Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [193]
Holding Nira's hand in his, Jora'h raised it in a gesture of strength and solidarity. ‘The Ildiran Empire no longer hides secrets - from you or from our own people. I can only hope to dispel these painful shadows by offering light and truth.‘
King Peter surprised the Mage-Imperator by clasping his other hand. ‘We have all been weakened by this past war and by past mistakes. We were trapped in bad situations because of the unwise actions of our predecessors.'
The Queen joined them. ‘I want our own child to grow up in a different Spiral Arm, one of mutual strength and cooperation. Our peoples still face many enemies - terrible enemies.'
Jora'h knew the Queen was thinking of Chairman Wenceslas and the remnants of the Terran Hanseatic League, while he himself could not stop thinking about the faeros. How could his depleted Solar Navy possibly fight them? And both humans and Ildirans might need to worry about the ravenous Klikiss.
‘Then do we agree to an alliance? Humans and Ildirans, your Confederation and my Empire, for mutual support?'
'Absolutely,‘ King Peter said. 'We need each other.‘
One hundred and eighteen
Deputy Chairman Eldred Cain
The massacre on Usk had been as awful as the Chairman I promised, and he seemed quite pleased about it. Cain I and Sarein sat in the headquarters offices watching the debrief summary General Lanyan had brought back with him, though Basil had specifically asked the General not to join them. Outside the slanted windows, bright zeppelins and slow airbarges drifted across the Palace District, as if nothing could disturb their leisurely routine.
Cain felt sick. He and Sarein were unable to tear their eyes away from the images of the crucified town elders, the burned farmhouses, the slaughtered herds, one man wailing about his destroyed orchards. Sarein seemed to be crying.
As he waited for the vidloop to finish playing, Chairman Wenceslas impatiently stared through the armoured glass of the office window and frowned at the skyline. If he had expected cheers or applause, he was disappointed. Finally he turned back, apparently oblivious to their aghast expressions. ‘It's a sad state of affairs that forced me into taking such an unpleasant action, but at least we accomplished our aims. The Hansa and the EDF are strengthened, and the mission was a success - for once!‘
Cain finally said in a raspy voice, ‘Mr Chairman, do not show these images to the public. They will riot.'
They will fall into line! We have laid the groundwork and issued clear pronouncements, and this will seal the last of it. No more ambiguities.‘ He reached forward to switch off the images. Sarein stared at the blank space on his projection desk as if expecting something else to jump out at her. 'Besides, I've already released the raw footage to the newsnets.‘
Raw footage? Cain sat up so quickly he nearly tipped his chair over. ‘Sir, that is unwise! You said you wanted me to work it into a special release as part of an announcement.'
Basil shrugged. ‘I'm satisfied with it as is. The images speak for themselves, a clear indication that things are turning around for us. We've got the colony back.'
‘By killing everything?' Sarein was quite distraught. 'That's what you think happened there, Basil? You didn't get Usk back, and you'll earn no loyalty when people see it here! Those were unarmed farmers.'
'We regained a crucial level of respect,' he said, unperturbed. 'I'm sorry you can't see that. More important than the colony itself, we demonstrated the Hansa's strength, which some of our colonies seem to have forgotten. We showed them that there are consequences to breaking agreements. This isn't a game. Once I release that report in all its gruesome glory to every breakaway colony, they'll fall like dominoes. Who