the Gauntlet and the Armada flotilla were still to be explained, anyway. She had learned from experience that especially where conspiracies were concerned, the major factor preventing the truth’s being discovered was the observer’s unwillingness to explore connections between facts that on the surface seemed unconnectable.
She leaned back into the pillow, pushing her knuckles into her aching, tired eyes. There was, in short, enough to make her cautious, but not enough to provide her a definite focus for her fears.
And that, in a sense, only made it worse.
You will not stop me, the second transmission had said. Could she have stopped Cane, had he chosen to attack rather than to aid her? Was he even on her side? I am not yours to command, the message had said. The words made Roche wonder whether he had ever truly been...
* * *
She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until the alarm on her door buzzed.
In the dream she heard the hiss of a predator. She jerked forward on her bunk and called out in the dark, clutching at the fringe of the dream even as she was wrenched from it. She had been back on Ascensio, trying to lure a viridant out of its burrow by offering it a dead rodent. The lizardlike animal had been suspicious, but she managed to encourage it by repeating the offer several times. She had no intention of giving it the bait, though; her only intention had been to gain its trust—and then to strangle it. Only too late had she seen the glint in its eye and known that she was the one being lured. Her hand had lashed out, and the viridant had snapped its jaws around it, pulling her into its burrow...
The door buzzed again. She shook herself from a daze and spoke into the intercom:
“Who is it?”
“It’s me,” Cane answered. “The data from the probes are due soon. I would like to discuss something with you before then, if it’s not inconvenient.”
“Wait a moment.” She ran her hands over her stubbled scalp and wiped her face. Her skin was greasy and coarse at the same time—a grim reminder that she was overdue for a shower. After a moment she said: “Lights; door open.”
The room brightened at her command. Cane stepped into the cabin.
“I’m assuming it’s not an emergency,” she said, “or else Uri would’ve called first.”
“Little has changed,” said Cane. “We have received another transmission from the same source as the first, but that’s about it. Kajic posted details of it to your buffer, marking it as a low priority. If you were asleep, you wouldn’t have seen it.”
She checked her implants out of habit; sure enough, the message was there. She also learned that she had been asleep for seven hours. It felt more like four.
She stayed on the bed and offered Cane the chair. “So, what can I do for you?”
“Everyone is resting,” he said. When he sat he folded his hands in his lap, making him look uncharacteristically unsure of himself. “I thought I’d take advantage of the situation to talk to you alone.”
“About?” she prompted.
“The transmission from Jagabis.”
“What about it?”
“I can translate it.”
She studied him suspiciously. “The Box said it wasn’t in any language that it recognized.”
“I know.”
“But you recognize it?”
“I didn’t at first,” he said. “Only after reading through the raw text for some hours did it begin to make sense. And even then, not all of it.”
“I’m not sure I follow you.”
“I am not certain what it means, but I do understand it. I know how odd that sounds, but the situation is as confusing to me as it is to you. And that’s why I wanted to talk to you first rather than the others.”
“You’ve kept this from Maii?”
“She knows I’m hiding something, but she won’t learn what it is unless I let her.”
Roche nodded. “So what does the transmission say?”
“It is a call to arms,” he said. “It is also a plea for help. And a request to negotiate. And an order to
She leaned back into the pillow, pushing her knuckles into her aching, tired eyes. There was, in short, enough to make her cautious, but not enough to provide her a definite focus for her fears.
And that, in a sense, only made it worse.
You will not stop me, the second transmission had said. Could she have stopped Cane, had he chosen to attack rather than to aid her? Was he even on her side? I am not yours to command, the message had said. The words made Roche wonder whether he had ever truly been...
* * *
She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until the alarm on her door buzzed.
In the dream she heard the hiss of a predator. She jerked forward on her bunk and called out in the dark, clutching at the fringe of the dream even as she was wrenched from it. She had been back on Ascensio, trying to lure a viridant out of its burrow by offering it a dead rodent. The lizardlike animal had been suspicious, but she managed to encourage it by repeating the offer several times. She had no intention of giving it the bait, though; her only intention had been to gain its trust—and then to strangle it. Only too late had she seen the glint in its eye and known that she was the one being lured. Her hand had lashed out, and the viridant had snapped its jaws around it, pulling her into its burrow...
The door buzzed again. She shook herself from a daze and spoke into the intercom:
“Who is it?”
“It’s me,” Cane answered. “The data from the probes are due soon. I would like to discuss something with you before then, if it’s not inconvenient.”
“Wait a moment.” She ran her hands over her stubbled scalp and wiped her face. Her skin was greasy and coarse at the same time—a grim reminder that she was overdue for a shower. After a moment she said: “Lights; door open.”
The room brightened at her command. Cane stepped into the cabin.
“I’m assuming it’s not an emergency,” she said, “or else Uri would’ve called first.”
“Little has changed,” said Cane. “We have received another transmission from the same source as the first, but that’s about it. Kajic posted details of it to your buffer, marking it as a low priority. If you were asleep, you wouldn’t have seen it.”
She checked her implants out of habit; sure enough, the message was there. She also learned that she had been asleep for seven hours. It felt more like four.
She stayed on the bed and offered Cane the chair. “So, what can I do for you?”
“Everyone is resting,” he said. When he sat he folded his hands in his lap, making him look uncharacteristically unsure of himself. “I thought I’d take advantage of the situation to talk to you alone.”
“About?” she prompted.
“The transmission from Jagabis.”
“What about it?”
“I can translate it.”
She studied him suspiciously. “The Box said it wasn’t in any language that it recognized.”
“I know.”
“But you recognize it?”
“I didn’t at first,” he said. “Only after reading through the raw text for some hours did it begin to make sense. And even then, not all of it.”
“I’m not sure I follow you.”
“I am not certain what it means, but I do understand it. I know how odd that sounds, but the situation is as confusing to me as it is to you. And that’s why I wanted to talk to you first rather than the others.”
“You’ve kept this from Maii?”
“She knows I’m hiding something, but she won’t learn what it is unless I let her.”
Roche nodded. “So what does the transmission say?”
“It is a call to arms,” he said. “It is also a plea for help. And a request to negotiate. And an order to
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