Nankool looked at Maylo. “And how ‘bout you my dear? Some more of the fish perhaps?”
Maylo flashed back to the illicit swim that she and Senator Samuel Ishimoto Six had shared in one of the onboard aquaculture tanks, and wondered where he was. Why did she care? And what about Booly?
The silence stretched uncomfortably long, and she hurried to fill it. “No, thank you.”
“Well,” Nankool continued, dabbing at his lips, “let’s get to it. So, Sergi, what’s on your mind?”
ChienChu had very little need of nourishment, and what he did require was delivered by other means. He toyed with his wineglass. The dinner was his doing ... so the question made sense. He looked from one face to the next. “I would like to submit a proposal, a proposal that many of our colleagues would consider to be insane, but, given our present circumstances, may represent the only real chance we have.”
Nankool finished one glass of wine and poured himself another. Light gleamed as he raised the glass.
“To Sergi ChienChu! Author of the outrageous! Please proceed.”
The most fleeting of smiles touched ChienChu’s plastiflesh lips. “You may feel differently in a moment. My proposal is this: Given the fact that the Sheen are hunting for the Thraki, and we lack the clout to force them to leave, the Confederacy is in need of allies. Allies with military clout.”
“Yes,” the President agreed. “But who? All the players have chosen sides. None remain.”
“Ah, but that’s where you are wrong,” the industrialist insisted. “One player remains, and he’s here, sitting at this table.”
Nankool frowned, looked to DomaSa, and back to ChienChu. “I’m sorry Sergi... I don’t understand.”
“It’s really quite simple,” ChienChu replied. “After the last war ended, in an effort to prevent still another, a blockade was established. Since that time Ambassador DomaSa and his people have been free to do whatever they pleased so long as they remained on the surface of the planet Hudatha.”
Maylo wondered what her uncle was driving at, looked at the Hudathan, and took note of his expression. Though no expert, the businesswoman had spent a considerable amount of time with the diplomat, and thought she detected a strange sort of intensity ... As if the alien thought he knew where ChienChu was headed . .. but was afraid to hope.
“I have no way to know,” the industrialist continued earnestly, “but it’s my guess that the Hudathan military has been anything but inactive during the last fifty years, and are at the very peak of readiness. All of which points to a reserve of warriors, fierce warriors, who have every reason to fight the Sheen and nothing to lose.”
Nankool went pale. His hands started to shake. “My apologies to the Ambassador—but have you taken leave of your senses? Have you forgotten the death of your own son? The deaths of more than two million Confederate soldiers? The deaths of a billion civilians? All at the hands of the Hudathans? I’m sorry, Sergi... but what you propose is out of the question. Even if the Hudathans agreed, even if they fought the Sheen to a standstill, they would turn on us in the end.”
Though not as responsive as his flesh and blood face had been, the highly malleable plastic did its best to reflect what the cyborg felt, and there was no mistaking the extent of his emotions. A hand slammed down onto the surface of the table, and wineglasses jumped in response. Maylo, who had never seen her uncle lose his temper in all the years she had known him, felt suddenly afraid.
“You think I haven’t considered those things? Damn your impertinence! Not a day passes that I don’t think of Leonid, of the fact that I sent him to Spindle, where the Hudathans killed him.
“But what of the billions for whom we are responsible? How many will the Sheen slaughter? Once dead, we have no means to bring them back. Should we defeat the Sheen, and go on to face the Hudathans, they have a chance. No offense to Ambassador DomaSa—but we defeated his race on two previous occasions. I believe we can do so again.”
Though confused by conflicting emotions Maylo came to her uncle’s assistance. “Sergi has a point. . . Perhaps the Hudathans could change, if they wanted to change, and integrate themselves into Confederate society. Still, even if they can’t, limits can be imposed.”
“Yes!” ChienChu added gratefully. “Limit the size of their navy! Troops mean nothing without the means to move them around.”
“Spoken like a true admiral,” Nankool said dryly. “I see what you mean ... but I still find the concept more than a little frightening.”
The President turned to DomaSa. So, Ambassador, what do you think? Would you and your people fight alongside the Confederacy in exchange for limited freedoms? And to what extent could your race be trusted? Realizing that you are a bit biased of course.”
DomaSa fought to control the unseemly feeling of joy that threatened to overwhelm the rest of his faculties. At
