The greens followed the wine.
“That was an interesting message you sent,” Van offered with a smile.
“Message?” Marti’s voice was absolutely deadpan.
“The Bolvara conveyed a message from you, something about madmen also being saints. I assumed that a battle cruiser commander would not convey such without absolute certainty of its contents and source.”
Marti laughed. “At times, Commodore, you are so serious.” He continued to smile. “I did think it was an appropriate message.” He lifted the wineglass, but, this time, only took a small sip.
“Intriguing, but cryptic,” Van pointed out. “Saints have often been madmen, but a label does not change facts.”
“That depends on the value of the label, my friend. It also depends on how much force lies behind it. I fear we all underestimated the force behind the label known as IIS.”
“Oh?”
Marti snorted, then took another sip of wine. “You know what I mean.”
“I know several things that you could mean,” Van parried. “Guessing which it might be could be dangerous to my health.”
“I will be blunt, then. I would earnestly hope that IIS does not plan to use whatever device the late—he is late, is he not?—Commander Desoll used on Jerush as a means to Galactic empire.”
“You seem rather certain that the flaring of Jerush was not accidental,” Van replied. “I don’t know of any way to create a solar flare, and so far as I know, no one else does, either.”
After taking another sip of his wine, Marti laughed again. “That offers some reassurance…if not complete reassurance…”
“Why do you feel that Commander Desoll had anything to do with the unfortunate events befalling the Revenants.” Van took a sip of the pale ale.
“There was a remarkable confluence of events…First, Commander Desoll made a change in the procedures for IIS administration and succession just before he disappeared…”
Van managed to sip his ale without choking. How did Marti know that? Van hadn’t even known that until he’d looked at the records afterward. And how had Marti found out so quickly that Trystin had disappeared?
“Second, he left his chief technician behind. Third, that technician is now the chief technician on your vessel. Fourth, there are reports that all three IIS vessels, three light cruisers in effect, all vanished from known space at the same time. Now one adds to that the fact that Commander Desoll did not care for the Revenants, that he had armed his vessels, and that over the years large numbers of Revenant warships vanished when his IIS vessels were nearby. I might also add that you, my friend, are known as a superb combat pilot, and a number of Revenant vessels have also vanished when your ship was in their general area. Nothing conclusive, but I have a most suspicious mind…Generals, I have discovered, must be most suspicious…” Marti raised his eyebrows.
“You’re doing that very well, General,” Van said. “You have decided that one man, alone and without human assistance, invented a technology no one has seen or knows about to create an effect that only time and nature have been able to do so far. You have also decided that the man who supposedly did this either vanished or destroyed himself after doing the impossible, and you imply that I know things that I don’t.”
Marti laughed. “Commander Desoll chose well, I can see. You have not said an untrue statement ever. Neither did he.” He took a small sip of wine before setting it down next to the plate containing the salad that he had eaten without Van’s even noticing it.
“I don’t lie well,” Van admitted. “So I try not to.” He took the last few bites of his salad.
“Most of us do not.” Marti’s smile turned wry. “So I would like to know what you and IIS intend to do with the Republic of Tara.”
“The Republic?” Van wasn’t sure what Marti meant.
“You have not heard?”
“Heard what?”
Marti nodded. “At times I forget that what I see is not what everyone can see. No matter. It will be on all the media nets before long.”
Van waited.
“The Republic claimed that the Keltyr space forces refused to surrender.”
Van’s stomach tightened. He could feel his face stiffen.
“I see you are beginning to understand.” After a pause while the server removed the salad plates and presented the entrées, Marti went on. “The word is that none of the Keltyr ships survived.” Another moment passed. “Not a single one. That is an even more remarkable…coincidence than those surrounding Commander Desoll.”
Van forced himself to take a moderate and slow swallow of his ale before he replied. “That is, as you say, remarkable. I cannot see how it applies to me, though. I am unwelcome in any Republic system, and the RSF certainly has little interest in listening to my views.”
“That is a pity.” Marti took a bite of his meat, a dish Van did not recognize except for the rice on the side. “They refused to heed your views before, as I recall.”
“A number of times,” Van said dryly. “I can’t say that it seemed to harm them.” He tried the duck, piquant and tasty, but not oily.
“Not for now. The Revenants did not heed Commander Desoll, and the cost was high.”
“I can’t see how not heeding me
