Simon Morden - The Curve of The Earth

[Careful.]

“I’m there already.” He posed his best slightly hurt expression on his face and looked at the floor. “I can assure the President that neither myself nor anyone belonging to the Freezone collective has attempted to interfere with any part of SkyShield.” Then he gave up. “Look, bluntly put, it’s not us. You probably know as much as we do: a SkyShield platform opened fire on something in orbit, brought it down over Alaska, where it exploded about ten k from the ground. Beyond that, we’re pretty much in the dark.”

The vice premier made a non-committal noise in his throat like a grunt. “And you do not know what it was that fell?”

“Our best assumption was that it was one of your birds. Which you may or may not have fitted with a nuclear fail-safe.”

“Putting nuclear weapons in orbit would violate several treaties to which the People’s Republic is party.”

“Yeah. It would, wouldn’t it?” Petrovitch unclasped his hands from in front of his body, and reclasped them behind him. It was only an avatar: it would do what he told it to do, but he was desperate to start waving his arms around like a demented windmill.

[Face, Sasha. Do not make him lose face.]

“I don’t care about his face.”

[But you do care about Lucy.]

“It might be better to assume,” continued Zhao, “that we would therefore not walk that path.”

Petrovitch looked at the flag, the desk, the shaded window. “If we were to make such an assumption, it leaves the Freezone with an interesting problem.”

“How so, Doctor?”

“There are only a few countries or blocs with the required lifting capacity to get that sort of mass into orbit. We’ve done a lot of analysis in the past couple of days, and we’re pretty certain we can account for most, if not all, of the existing satellites. Yours, we’re not so sure about.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a compliment. You’ve got the knowledge to put a hundred metric tonnes into space, and the means to do it reliably and regularly. You’ve got a Moon mission planned for next year. Even I’m excited about that.”

Zhao permitted himself a brief smile. “I am eagerly anticipating the event myself. But to return to the matter in hand: China is not in the habit of putting nuclear weapons on board peaceful space missions.”

“So does that mean you’ve broken the habit, or this wasn’t a peaceful mission? Because the Yanks were really keen to take out whatever it was.”

[Oh, Sasha.]

“What? What did I say?”

Michael’s own avatar shook his head sadly, and Petrovitch was left to make his apologies.

“Apparently I’ve spoken out of turn, Vice Premier. I regret that.”

Zhao was listening to the voice in his ear: Petrovitch recognised the gesture, the slight faraway look, the angle of the head. Whatever it said seemed to have an immediate effect. His face softened from an impassive mask and he leaned forward slightly: the height of informality.

“Dr Petrovitch, the satellite in question was not ours. We would very much like to learn whose it was.”

“That’s… interesting,” said Petrovitch. “Do you think it was American, and they used it for target practice?”

“It is possible. It is worrying enough that SkyShield has the capacity to target and then destroy satellites. It is more of a concern that they feel the need to demonstrate this now, in plain sight.”

“There’s an awful lot that scenario doesn’t explain, though. Like why they’re trying to find my daughter without actually looking like they’re trying to find her. Why she ran in the first place. Why they’ve moved enough military hardware on to the North Slope to conquer a small nation. As an explanation, the US testing an anti-satellite weapon blue-on-blue just doesn’t cut it.”

“Do you have an alternative explanation?”

“No. There’s something big we’re all missing. Something big enough that they’re prepared to move heaven and earth to cover it up.”

“The People’s Republic would be suitably grateful for any information the Freezone might provide.”

Petrovitch unconsciously scratched at his chin. Somewhere in the distance, he could feel his stubble. “You wouldn’t be jerking my chain, would you?”

Zhao frowned briefly, and listened again to the voice in his ear.

“Dr Petrovitch, I appreciate that the People’s Republic natural desire to protect its national interests has been interpreted less than favourably by some in the past. However, in this matter, I am being completely candid. The satellite was not ours. We do not know who it belonged to, or who launched it. We do not know the significance of the attack. We are concerned, but our private enquiries have met a wall of obfuscation and denial from Washington.”

“Yeah, I know the EU has just had a meeting — nothing public, but the head honchos descended on Brussels a couple of hours ago. The Canadians? They know roughly what we know, but they’re not going to mobilise against the US now or ever. Brazil and India and South Africa are aware of the problem.” Petrovitch stopped, then started again. “This isn’t sounding good, is it?”

“The whole world has grown to rely on satellites, Doctor: for communication, navigation, surveying, surveillance. Consequently, it is vital that the Americans do not gain a monopoly in space. It is regrettable, but we would be willing to insist on our rights using all and every means at our disposal.”

“You’re not going to invade California any more than I am, Vice Premier Zhao.”

Zhao’s lips disappeared as he drew them tight. “Yet that option remains. Since there are many more of us than there are of you, I believe our chances of success would be higher.”

“ Chyort . Can I ask what sort of timescale you’re thinking of?”

“We require answers, Doctor. We are willing to wait for those answers — providing there are no further attacks.”

“And if there are?”

“Our response will be proportionate.”

“And immediate?”

“As you say,” said Zhao. “We have given this message to the American ambassador, who accepted it without a word of comment. In the circumstances, I felt that you should be told of this also.”

“That’s something you didn’t have to do. Part of me knows you’re only doing it because it suits your interests, but thanks all the same. It’s better to know stuff than not.”

“As ever, Dr Petrovitch, you are wise beyond your years.”

“Wise? I’ve been accused of a lot of things in my time, but not that. Normally, I do stupid things impulsively, then try and pretend that’s what I was going to do all along.”

“It has worked in the past. It may yet work again.”

“Yeah. You’ll be saying we live in interesting times next.”

“We are, Doctor. We are.” Zhao stood and bowed. “Perhaps we will speak again before long. Until then, I wish that your search is both short and successful. My regards to your wife.”

Petrovitch’s avatar bowed at the waist. “And to yours.”

The connection closed. He found himself back in the cockpit, staring out over the fields of ice and snow below him. Beside him, Newcomen saw him shift.

“What did they say?”

“Too much. Too little. Who knows?” Petrovitch scrubbed at his cheeks. “They’re swearing blind the satellite wasn’t theirs. But that if it happens again, they’re going to retaliate. They called your ambassador in to tell him as much.”

“We don’t like being threatened.”

“Again, the automatic reversion to ‘my country right or wrong’. It’s just a bit wearing and not a little strange, considering what your country has done to you.”

“Someone will make it right,” said Newcomen. “Someone has to.”