"He can help us beat the defense systems at Earth," Eldrin said.
On my other side, Ragnar snorted. "How? He's a credit-counter. Not a security expert."
"Not a credit-counter," I said. "An economist. He develops models to predict economic futures." Taquinil had become so adept at it, the dismayed Office of Finance had passed a law forbidding him to work financial markets, lest he destabilize the economy of some world.
"No one doubts his abilities," Jon said. "But they aren't in military intelligence or security."
"Normally, no." I had no doubt Taquinil could do what he claimed, but given that I was his mother, they might not consider me the most objective judge. "However, he has all of psiberspace to work with. So he has its power at his disposal as well."
Vazar spoke. "Even if he could help us infiltrate Earth's defenses, it wouldn't be enough. We have to get a ship to the planet, do our rescue, and get out again."
"We have four thousand ships," I pointed out.
"They have prodigious defenses," Jon answered. "They can easily withstand our measly four thousand ships."
"We're not going in to fight," I said. "Just put on a show."
He gave me a dour look. "We will never even get into the system to put on anything."
I spoke brightly. "Ah, but Admiral, they can only stop us if they find us."
"You plan on hiding four thousand ships?"
"ISC hid the Radiance Fleet."
He wasn't buying it. "And no one knows what happened to them."
"That's because the webs are down," I said. "But we've picked up enough messages from scout ships to know the Radiance Fleet destroyed the Trader capital. That means they penetrated Trader space the way we want to penetrate Allied space."
Jon shook his head. "You need the psiberweb to hide ships that way."
I knew he was right. To conceal the ships, we would have to deal with three strange universes: psiberspace, Haver-Klein space, and superluminal space. In psiberspace, thoughts defined existence. In Haver-Klein space, charge took on an imaginary part, which made it possible to store more antimatter in the fuel bottles. To reach superluminal space, we added an imaginary part to our velocity, circumventing light speed. The Radiance Fleet had used all three: they put most of their ships in giant fuel bottles and twisted them into Haver-Klein space; they used the psiberweb to communicate with the hidden ships; and they traveled at superluminal speeds to reach Trader territory.
"We need to rebuild the psiberweb," I said.
"We can only do that if you have access to a Lock," Vazar said. "Or maybe a Triad Chair. We have neither."
At the word
Triad,
Eldrin's pace slowed. I understood. My links to the Triad were… drifting. No pain, just a gentle
ending.
An ache filled me. I couldn't forget Eldrin's nightmare or my dream of a triangle that became a line. Had Eldrin's father left the Triad? I couldn't imagine life without him. He had been more like a brother to me than a father-in-law. I had to accept that he would die someday, but what my logic knew, my emotions denied.
"The point is moot," Jon was saying. "We haven't the go-ahead to invade Earth."
With no warning, I stopped. Everyone else halted, their response delayed by a few seconds, so aides and Jagernauts surged around me like water around a rock in a river. I regarded Jon with a steady gaze. "You have my go-ahead."
The silence stretched out. Jon watched me, his mind shielded.
Then Ragnar spoke in his gravelly voice. "That should be sufficient."
That should be sufficient.
With those four words, spoken in public, he gave his support to the Ruby Dynasty— over the Assembly and ISC.
Jon raked him with an appraising stare. Then he turned to me. "I must consider this."
He continued down the corridor, his face closed and unreadable.
* * *
"He won't do it," Eldrin said.
I paced the living room of my suite. "We can't be sure."
Ragnar was leaning against a console by the wall. Eldrin stood across the room, leaving plenty of space between them. I had refused to let my Jagernaut bodyguards enter. I had no idea where their loyalties lay.
Vazar was standing by one wall, her body a dark figure against a bright holo-panel of Parthonia, the world where I had spent my childhood. The image showed Selei City, which had been named for my mother. Elegant manor houses were set far back from boulevards, screened by trees with graceful, curving branches hung with pale green streamer-leaves and white blossoms. Vazar blocked the center of the holo, where the gold spire of the capitol building rose into a lavender sky.
"Jon Casestar never deviates from established procedure," Ragnar said, actually agreeing with Eldrin for once. "You have to decide, Dehya. Remove him or forget about going to Earth without Assembly approval."
"Jon came to Delos." I continued to pace, lost in thought.
"For Delos, you weren't suggesting a hostile raid on a major power," Vazar said. "Hell, Dehya, if we move on Earth, we could end up at war with the Allieds and the Traders at the same time."
"We won't." I sorted through models in my mind. "With their Lock deactivated, the Traders can't make a psiberweb."
It wasn't until everyone had been quiet for a while that I realized they were all giving me that odd look again. I stopped pacing. "What?"
Ragnar quirked his eyebrow. "How can you know their Lock is off?"
"I'm a Triad member."
Eldrin was watching me thoughtfully. "Did you pick up anything about Kelric and the lock when we looked for Taquinil?"
"I'm not sure." I sifted through my memories. "The loss of the web is such a big difference, it swamps out everything else." I turned to Vazar. "You say you speak for General Majda."
She met my gaze squarely. "If you're asking me to override Jon Casestar, I think it is unwise."
"You supported coming to Delos."
"It was a good idea." As she glanced at Eldrin, her intractable posture softened. "An excellent idea." To us both, she said, "I believe General Majda would have agreed. But this is different."
General Majda. Not Naaj. When Vazar called her cousin by her formal title, she meant business. I did notice, however, that she said "General" rather than "Imperator."
The console behind Ragnar beeped.
"Laplace, who is it?" I asked.
"Admiral Casestar," my EI answered.
