The Significant (85 page)

      
“I said that Tiao is skilled and cleaning
up messes.”

      
“Is that meant to illicit a certain
response?” Isa pressed.

      
Kailynn was having trouble breathing with
the tension in the room.

      
“There was no response sought,” General
Decius said, his tone clipped. “Merely an observation from our previous
dealings, Elite Isa.”

      
Isa took a deep breath and leaned back in
her chair.

      
“I was under the impression that you were
her to discuss a peace agreement,” she said. “Was I mistaken?”

      
“No,” General Decius assured, “but I
believe we all know that there is a topic we are avoiding.”

      
“That topic being?”

      
“My younger brother’s brutal murder six
years ago,” General Decius said, nearly growling. “As I cannot ask for your
execution in peace agreements where I am the losing party, I’ll have to settle
for demanding that you tell me the truth of what happened.”

      
“The truth was discussed at length in the
autopsy and the Official reports,” Isa said strongly.

      
“Do you believe those reports to be the
truth?” General Decius challenged.

      
“I trust in my Intelligence Agency and
the medical professionals that performed the autopsy. Therefore, yes, I do
believe those reports are the truth.”

      
General Decius stared at the Golden
Elite, as if trying to decide if Isa was lying. Tensions were growing in the
room. Gihron delegates were watching the Elites’ reactions, but all of them
were stoic, apart from the uncomfortable shifting when the tensions grew too
high. However, their faces never betrayed their discomfort. The human employees
were the ones that were showing their worry about the direction of the meeting.
Kailynn was sure that none of the humans—other than Rayal and herself—knew the
truth of what happened, and she hoped that their confused expressions would
assuage the suspicions of the Gihrons.

      
“Shall we continue?” Isa asked, sitting
forward once more.

      
“Yes.”

      
Isa discussed broad aspects of each of
the titles of Gihron’s surrender. There were five titles to the surrender, and
when they reached number four, Isa paused briefly.

      
“Title four states that Gihron will join
the Crescent Alliance, should an exception be made about the size of military
forces for the social preservation of Gihron.” Isa looked at General Decius
seriously. “The rules of the Alliance cannot be altered or amended without a
ruling majority from planets
after
Venus has approved the possibility of an amendment.”

      
“This would not be an amendment,” General
Decius said. “It would be an exception.”

      
“No.”

      
“No?”

      
“I will not make an exception for
Gihron’s military forces,” Isa elaborated, her voice clear and strong. “This
was a topic discussed in great length years ago.”

      
“Indeed, and I have reason to believe
that it was the reason for my brother’s death.”

      
“It did appear to be part of the reason,
as the assassin group did confess to being concerned about a militaristic
change to the Altereye System should Gihron be included on the Alliance trade
routes.”

      
“Do you believe, if my brother had not
been here so long, he would have returned to me outside of an urn?”

      
“I do not deal in what-ifs, General
Decius,” Isa said. “And I do not live in the past. That was six years ago, and
currently we are discussing peace agreement terms to end a war that you began
upon allowing your men to kidnap and kill four Elite prototypes.”

      
“No, Elite Isa,” General Decius
corrected. “
You
started this war six
years ago when my brother was killed in your care.”

      
“As I just said,” Isa said coldly, “we
are discussing peace agreement terms to end the war. I will not waste any more
of my time, or yours, discussing hypothetical situations. If Gihron wishes to
become a part of the Alliance, they will abide to the same rules as all other
planets. There is no discussion or negotiation, and certainly no exception.”

      
The meeting continued for another hour,
as all major questions were discussed and answered before agreeing to meet the
following day to amend terms and find a solution that was beneficial to all
planets involved.

      
Kailynn had to ride back to Anon Tower
with Rayal to avoid suspicion, but as she sat in the car, she could only stare
blankly at the road. They followed General Decius and his convoy, as they were
going to be staying on another level of Anon Tower during the negotiations.

      
“Isa was very impressive today,” Rayal
murmured.

      
Kailynn nodded. “No shit…”

      
General Decius and the others were shown
to their rooms by members of the Intelligence Agency and the security robots
for the building, which would be placed along the halls—it was explained to
them that it was for their security, considering previous relations with
Gihron, and while everyone seemed content with the response, everyone who knew
the truth about Colonel Amori knew that the increased security was to watch
them for suspicious activity.

      
When Kailynn finally made it up to the
Golden Elite’s level with Rayal, Isa had already poured herself a drink and
brought the bottle to the coffee table. Rayal went to Tarah, explaining what
had happened while Kailynn walked over to Isa after grabbing her own glass.

      
Isa remained in the living room for
hours, silent, her head cradled in one hand as her other hand loosely held an
empty liquor glass. Kailynn sat next to her, smiling gently as she leaned her
head against the back of the sofa.

      
“You were amazing today,” she finally
whispered.

      
Isa slowly turned her eyes to Kailynn.

      
“I can hardly remember half of what I
said,” she murmured. “I went on autopilot.”

