from across the table. The rebuke made his blood boil. That trumped-up bitch giving him orders?
‘I am one of the Joint Chiefs of the President’s General Staff,’ Garrick half-shouted, losing his temper. ‘I think everyone in this room should be apprised of this little side-op you’ve got running, especially considering what’s at stake here!’
‘Strike Commander,’ the President said reasonably, ‘I have already told you and the other Joint Chiefs, we are putting into place collateral to warn the Ascendancy off. It is, dare I use the phrase, top secret, and to be perfectly frank the fewer the number of people in the loop, the better. It’s not personal.’ He smiled avuncularly, making Garrick feel desperately foolish. The President’s mild manner had made him look obstreperous and petulant, utterly justifying to the rest of the table his having been overlooked. Being the least important person in the room was grating on him in a way he had never experienced before.
‘My only concern is the welfare of half a trillion UN citizens,’ he mumbled lamely.
‘Speaking of which,’ the President’s communications officer, Janek said, infuriatingly segueing to his own agenda. He had just sashayed into the room, carrying a handful of hardcopy dossiers and a few pull-out holos. He dumped them all on to the table. ‘It’s not looking good out there.’
Those who were standing now sat down. The President took a dossier in an outstretched hand.
‘Hot off the press. This is real-time data, folks, straight from the horse’s mouth.’
‘Shut up and get on with it, for God’s sake,’ the President snapped.
Janek cleared his throat. ‘Of course. The destruction of the quick-reaction force has now saturated every major news outlet in the UN, and it’s turning ugly. Civil disturbance is now widespread, riots, looting et cetera.’ Janek was reading the hardcopy in front of him like it was a shopping list. ‘The mobilisation of the Fleet has split people down the middle. Veigis-Class worlds are divided pretty much fifty-fifty, half in support, the other half obviously against. The Outer Ring is actually much more supportive, closer to seventy-nine per cent approval. That’s good, since it gives Alexander White less to talk about – and believe me, he’s been doing a lot of talking.
‘Ascendancy embassies on Bospen – that’s Rynn’s homeworld, by the way – Yokoman and Ashima have been attacked. There are also reports of technical deaths on Oberon Minor, Luthuan and New Persia. The demonstrations there are particularly violent.’
‘What do they think of the evacuation?’ Josette asked.
‘Actually much more divided, again, than we expected. Many are comparing it to Phaetonis. Others think it’s a prudent move. A greater proportion of people, according to the data nets of ten worlds, believe that the UN should be doing more to protect the kaygryn population. You have widespread support for allowing kaygryn refugees to stay in Anternis – you’re welcome, by the way.’ He allowed himself a little smirk. ‘People still feel guilty about Hadan’s Reach. A lot of media outlets are now focussing on what you’re going to do next. If you were to evacuate them, I think you’d be in line for the Nobel Peace Prize. Oh, another thing: the summit. Thanks to the almost ridiculous level of coverage that is generating, many more people than we expected are turning against the provar. Even though most people can’t understand a word they’re saying – and the news translators are doing a frankly appalling job – you don’t need to be a genius to see that they’re being aggressive and unreasonable. Plus people are easily frightened by aliens.
‘Your demands, sir, for apologies sit well with the UN. People think that was a prudent and reasonable thing to do. Foreign media outlets – obviously Kansubashi, the Old Colonies, but also the GA and some important factions within the Zhahassi Commonwealth – are also supportive.’
‘Good. Conclusion?’ the President asked, bored.
‘I daresay you could be even more aggressive and still have the support of the people,’ Janek said. ‘At the moment, the consensus is that you’re dealing with a difficult situation in the best way possible. We can expect people’s hostility to the provar to increase over the next few days, but I would make sure this civil disturbance dies down. A short statement condemning the violence would be useful.’
The President nodded. ‘Thank you, Janek. Excellent work. I trust you can make up a statement for me.’
‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,’ Janek said and left the room.
Aurelius turned back to them. ‘Anything else I need to know? Xander? Why is the summit going so badly?’
‘The presence of the Xhevegan observer, sir, Faunix Siun, has pretty much stonewalled talks with the Ascendancy executors already, and it has not even been one full day. His presence is insulting to them, and positioning him so closely to our own diplomats will seem as though we endorse the Xhevegan’s cause.’ McKone’s voice betrayed the tiniest hint of irritation. That was rare in itself. The man’s composure, even under the most stinging of onslaughts, was legendary.
