“We have eighteen on board now,” Wilkerson told him. “That’s pushing our capacity here in the research lab.”
“Don’t worry, Dr. Wilkerson. I have a request on its way to Earth. They should have a high-acceleration transport out here within the next day or so. The prisoners will probably end up in a special facility on Luna.”
“Ah, good.”
“How’s the communication project going so far?”
“Surprisingly well, Admiral. Our…guests
“I understand.” With the Turusch, it was difficult to tell, sometimes, whether you were getting a straight answer to a question or not. Even now, with the AI interrogators pulling third-level LG messages out of twinned Turusch sentences, the aliens’ communications tended to be somewhat enigmatic. The xenopsych people hadn’t yet been able to determine whether that was because they were playing it coy and mysterious, or simply because their psychology
“Ah. Yes. We don’t think that will be a problem now, Admiral. We’ve been talking to them about it. Apparently they require a community.”
“How big of a community?”
“It seems to vary. We think they develop a need for others close by just because of the internal dialogue, the separate brains talking to one another.”
“I’d think that would just mean they could never be alone.”
“Maybe. But they tend to form close pair bonds, two individuals who identify with one another so closely they share the same name, the same job, identify with one another very strongly. They always have a crowd around them…to the point that their philosophy seems to be the more, the merrier. Those first two-Falling Droplet-they… it…” He shook his head in frustration. “
“I thought they stabbed each other.”
“Used their caudal probosci to inject one another with digestive juices, actually. But suicide, yes. Whether it was a mutual suicide by two individuals or a single suicide is a very interesting question. We don’t understand their psychology yet, but we think we’re seeing all the earmarks of profound depression brought on by separation anxiety.”
“But that won’t happen again?”
“Not with eighteen of them. Funny thing. When you talk to one, they all get to buzzing and humming in the background…and it’s like the one you’re talking to gets smarter and smarter, quicker, more reactive. They really do have a multiple mind, a gestalt, one that probably works on several levels.”
“Well, keep me informed, Doctor.” He thought of something else. “Oh. Any reaction when you’re questioned them about Alphekka?”
“No, sir. The fact of it is…we don’t share a common mapping system, a common set of coordinates. We don’t know what they call Alphekka, and they wouldn’t know what we meant by that name. We’re hoping to teach them enough astronomy that we can find the right way to ask the question.”
“Well, it was probably too much to expect an answer immediately. Like I said, keep me informed. And good luck with the project.”
“Thank you, Admiral.”
The window closed, and Koenig was alone with his thoughts.
He would be talking to the Military Directorate about Crown Arrow soon-as soon as the battlegroup returned to Mars. The one thing Koenig knew beyond any shadow of a doubt was that the Confederation had to strike back, and strike hard. If they didn’t, the Turusch would be back, this time with an even larger force.
The only way to stop that from happening that Koenig could see was to assemble a large and powerful strike force and take the war to the enemy. Alphekka. That had to be the key.
And perhaps some of the prisoners would be able to add to the Confederation’s understanding of the strategic picture. Who were the Sh’daar? What was it they feared about human technology, and why?
Why were they determined to keep humankind from following their current technological path?
Already, Koenig was mustering his arguments. His next battle, he knew, would not be one of starships and nuclear warheads. It would be the far harder war, the sort of battle he detested, a political war fought with members of his own species.
Battles with alien empires he could understand. It was his own people, and, most especially, the
“Hey, Collins,” Gray said. “I’m glad you made it.”
The woman looked through him, stared past him as though he wasn’t even there, then coldly brushed past on her way out the compartment door. Gray shrugged at the snub. She blamed him still, somehow, for Spaas’ death… or for his not being there when Spaas had been killed out at Eta Bootis. He understood that. With luck, the reorganization of the
Despite her bitterness, his prestige within the carrier fighter wing, he had to admit, had gone up considerably since the Defense of Earth, as the reporters were calling the battle now.
He was still a bit in shock by the reception down up in the landing bay, the reporters, the shouted questions. There was even talk of a formal interview later. So far, he’d been able to push that back into the background, to put it off for another day or two. Damn it, he was
And as for his squadron mates…
Not a word about him being a Prim or a squattie, not a word about his not fitting in. And not a word, he was happy to realize, about his not being on flight-approved status.
Even more to the point…he now felt like he
He still wasn’t entirely sure what he thought about that. If what they’d said about Old Manhattan was true, he would be grieving when the realization finally hit him. There were rumors, even, that new New York had been hurt as well, that Morningside Heights and the Columbia Arcology were gone, along with so much else.
But Earth and the people he’d left behind now felt very far away, felt like a part of another life, one lived long ago, separated from the now by light years and by years.
His life now was centered on board the Star Carrier
“Admiral Koenig?”
“It’s late, damn it.” His personal AI could pick the damnedest times to break into his thoughts with incoming communications, data, or unimportant details. He’d only just left his office, come down to his low-G quarters where his bed awaited him.
“I know. But it’s fourteen fifty-five in Mecca, and I thought you’d want to know.”
“Know what?”
“You’ve officially been declared a Grand Hero of the Islamic Theocracy. For your rescue of those civilians from Eta Bootis.”
“Ah. I would imagine that saving the Earth had something to do with that. I’m more pleased by the decision
