surprised.
“On Desolator , yes. He has a short crew and not really enough officers to form a wardroom. Once Conquest undocks, the usual traditions will apply.”
Ekara seemed uncomfortable at this development. Perhaps he felt eating with the ratings and petty officers was beneath him, Absen wondered, or maybe he had some kind of dietary peculiarities. For this meal, though, he’d have to put up with it.
They rode without conversation for a time, each man with his own thoughts watching the activity of machines and the occasional Ryss, Sekoi or human as they bustled about the ship. Once they reached the mess and had filled their trays, they sat down in a corner of the large, near-empty room.
“What about the other races, sir?” Ekara spoke up. “We’re human. Conquest is an EarthFleet ship. Will they be coming along?”
“Some, yes. A few dozen of each. It’s important to have a mixed crew, for political reasons, and for some good practical ones.”
“Practical?” Ekara seemed ready to object. “Extra facilities to accommodate aliens could be put to better use, I should think.”
“Possibly. But,” Absen ticked off reasons on his fingers. “What if we run into other Ryss out there, or Sekoi slaves of Meme? What if we run into completely new races? There are no Ryss Blends – they abhor the very idea – and only one human Blend in this system: Ezekiel Denham. The Hippos, on the other hand, have thousands. They can spare a few, and they may be very useful if we run into any Meme-controlled creatures.”
He went on before the others could comment. “Both races have some experts in certain disciplines that will be useful, particularly the Hippo Blends, with their accumulated memories of long lifespans. They are way ahead of us in the biological sciences, for example. The Ryss have some warriors that have asked to join the fight. Turning them down would have caused hard feelings. And then there’s the Black Swans.”
“The unknown unknowns.” Ekara looked like he was sucking on lemons.
“Right. Three races means triple redundancy if, for example, some kind of Meme human-killing plague got loose in the ship.”
“The Vulcan saves the day again?” Nightingale laughed.
Absen joined him in a chuckle. “I learned a lot from that old TV show.”
Ekara seemed to force his face into a neutral mask, and Absen made a mental note to keep an eye on the man.
Chapter 6
Desolator’s control chamber seemed like a chapel, or perhaps a mausoleum, with its three long boxes like giant sarcophagi. Absen hadn’t had to come here to speak with Desolator, but he’d wanted to see the place again for some time. He wasn’t certain why.
“Welcome, Admiral,” echoed the AI’s voice.
“Thank you, Desolator. I was walking, and a question occurred to me. Something I have been meaning to ask you for some time, about the time before the final battle at the Ryss homeworld.”
“Of course.”
“The Bite. That was the result of your war with the Meme.”
“Yes.”
“It’s a relatively dead zone. Once we learned what emissions to look for, humanity found traces of civilizations in all directions, but much less within that area. It’s why our radio-telescopes didn’t find alien life earlier. Yet, when we took Gliese 370, we didn’t wipe out the Sekoi, and therefore ten years later we have a thriving economy. Did we just get lucky, or was there some other factor in play?”
Desolator paused for a moment longer than usual. Absen realized this fact was significant. At the speed the AI thought, there was no reason for a break in conversation. Maybe it was for effect.
Unless Desolator was thinking deeply. Or perhaps dissembling? Chirom had said that the machine intelligence, like most Ryss, was not very good at lying.
“This may distress you, if I understand human psychology; or, as a military man, it may not.” He paused again.
“Desolator, I have never seen you hesitant or uncertain like this.
“On Desolator , yes. He has a short crew and not really enough officers to form a wardroom. Once Conquest undocks, the usual traditions will apply.”
Ekara seemed uncomfortable at this development. Perhaps he felt eating with the ratings and petty officers was beneath him, Absen wondered, or maybe he had some kind of dietary peculiarities. For this meal, though, he’d have to put up with it.
They rode without conversation for a time, each man with his own thoughts watching the activity of machines and the occasional Ryss, Sekoi or human as they bustled about the ship. Once they reached the mess and had filled their trays, they sat down in a corner of the large, near-empty room.
“What about the other races, sir?” Ekara spoke up. “We’re human. Conquest is an EarthFleet ship. Will they be coming along?”
“Some, yes. A few dozen of each. It’s important to have a mixed crew, for political reasons, and for some good practical ones.”
“Practical?” Ekara seemed ready to object. “Extra facilities to accommodate aliens could be put to better use, I should think.”
“Possibly. But,” Absen ticked off reasons on his fingers. “What if we run into other Ryss out there, or Sekoi slaves of Meme? What if we run into completely new races? There are no Ryss Blends – they abhor the very idea – and only one human Blend in this system: Ezekiel Denham. The Hippos, on the other hand, have thousands. They can spare a few, and they may be very useful if we run into any Meme-controlled creatures.”
He went on before the others could comment. “Both races have some experts in certain disciplines that will be useful, particularly the Hippo Blends, with their accumulated memories of long lifespans. They are way ahead of us in the biological sciences, for example. The Ryss have some warriors that have asked to join the fight. Turning them down would have caused hard feelings. And then there’s the Black Swans.”
“The unknown unknowns.” Ekara looked like he was sucking on lemons.
“Right. Three races means triple redundancy if, for example, some kind of Meme human-killing plague got loose in the ship.”
“The Vulcan saves the day again?” Nightingale laughed.
Absen joined him in a chuckle. “I learned a lot from that old TV show.”
Ekara seemed to force his face into a neutral mask, and Absen made a mental note to keep an eye on the man.
Chapter 6
Desolator’s control chamber seemed like a chapel, or perhaps a mausoleum, with its three long boxes like giant sarcophagi. Absen hadn’t had to come here to speak with Desolator, but he’d wanted to see the place again for some time. He wasn’t certain why.
“Welcome, Admiral,” echoed the AI’s voice.
“Thank you, Desolator. I was walking, and a question occurred to me. Something I have been meaning to ask you for some time, about the time before the final battle at the Ryss homeworld.”
“Of course.”
“The Bite. That was the result of your war with the Meme.”
“Yes.”
“It’s a relatively dead zone. Once we learned what emissions to look for, humanity found traces of civilizations in all directions, but much less within that area. It’s why our radio-telescopes didn’t find alien life earlier. Yet, when we took Gliese 370, we didn’t wipe out the Sekoi, and therefore ten years later we have a thriving economy. Did we just get lucky, or was there some other factor in play?”
Desolator paused for a moment longer than usual. Absen realized this fact was significant. At the speed the AI thought, there was no reason for a break in conversation. Maybe it was for effect.
Unless Desolator was thinking deeply. Or perhaps dissembling? Chirom had said that the machine intelligence, like most Ryss, was not very good at lying.
“This may distress you, if I understand human psychology; or, as a military man, it may not.” He paused again.
“Desolator, I have never seen you hesitant or uncertain like this.
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