Absorption (36 page)

Brett smiled with just the right amount of lasciviousness, not overdoing it. A momentary hesitation would have made the gesture false, but Oceania had helped prepare his brain for this moment.

“Yes sir, it wasn’t a sacrifice.”

The Senator continued in a casual tone. “Have you ever wondered about retiring on Oceania? I could probably help you if that was what you wanted.”

“Sir, General Pendergastman’s may have put me on the road to recovery, but I’m still receiving therapy. Theoretically the Oceanian nanomachines have a fairly short half life and get removed from the bloodstream by the kidneys after they become useless, but I still may have my blood filtered. They give me a creepy feeling after all I’ve been through.”

Pendergastman wouldn’t tell Peterson straight out that Brett hadn’t received any sort of therapy, but merely been tortured. He would know what the Senator wanted to hear, and not wish to incriminate himself in any event. Brett’s therapist was delighted to make so much progress so rapidly, and figuring out what he was looking for wasn’t hard.

After a pause Brett added, “Some parts of my job as an intelligence officer were more pleasant than others, even if we’re still discovering how my perceptions were distorted and by who, but I don’t want to turn Ariel into more than she was. She might get back together with Michael Waterborne, which is probably best for us from a diplomatic point of view, unless you decide diplomacy is at an end.”

Brett couldn’t have voiced this cavalier dismissal of Ariel without advance preparation from the supermind. He saw how effective it was from the expression on Williams face. Peterson didn’t seem to be watching, but the look would be recorded for posterity.

He added, “Not that I believe she knowingly helped do anything to my brain, but I’ll never feel comfortable around her.”

Peterson asked, “So your earlier certainty that you hadn’t been brainwashed…”

Major Johnson replied, “Something was wrong certainly. I’m sure General Pendergastman understands the influence I was under when I made my accusation, and forgives me.”

General Pendergastman nodded. “Of course, of course.”

If he wasn’t convinced, he could hardly say.

Now the Senator got to the crux of the matter. “Do you think we should accept their final offer?”

“Not as it stands,” Brett replied promptly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Williams staring at him, wondering if he had been mislead, if he had helped set up a meeting for peace or war.

Brett added, “I think we should give them an ultimatum. Certain components of our N-space drives are inferior to those made on Oceania. Not only does this mean that our ships are not in all respects the best in human space, it provides a continuous incentive for others to try and run our blockade. They need to give us all the relevant technology. I’m sure Starships Unlimited could make use of it.”

Dr. Hashimoto looked up sharply. Such a gift could make quadrillions for Starships Unlimited. If he was seen to have even a small part in it, he would become wealthy himself. He couldn’t work for Starships Unlimited while an aid for the Senator, but they could make him wealthy in a few years from now.

The Senator grinned a huge grin. Then he said, “They’ll never agree to that.”

They would though. The supermind had already decided. They wouldn’t even cheat, though the technology would no longer be truly state of the art when Starships Unlimited had finished gearing up to use it, and Oceanian scientists (and Oceania) would continue advancing in the meanwhile.

Out loud, Brett agreed, “Probably not, so when we’re compelled to use military force, we can show it was they who refused our final request to eliminate the subtle economic pressure they are placing on other worlds to become dependent on Oceania, they who chose war.”

Peterson nodded approvingly. “That’s sound thinking, but I’ll need to consider it.”

Doubtless he would confer with his aid, who had been a lobbyist for Starships Unlimited and would be again. The Senator would find that all his financial backers were in favor of this scheme. Even if he ever suspected he had been manipulated, it would be impossible for him to change course.

He felt very aware of Gregory sitting silently beside him. Among all those here, only Gregory knew what was going on, since he too had been part of the Oceanian supermind. Knowing the desperate need for insight into his father’s thinking, Gregory had agreed to letting Brett keep an unusually large number of his memories, voluntarily certifying them not confidential as far as Brett was concerned, although nobody else in the overmind retained as much. Gregory would remain with his father for as short a period as possible, then go elsewhere – though not to Oceania. He would miss Oceania, but the idea of saving a world appealed to him, and Oceania would find a way to help him financially.

Brett’s sacrifice was much greater. He was giving up Ariel and the privilege of being part of the Oceanian super mind both. Yet there were Oceanians who would have denied the latter. If he still respected the goals of the overmind, he was still part of it without a high bandwidth connection.

With the help of the Oceanian overmind, he had already programmed his brain to allow no hint of the desolation within him to reach his face or voice. He would never see Ariel again, nor even dare write her across the void of years and light years.

He barely registered the words as Peterson wound up the meeting. He did wonder if Williams now had an inkling Brett hadn’t lied to him, but even that didn’t matter. As they stood up from the table and filed out of the room, Williams passed him, head downcast, chin bent towards his chest. For some reason his left hand was stretched forward awkwardly, palm towards the ceiling, fingers partly curled. His right fist was loosely clenched, and he twisted his wrist, tilting the thumb inward. Suddenly Brett had a vision of one of the ancient classical instruments he had seen. Williams knew he had played the Senator like a violin.

He had lost everything, but gained two friends. It would be enough. It would have to be.

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