The Sails of Tau Ceti (36 page)

“Hello, Ben,” she greeted as Tallen stepped across the threshold. The door hissed quietly closed behind him. She did not need to hear the click to know that it was locked to her.

“Tory,” Tallen responded with a nod.

“What can I do for you?”

“I thought we could talk. Isn’t it about time you told me what the hell has been going on?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The hell you don’t! You have been bothered about something for months. I want to know what it is. What hold have the aliens on you that you would betray your own people?”

“I haven’t betrayed them.”

“Have it your own way. What did the aliens think they were doing with that fool stunt with the light sail?”

Tory shrugged. “As Faslorn said, demonstrating their power if it is to be a choice between peace and war.”

“If they expected to win converts, they went about it the wrong way. There have been hundreds of death threats against all five of you in the past several hours. We have had to put extra security on alert to discourage lynch mobs. People seem especially upset about your part in all of this, by the way. They are calling you ‘traitor.’”

The information came as a blow, despite the fact that it was what she had expected. She said nothing in reply.

Ben continued as though he had not noticed the sudden quiver in her lower lip. “We’re still tallying the casualties, you know.”

“There were casualties?”

He nodded. “At least 1500 heart attacks, a like number of suicides, countless traffic accidents, more than one hundred thousand arson fires, and God knows what other damage. Why didn’t you warn us? Don’t you think you owed us that much as a fellow human being?”

Tory’s sudden burst of laughter sounded unhealthy, even to her.

“What’s so funny?”

“If I had warned you, Ben, you would have stopped it.”

“Damned right we would have.”

“Then our point would never have been made. I couldn’t warn you, Ben, because the eclipse was my idea.”

“What?”

“We had to do something. Everyone had turned their minds off. The council was determined to punish the Phelan for lying, the individual members were stumbling over one another making bellicose speeches, and the public was demanding blood. I hoped the eclipse would scare everyone into thinking again. Apparently, I was too optimistic.”

“You scared us, all right. You demonstrated just how dangerous a weapon a light sail can be. As a result, people are screaming for the Navy to vaporize
Far Horizons
before they use their light sail to vaporize our oceans.”

Her heart stuttered at the news. “They wouldn’t!”

Tallen shook his head ruefully. “Calmer heads are prevailing at the moment. The first councilor has ordered the starship boarded, however. If the Phelan resist, no telling what the Navy will do.”

“You’ve got to stop them, Ben. Tell the first councilor to rescind the order.”

“Why should I?”

Tory fought down a renewed wave of panic. She opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it so hard that her teeth rattled. An icy calm descended over her as the analytical part of her brain took over. The conundrum she now faced was the same one that had deviled her since that terrible day in
Far Horizons
’s control room. All the work, the lies, the political maneuvers had been for naught. The question of whether she should blurt out the danger or hold her tongue was still with her. Either way, disaster seemed inevitable. If the eclipse had driven people even deeper into frenzy, what of news that the Phelan could blow up the sun? Compromise might still be possible if they could limit the knowledge to the dark confines of the council’s inner workings. But what could be done once the man and woman in the street learned they were in danger? Once the news became public, the only thing more powerful than the demands for
Far Horizons
’s destruction would be the nova that followed.

On the other hand, perhaps she had been on the right track with the eclipse, but too timid. Surely, news of the sun’s pending destruction would drive some sense into people. Were the Phelan so bad that humankind would rather die than accept them? All that was required was for the great mass of people to believe the Phelan would do what they threatened.

What if they didn’t believe it? That was the most chilling prospect of all. What if she revealed the Phelan threat and no one believed her? What then? Being honest might accomplish nothing more than trading her current cell for one in a mental hospital.

Tory’s intestines knotted up and the taste of bile was strong in her mouth as she considered the most important decision of her life. She became aware of Ben’s steady gaze and wondered how many other pairs of eyes were watching her just now. The thought was like an icy knife shoved into her bowels. It was the shock she needed. If she were going to reveal what she knew, at least she would know to whom she was speaking!

