under a thousand feet of water, they simply found the seabed on the far side. They weren’t transported anywhere. As far as we could tell, the ring had truly been switched off.
I was about to give orders for Star Force personnel to land and investigate the region on foot, when a message came in from Miklos, who I’d left in charge of the Eden system. A communique from Earth had been received at Shadowguard.
The rings allowed for more or less instantaneous communication between star systems, but we rarely heard from Earth these days and when we did I had left explicit instructions: I was to be immediately alerted. I took the hardcopy to my office and read it over twice.
The message was from General Kerr, who had commanded the last fleet from Earth and who had personally led the attack against Eden. Despite a long history of conflict, Kerr and I had always been able to talk man-to-man. Essentially, the message said he was coming out for a visit, and that he wanted to discuss normalizing relations between Crow’s Empire and Star Force.
I was elated, but the rest of my staff was hostile.
“He’s coming out here to spy!” declared Kwon with absolute certitude. “Trust me, Colonel Riggs. I’ve known my share of dictators. Crow is just like the rest. Dictators only send out ambassadors to do two things: to spy, or to get free stuff. Don’t let General Kerr anywhere near Eden.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but didn’t get the words out before the next objection came out of Sandra.
“Kwon’s right,” she said. “But I would handle it differently. When he gets here, let’s capture him and make him a prisoner. That will give them one less good commander for their side. We can tell them he had an accident aboard his ship, and his people were all lost.”
I looked at her in surprise. “Remind me never to put you in charge of diplomacy,” I told her.
She crossed her arms, sat back in her chair and glared at me.
“Possibly,” Captain Sarin said, “we could be more diplomatic. But I don’t trust Kerr any more than the rest of this group. It’s my suggestion we meet with him in the Helios system on a neutral ship in neutral space. That way, he can’t learn anything of our operational strength.”
“Well, I’m glad no one here feels restrained when airing their opinions,” I said. “But I’m going to let them in.”
There was a chorus of complaints and warnings. I lifted my hands and waved for quiet.
“Don’t freak out,” I said. “I’m not a fool. I’m not going to give them the ten-dollar tour. They will see exactly what I want them to see.”
“May I speak?” Sandra asked angrily.
“Be my guest.”
“The moment their ship crosses into our space it will be cataloguing and counting every gun we have. That has got to be at least part of the purpose of this effort.”
“Of course it is,” I said. “But their ship won’t be coming into our space. We’ll meet them at the doorstep, in the Helios system on the far side of the ring from the Eden system. We’ll take their committee off their ship and transport them into our space under our control.”
“I like that idea,” Kwon said. “They can’t see much from the window of a spaceship. When I look out these windows, all I see is the sun, maybe not even that. Not even the planets are big enough to see without instruments.”
“Exactly,” I said nodding to Kwon. I could always count on him to see logic. He almost always took my side.
“I still don’t like it,” Sandra said. “He’s up to something. They’ll bring something in. Something in their personal baggage. A spying tool or a bomb, maybe.”
“I have to agree,” Captain Sarin said. “We can’t trust them. Remember Marvelena.”
I winced at the mentioning of that name. Marvelena had been a lovely, voluptuous spy who had attempted to assassinate me. She’d done rather poorly, and had paid for her failure with her life.
“I understand your concerns and I share
I was about to give orders for Star Force personnel to land and investigate the region on foot, when a message came in from Miklos, who I’d left in charge of the Eden system. A communique from Earth had been received at Shadowguard.
The rings allowed for more or less instantaneous communication between star systems, but we rarely heard from Earth these days and when we did I had left explicit instructions: I was to be immediately alerted. I took the hardcopy to my office and read it over twice.
The message was from General Kerr, who had commanded the last fleet from Earth and who had personally led the attack against Eden. Despite a long history of conflict, Kerr and I had always been able to talk man-to-man. Essentially, the message said he was coming out for a visit, and that he wanted to discuss normalizing relations between Crow’s Empire and Star Force.
I was elated, but the rest of my staff was hostile.
“He’s coming out here to spy!” declared Kwon with absolute certitude. “Trust me, Colonel Riggs. I’ve known my share of dictators. Crow is just like the rest. Dictators only send out ambassadors to do two things: to spy, or to get free stuff. Don’t let General Kerr anywhere near Eden.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but didn’t get the words out before the next objection came out of Sandra.
“Kwon’s right,” she said. “But I would handle it differently. When he gets here, let’s capture him and make him a prisoner. That will give them one less good commander for their side. We can tell them he had an accident aboard his ship, and his people were all lost.”
I looked at her in surprise. “Remind me never to put you in charge of diplomacy,” I told her.
She crossed her arms, sat back in her chair and glared at me.
“Possibly,” Captain Sarin said, “we could be more diplomatic. But I don’t trust Kerr any more than the rest of this group. It’s my suggestion we meet with him in the Helios system on a neutral ship in neutral space. That way, he can’t learn anything of our operational strength.”
“Well, I’m glad no one here feels restrained when airing their opinions,” I said. “But I’m going to let them in.”
There was a chorus of complaints and warnings. I lifted my hands and waved for quiet.
“Don’t freak out,” I said. “I’m not a fool. I’m not going to give them the ten-dollar tour. They will see exactly what I want them to see.”
“May I speak?” Sandra asked angrily.
“Be my guest.”
“The moment their ship crosses into our space it will be cataloguing and counting every gun we have. That has got to be at least part of the purpose of this effort.”
“Of course it is,” I said. “But their ship won’t be coming into our space. We’ll meet them at the doorstep, in the Helios system on the far side of the ring from the Eden system. We’ll take their committee off their ship and transport them into our space under our control.”
“I like that idea,” Kwon said. “They can’t see much from the window of a spaceship. When I look out these windows, all I see is the sun, maybe not even that. Not even the planets are big enough to see without instruments.”
“Exactly,” I said nodding to Kwon. I could always count on him to see logic. He almost always took my side.
“I still don’t like it,” Sandra said. “He’s up to something. They’ll bring something in. Something in their personal baggage. A spying tool or a bomb, maybe.”
“I have to agree,” Captain Sarin said. “We can’t trust them. Remember Marvelena.”
I winced at the mentioning of that name. Marvelena had been a lovely, voluptuous spy who had attempted to assassinate me. She’d done rather poorly, and had paid for her failure with her life.
“I understand your concerns and I share
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