The Unincorporated Future (42 page)

“Sure you did.”

Eleanor smiled wistfully. “Yeah, I suppose I did.”

“Your new undersecretary,” continued Sandra, “will be Parker Phvu. He’ll vet all your work, but that’ll just be a formality to mollify those who can’t stomach the fact that Mosh McKenzie’s ex will still be in the Cabinet. But the important thing is I trust you’ll do your best to help us win this war.”

“You have my word.”

“I also have your husband.”

“Come again.”

“Call it insurance, Eleanor, but if you betray me, Mosh will find out what happened to him and, more important, who was responsible. His survival now depends on your good behavior.”

Eleanor bowed her head respectfully. “You do realize that he’s trying to set up some sort of alternative government with Joshua Sinclair in what’s left of the asteroid belt. The best course of action for you is to kill him, and I’ll be honest with you, Sandra, that’s an order I won’t be able to follow. He may be a dunderhead, but I’ll not be responsible for killing the poor man twice. I have enough on my conscience, thank you very much.”

Sandra barely managed to stifle a laugh through her closed fist.

Eleanor looked confused. “May I ask why the certain death of my soon-to-be ex-husband, though sadly warranted, is a laughing matter?”

“Because your husband may be a dunderhead, Eleanor, but he’s a lucky dunderhead. For reasons I can’t go into at this time, I not only need your idiot husband to survive, I may need him and his coconspirator to actually succeed.” On Eleanor’s look of surprise, Sandra added, “What I’m finding particularly funny is that one of your most important jobs will be to keep your ex-husband alive, and I don’t imagine he’s going to make it easy.”

*   *   *

Ten minutes after Eleanor left, Sandra began to make a fresh pot of tea: Imperial Gunpowder with lemon, no sugar, no honey, no cream. Five minutes later, J.D. entered the balcony, took the bitter cup from the bar, and sat down where Eleanor had been only minutes before.

“Did I make a mistake in keeping her?” asked Sandra.

“Possibly, but your reasons are sound, Madam President.” J.D. then shook her head slowly as a smile crept up her face. “Special ops, huh? Who knew?”

“Apparently, the avatars.”

“Wonder how she’s going to take
that
news?”

Sandra smiled too. “Like the rest of us, I hope.”

“You don’t count, Madam President. You didn’t grow up with them. By the beard of the Prophet, you helped to create them before they even existed as separate intelligences.”

“You got me. I hope she takes it as well as you did.”

“I didn’t take it all that well.”

“You didn’t go postal.”

J.D. shot her a quizzical look.

Sandra sighed. “You didn’t freak out.”

“No, but I
was
rather shocked. On the positive side, it sure did explain alot. And I won’t lie—it also helps that they’re such a powerful ally.”

“I’m hoping most people in the Alliance have that same reaction.”

“You really think it’s wise to tell ’em?”

“Not this instant, no, but soon. Avatars and humanity can no longer go back to the status quo. That world is gone. The sooner we learn to live together and trust each other, the better.”

“You do realize what the first question’s going to be, don’t you?”

“Yeah. ‘How long did the government know?’ and ‘Why didn’t you tell us sooner?’”

“And I’m sure there’ll be plenty who’ll say, ‘Why’d you bother telling us at all?’” laughed J.D.

“Yup. But all of them have to know—whether they want to or not. Listen,” Sandra said, “I’m gonna need you at the next Cabinet meeting.”

“Not for my keen political insight, I take it.”

“Nope. I need you to bless the damn thing—especially now, given all the recent upheaval. If the ‘Blessed One’ shows she backs the new changes, then I can do my job with a lot less political static.”

“Well, I must admit I like your other two choices,” said J.D.

“Well, Marilynn for Secretary of Defense was not a hard choice. She knows all the secrets and was smart enough to give Suchitra the reins when called for.”

“Cyrus was an inspired choice for Treasury. The Jovian refugees will take a lot of hope from that appointment,” mused the grand admiral.

“His work with the Diaspora from Jupiter and his time as governor show he’s a very good administrator.” Sandra smiled again. “And it doesn’t hurt that he’s Jovian to the core. Plus there is the never-to-be-despised connection to Justin. So are you blessing it or what?”

“The Blessed One will be happy to bless.”

“Good. FYI, I sent the UHF a cease-fire deal through Parker Phvu.”

J.D. looked intrigued. “And…”

“Nothing,” Sandra said sadly. “As long as Hektor’s the President, the UHF will not make peace. He plays the game too well. The people love him—though at this point, I simply don’t know why—his adversaries fear him, and everyone else he’s got paid off. Almost gotta admire the guy.”

J.D. grew more formal. “I apologize for not following that order.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Well, maybe a little.”

“Fortunately for you,” Sandra said, pouring herself some tea, “there was no actual order—unless, of course, you choose to expose it.”

“I don’t. But I can’t help but think that if I had, this war might be over by now. That sits with me every day.”

“Or it might not be over, or the protests that almost paralyzed the Alliance after the Mars operation would likely have been worse. Or the coup might’ve succeeded and those idiots would’ve ended the war on Hektor’s terms, even though he was dead. There’s this great phrase that Rabbi taught me,
Mentsch tracht; Gott lacht.
It means, ‘People plan; God laughs.’”

J.D. smiled at the wisdom of the phrase.

“And maybe I let my hatred of Hektor get the better of me. I honestly don’t think so, but I cannot discount the theory. I truly hate the man for what he’s done to the human race and to my descendants. And mixed up in the whole mess is the fact that you did disobey a direct order, no matter how justified or immoral it was.” Sandra paused. “But as there is no record of it, how could I possibly instigate any action on insubordination for an order that was never given?” Sandra and J.D. gave each other a knowing look.

