“Yes, I’m afraid the admiral is insisting on joint command, and President Grumley has given him leave to determine his own command structure.”
Alex stared briefly at Maria before he broke into laughter so loud that he attracted the attention of several hundred fête attendees.
“Maria, the president can’t be serious,” Alex replied. “Tripping has no experience captaining a warship, much less a squadron of warships. And, to be blunt, we’re not searching for some privateer in a single, unarmed vessel. One Nua’ll sphere is incredibly difficult to handle. What if we encounter more than one at the Nua’ll home world?”
Alex regarded Tatia, reading her reluctance. “No, absolutely not, Maria,” Alex said with finality. “Take your three Tridents and head for home.”
“Thank you,” Maria replied, hugging Alex briefly. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll take your response to Tripping. It’ll frighten him to no end. He knows he can’t go home untrained, and your response will force him to see reason.”
“I’m firm on this, Maria,” Alex replied. “Squadron command lies with Tatia, and if she doesn’t think Tripping measures up to her standards, at any time, then he and your Tridents are headed for home.”
“Agreed,” Maria replied. “I should tell you that Tripping wishes to get to know the NT Trident captains. He says he wants to drill with them, exclusively … watch them in operation.”
“You mean the admiral wants to learn what his captains know, so that he doesn’t appear completely useless in formation,” Tatia replied.
“It’s a good thing that the warship controllers manage much of the squadron’s navigation,” Alex said.
“Hopefully, you can disabuse our new admiral of another notion,” Maria said. “I explained to him how the warships are coordinated. His response was that New Terran warship movements should be directly under his command.”
“As I said, Maria, any and all of these ideas of Tripping are nonstarters. Either he does it Tatia’s way or —”
“Its home for us,” Maria finished. “I have the message, Alex, and I’ll do my best to deliver it.” Maria left to find her admiral. She considered it her responsibility to guide Tripping through the delicate process of suborning himself to Omnian command. After all, she knew there was no one else who had defeated foreign warships and an alien sphere — only the Harakens, who Alex and Tatia had led, and they were now leading the Omnians.
“Uh-oh, incoming,” Tatia said, with a grin.
Alex turned around, expecting to find Tripping headed toward him. Belatedly, he noticed the sweep of the music to begin the familiar tune that Killian first danced to with the little Daelon girl, Vivian. Trixie was on a collision course with him, and, amid the electric blue face, her eyes gleamed.
“Cordelia is playing our tune, Alex,” Trixie announced.
“This is some sort of revenge for something I’ve done, isn’t it, Trixie?”
“On the contrary, Dassata, this is an excellent opportunity for us, and you have Julien to thank for it.”
“Julien?” Alex queried.
“Yes, Dassata. He reminded us all that we must be who we are. We’re SADEs, and Omnians will see tonight that you’re merely human.”
“I’ve never pretended to be anything else, Trixie,” Alex replied.
“And those who know you understand this, but not everyone does. Come, Dassata, have courage.”
Alex glanced at Tatia. He was looking for help, but her hand covered her mouth to hide her grin, and a lift of her eyebrows said she was unavailable to render assistance. Alex scowled at her and politely, if reluctantly, offered his arm to Trixie.
Leading Trixie to an open space reserved for dancers, Alex focused on the dance practice sessions he’d had with Renée. He was intent on not embarrassing Renée, as his teacher, or himself. Searching through his implant recordings, an answer to his dilemma occurred to him.
On the open deck, Trixie turned to welcome Alex’s embrace. She expected to find a degree of consternation on his face. Instead, Alex wore a huge grin. On tempo, Alex strode forward, and Trixie was whisked away.
It had occurred to Alex that he hadn’t recorded the steps he was taught as a simple list of where and how to move. Instead, he’d recorded his body’s muscle movements, as Renée danced with him, during her many sessions. Originally, he intended to practice the steps later. Of course, later in his life rarely happened.
