Chaos Space - Marianne de Pierres [73]
Instead Rast slumped down into Autonomy. ‘At least you made a decision, Fedor. Now what do you propose?’
Mira sank opposite her into Primo. The warmth of the vein pulsed around her and she could feel Insignia’s receptors flirting across her skin, gently pricking places to allow the transmission of fluids and sugars. Within moments she began to revitalise but with the energy came a welling of tears. She turned her face to the vein wall, letting it absorb the trickle of moisture.
‘I am at a loss. OLOSS will not help Araldis, at least not quickly. Perhaps not at all, now that I have done this. I-I am failing.’
They stayed in silence while Mira let Primo subsume her. When the process was complete she immersed herself in Insignia’s propulsion and self-repair of the egress scale.
The OLOSS craft was still becalmed. Had Mianos and his guards survived the tear? Had her decision killed more people?
‘There is an alternative.’
It took Mira a while to realise that Rast had spoken. She dragged herself from her immersion, enough to speak. Rast was still in Autonomy.
‘What is that?’
‘You could raise your own intervention.’
Mira waited.
‘Consilience, Fedor?’
‘What? An organisation that opposes everything!’
‘That perception is nearly as outdated as your society, Baronessa. Consilience is not an organisation—it’s an assemblage.’
‘Why would an assemblage wish to help my world? I have no money to pay them.’
Rast sat up straighter and ran her fingers through her short white hair. ‘Don’t you understand? OLOSS was a coming together of races and species that shared common beliefs about law; but more than that, common beliefs about evolution. They believe that it is a natural process that should not be interfered with.’
‘And so?’
‘On the other side are the Extropists—a multi-species group that opposes those beliefs. They believe that they are in charge—destined to control and shape their own evolution. They don’t give a crap about moral and ethical debate. They’ll do anything to advance themselves. Their genetic manipulation is extreme.’
‘Si. Monsters and so on,’ Mira murmured.
‘It sounds childish but it is scientific and utterly ruthless.’
‘And so?’
‘So Consilience sits between them. It wants neither body to have the upper hand and believes that diversity is the key to sentient survival.’
Mira was silenced by Rast’s eloquence. The woman was such a contradiction.
Rast guessed her thoughts. ‘Mercenary does not equate with stupid or uneducated, Baronessa. That’s where your blinkers go right back on.’
‘But you are mostly so crude. You speak in a way—’
‘I speak in a way that will get me understood and I need you to understand.’
Mira withdrew from her immersion and felt her ‘external’ mind reawaken properly. ‘The cryoprotectants you brought on board are for the Extropists. Are you one of them?’
‘I brought cryoprotectants to trade with the Extropists. They struggle to get what they need. Without that stuff their society will degrade.’
‘You are helping to keep the balance of power,’ said Mira slowly, making the connections. ‘You work for Consilience.’
Rast merely stared at her. ‘I can help you meet the people who might mount an intervention. But you have to tell me what you know.’
Mira hedged. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You know something about the invasion. You’ve viewed something you brought from Araldis. I checked your add-on history. I want to know what you learned.’
Fear twisted up her stomach. Rast had been spying on her. ‘Why would you care to help me?’
‘Because it may suit me to. Now tell me.’
Mira closed her eyes. The mercenary was impossible to predict. What else does she want? Should I trust her?
She is a potential ally when you have no other. You must rest again now. Your baby needs it, Insignia responded unasked.
Mira opened her eyes and climbed stiffly out of Primo. She felt the sting, and the loss, as the last of the vein’s receptors withdrew.
‘I was given an audio recording of a meeting between one of the Cipriano nobles and a Lostolian