Tory set her jaw and looked directly into Ben’s eyes. “I’ll talk, but only to Boerk Hoffenzoller and only with the Phelan present.”

“You’re in no position to make demands, Tory.”

“That is my price, Ben.”

Tallen spent a long minute, apparently deep in thought, but more likely accessing his implant. Finally, he nodded. “Very well. I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Tell the first councilor that the fewer who hear what I have to say, the easier his job will be afterward.”

“I’ll tell him.”

“Also, he must call off the boarding party. He can order
Far Horizons
captured later.”

“Sorry, but things have gone too far. For all I know, the Navy is already boarding the starship.”

Tory blinked. Events were moving too swiftly to control. She felt as though she had fallen into a river and was being swept along by the current. It was a chilling thought, especially for a daughter of Mars, but one that crystallized her resolve. After three long years of searching for an answer, she knew what she must do.

“Then make the arrangements quickly. You have no idea of the danger!”

#

Garth Van Zandt gazed at the tactical display on his screen and cursed silently from within the confines of his pressure suit. The corvettes
Xenia
and
Haver
were closing on
Far Horizons
at high speed while
Aurora
and two destroyers,
Battle
and
Evanston
, followed at a more leisurely pace. The target of the two corvettes was the sphere containing the ionization laser a kilometer in front of the main habitat cylinder. Out beyond Pluto, Van Zandt had worried about running into the laser by accident. Here, with Earth and Luna looming large in his rear viewscreen, he was more worried about being shot down.

The ionization laser was a weapon of immense power. The same energy that had once stripped the electrons from hydrogen atoms would work just as well against ships and men. At any moment, the violet beam of light might reach out to vaporize the five Space Navy warcraft. Garth did not doubt that the Phelan had the power to destroy his entire command. The only unknown lay in whether they would have time to launch their weapons before being converted into a cloud of glowing gas.

He breathed in the stink of his own fear as the two corvettes continued to close on converging orbits. If all went well, they would use their own lasers to cut loose the ionization laser from its mother ship, and clear the way for
Aurora
and her sisters.

“Captain Perlman announces that he is in range, sir,” the communicator said over the intercom. “Captain Savimbe also reports ready.”

“Give them weapons free.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

Van Zandt listened as the order went out and the corvettes powered up their batteries of x-ray lasers. There followed two interminable minutes as the attackers closed to optimum range. Then, with no more visible sign than a small flash, the cable was cut and the laser cast adrift.

“Both captains report mission successful, sir. No collateral damage to the alien ship. They have passed their closest point of approach and are now receding.”

“Send them ‘Good job!’ and ‘return to Luna.’”

Battles in space were nothing like the stylized ballets of atmospheric craft. Orbital mechanics are a matter of momentum, acceleration, and vectors.
Xenia
and
Haver
had spent hours getting into position for their attack. Their single pass completed, they lacked the fuel to reverse course. In terms of velocity, Luna, 300,000 kilometers distant, was closer to them than the ship they had just attacked.

Garth’s mouth was dry as he gave his next command. “Order
Battle
and
Evanston
to begin their attacks. First Officer, take us in.”

He watched on the screen as the two other ships’ drives flared and they accelerated toward the quarry. Van Zandt sank into his acceleration couch as the muted roar of
Aurora
’s engines carried through the hull. Ten minutes later, the three ships turned end for end in preparation for slowing.”

“Marines are ready, sir,” the commander of the boarding party announced over the battle circuits.

“Stand by, Major.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

As it had once before,
Far Horizons
loomed large in the viewscreen. The cruiser was aimed for a point amidships and just beyond the starship’s hull. Her velocity was precisely matched to the starship’s rotation rate. In her launch bays, four powerful armed-pods were filled with men ready to do battle. The two destroyers closed on other portions of the starship’s outer hull.

