“During your captivity, you used your few moments of communication to summon help for Genesis,” Abel points out. “You thought you were sacrificing your life by doing so. Everything else that has happened flows from your action in that moment. The rest of us have done our parts, but you’re the one who set this in motion.”
His gesture takes in the crowds beneath them, the armada around them.
“Hear and obey!” Dagmar Krall calls through the module. This is a standard Consortium greeting from a captain, not quite as severe as it first sounds. An expectant hush falls. “We have gathered in response to biological warfare against planet Genesis. We’ve accepted Earth’s injustice and tyranny for decades—near on a century, now—but a crime like this cannot go unpunished. If it does, we can never again expect safety, or freedom.”
The speech is stirring. Krall’s rhetorical skills are strong. But Abel doesn’t lose sight of the fact that Krall has never shown herself to be a protector of the innocent. Her hatred of Earth is honest, but she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t also have something to gain.
“What proof do we have that any of this is really happening?” calls someone from below.
Krall swivels the sound module over to Noemi, who doesn’t hesitate. “I’m a soldier of Genesis, sent through the Gate to help my world. That this is Earth’s work was verified by Burton Mansfield himself, shortly before his death.”
Someone on the catwalk mutters, almost below Abel’s range of hearing, “When did he die? Thought it was a long time ago—”
“If you’re asking for solid evidence,” Noemi continues, “no, I can’t show you that right now. Genesis sent me to negotiate with people on Earth who knew exactly what they’d done; I didn’t know I’d have to offer evidence. But if you’ll come through the Genesis Gate—either with a few scouts or as an entire fleet—you’ll have all the proof you need.”
Somebody else shouts, “Why should we believe you?”
To Abel’s surprise, Krall takes the module back. “Why shouldn’t you? There’s nothing to lose by checking for ourselves, and everything to gain. Since when do Vagabonds sit on their hands and refuse to act unless everything’s sure and safe? That’s no way to own the skies.” A few people raise fists; apparently “Own the skies” is a Vagabond saying, a way of claiming their homeless status with pride. Krall adds—in a more ordinary tone of voice, “Besides, some of my captains have been hearing rumors for a couple of months now. Whispers that Earth was going to make a move that would end the Genesis War, and to me, infecting Genesis with Cobweb sounds a whole lot like that kind of move. I believe her. So does Remedy.” With that, she nods toward Ephraim Dunaway.
Ephraim gets a strange look on his face as he realizes he’s become the spokesperson for his entire, leaderless group. Yet he doesn’t hesitate either. “If we travel to Genesis, we could get the proof that will turn the other colony worlds against Earth forever. That’s worth a trip through a Gate, don’t you think?”
Murmurs of assent fill the room. Concern is turning to enthusiasm. At first Abel finds it odd that they’re so easily convinced, but then he realizes, Only those inclined to believe the report made the rendezvous to begin with. The doubters will of course remain far away from any potential uprising.
Noemi gestures for the module, which Ephraim hands over with what looks like relief. “We don’t have much time. Genesis was already suffering terribly when I left—what, five days ago? Six days? I’ve been on too many planets to tell.” A few people laugh knowingly; this is a problem Vagabonds are used to. “My planet is weak, and Earth knows it. They must be planning to invade within a week or two. We can’t afford to wait.”
Krall claims the module again. “The longer we stay here, the better chance we have of Earth finding us. My Consortium declares itself for Genesis. Who’s with us?”
Cheers fill the room. Noemi smiles at Abel, elated. He understands her emotion, but is also very aware of the greater authority Dagmar Krall has just claimed. As long as Krall intends to help Genesis, however, he will not object.
Another voice from below rises over the last of the applause. “A fleet this big, Earth’s bound to see us headed for the Gate. What’s going to stop them from coming after us right away, before we can even get through?”
Noemi steps forward. “We’re going to give them their own problem to deal with. We’re about to spill the biggest secret Earth’s ever had.”
Crews assemble. Weapons are double-checked. Engines are put into overdrive. The signal goes out from the Katara, and within 2.1 seconds, every ship in the new fleet zooms straight toward the Genesis Gate.
Not long after the Gate comes within visual range, Virginia sounds the alarm: “Earth defense systems near Mars are starting to look mighty awake.”
“Let’s give them something to wake up to.” Abel nods toward Noemi, who settles herself at the comm station. He enters the codes that will patch them into pan-galactic communications arrays, then nods to Noemi.
It’s time to change the galaxy.
“Citizens of Earth and its allied colony worlds,” Noemi begins. “This is Noemi Vidal of the planet Genesis. The truth about the Cobweb plague—both on Genesis and throughout the galaxy at large—has been kept from you. Attached to this audio message are data files that will explain the disease’s origin, and the method Earth used to distribute the plague to Genesis, an act of biological warfare forbidden by all Earth laws and every pan-galactic accord.”
The Razers provided all of that information. One of those data files is a copy of the new, “improved” Cobweb virus unleashed on Genesis. Another is the assembled research Remedy’s moderate wing has on Cobweb, which goes back to within a year of its emergence.
Noemi continues, “Your leaders will try to tell you these files are forgeries—which is why