"Put him through."
After a pause, Jon spoke. "My greetings, Pharaoh Dyhianna."
"Admiral." I kept my voice neutral. "What can I do for you?"
"I would like to speak with you in private."
Ragnar narrowed his gaze. Eldrin came forward, standing at my side as if to offer protection against Jon's request.
What was Jon up to? He tended to be more direct than Ragnar, also more conservative. Although he didn't enjoy politics, he was perfectly capable of playing them. If he wanted me in custody, to stop me from stirring up trouble, he could have sent his soldiers here for me. On his ship, in his domain, in space, I had few options to resist. Requesting that I come to his quarters could be a diplomatic way of achieving the same end, one less humiliating for me than having armed guards take me from my quarters. Or maybe he wanted to offer support, but not as openly as Ragnar, in front of witnesses. I doubted it, though. More likely, he wanted to continue our discussion without so many high-ranking people listening.
I had my own security running now, shrouding my suite from his monitors, but he had to know I had people in here. Witnesses. That he had made his request in front of them was a reasonably positive sign. Then again, given my prominence on his ship, it would be impossible for him to keep it secret if I suddenly disappeared. He might see no point in being covert about our meeting.
Don't go alone,
Eldrin thought.
I turned and ran my knuckles down his arm, considering my options.
Then I went to the console, stepping past Ragnar, who was studying us with a laser-like intensity. Leaning over the console, I said, "Admiral Casestar, Prince Eldrin and I will meet with you."
* * *
Jon's suite resembled mine, except with sharper lines. The furnishings were glass, crystal, black Luminex, and leather upholstery. Holos with vivid, detailed depictions of ancient battles paneled the walls.
When Eldrin and I entered the living room, Jon gave Eldrin an appraising stare. He made no attempt to hide his displeasure that I hadn't come alone.
Eldrin spoke flatly. "I'm not leaving her alone with you, Admiral."
His bluntness startled me. It wasn't typical of Eldrin, but he had a point. If I forced the issue of Earth, Jon would have to choose: Ruby Dynasty or Assembly. His answer would have greater ramifications than one mission. Ragnar had already offered me his support. If Jon did as well, I would have backing from two of the Fleet's most powerful commanders. Given that the Fleet was the largest branch of ISC, it would give me a large portion of the military. Naaj Majda would then be the deciding factor: if she pledged her loyalty, the Assembly was history. But if Naaj supported the Assembly, it would sunder ISC in two, with the Pharaoh's Army in opposition to the Pharaoh.
Jon regarded Eldrin with a neutral expression. "I intend no harm to your wife, Prince Eldrin." He motioned to a white air-sofa that curved around an oval table made from glossy black Luminex. "Please, be comfortable."
We sat stiffly, none of us the least bit comfortable. Jon's mood leaked past his defenses: he hadn't asked Eldrin to accompany me here because he feared
Eldrin
posed a threat to me. He wondered if the Traders had tampered with Eldrin's mind, planting a psychological bomb that could turn him into a weapon.
My throat felt tight. I resisted believing the Traders could have changed Eldrin at that basic a level without my detecting
any
hint of it. I didn't know if Jon genuinely believed otherwise or if he had let that thought leak deliberately, to undermine my confidence in my husband. Although it did make me think, it made me fear for Eldrin rather than myself. If I suddenly became widowed, it offered a prime opportunity to whoever supported me. Such machinations were Ragnar's style rather than Jon's, but I could be sure of no one. More than once during the Ruby Empire, a military leader had gained power by marrying a member of the Ruby Dynasty who had lost a spouse. In those cases, the military leader had been a woman who wed the surviving husband of a dead Pharaoh. I doubted the ancient Ruby matriarchs could even have envisioned this situation.
Pain throbbed in my head. Dropping out of accelerated mode, I realized Jon had only paused for a second. He continued, cautiously neutral. "I have to decide what to write in my report for HQ regarding your proposal about Earth."
So. He hadn't sent a report yet. Interesting. "We need to act now. We can't wait for HQ to respond, especially if we want Taquinil's help."
"Neither you nor Prince Taquinil is trained for such work." Jon hesitated. "Prince Taquinil isn't even alive. Exactly."
"Jon, we can do this." I knew he wouldn't be impressed by assurances he thought were unrealistic. "My calculations only give probabilities," I acknowledged. "But they're good ones. We have a good chance to pull this off."
Jon sat back, his face pensive. "I served under Kurj Skolia for almost twenty years and Sauscony Valdoria for two. Both were leaders of vision. I was honored to give them my loyalty."
I held my breath. He could go either way, adding a "But much to my regret…" or an "And so I continue…"
He did neither. Instead he said, "We have no proof of Primary Majda's claim that Imperator Majda gave her authority to make decisions in her absence, but it also seems an unlikely lie."
I didn't miss the title he gave Naaj. My voice cooled. "Neither Primary Majda nor General Majda speak for the Ruby Dynasty."
"Were Imperators Kurj Skolia or Sauscony Valdoria still alive, they would consult with you on this decision about Earth." He didn't make it a question.
"That's right."
"You aren't currently available to consult with Imperator Majda."
I didn't like where he was going with this. "And?"
"Primary Majda claims to speak for the Imperator. And she has reservations about taking any ships to Earth."
Pah. He was lying; that came through despite his defenses. Vazar hadn't told him about her doubts. The more Jon and I talked, the more certain I became that he intended this as prelude to putting me in custody. Given that Eldrin had come with me, he would probably lock us both up.
My impression also,
Eldrin thought.
He hasn't committed himself yet.
