“Our analysts agree with the first. Not so much to the second. That will happen with the second wave of targets, however, if Equilibrium keeps up its attacks.”
“If Equilibrium keeps hitting you after your first set of targets, then it should be obvious that the Rraey are not equipping us.”
“Like I said, we know the Rraey aren’t the only ones chipping in with Equilibrium. But we think it’s the primary one. And aside from the value of snapping off that primary supply line, we think it sends a fine warning to everyone else: You may be using Equilibrium to destroy the Colonial Union, but we’re still strong enough to take you down with us.”
“When will you do this?”
“The thinking is there’s no reason to wait,” I said. “The operation is in motion as we speak. In fact, some of the ships that were being tasked here at Khartoum are being reassigned to this. It’s become the CDF’s top priority now.”
“It’s genocide.”
“I think you might be surprised at how little you and I differ in this opinion, Commander Tvann. But I have to tell you that I’m not the one you need to make that argument to. This is a discussion that’s taking place far above either of our heads.”
“No,” Tvann said. “You wouldn’t have come to me with this if there was nothing you wanted from me.”
“I do have something I want from you,” I agreed. “I want you to tell me Equilibrium’s strategy for Khartoum and the other colonies. Tell me and convince me that this is something we can better direct our attention to than that list of targets.” I pointed to the printout again. “You have no reason to trust me but I will make you this promise regardless: Help me convince them and I will do everything I can to shift their focus.”
“What can you do?” Tvann said. “You’re a lieutenant.”
“I am,” I said. “But I am an unusually well-placed lieutenant.”
Tvann was silent, and, I suspect, skeptical.
“Commander,” I said. “Let me be clear. The Colonial Defense Forces has made a decision. It’s going to hit something, and it’s going to hit something hard. And what it’s going to hit is whatever is directly in front of it. Right now, that’s the Rraey planets. You know that the CDF is weaker than it used to be. But the Rraey are weaker even than that, and when the CDF hits your people, it’s going to knock them back as close to the Stone Age as possible. A lot of your people are going to suffer. The only way this doesn’t happen—the only way, Commander—is if we have something else to hit instead. Give me something else they can hit. Help me, Commander.”
An hour later I emerged from the room. Hart was waiting for me, along with a pair of CDF soldiers waiting to escort Tvann back to the brig.
“You got everything you needed?” he asked.
“What, you weren’t out here recording?”
“After you mocked me for it the last time I decided there were other things I could be doing with my time.”
“Yes, I think I got everything I needed.” I nodded to the soldiers, who entered the room. I motioned to Hart to walk with me.
“He didn’t catch on.”
“That I was bluffing about the Rraey targets? No. I sold it well enough. It helps that it was exactly the sort of thing the CDF would do.”
“So now what?”
“So now we go tell Abumwe,” I said. “And then, I suspect, we head back to Phoenix Station and tell a whole bunch of other people. And then maybe find a hole to hide in.”
“Why? I thought Tvann told you what Equilibrium is planning.”
“He did,” I said.
“Well? And?”
I stopped and turned to look at my friend. “And if everything he told me is true, Hart, then we’re all kind of magnificently fucked.”
I started walking again. Hart stayed stationary, staring at me as I walked away.
PART TWO
“The organization known as Equilibrium is dedicated to bringing about the end of the Colonial Union,” Ambassador Abumwe said. “We know this. But we should be aware that the end of the Colonial Union is not the only goal of Equilibrium—indeed it’s not the primary goal. The primary goal is the dissolution of the Conclave, the largest single government this part of space has ever seen. To this end, Equilibrium is using the Colonial Union as a tool, and not just the Colonial Union, but Earth as well.”