Tales of Chills and Thrills: The Mystery Thriller Horror Box Set (7 Mystery Thriller Horror Novels) (174 page)

Chapter 31

Senator Peterson stared expressionlessly at Williams as the latter reported. The Ambassador stumbled once or twice before finishing. Peterson left several moments of flat silence before speaking.

“They refused our offer of a phase out period while they rebuilt their economy without nanotechnology?”

Williams seemed uncomfortable under his scrutiny. “They insist that their life expectancies -”

The Senator cut him off. “I didn’t ask you to explain their reasons. Yes or no?”

“Yes sir, they refused.”

“So bottom line, what if anything are they offering us?”

Brett had an instant to marvel at the perfection of this tiny little slice of Oceania’s plan. Of course the Ambassador was nervous. Peterson deliberately made him nervous. No need for acting ability here. And Oceania had helped prepare Brett for the responses he needed to make.

Williams continued. “They’ve encouraged many of the people who moved to Oceania to change their mind. These former immigrants understand they will be watched, and that they can never vote or participate in politics. They’ve agreed to participate in therapy sessions to detect and reverse any mental conditioning.”

Some of those people had been paid off by the Oceanian government, which would help them start small businesses on the outside. Others liked the idea of helping save the world with their personal sacrifices.

Peterson asked impatiently, “Is that all?”

“Some of these people have skills that our defense contractors are eager to get their hands on. They understand they’ll be debriefed by Federalist intelligence services.”

Peterson snapped, “That will give us slightly better tools to do in the future what we’re failing to do now, and circumstances will be much less favorable if we start from scratch.”

“They’ll legalize the embargo if we make certain exceptions, even agree to resupply our ships.”

The Senator replied coolly, “I see. If we loosen the embargo and make it dependent on their supply chain, they’ll accept it, even though they have no choice about accepting it now.”

Williams had no trouble looking dismayed. He knew Brett had a plan in his head that Oceania had worked on, but giving him too many details would have made his responses less natural. Remembering Ariel’s words, Brett still suspected their chances were less than even. But given the Senator’s dislike for him, the Ambassador made an excellent stalking horse.

Brett didn’t listen closely as Williams completed the last phase of his summary. The technologies Oceania was prepared to give to the Federalist Worlds so the economies of certain planets didn’t become dependent on Oceanian exports. Instead Brett contemplated the Senator’s facial expressions, manner, and tone of voice. Skepticism and irritation were only to be expected, but did he see signs of a larger trap closing around him?

Peterson turned to his son. “What do you think?”

Gregory spoke calmly and met his father’s eyes. “Dad, I don’t know. I’ve made many mistakes in my life, and assumed I knew a lot more about most things than I did. Even living there, I never understood the politics as well as I thought.”

Gregory knew his father well. Any defense of Oceania from him would certainly backfire. Gregory had passed beyond both anger at his father and the need for his approval.

Brett was amazed how many of Gregory’s memories he had been allowed to keep. Gregory himself had decided these insights into his relationship with his father might be critical, had decided not to consider them ‘private.’

For Gregory to tell his father what he wanted to hear, to live with him a year or so pretending to reform before going elsewhere, would be no great hardship. Gregory liked Oceania, but leaving wouldn’t be a great hardship for him… after fulfilling his dream of becoming part of the overmind.

Unlike Brett.

Now the Senator turned to Brett, who was more than ready for the final test when it came his way. “That woman you screwed to get her to help you access the hive mind – was she hot?”

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 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.