naming the former CDF major who took refuge with the Conclave after the events of Roanoke Colony and then took an alien trade fleet to Earth and informed that planet of their lopsided relationship with the Colonial Union. “It’s not a connection I’m keen on exploiting, but it’s one I can use if necessary.”
“It won’t be necessary,” Rigney said. “We have a direct line to one of General Gau’s inner circle. A councillor named Sorvalh.”
“How do we know her?” Abumwe asked.
“After the unpleasantness with Major Perry showing up over Earth with a Conclave trade fleet, General Gau decided it would be useful to have an official unofficial way for us to talk to his inner circle,” Egan said. “To avoid any unintentional unpleasantness.”
“If we tell her where to show up, she’ll be there,” Rigney said. “We just need to get you there.”
“And make sure that no one else knows you’re coming,” said Egan.
“We’re not attacking any of your ships,” Abumwe said, to Sorvalh.
“Curious,” Sorvalh said. “Because in the past several of your months, we have had twenty ships up and disappear.”
“Conclave military ships?” Abumwe asked.
“No,” Sorvalh said. “Mostly merchant ships and a few repurposed ships.”
“Go on,” Abumwe said.
“There’s not much more to say,” Sorvalh said. “All of them were lost in territory that borders Colonial Union space. All of them disappeared without evidence. Ships, gone. Crews, gone. Cargo, gone. Too few ships to constitute an action which merited a response. Too many to just chalk up to chance or fate.”
“And you’ve had none of these ships reappear,” Abumwe asked.
“There is one,” Sorvalh said. “It’s the Urse Damay .”
“You’re joking,” Wilson said.
“No, Lieutenant Wilson,” Sorvalh said, turning to him. “The Urse Damay was one of the first on the list to go, and one that gave us the greatest amount of worry. It’s a diplomatic ship, or was, and its disappearance was a possible act of war as far as we were concerned. But we didn’t pick up any chatter in our usual channels about it, and for something like this, we would.”
“Yet you still think we’re behind this,” Abumwe said.
“If we were certain, then you would have heard from us already, and not through a diplomatic back channel,” Sorvalh said. “We have our suspicions, but we also have no interest in starting a war with the Colonial Union over suspicions. Just as, obviously, you have no desire to start a war with us over your suspicions, either.”
“The Urse Damay being here should convince you that it’s not us who took it,” Coloma said. “It fired on us.”
“It fired on both of our ships,” Captain Fotew said. “And on ours first. We arrived here just before you did. It was here when we arrived.”
“If we had arrived first, we would have seen it as a Conclave diplomatic ship,” Coloma said. “It’s obvious that it was meant to lure the Clarke and then attack us.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” Sorvalh said. “Another way is to have your tame, captured Conclave ship fake an attack on an unarmed diplomatic ship and use that as a propaganda tool. It’s not as if the Colonial Union is not above sacrificing a ship or a colony to whip up some righteous anger.”
Coloma stiffened at this; Abumwe reached over and took her arm to calm and caution her. “You’re not actually suggesting this is the case here.”
“I am not,” Sorvalh agreed. “I am pointing out that we both have more questions than answers at the moment. Our ship went missing. It’s shown up here. It’s attacked both of our ships. Who was the intended target is, at the moment, a trivial question because we both ended up as targets. The question we should be asking is, who is targeting us both? How did they know we would be here? And are they the same people who have caused your ships to disappear?”
Wilson turned back to Fotew. “You say
“It won’t be necessary,” Rigney said. “We have a direct line to one of General Gau’s inner circle. A councillor named Sorvalh.”
“How do we know her?” Abumwe asked.
“After the unpleasantness with Major Perry showing up over Earth with a Conclave trade fleet, General Gau decided it would be useful to have an official unofficial way for us to talk to his inner circle,” Egan said. “To avoid any unintentional unpleasantness.”
“If we tell her where to show up, she’ll be there,” Rigney said. “We just need to get you there.”
“And make sure that no one else knows you’re coming,” said Egan.
“We’re not attacking any of your ships,” Abumwe said, to Sorvalh.
“Curious,” Sorvalh said. “Because in the past several of your months, we have had twenty ships up and disappear.”
“Conclave military ships?” Abumwe asked.
“No,” Sorvalh said. “Mostly merchant ships and a few repurposed ships.”
“Go on,” Abumwe said.
“There’s not much more to say,” Sorvalh said. “All of them were lost in territory that borders Colonial Union space. All of them disappeared without evidence. Ships, gone. Crews, gone. Cargo, gone. Too few ships to constitute an action which merited a response. Too many to just chalk up to chance or fate.”
“And you’ve had none of these ships reappear,” Abumwe asked.
“There is one,” Sorvalh said. “It’s the Urse Damay .”
“You’re joking,” Wilson said.
“No, Lieutenant Wilson,” Sorvalh said, turning to him. “The Urse Damay was one of the first on the list to go, and one that gave us the greatest amount of worry. It’s a diplomatic ship, or was, and its disappearance was a possible act of war as far as we were concerned. But we didn’t pick up any chatter in our usual channels about it, and for something like this, we would.”
“Yet you still think we’re behind this,” Abumwe said.
“If we were certain, then you would have heard from us already, and not through a diplomatic back channel,” Sorvalh said. “We have our suspicions, but we also have no interest in starting a war with the Colonial Union over suspicions. Just as, obviously, you have no desire to start a war with us over your suspicions, either.”
“The Urse Damay being here should convince you that it’s not us who took it,” Coloma said. “It fired on us.”
“It fired on both of our ships,” Captain Fotew said. “And on ours first. We arrived here just before you did. It was here when we arrived.”
“If we had arrived first, we would have seen it as a Conclave diplomatic ship,” Coloma said. “It’s obvious that it was meant to lure the Clarke and then attack us.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” Sorvalh said. “Another way is to have your tame, captured Conclave ship fake an attack on an unarmed diplomatic ship and use that as a propaganda tool. It’s not as if the Colonial Union is not above sacrificing a ship or a colony to whip up some righteous anger.”
Coloma stiffened at this; Abumwe reached over and took her arm to calm and caution her. “You’re not actually suggesting this is the case here.”
“I am not,” Sorvalh agreed. “I am pointing out that we both have more questions than answers at the moment. Our ship went missing. It’s shown up here. It’s attacked both of our ships. Who was the intended target is, at the moment, a trivial question because we both ended up as targets. The question we should be asking is, who is targeting us both? How did they know we would be here? And are they the same people who have caused your ships to disappear?”
Wilson turned back to Fotew. “You say
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