      
“It certainly didn’t seem like it,”
Kailynn said, reaching out with one hand and resting it on Isa’s, carefully
removing the empty glass from her grip. “Why don’t we go to bed?”

      
Isa nodded, her eyes closing. She stood
and walked toward her room, but stopped when her eyes lifted to the door.
Kailynn stopped next to her.

      
“What is it?”

      
Isa did not speak, her eyes locked on the
door of her bedroom, though lost somewhere in time. Kailynn looked between the
Golden Elite and the door and then carefully took Isa’s hand.

      
“Do you want me to stay in my room?” she
asked, understanding that Isa was likely wondering if she was going to be
watched once more. Isa’s fingers tightened around Kailynn’s and she swallowed
hard before shaking her head.

      
“No,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be
alone.”

      
Kailynn also squeezed Isa’s hand.

      
“Why don’t we stay in my room, then?”

      
The Golden Elite nodded quickly and they
both turned and walked to the guest hallway.

      
“
I
was sure you would not come
.”

      
“I feel that it is very important to
discuss some of General Decius’ terms with you,” Isa said. “The past two days
of negotiations have been difficult, and I think it is important you review the
progress we have made.”

      
“
I
have reviewed the submitted terms. I agree with all sections under titles two,
three, and five. I do not agree with Gihron being brought into the Crescent
Alliance as stated in title four, and I do not consent to any of the terms in
title one.
”

      
Isa took a deep breath and slowly let it
out.

      
“Venus, allowing the humans to take over
the Syndicate would take considerable strain off relations between Tiao and the
other planets of the Alliance. While Tiao does not teach its population about
the fate of those on Earth, most of the other planets in the Alliance learn of
the weaponized humans and they know that Elites were created using that
technology. It makes many nervous.”

      
“
The
information from Earth is incomplete
.”

      
“That does not appease the other
planets,” Isa protested. “While I agree that we should not allow this to be a
term to which we submit for Gihron’s surrender, it is something to consider for
the near future.”

      
“
Humans
are too irrational to rule themselves. They let self-interest guide their
actions and their greed dictate their society. As a whole, humans cannot be
trusted to govern themselves.”

      
Isa closed her eyes, trying to brace herself.
While she did not think it was wise to anger the artificial intelligence while
in daily negotiations with Gihron, she knew she had to start moving things in a
different direction on her own planet.

      
“If I can bring Gihron to heel as I
hope,” she started, “then I think it would be best to implement a system to
phase out Elites and have humans take over the Syndicate.”

      
“
That
is not your decision to make
,” Venus said sharply. “
When Gihron is brought to heel, you will be submitted to final
degeneration testing, and should your levels be found elevated, you will be
replaced, Isa
.”

      
The Golden Elite did not flinch at the
words. She had been expecting it.

      
“Gihron is not the only planet discussing
that Elites need to be removed from power,” Isa continued. “Several planets
would be much happier to work with Tiao if the Elites were not involved. You
will recall the disastrous state of affairs when Gattriel was in power. I was
able to mend these relationships through very careful politics, and the only
reason I was able to do so is because I am not a typical Elite, nor is Remus,
nor is anyone else in this Syndicate. The planet is stronger now than it has
been in over one hundred years and that is because the most human-like Elites
have come to power.”

      
“
There
is no data to support that that is the reason for the increase in or society’s
strength
.”

      
“No data?” Isa asked incredulously. “The
data is in front of you.”

      
“
The
data in front of me suggests that you let personal interest guide your actions
six years ago and therefore you started this war with Gihron.
”

      
Isa bit back the angry growl in her
throat.

      
“Perhaps it is not the Elites, nor the
Syndicate, nor the humans that are the problem,” Isa started. “Perhaps
you
are the cause of the distress in the
Altereye System.”

      
“
While
you have done impressive research on the social implications of my rule over
the years, compared to previous data on humanity, and the information gathered
on planets outside our sphere of control, the data proves that my rule has
peacefully run this planet for hundreds of years.
”

      
“Perhaps that was the case,” Isa said, “but
that is no longer so. That was not the case when, six years ago, Colonel Amori
was able to hack into your system and weaponize you. You have updated your
technology to be compatible with the changing times, but humans have changed in
ways beyond your comprehension, and things are not as peaceful as you seem to
believe.”

      
“
Your
evidence
?”

      
“The Significants,” Isa said strongly.
“You understand that the greatest threat to our society comes from Trid, where
the non-citizens speak to one another, and form friendships and bonds that
people in Anon and other areas of the planet do not. Your fear of unity is your
biggest weakness,” Isa continued. “You want to keep everyone disjointed by not
speaking to one another, by being so desperate to feel like they are not alone
in this universe that they have to pay other human beings to sit and speak with
them because their own families will not do so. This proves that your system is
not working. Perhaps there is no unity in the people that will overthrow you,
but there is also no unity in the people to stand strong behind you.”