The colonel considered this reply. “Right,” he said finally. “I guess you novelists never stop thinking through the angles, do you?” He waved his hand at me. “But please, go ahead. What happened next?”
“He told me he’d decided to accept my bribe. That I needed to wire him ten million US dollars.”
“But you couldn’t have done so,” said Nari. “You didn’t have access to our accounts.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
“So why was he willing to let you go?” pressed the alien.
“He didn’t have a choice. He heard the helicopters coming for us and wanted no part of them. I promised that if he emailed wire instructions, I’d honor my end of the bargain.”
“And did you get the instructions?” asked Brad.
I nodded. “I’ve already forwarded them to you. You can try to trace him from the email address he used, but I think he’s too careful for that to work. He saved our lives, so I expect you to honor my word.”
“Of course,” said the colonel.
“Why did he knock out Tessa?” asked Nari.
“So his men would lower their guards,” I lied. “He acted like a cruel prick, also, one who was relishing the prospect of killing us. But it was all just theatre.”
“Well, he probably is a cruel prick,” noted Brad. “But in this case, one who wanted a ten-million-dollar payday.”
That was pretty much all I had to tell them. They had a few more questions, which I answered, but soon enough the debriefing was complete.
Once it was, the colonel turned his attention to the octopus-like visage of our alien guest. “So what do you make of all this?” he asked. “What in the hell is going on over in that interstellar ark of yours? I normally wouldn’t care about the Federation’s domestic squabbles. But in this case, when a faction of yours wants to wipe out the human race, I’m keenly interested. So we need to talk in depth about the Federation member calling herself Michelle, and this faction of hers.”
Nari sighed. “I know we do,” he said. “Ironically, this was one of the subjects I had intended to share with Jason and Tessa today.”
“But not me,” said the colonel.
“No, not you. Our AI has long advised me not to share certain information with you and your organization, this included. Even now, the AI is advising I only tell Jason and Tessa. But as good as the AI can be, it’s still just a tool. I have to use my own judgment. And my judgment tells me it’s time you knew everything.”
“Yeah, well, I foolishly thought I already did,” said the colonel.
Nari produced the Rho equivalent of a wince. “I know, Brad,” he said solemnly. “I only wish that were true.”
29
The colonel looked hurt and angry—for good reason. I was still reeling from a brutal betrayal, and I hadn’t worked with Tessa nearly as long as Brad had worked with Nari.
On the other hand, I doubted he was as madly in love with Nari as I was with Tessa.
Still, the colonel could take some solace from the fact that Nari had added him to the guest list for our private meeting, which apparently was about to begin, against the recommendation of the Oracle-like AI.
Well, assuming the AI had really recommended against it. I could no longer assume that anything was true.
“I know I have a lot of work to do to regain your trust,” said Nari to the three human meeting participants, as if he had read my mind. “So I intend to be entirely honest with you in every way. I won’t spare you from any truths, no matter how unpleasant or problematic.”
Brad glared at the alien, still visibly upset, but didn’t respond, so I took the liberty of kicking things off. “So who is this Galactic Federation member calling herself Michelle?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” replied Nari. “All I can tell you is that the entire incident you just experienced is extremely troubling. I already told you that not all factions agree with our collective strategy, but I’m astonished that any would take steps such as these. I find it nearly impossible to believe.”
“And yet it happened,” said Tessa. “So you’d better start rethinking your assumptions.”
I frowned, now suspect of her every utterance. Was she really the love of my life rebuking a strange alien being? Or was she the partner of a strange alien being, and just pretending otherwise?
“And speaking of assumptions,” continued Tessa, “maybe it wasn’t such a great idea not to guard Jason, after all.”
“What happened is horrible,” said Nari. “And every instinct in my being wants to do everything possible to watch and protect both of you. But the AI says this is a mistake, that we need to provide the maximum degrees of freedom to let things play out.”
The alien sighed. “It’s possible this will turn out to be wise,” he continued. “Despite how maddeningly cryptic the AI can be. For example, what were the consequences of letting you go to Australia, unwatched, rather than quarantining you on a guarded island?”
He paused to give us time to think about it. “Well,” he continued, answering his own question, “we learned about a rogue faction within our ranks, one far bolder and more dangerous than we ever expected. And because of what happened, I’m disclosing things to Brad I wouldn’t have disclosed otherwise. It’s possible the AI envisioned some of these things, and this is partly why Jason is so critical in the first place.”
This was certainly something to ponder further, but not now. I had a lot more questions. The ones I was most eager to ask involved Tessa, but these would have to wait. For now, I decided to ask a question about something Michelle had mentioned that I had found particularly inexplicable, and intriguing.
I stared deeply into Nari’s alien holographic eyes. “Michelle told us your species really shouldn’t be called the Rho,” I said. “And that your hologram doesn’t represent the real you. Is that true?”
Nari issued a heavy sigh and then nodded. “It is,” he replied. “A deception I’m not proud of, but one considered necessary. I’ll elaborate later.”