The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [152]
‘Understood, Lieutenant. Till then.’
As the screen went into standby, Ash turned to the image of the Vox Humana admiral on the other.
‘Admiral Olarevic, could you bear with me for a moment while we establish channels with the other leaders?’
‘Of course, Lieutenant.’
Ash nodded, turned to give terse orders to a waiting subordinate then beckoned Greg and Berg over. Frowning, he prodded the charred slash across Berg’s chest.
‘What exactly happened on board Ngassa’s pinnace?’
Berg delivered a brief account of the adjutant’s betrayal, and the occupying AI’s comments just after the appearance of the Hegemony armada.
‘Did the vice-admiral give any indication at any time of having been in communication with the Hegemony commander?’
‘Not at all, sir.’
‘He was in sight nearly all the time we were there,’ said Greg. ‘Never heard a thing about Hegemony messages.’
‘Yet from when you left his ship to before you even got here,’ Ash said, ‘an exchange took place between him and this Supreme Overcommander. Something doesn’t smell right.’
He broke off when a sub-lieutenant told him everything was ready. ‘Watch closely,’ he told Greg and Berg before moving back into the confer-image zone before the big screens. In addition to the face of Olarevic, there was Braddock, the Tygran officer, K’ang Lo, the captain of the Pyrean rockhab the Retributor, and First Proposer Conlyph, the new ranking Imisil commander.
‘Earthsphere Vice-Admiral Ngassa has been in communication with the Hegemony Supreme Overcommander Gannor,’ said Ash. ‘Gannor says he is willing to cooperate with Earthsphere’s stance on Darien’s protectorate status, provided that all Imisil vessels depart from the system without delay.’
Braddock leaned forward. ‘Did the SO offer to reduce Hegemony military presence in the system?’
‘I wasn’t made aware of any such offer,’ said Ash.
‘Did the Hegemony commander settle upon particular areas of cooperation?’ said K’ang Lo.
‘The vice-admiral mentioned no such specifications on their part.’
‘How did Ngassa seem to regard the SO’s proposal?’ said Braddock.
‘He takes it seriously,’ Ash said. ‘He certainly seems to think that the offer is genuine and practical.’
At this, the Imisil commander, a Vikantan like Remosca, shook his head while the spot-clusters on his face pulsed a steady violet.
‘Be aware that Hegemony military commanders are not in the habit of negotiating away any advantage,’ he said. ‘They are always seeking to teach lessons, and that huge fleet of theirs will be used to teach all other civilisations the lesson that the slightest defiance will be crushed without mercy. The fact that they have not already launched their attack can only mean that there is another factor in play.’
And I think I know what that is, thought Greg.
In the next moment, the Vox Humana admiral said: ‘I have heard high-level rumours that Hegemony scientists have uncovered technology left behind by the Forerunners, working technology … ’
‘But why should that cause them to stay their hand?’ said Braddock.
‘This is speculation,’ said Ash. ‘We need to focus on how to respond to the … ’
He paused when the comms sub-lieutenant started gesturing urgently at him. ‘Sir, you need to see this – it’s being widecast from a low-orbit satellite that popped up from the planet’s surface just minutes ago … ’
‘Who’s it from?’
‘Someone claiming to be president pro-tem of Darien.’
‘Show me.’
Another screen came to life and Greg found himself staring in disbelief up at the bearded visage of Vashutkin, the Rus politician.
‘My name is Alexandr Vashutkin,’ he began. ‘I was minister for energy and transport under President Sundstrom, the Darien colony’s last legitimate leader. The president and his cabinet were murdered by extremist xenophobic terrorists – only I survived because ill health kept me from attending that fateful meeting. These same terrorists have been holding me prisoner until I was freed by forces loyal to the Hegemony ambassador, the exalted Utavess Kuros.
‘As the last surviving minister of the Sundstrom government,