wormhole drive to feed all the
emitters in parallel.
I smirked, Kristi would hate that. Central power, and
now a central unit for shield emissions. Next, I’d be putting the bridge
at the top of the ship, with a big round dome to tell my enemies where to fire,
instead of being safe and sound in the middle of the ship.
Well, it wasn’t a real ship design, it was a cobbled
together experiment. I’d do better once I had an understanding of exactly
how it all worked.
I’d started fabrication, and that’s when Nadia called me
into the U.N. complex…
I could tell there was a problem as soon as I walked inside
the room. Half of them were angry at me, and the other half concerned.
Gorou Kimura of Japan started the conversation.
“Miss Jones, we’re quite concerned with a report we received
from fleet Admiral Abramov. He informed us that you threatened to leave
the fleet if you didn’t get your way, and then refused to allow him control
over the platforms if you did?”
“Mr. Kimura, you may not borrow my car either,” I said in a
slightly annoyed voice.
Nadia gave me a look and I reeled myself in.
“What I mean to say, is the second complaint has no bearing
at all. The platforms are mine until such a time as Earth or one of her
colonies buys them. If I go, the platforms go. That easy.
Have you seen the raw footage of our conversation, or was that not appended to
his report?”
William Tanner said, “Yes, we’ve seen it. I don’t
understand your point.”
I shrugged, “I don’t understand yours, or even why I’m
here. I don’t report to you anymore much less Admiral Abramov, I’m a
private citizen and military contractor now. Beyond that, I didn’t
threaten to leave mid battle, or when there was any danger around. It was
I believe, right after the Seltan annihilated defenseless Bugs on the planet,
what we here on Earth would call civilian casualties, or perhaps a better description
would be a massacre of genocidal proportion never before seen.
“I simply refused to take part in genocide by following that
up with another attack on a bug world, and if this council has a problem with
that well… I admit surprise.”
Tanner shook his head, “I’ve never believed that you
retaining access to military technology was a good idea. The fact you
would not take guidance from the current fleet admiral just backs up my
feelings in this matter.”
I frowned, “Are you saying, that me showing restraint with
the power at my command was a bad thing, and that disagreeing with a man that
showed contempt at not having the stomach to commit genocide means that I’m
unstable or too unreliable with the technology? Are you insane?”
Nadia cleared her throat, but I wasn’t sure I cared
anymore. I was almost sure she was being silent because she’d been
railroaded. This wasn’t about the admiral’s report, there was something else
going on here.
“What exactly is this about? I’d though if anything,
that you would be pleased I didn’t make that decision on my own, and chose to
argue to let you and the other treaty holders decide our policy in the war
against the Bugs. Since I know for certain you wouldn’t commit genocide
if they were a power hungry humanoid race, I can only conclude you believe the
admiral correct because you believe the Bugs are less than human. I would
remind you that they are an intelligent species, not a herd of cows, or an ant
farm.”
I added a little sharply, “Or are you really just that
comfortable with allowing Sergei Abramov to commit humanity to genocide all on
his own?”
Tanner asked icily, “Are you done?”
I nodded, “If you can get to the explanation about pulling a
private citizen in front of this council, I’m still not sure why I’m here.”
Gerald said, “Sergei, and many on this council believe a
private citizen, even one who contracts for the military, should not have
access to military technology. We were on
emitters in parallel.
I smirked, Kristi would hate that. Central power, and
now a central unit for shield emissions. Next, I’d be putting the bridge
at the top of the ship, with a big round dome to tell my enemies where to fire,
instead of being safe and sound in the middle of the ship.
Well, it wasn’t a real ship design, it was a cobbled
together experiment. I’d do better once I had an understanding of exactly
how it all worked.
I’d started fabrication, and that’s when Nadia called me
into the U.N. complex…
I could tell there was a problem as soon as I walked inside
the room. Half of them were angry at me, and the other half concerned.
Gorou Kimura of Japan started the conversation.
“Miss Jones, we’re quite concerned with a report we received
from fleet Admiral Abramov. He informed us that you threatened to leave
the fleet if you didn’t get your way, and then refused to allow him control
over the platforms if you did?”
“Mr. Kimura, you may not borrow my car either,” I said in a
slightly annoyed voice.
Nadia gave me a look and I reeled myself in.
“What I mean to say, is the second complaint has no bearing
at all. The platforms are mine until such a time as Earth or one of her
colonies buys them. If I go, the platforms go. That easy.
Have you seen the raw footage of our conversation, or was that not appended to
his report?”
William Tanner said, “Yes, we’ve seen it. I don’t
understand your point.”
I shrugged, “I don’t understand yours, or even why I’m
here. I don’t report to you anymore much less Admiral Abramov, I’m a
private citizen and military contractor now. Beyond that, I didn’t
threaten to leave mid battle, or when there was any danger around. It was
I believe, right after the Seltan annihilated defenseless Bugs on the planet,
what we here on Earth would call civilian casualties, or perhaps a better description
would be a massacre of genocidal proportion never before seen.
“I simply refused to take part in genocide by following that
up with another attack on a bug world, and if this council has a problem with
that well… I admit surprise.”
Tanner shook his head, “I’ve never believed that you
retaining access to military technology was a good idea. The fact you
would not take guidance from the current fleet admiral just backs up my
feelings in this matter.”
I frowned, “Are you saying, that me showing restraint with
the power at my command was a bad thing, and that disagreeing with a man that
showed contempt at not having the stomach to commit genocide means that I’m
unstable or too unreliable with the technology? Are you insane?”
Nadia cleared her throat, but I wasn’t sure I cared
anymore. I was almost sure she was being silent because she’d been
railroaded. This wasn’t about the admiral’s report, there was something else
going on here.
“What exactly is this about? I’d though if anything,
that you would be pleased I didn’t make that decision on my own, and chose to
argue to let you and the other treaty holders decide our policy in the war
against the Bugs. Since I know for certain you wouldn’t commit genocide
if they were a power hungry humanoid race, I can only conclude you believe the
admiral correct because you believe the Bugs are less than human. I would
remind you that they are an intelligent species, not a herd of cows, or an ant
farm.”
I added a little sharply, “Or are you really just that
comfortable with allowing Sergei Abramov to commit humanity to genocide all on
his own?”
Tanner asked icily, “Are you done?”
I nodded, “If you can get to the explanation about pulling a
private citizen in front of this council, I’m still not sure why I’m here.”
Gerald said, “Sergei, and many on this council believe a
private citizen, even one who contracts for the military, should not have
access to military technology. We were on
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