“One last thing before you go.”

“Yes.”

“When are we going to have the Fleet Officers’ Ball?”

“How can we possibly have a ball at a time like this?”

“How can we not?” countered Sandra. “We didn’t have one last year because of the Days of Ash. But this fleet just won a major victory, and the people need to see it shining at its glittering best.”

J.D. shook her head. “Tell you what, Madam President. This isn’t a hill I’m prepared to die on, but if you want it, you organize it. Just tell me where and when. I’ll make sure we’re all spit ’n’ polished for ya.”

Sandra tipped her head in thanks.

“And don’t forget to come up with a theme. Don’t ask me why, but officers like themes for their balls.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” answered Sandra, already knowing exactly what the theme would be. “I won’t.”

Charon Colony
Asteroid Belt

It had been three days since Mosh and Joshua showed up and declared the Belter League. Of course, the only assets the new republic had was a single stolen Alliance frigate with a busted main gun. But “Mosh and Josh,” as their newest supporters began to affectionately refer to them, had been pleasantly surprised to find that the settlements nearest to Charon did not laugh at their attempts to assert control, but rather, welcomed it. The survivors of over six years of war, conquest, occupation, and near extermination didn’t give a crap about liberty or incorporation anymore. They wanted order, plain and simple, and the Belter League showed up at the perfect time to offer it.

Mosh had been gravely concerned about what the UHF and the Outer Alliance would do when his attempt to form a
third
government became common knowledge. From what he’d seen on the Neuro vidcasts, the answer appeared to be, not much. The nastiest thing the Alliance had so far done to him was broadcast his now ex-wife’s divorce speech. He didn’t realize Eleanor even knew such words, let alone would utter them in public. But even if some of the details she revealed about him were embarrassing, at least it wasn’t the task force of heavy cruisers J.D. could’ve sent to wipe him out. The UHF, on the other hand, had limited its response to mockery. Hektor Sambianco had stated that Grand Admiral Trang would be concentrating all his ships for the evacuation of Mars, and it would take a lot more than the proclamation of a rump republic in the boonies with one impotent frigate to get the UHF back into the occupation business, thank you very much.

For reasons he did not understand, but was happy to accept, Mosh’s fledgling republic was being ignored. And he was going to use the time to create, in miniature, the system he believed Justin Cord would truly have wanted.

El Capitan Movie House
Cerean Neuro

Dante looked at the humans and avatars now gathered in the lobby of the theater he and Marilynn had frequented often. But movies were not on the agenda tonight, though high drama, mused Dante, most certainly would be. In the middle of the stylized art deco lobby was a triangle table with six chairs. Dante was the first to arrive, making sure the data node was secure from observation or intrusion from the prying eyes of other avatars. He didn’t worry about human intrusion, as the only two who might be able to breach this level of security were already coming to the meeting.

Once satisfied that everything was in order, Dante signaled for the others to join. Sandra O’Toole and Marilynn Nitelowsen appeared to one side of the triangle table. Marcus and Lucinda appeared on the other, and Gwendolyn appeared on the third with one seat remaining for Dante.

“Thank you for attending this meeting, which is apparently,” he said, referring to Marilynn’s insistence that everything be off the record, “not taking place.” He then went over to the concession stand, pulled a box of licorice from the display case, then sauntered over to the center of the room and occupied the last seat. Though there had been no official recognition as to who would run the meeting, it quickly became apparent who was destined to lead it; all eyes were on Sandra.

“I want to thank Dante for arranging this,” she began. “I’d also like to thank him for choosing such an auspicious location. I believe it’s common knowledge that on this very spot, I revealed Al for what he truly was.” Sandra acknowledged the looks of appreciation she received from the avatars present—even Lucinda. “And so now it’s only fitting that I reveal the avatars for what they truly are.”

Lucinda shot Sandra a scathing look. “How dare you! Do you think of us as some mindless automatons to be ordered about? You come into our world and denigrate us? Grandmother or not, there should at least be some decorum.”

Sandra chose to ignore everything Lucinda had said. “Marilynn will ask you a question. If you lie to her—” Sandra paused and looked at each avatar at the table. “—I will end this pact between us immediately. This means that all cooperation between human and avatars will cease to exist. All NITEs will stop their support of Alliance avatars in the Earth/Luna Neuro, and all joint research projects will be mothballed. Monitoring programs will be installed in all Alliance systems large enough to contain an avatar’s program with defensive measures built in that will make it possible to disrupt said programs.”

“If you even attempted to deploy an avatar-busting program like you’ve just described,” said Lucinda, “you’d end up destroying your entire informational data stream. A stupid move, even for a human.”

A small soda with a straw bent and poking out of the lid suddenly appeared in front of Sandra. She picked it up, put the straw to her lips, and drank the entire thing down until all that could be heard in the large lobby was the sound of liquid being sucked through ice from the bottom of an empty cup. When she was quite finished, Sandra put the now-empty cup back down on the table and let out a contented sigh.

“You know from a programming point of view, avatars are not very complex. Oh, I understand that individually you are, I get that, but not from a programmer’s point of view. In fact, it is the very complexity of your unique programs that makes you vulnerable on so many levels. To quote one of the great figures of science fiction, ‘The more complicated the plumbing, the easier it is to block the drain.’”

With one look, Dante let Lucinda know that she’d had her say and it was time to stop playing games. The other avatars were of a mind with Dante’s opinion, and so Lucinda backed down. “You and Marilynn will not be interfered with in any way,” said Dante, “and are of course free to come and go as our guests.”

“Good,” answered Sandra, “so then, are you ready to answer Marilynn’s question?”

“Yes,” answered Dante.