Charles Gannon - Raising Caine

“Although the Arat Kur have violated the most crucial of all the Accord’s rules, they are still members, which means that they may still expect equal access to information. On the other hand, humanity is still a protected species, since the Convocation at which you were to have received your membership was derailed by the disputes which led to the late war.”

Sukhinin became even more red. “And so you would support these attackers of our homeworld — these chudovishnie Roaches — against us in the negotiations, if they asked?”

Alnduul sounded weary. “It is not so simple a matter as that, Consul Sukhinin. No Custodian — indeed, I believe no one in the entirety of the Dornaani Collective — would wish to take the side of the Arat Kur against your interests and claims for reparation. But this scenario is without precedent in the annals of the Accord. Therefore, we felt it best to let the disputatious parties come to their own agreements. Specifically, if you wished to aggressively seek reparations for war damages, we did not wish the Arat Kur to know we were present, and thus, to exercise their right to call upon us for mediation. As they now might, if word reaches them that we are still present in this system.”

Downing rubbed his chin. “So perhaps the Ktor’s early arrival is not simply a consequence of their excessive enthusiasm for retrieving Tlerek Srin Shethkador.”

“I’m sure that the timing of Ferocious Monolith ’s appearance serves many Ktoran agendas, not the least of which would be to remove the ambassador before his identity as a human was revealed. Of course, they had no way to know that they were already too late to prevent that.”

Sukhinin placed a fist on the commo console. “And you still insist that it is wise for us to help these virodki hide their true nature?”

Caine leaned toward the Russian. “Vassily, if we don’t , we lose the only leverage we have over them. I don’t know how long the Ktor expect to be able to conceal their speciate identity and their genocidal campaign against the Arat Kur over ten thousand years ago, but evidently they consider it important to suppress that information for now.”

Alnduul’s eyelids nictated once, quickly. “Caine Riordan is correct. At this moment in time, you are well-advised to protect the secret of the Ktor. Sometimes, a long-term benefit is derived from maintaining a short-term silence. Accordingly, I encourage you to return the Ktoran ambassador to his ship. But I may not instruct you to do so, since you are not members of the Accord.”

Sukhinin cocked a wicked eyebrow at Downing. “It might be useful, as well as amusing, to keep this moshennik Shethkador around for a bit longer, hey? Extract some repayment for what he wanted to extort from humanity? And let his comrades shake their fists.”

“Vassily—” Downing began carefully.

“Bah, Richard, you take me too seriously.” Sukhinin gestured into the holotank: the red blip and its small cloud of attendant ruby mayflies were still chasing the actinic blue points, albeit lazily. “I know the Ktor have not come just to shake their fists: they will use them, if they become too aggravated. I speak of what I wish to do, not what I recommend we do.”

Caine sighed, smiled. “Well, that’s a relief.”

Sukhinin’s eyes moved to meet Caine’s, but his wolfish smile did not change. “I’m glad you feel so, parnishka. ”

Caine had learned that when Sukhinin used that familiar appellation, the odds were dead even that he was about to drop a bomb on the person so addressed. “I’m not sure I like the way you said that, Vassily.”

Sukhinin had the good grace to look abashed and sounded genuinely apologetic. “Caine, surely you must see what this means.”

“What this means—?”

Alnduul’s voice intruded. “I believe Consul Sukhinin is suggesting that you escort Ambassador Shethkador back to his ship.”

Caine remembered the pasty, nauseous appearance of the hapless security liaison only ten minutes ago and was fairly certain his own face looked like that now. “You’re joking.”

Downing shook his head. “I’m sorry, but no. Firstly, we can’t let any Ktor on our ships. We have seen how much unexplained havoc seems to follow wherever they go. Secondly, whilst Vassily and I are the only ones who should go, who have the diplomatic credentials, neither of us are permitted. He is a World Confederation Consul: he shouldn’t even be this close to a potential war zone. And in my case, well, there are a few too many of IRIS’ secrets up here.” Richard tapped the side of his head.

“I’m in IRIS, too,” Caine offered lamely.

“Being in IRIS is a great deal different than being in charge of IRIS, Caine. Besides, if we do send you over, that might actually help take any enemy spotlight off you.”

“Because if you’re willing to send me, they’ll deduce that I mustn’t know anything they’re interested in?”

“Exactly.”

“And if they decide to dissect me, just to make sure?”

Alnduul broke in hastily. “I would not permit that.”

“Alnduul, no disrespect, but you won’t be there.”

“No, but we may equip you with a biomonitor. If the data stream from it is in any way obstructed, impaired, or altered, my ship will consider it a hostile act against a person who is acting at the behest of the Custodians.”

“Does that mean you’re…uh, deputizing me?”

“Nothing so involved as that. But the twenty-first accord allows me to solicit help from willing parties in accomplishing the mandate of that accord. If you agree to carry out this task, you will have our express protection. Over which I have full and immediate control.”

For the first time in many months, Caine felt that he had just become more, rather than less, safe. But damn it, stepping foot on a Ktoran vessel? Really? “Look, can’t we avoid all this?”

Downing folded his arms. “How?”

“By handling the transfer the same way we handled my meeting with the Slaasriithi ambassador. We rendezvous with the Ktor at a module floating in space. They get Shethkador and go back to their ship. We return and go into quarantine. That way, no one”— which is to say, me—“has to journey into the belly of the Ktoran beast.” Caine waited for someone to say something, even Alnduul. But no one did. “Well?” he asked.

Downing looked up. “Caine, if we do that, we’ll be losing an immense opportunity. By asking for us to return Shethkador, the Ktor are also inviting us to go to their ship. To see it from the inside.”

Caine blinked, sputtered. “Well, it’s just fine with me if we pass up that ‘opportunity.’”

“Caine, our ability to fight the Ktor — which hopefully won’t happen for some time, if ever — will be markedly improved by every bit of specific data we can gather about them and their technology.”

“Well, then send an engineer, someone who’s got that skill set.”

“Caine, your powers of observation and deduction are exactly the skill set we need in this circumstance. If we sent an engineer, we might miss important social and cultural details. If we sent a xenologist, we might miss technical components. We need someone who specializes in observation itself, and who has a broad enough knowledge-base to sift out significant factors from background noise. And that specialist is you. That’s why you’ve become the first choice for first contact.”

“Richard, you may mean that as flattery, but I hear it as a death sentence.”

“I know you do, and it’s beastly bad luck that we have to ask you to go back into the bull-ring again, but we’ve been handed a short-lived opportunity and no time to prepare for it. You have the best skill set, and you also have had the closest prior contact with the Ktor.”