Van understood that. He’d seen too many officers and techs die already. A thought came to his mind. “The Collyns? Do you know anything?”
Guffree frowned. “I shouldn’t speak much about that. Let us just say those on board were among those we cannot reward in any meaningful way.”
“I understand.” That didn’t surprise Van at all. It would have had to have been something like that to have required the Fergus’s immediate transfer to Scandya. But it still nagged at him. He wondered if it always would.
“I’m certain you do, Commodore.” Guffree smiled again. “It’s good to know that you’ll recover completely, and I’m happy to have been able to tell you about your commendation and promotion.”
“Thank you,” Van replied, as warmly as he could. “It…takes some getting used to.”
“You’ll manage, Commodore. I’m sure you will.” Guffree paused, then extended a large envelope. “I took the liberty of collecting some of the media stories about you. I thought you might like to show them to friends and family. There’s also a copy of the summary of my report.”
“I appreciate that,” Van replied.
“It was something we could do, and I’m happy I could.” Guffree bowed his head. “I’d like to stay and chat, but there’s a shuttle to catch.”
“You don’t want to miss that.”
“The ship would wait, but I’d rather not be known as a commodore who pulls that kind of rank.” With a last smile, Guffree turned and left.
Van looked at Dr. Calyen. “I will recover fully?”
Calyen glanced toward the door, then stepped toward the medcrib, and spoke quietly. “You should be fully recovered, the way you’re progressing, in three months. It might be a little less or a little more, but I’d bet on less.”
Van nodded slowly. The RSF would claim that Van would have been out of touch for a year and a half—not nine months—and now they finally had an honorable way to slip one Van Cassius Albert out of the RSF—with a medal, a promotion, and full retirement. And there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
He looked blankly at the unopened envelope. How long he did, he wasn’t sure, but when he looked up, Dr. Calyen was no longer in the room.
After another pause, he opened the envelope that Guffree had handed him. He started with the news stories.
(Valborg, Scandya) Eight high-level clones attacked Premier Erik Gustofsen in the middle of a light show at the Keltyr embassy on Independence Day night. Lasers, disc-guns, and even slug throwers were leveled at the controversial premier. When it was all over, Gustofsen was untouched. But two security guards were dead, and four others were wounded. The military attaché of the Taran embassy was so severely injured that doctors are still struggling to keep him alive, and the military attaché of the Keltyr embassy was wounded and released.
The eight attackers all died immediately following the unsuccessful assault. The Valborg constabulary has refused comment on whether they were all programmed clones, but sources close to the investigation have indicated that the clones followed a basic Revenant genetic pattern. That pattern does not necessarily indicate who planned and implemented the attack because a number of organizations and governments have the capability of using such a gene pattern.
“If the attackers were clones,” commented Revenant Ambassador Jared Dane, “and if the gene pattern were similar to some of our citizens, that would almost certainly prove that we were not involved, but set up as scapegoats.” Similar views were expressed by others in the diplomatic community. Temra Piersen of the Liberal Commons denounced the suggested Revenant tie as “little more than a smear campaign” by those wishing Argenti annexation.
Premier Gustofsen called for calm, and tendered his public appreciation to the Taran military attaché for his “foresight and bravery…” He also indicated that a letter of commendation and appreciation would be forthcoming.
Van smiled wanly. There hadn’t been any private messages from the premier, nor any public ones that he’d seen. But perhaps a communiqué had gone to New Oisin. That might have been the reason for the Taran commendation and promotion.
He went back to reading.
The Taran commander, Van Albert, apparently recognized the attackers before they were in position and sounded a warning. Albert vaulted onto the dais with the ambassadors and the premier, keeping the attackers from getting clear shots at the premier until security guards shielded Gustofsen with their own bodies. Albert was hit with multiple weapons. He is in critical condition at Valborg Medcenter. Doctors would not comment on his condition.
Most of the other transcripts of media stories were along the same lines as the first—except for the one from Taran Media.
(New Oisin, Tara) Last week in Valborg, the capital of the Scandyan System, eight well-armed clones attacked the Scandyan premier. The aim of the attack was foiled by the quick thinking of the Taran embassy’s military attaché. Commander Van Albert was severely wounded and may not even survive, let alone recover fully. Yet his actions prevented what might have led to a civil war in Scandya, since by all accounts, the premier is the only figure presently capable of maintaining Scandyan neutrality.
Although we appreciate and applaud the commander’s heroism, as should every citizen, neither the Republic nor its peoples should have to rely on uncommon individual heroism in other systems to protect us and our children. While the RSF has taken pains to deny the story, it is fairly certain that the RSFS Collyns has been lost in space, most probably another hidden casualty of an indirect and undeclared conflict that threatens to engulf the entire Arm. Another cruiser is also missing and presumed lost. In this time of growing tension between the Revenants and the Argenti systems, the RSF must have more and better ships and technology if we are not to find ourselves in the same predicament as do
