Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [107]
Patrick paced the room wearing his EDF dress uniform. It was risky, but after much soul-searching, he had decided it was necessary. He was done hiding his identity and his past. There could be no turning back. Even if Zhett didn't come to listen, he needed to do this for himself.
'It's your show, Fitzpatrick.' Kellum sat down. 'Make it good.'
'Or at least entertaining,' said Boris Goff. Try dumping yourself out an airlock.' Some of the others chuckled uneasily.
Patrick had rehearsed his words, but when he saw Zhett appear at the doorway, the well-practised speech vanished into thin air. She looked beautiful in her Roamer jumpsuit with her glossy dark hair draped over her shoulders. She leaned casually against the door frame, arms crossed, and looked at him with an unreadable expression.
After an interminable silence, Bing Palmer muttered, just like the Eddies - they waste our time and have nothing to say.'
Patrick cleared his throat. 'I… I'm responsible for it. I just wanted you to know. The clan heads, the Roamers, it's affected everybody.' He knew he was being vague. 'My actions. I didn't know you then, didn't think anything through. It never occurred to me--'
'We all know you're responsible, by damn. I was there, remember? When the Soldier compies junked up my shipyards, and that Eddy battle group drove us away like birds from a roost.'
'Not that. I mean before, long before, at the root of all this. I served with General Lanyan as his adjutant. I was with him on patrol runs across trade routes, supposedly looking for hydrogues. But we were bored. The Hansa and the EDF were angry with the Roamer clans, because you wouldn't agree to exclusively sell us your ekti in a time of war.'
Goff slurped his drink loudly. 'Yeah, we know all this.'
'We encountered a Roamer cargo ship flown by a man named Raven Kamarov.' He watched the reaction ripple through the room. Even Zhett stood up straight, her eyes widening. 'Kamarov was carrying stardrive fuel, quite a lot of it. After we talked with him, it was clear he didn't intend to sell it to Earth.'
Despite Patrick's anxiety, speaking these words aloud felt somehow cleansing. 'Things got out of control. General Lanyan gave me implicit orders and left the bridge. Though I believed I was doing what was right for the EDF and the Hansa at the time, I'm the one who turned to the weapons officer. I gave the order to open fire.'
The room fell completely silent. Patrick stared at one of the coloured daubs on the wall, seeing Zhett in his peripheral vision. The other skymine chiefs stared at him. 'Yes, I killed Raven Kamarov. That's bad enough in itself, I know. But that started it all. Because of that incident, the Roamers cut off ekti shipments to the Hansa. Then the EDF retaliated by attacking your facilities, taking Roamers prisoner, destroying Rendezvous. The list goes on and on.' He closed his eyes, shook his head. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes again and raised his chin. 'I'm sorry, and I'm here to accept my punishment.'
His legs were shaking, and he felt as if he would collapse any second. In the uproar of angry disbelief, with men surging to their feet, shouting accusations, spilling their drinks, and cursing him, Patrick saw only Zhett staring at him. With tears sparkling in her dark eyes, she turned and left the meeting chamber. Patrick didn't hear anything else.
Sixty-three
Chairman Basil Wenceslas
The Chairman faced the window of his office, pointedly turning his back on Admiral Willis, who stood at attention. Now that he'd heard of her botched assault on Theroc, he did not trust himself to look at her. Another disappointment. Another failure. Was she so weak? So poor a choice for admiral?
Deputy Cain sat at his desk in a corner, watching. Basil didn't mind that the deputy spoke less and less during meetings, but he was worried that no one had his clarity of vision anymore.
Still staring out at the Palace District's skyline, he finally said, 'You overestimated the Therons and the Roamers. I know what they're made