Walking toward the dance space, Alex had hurriedly recalled his last dance practice, which had been one of the most complex, and he spooled it from his implant on cue with the music. In a highly unorthodox manner, Alex let his implant recording drive his own muscular coordination.
As Alex danced Trixie around the floor, he felt as if someone else was in the pilot’s seat, certainly not him. For a moment, he’d wondered what other Méridien individuals throughout the centuries had done the same thing.
Alex wasn’t a graceful dancer, far from it, but he was energetic. It was the movement of that much mass with that much energy that made it a sight to behold. Alex was stepping lively across the deck and occasionally twirling Trixie.
When the music stopped, Alex gratefully bowed to Trixie. She regarded the relief in his face and compared it to the mischievous grin he displayed before the dance started.
“Your implants,” Trixie guessed, and, when Alex nodded, she burst out laughing. “Dassata, perhaps you’re not entirely human, and that’s the lesson for Omnians,” Trixie said.
“I didn’t put in those hours of practice with you, my love, to relinquish this moment,” Renée declared.
“Ser,” Trixie said, slipping her hand out of Alex’s arm, “your partner is a wily one.”
“Don’t I know it,” Renée said. “And truth be told, Trixie, we’re better off for it.”
Alex was about to lead Renée away, when Killian spun by with Vivian. She was old enough to dance as the SADE’s partner, rather than resting on his arm, as she had first enjoyed. Killian was smiling, and young Vivian was ecstatic.
* * *
At evening’s end, Alex and Renée said their thanks to Hector and Trixie before retiring to their suite aboard the other city-ship, the Freedom. Relaxed in their shuttle seats, Alex reached out to Tatia.
<Any final thoughts on our conversation about Tripping?> Alex sent.
<There hasn’t been much else on my mind since our conversation with Maria,> Tatia sent in reply. <I think my partner is miffed by my inattentiveness this evening. But, not to worry, I’ll make it up to him when we get to our stateroom.>
Alex could hear the mirth in Tatia’s thoughts.
<About Tripping,> Tatia continued, <I would hate to lose three Tridents. Much of my strategies have been built on the concept of surrounding a sphere, if we could catch it in system. Tough as that scenario might be to execute, it would be a great deal harder to do with five warships instead of eight.>
<But the inclusion of three Tridents in the squadron, which are commanded by a pretender, would also seriously hamper our fighting potential and possibly cost the lives of our own people.>
<I think the best course of action, Alex, is to let the man play admiral, and see what happens. It might not be too bad.>
The long pause in the conversation seemed to indicate to the two Omnians that there was little hope for Anthony W. Tripping.
<Tatia, record every conversation your captains, the SADEs, or you have with our new admiral.>
<Every one of them, Alex?>
<Every one of them, Tatia. I want them stored aboard the Liberator, and I want backup copies on the Freedom.>
<It’s conversations like this that make me more nervous than chasing down a sphere. You know that Alex, right?>
<Good evening, Tatia.>
Unfortunately for Alain, he didn’t receive the attentions from Tatia that she’d told Alex he would get. Instead, the couple talked for hours about Alex’
s request. Afterwards, Alain fell promptly asleep, as was his habit, and Tatia lay awake for a while longer, wondering if Alex was just being careful or if he’d had another premonition.
-9-
New Arrivals
During the course of the next month, Tatia put the squadron through intensive exercises. She used the Celus system as the squadron’s target. The Tridents exited the system, transited away, and then reentered the system on different tangents. The purpose of the exercises was to surround their quarry on, above, and below the ecliptic.
It was presumed from the SADEs’ analysis of the sphere’s movements that it would attempt to use the gravitational forces of the planets and star to accelerate along the ecliptic. But Tatia didn’t believe in fortune protecting her battle plans. Six Tridents were assigned to divide up the ecliptic, and a single Trident each would be above and below the system’s horizon.
Naturally, Admiral Tripping objected vociferously to the assignment of two of his Tridents to what he considered to be ancillary positions.
