I laughed a shaky laugh in spite of myself and gave Zo? another hug. “Oh God, Zo?,” I said. “I’m glad you weren’t here tonight, too. And I don’t feel bad about that. I’m sorry for what happened to Enzo and his family. But I’m glad you were safe with us. Don’t feel bad about being alive, sweetie.” I kissed the top of her head.
“Thanks, Dad,” Zo? said. She didn’t seem entirely convinced.
“I’m going to have Savitri stay with you while I go talk to your mom, okay?” I said.
Zo? gave a small laugh. “What, you don’t think Hickory is comforting enough?” she said.
“I’m sure he is,” I said. “But I’m going to borrow him for a few minutes. All right?”
“Sure, Dad,” Zo? said. Savitri went and sat on the steps with Zo?, drawing her into a hug. I motioned Hickory over to me. He matched my stride as we walked.
“You have your emotion implant on right now?” I asked.
“No,” Hickory said. “Zo?’s grief became too much.”
“Turn it on, please,” I said. “I find it easier to converse with you when it’s on.”
“As you wish,” Hickory said, switched on its implant and then collapsed in a heap.
“What the hell?” I said, stopping.
“I’m sorry,” Hickory said, righting itself. “I told you that Zo?’s emotions were incredibly intense. I’m still working through them. These were new emotions we haven’t had with her before. New emotions are harder to process.”
“Are you all right?” I asked.
“I am fine,” Hickory said, standing. “I apologize.”
“Forget it,” I said. “Listen, have you been in contact with the other Obin yet?”
“We have,” Hickory said. “Indirectly, through your satellite data feed. We have only reestablished contact and provided a digest of the events of last year. We have not offered a complete report.”
“Why not?” I asked. We started walking again.
“Your data feed is not secure,” Hickory said.
“You want to report things to your superiors without having the Colonial Union listening in,” I said.
“Yes,” Hickory said.
“What things?” I asked.
“Observations,” Hickory said. “And suggestions.”
“Some time ago you said to me that the Obin would be willing to help us if we needed help,” I said. “Does that offer still stand?”
“It does, so far as I know,” Hickory said. “Are you asking for our help, Major Perry?”
“Not yet,” I said. “I just need to know what my options are.”
Jane looked up at me as we came over. “I don’t want Zo? over here,” she said to me.
“It’s that bad,” I said.
“Worse,” Jane said. “If you want my suggestion, it’s to drag out this engine casing, fill this shelter all the way up with dirt and then put up a headstone. Trying to find enough to bury elsewhere is going to be an exercise in futility.”
“Christ,” I said. I nodded to the engine casing. “Do we know anything about this?”
Jane motioned toward Dickory, who was standing nearby. “Dickory says the markings say it’s Nouri,” she said.
“I don’t know them,” I said.
“The Colonial Union’s had almost no contact with them,” Jane said. “But it’s probably not from them. They have a single planet and they don’t colonize. There’s no reason for them to attack us.”
“Are they part of the Conclave?” I asked.
“No,” Dickory said, coming closer. “But they sell weapons to some of the Conclave members.”
“So this could be a Conclave attack,” I said.
“It’s possible,” Dickory said.
“General Gau said that he wouldn’t attack us,” Jane said.
“He also said he didn’t think he could stop others from attacking,” I said.
“I don’t think this is an attack,” Jane said.
I motioned to the wreckage on the engine casing, which was still giving off heat. “This looks like an attack,” I said.
“If it was an attack we’d all be dead,” Jane said. “This was small and stupidly done to be a genuine attack on the colony. Whoever did this dropped the missiles directly above our colony, where our defense satellite could pick them off and send us information to kill the ones it couldn’t. Stupid for attacking the colony. Not so stupid for testing our defenses.”
“So if they actually managed to destroy the colony that would just have been a bonus,” I said.
“Right,” Jane said. “Now whoever it is that has done this knows what sort of defenses we use and what our capabilities are. And we know nothing about them, other than they’re not stupid enough to mount an attack without knowing how we defend ourselves.”
“It also means the next attack won’t just be five missiles,” I said.
“Probably not,” Jane said.
I studied the wreckage. “We’re sitting ducks,” I said. “We nearly didn’t knock this down, and some of our people are still dead. We need better defenses, now. The Colonial Union put a target on our chests, now it needs to help us to keep people from hitting it.”
“I doubt a strongly worded letter is going to make a difference,” Jane said.
“No,” I agreed. “The San Joaquin is due here in a couple of days to drop supplies. One of us should be on it when it heads back to Phoenix Station. We’ll be a lot harder to ignore if we’re standing in someone’s doorway.”