When the giant rotating cylinder had become a wall in the black sky, the battle pods leaped across the hundred-meter gap.

“All pods report contact, Captain,” the communicator announced. “
Battle
reports all pods launched and attached.
Evanston
was forced to break off their approach due to debris in their path.”

“What sort of debris?”

“Shreds of the cable
Xenia
and
Haver
cut.”

“Very well. Tell
Evanston
to proceed to the aft end cap. Order the Marines in.”

The order was sent to the two corvettes, now functioning as communications relays to men and machines out of sight around the curve of the starship’s hull. When next
Far Horizons
’s rotation brought his boarding party into view, Garth could see men dangling from cables anchored to the starship’s hull as they worked to set explosive charges. The points of entry had been carefully chosen to minimize damage to the starship. Within seconds, the starship’s rotation carried them once more from view.

Garth found the wait for their reappearance nerve wracking. When the pods came again over the cylindrical horizon, the Marines had disappeared into a small dark hole punched through the starship’s hull.

Half an hour later, the Marines reported
Far Horizons
had been secured. There had been no casualties on either side.

#

A guard escorted Tory down a wide hall to a conference room. It had been four hours since her interview with Ben Tallen — and felt like four centuries. Inside the conference room, Faslorn, Maratel, Neirton, and Raalwin were all seated in human-style chairs at the far end of a long table. Separated from the aliens by half-a-dozen empty seats were Boerk Hoffenzoller, Jesus de Pasqual, Praesert Sadibayan and Joshua Kravatz. Ben Tallen hovered over Sadibayan as he whispered something in his boss’s ear. Ben straightened and strode to greet her as the guard removed the wrist restraints she had worn for the fifty-meter trip down the hall. Ben made a sweeping gesture that encompassed the whole of the conference room.

“Arrangements are as you requested.”

“May I speak with Faslorn before we begin?”

“Certainly.”

Tory moved to the Phelan end of the table and took the place immediately to Faslorn’s right. She huddled with the four aliens and quickly outlined the reason for the meeting in a breathless whisper.

“I thought we settled this three days ago in the embassy, Victoria,” Faslorn said when she’d finished. “To reveal our secret will only end in disaster.”

“Things are already headed for disaster. The Navy has orders to board
Far Horizons
.

Faslorn’s ears drooped at the news. “Then it matters little what we tell them. The fleet will begin preparations for another voyage as soon as the news reaches them.”

“Not if we can convince the first councilor to call off the boarding party. To do that, he has to understand the true stakes of this game. He’ll believe it more if you tell him.”

Faslorn hesitated, then “nodded.” “Very well. It will make no difference, but perhaps I will have the pleasure of seeing their faces when they learn what they have done.”

Tory nodded and turned to face Boerk Hoffenzoller while the four Phelan straightened in their seats. “Sir, I asked you here so that Faslorn can explain some things to you.”

“You have the floor, Miss Bronson,” the first councilor said. “I must warn you that none of us are likely to believe what any Phelan has to say.”

“There will be no more lying, Mr. First Councilor,” Faslorn replied. “Because Tory has served us well, I will honor her request. It will make no difference to humanity’s fate, but at least you will understand the service she attempted to render your species.”

Faslorn began by explaining how neutrinos, normally the most elusive of all subatomic particles, could be made to interact with the stellar fires that burn in the heart of every star. His audience wore perplexed expressions as he recounted the tale of the Usurpers and how their miscalculation eventually grew into the Tau Ceti nova.

“Does any of this make sense?” Hoffenzoller demanded of his minister for science.

De Pasqual chewed his lower lip and shrugged. “We’ve known that supernovas produce neutrinos since the late twentieth century, but this is the first I’ve heard of them creating a nova.”

“The process relies on certain quantum mechanical resonances in stellar reactions of which your scientists are still unaware, Mr. Minister,” Faslorn explained. “Have you another explanation for how a main sequence star may nova?”