‘Well,’ the President said. ‘Perhaps we do. Perhaps we do.’ He was muttering to himself, but it brought some alarmed glances from the Joint Chiefs. The intelligence mob remained completely impassive. Garrick tried to catch Josette’s eye, but she kept her attentions on the holo in front of her. He wondered whether he would be able to sleep with her for the information. He shook his head, then, and had to stop himself from laughing. Of course, that might work if their roles were reversed; she was hardly begging him to screw her.
‘And Siun, he’s all right, is he?’
‘He’s fine,’ McKone replied. ‘Though might I suggest he not be placed with our diplomats within the Grand Chamber? We will not get anywhere with the Ascendancy while he is there. Our envoys are the vicarious recipients of that anger, even where it is not merited.’
Aurelius steepled his fingers under his chin. ‘No, I want him where he is for now,’ he said simply. ‘Your priority at the moment is to see that the provar do not attack the Achilles once we start loading kaygryn on to it. If we start loading kaygryn on to it. Tell them of our intentions to do so. Try and raise the support of the rest of Tier Three as well. Our position is that we will attack and destroy any ship attempting to engage the Achilles. Understand?’
‘Sir, threatening the provar does not enam–’
‘Just bloody do it, will you, man?’ the President said. Too many stims, Garrick decided. Too many stims, too much stress. If he carried on like this, he would face an outright rebellion among the military and intelligence experts who he himself had appointed.
‘Yes, sir,’ McKone said, bowing. He left the room quietly.
‘Right, anything else?’ He checked the time to see it was closing on 5 p.m. ‘Isn’t there some ridiculous dinner going on at Gonvarion tonight?’
‘The summit charity dinner, sir,’ Garrick said, unsure as to why he was being so helpful. ‘It’s customary. It’s supposed to ease tension, but I imagine neither the provar nor the kaygryn will show up.’ He had been keeping well abreast of the news. Watching holos was just about all there was to do in the long, tedious hours between briefings, especially since he had been sidelined.
‘Sounds like a load of shit,’ the President said. ‘I’m going back to my office. As soon as we’ve got the go-ahead from Gonvarion to proceed with the kaygryn evacuation, you can authorise it. In the meantime, I can’t afford to have any more dead civilians on my hands. Jesus Christ this is a mess. Dismissed.’
DIPLOMACY
‘There is no one more dangerous than an idealist.’
Unofficial maxim of the United Nations Exigency Corps
Insofar as their diplomatic mandate was concerned, the day had provided little success. Some hot air and declarations of support counted for nothing as far as Yano was concerned, and he sat sullenly in one of the caucus chambers, flicking bits of balled-up hardcopy into a zhahassi coffee mug. Codey sat silently opposite him, letting a plate of untouched food go cold, while Velsze and Siun reposed in the corner, maintaining a quiet hum of conversation with the junior envoys and Tanja and Bennett.
Yano knew he should have been in a better mood. Irrespective of the lack of tangible results, they had achieved relatively widespread support from the other Tier-Three players. The Kansubashi Empire and the Old Colonies had been the most vocal in that regard – though their diplomatic planners in the UNDM had countenanced nothing else. The zhahassi, led by Fhalco and Zvell, had led a decent charge in the middle of the afternoon, effectively declaring the Ascendancy the aggressors and hinting, ever so subtly, that they would support the UN if it came to military action. Constance had really earned her stripes there, for all he detested the woman. He learned later that she had played heavily on Tranquillity and Volscia, both actions having meant more to the aliens than any of them had anticipated. That, and the fact that both Zvell and Fhalco were now gaining serious political currency within the Commonwealth, wholeheartedly endorsed by their ‘Trusted Friends’, the UN.
Aks-sta, the quorl ambassador who was bewilderingly one of McKone’s personal friends, had declared the quorl’s support for the UN even earlier in the day than the Commonwealth. It somehow felt hollow, more of a personal favour to their government than any kind of real conviction, though that was not to say Yano would have rejected it. Xavanis had countered in a rare moment of lucidity by calmly calling Aks-sta a war criminal – which in fairness he was – and that had almost led to the quorl leaving the summit altogether in a fit of pique. Codey had been able to smooth things over in a hasty recess, though it had been a waste of time. The damage was done, and the quorl had lost their credibility once again. It would take decades for the species to shake off the spectre of Merisgard.
The welcome surprise had been the Golgron Alliance, who had declared for the UN an hour before the closing of the session. The golgron were the hermits of the galaxy, a species which took precious little interest in the affairs of its Tier-Three peers. They had made a few attempts to influence Tier-Two species – something strictly prohibited by the Galactic Protocols but in reality practised by everyone – but the holocaust on Illythia seventy years before had put paid to that endeavour for good. Since then the already enigmatic collection of states which made up the Alliance had retreated from intragalactic politics, preferring an existence of quiet introspection and self-augmentation.