“Based on your digital bodies own analysis of this sphere’s movement, Admiral Tachenko, my ships are likely to see little, if any action,” Tripping had declared during a post-action analysis meeting. “I insist that you rotate us equally within the squadron assignments for your scenarios.”
“I can accommodate that, Admiral,” Tatia had replied evenly. She’d quietly ordered her commodore, captains, and SADEs to record every conversation with Tripping, as Alex requested. The more she dealt with the admiral, the more she could understand the value of Alex’s directive. Although Tripping was a quick learner, he had an agenda, which was to prove his mettle in combat. A hero complex, Julien had termed it.
Tatia thought she had mollified Tripping, but she was soon disabused of that notion.
“To revisit a point that I’ve mentioned before, Admiral,” Tripping had said. “There might come a time when it will be necessary for a New Terran captain to take command of his ship, independent of the squadron. It could be a loss of maneuvering power, damage to the ship during an encounter, or crystal power vacillations in the beam hulls. Then again, there might come a time when I decide my ships must abandon the search and return to New Terra.”
“The controllers are coupled only during actions, Admiral Tripping,” Ellie had explained.
“That is understood and unnecessary for you to state, Captain,” Tripping replied.
“I’ll take your point under advisement, Admiral,” Tatia quickly replied, before Ellie could react to Tripping’s condescending comment.
However, Tripping was only briefly placated by Tatia’s answer. During the course of the next month, he continued to pursue the subject, until Tatia eventually relented to shut Tripping up.
Z designed a pair of override keys for the admiral that nested in a small control device. If, during the action, Tripping was incapacitated, his captain or senior lieutenant could take control of the tool and use it to exit the three NT warships from squadron control.
None of the Omnians understood the reason for Tripping’s insistence on this subject. Every warship’s controller was programmed by the SADEs and constantly upgraded after each exercise. While the ship was a weapon of war, each controller had, as its priority, the survivability of the ship and crew. Working in concert, the controllers could maximize the possibility of every Trident surviving an encounter with a sphere through innumerable scenarios.
One thing was clear to the Omnians, their new admiral played favorites. During the exercises, it was evident that Tripping had quickly placed his captains into three categories — supporter, undecided, and nonsupporter — the latter captain being Alphons Jagielski. Alphons was the captain who Tatia had recommended to Maria that New Terra promote.
After deciding who he favored, Tripping appointed his supporter’s Trident, the NT Geoffrey Orlan, as his flagship, making Captain Jonathan Morney a happy man, who saw his star rising under Admiral Tripping.
* * *
<Alex, we have guests,> Cordelia sent.
<Round or oblong shaped?> Alex asked.
<I imagine, even though I’m a SADE, I would be hard-pressed to remain calm if the guests arrived in a sphere, Alex. Obviously, you don’t have enough to occupy you these days, if you can be so flippant,> Cordelia admonished.
<You were saying about guests, Captain?>
Cordelia heard the humor in Alex’s thought. He was unrepentant about his jest, and she smiled to herself. There will come a time, soon enough, when all is desperate again, she thought.
<It’s the Il Piacere, Alex. Council Leader Gino Diamanté and Leader Katrina Pasko are aboard.>
<Direct them to the Freedom, Captain, and send a message to Admiral Tachenko. Tell her not to scare the Méridiens with her war games.>
<You’re much too relaxed,> Cordelia scolded, but Alex received the tinkling of her silver bells, indicating her laughter, before she cut the comm.
When the Il Piacere took up station near the Freedom, Alex and Renée chose to meet the Méridien Leaders as they landed aboard the city-ship. Standing in the airlock, they waited for the bay to pressurize and the Confederation’s premier couple to exit their traveler.
After a round of handshakes and hugs, Omnian style, the Leaders gazed around the enormous bay.
“You know, Alex, I’ve never had the opportunity to visit one of these city-ships. It takes your breath away, and we’re only standing in a bay,” Gino said.
“After evening meal, I’ll take you to our grand central park. You’ll love the experience,” Renée suggested.
Both Méridiens murmured their agreement, and Katrina said, “I must thank you again for the travelers that are being delivered to the Confederation, Alex. I’ve never ridden in shuttles that are so incredibly quiet and comfortable.”
“You’re welcome, Katrina. Is that a Haraken shell or an Omnian shell?” Alex asked.
“How do you tell the difference?” Gino asked.
Alex linked to the traveler’s controller, which identified itself, providing Alex with the relevant data. “That’s an Omnian shell,” he said.
“How is it that this controller responds to your query?” Katrina asked in surprise. As the Leader of the Confederation House that created Méridien implants, of which Alex had two, she was constantly fascinated by what he could do with his.
“Didn’t you know?” Renée asked Katrina, linking arms and guiding the House Leader toward the bay’s airlock. “Everything responds to Alex.”
Katrina stared at Renée briefly, before she erupted in a delightful laugh at the absurdity of the idea.
<Nice deflection, my love,> Alex sent.
<Who’s deflecting? I can’t help it if our Méridien cousins don’t recognize the truth,> Renée sent in reply.
In the suite, the Leaders gazed at the open space and sumptuous furnishings. Gino turned an awed expression on Alex, who held up his hands.
“Don’t look at me or my partner,” Alex said in protest. “The SADEs were in charge of the refit. I had my hands full with other projects.”
“Impressive,” Katrina said in a hushed voice.
The Omnians didn’t know if she was praising the suite or the SADE’s determination to make Alex and Renée comfortable.
Alex directed the Méridiens to a couch. Renée served thé and, shortly thereafter, Julien and Cordelia joined them.
“We’ve brought you the telemetry data that you requested, Alex,” Gino said.
“And it was such a precious cargo that two Méridien Leaders were required to accompany it?” Alex asked.
“We had other items that we wished to speak with you about, Alex,” Katrina added.
“Well, I’ll have Julien support the transfer of the data, and the SADEs can get started on the analysis right away,” Alex said.
“I don’t believe that will be necessary, Alex,” Cordelia said.
“Captain Cordelia … I love saying her name with that title, by the way,” Gino replied. “Cordelia included
in her message the reason that you were requesting the data. I believe she wanted to ensure that we understand the importance of the request and that every piece of telemetry data, whether we thought it was relevant or not, was transported to you. Realizing the critical nature of your request, I hired more than a hundred of the best analytical specialists I could procure on short notice.”
When Gino smiled, Alex said, “You hired SADEs.”
“Yes,” Gino replied. <Theodore,> he sent.
Alex accepted a link request and heard, <Greetings, Alex. I’m Theodore.>
<Welcome to Omnia, Theodore,> Alex replied.
<I’m pleased to have been of service, Ser. I have tidings for you concerning your request.>
Alex instantly linked Renée, Tatia, Julien, Cordelia, Z, and Miranda into the comm call with Gino, Katrina, and Theodore.
<Julien, the preeminent SADE,> Theodore said in a hush, when he detected Julien’s ID.
<We are all equal, my brother,> Julien replied.
<Some are more equal than others,> Theodore riposted.
<What did you find in your review of the telemetry data, Theodore?> Alex asked, putting the conversation back on track.
<To answer your query, Ser, we discovered the Nua’ll did seed our systems with probes. It required an extensive amount of analysis to identify the initial device. It was a small object and hidden near a moon circling Méridien’s outer planet.>
<And what are the statuses of these probes now?> Alex asked.
<We destroyed every one of them that we found,> Gino replied. <I’ve ordered all Confederation systems to be searched.>
<What was the operational statuses of the probes before you destroyed them?> Tatia asked.
<We recorded every probe’s transmissions for several hours before it was destroyed,> Katrina replied. <The transmission data is included with the telemetry data you requested.>
<Have you learned anything, Theodore, from the transmissions?> Z asked.
<Regrettably no, Z,> Theodore replied.
<After Confederation ships located the first probe, Alex,>