Elena nodded. “Perhaps by whoever put in the coronary controller. Probably the last time it was replaced.”
“Right. But that’s how many years ago? And how did they-whoever ‘they’ are-manage to get the organism to respond, to cause his cardiac failure, so soon after Parthenon?”
Elena was staring at the strange tendrilled mass on the screen. “It would mean that someone had to be able to send commands to this ‘thing.’”
Opal shrugged. “Which makes it an even more amazing piece of bioengineering. And that still doesn’t explain how none of Nolan’s interior tissue shows any of the signs of thermic trauma that would be consistent with electric discharge.”
Trevor had nodded at each separate point. “Okay-so let’s assume this ‘organism’ didn’t kill my father. Which means it was put in for a different reason.”
Caine pulled closer to the table. “And, therefore, maybe by entirely different persons with entirely different motives.”
“Okay.” Trevor kept nodding. “But either-or both-of those persons would have to know about his cardiac weakness. And both can use his treatment visits as either a way to insert a foreign body-the organism-or to fiddle with his coronary controller.”
Opal leaned forward. “Well, at least you can find out who performed the last surgery for his controller upgrade. Someplace in that file, there is the name of a person we can interrogate: if not the surgeon, then a nurse or technician or somebody who-”
Downing shook his head. “No.”
Opal and Trevor looked at Downing in surprise. Elena just looked. Caine didn’t bother: he was the one who answered: “Because an investigation would reveal to them that we’re aware of their actions. And that we know what to look for from this point forward. And that will render this knowledge useless: they’ll change their game. Besides, we don’t know that this organism was malign. For all we know it was benign-or even beneficial. Maybe Nolan’s cardiac weakness would have been more profound without it. Maybe the organism was turned off along with the controller-”
Downing blinked: Crikey, he has a point-
“-But even if the organism was beneficial, it’s pretty clear that whoever put it there wanted to remain anonymous. And something else is pretty clear: whoever did either or both of these things has access to some technology that defies the boundaries of what we generally consider possible. That’s got to be factored into all future operations.”
Elena had half risen. “I don’t mean to be rude, but this seems a likely point for me to excuse myself. From the sound of it, you are about to begin secret discussions with persons who are evidently going to be the new ‘insiders,’ Uncle Richard.” She looked around the table meaningfully.
Downing waved her back down. “That is true. And you need to be a part of those discussions.”
“Uncle Richard, I haven’t the qualifications or the desire-”
“Actually, for what I’m announcing today, you have urgently needed qualifications. And as for what you desire-I’m afraid that doesn’t really factor into our decisions.”
“So now you’re telling me what to do, Richard? On what authority?”
She’s got her father’s anger, too. “Let’s not call it authority; let’s call it an invitation-which you must accept because of your obligations.”
That stopped her. “My obligations? To whom, or what?”
“To your father: his life, his work, his legacy.”
“Richard, you’ll have to come up with a more compelling recruiting pitch than some vague-”
“Elena, this isn’t my idea, and this isn’t my pitch.”
“Oh? Then whose is it?”
Richard allowed himself to smile. “The request was made by a group calling themselves the Dornaani.”
Silence. God, how I do love shutting them all up. And those priceless, confused expressions. Except Caine, damn him. Those suddenly wider eyes: he’s already half-guessed what I’m leading up to. Nolan was right about him.
Opal was the first to speak. “Who or what are the Door-Nonny? Secret society? Rock band?”
“No, Major. The Dornaani are exosapients.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
ODYSSEUS
Exosapients. Of course. “That’s why you had this meeting scheduled right behind Nolan’s memorial service. And that’s why you had it on Mars. It’s all cover for this briefing, and puts us in a spot where there’s far less press and far fewer possibilities for intelligence leaks.”
Downing nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Judging from Trevor’s face, Nolan’s son still wasn’t sure that he had heard what he had just heard about exosapients. Opal was that much further behind the leading edge of the culture-shock wave. “What do you mean, ‘exosapients’? You mean, the critters-er, folks-that Caine met on Delta Pavonis?”
Caine shook his head, kept his eyes on Richard. “No. These are different. Not from Dee Pee Three. They’re what you and I grew up calling ‘aliens.’”
Opal gaped, then grinned-still not believing, he guessed: “Oh, you mean little green men. ‘Take me to your leader’ and all the rest?”
Downing shook his head. “They’re rather more a gray olive-drab, according to the single image they relayed. And they do not wish to be taken to our leaders. Nor do they expect our senior leaders to be taken to them. They are calling for a delegation to attend a meeting that is part induction ceremony and part summit.”
Opal’s grin became open-mouthed disbelief. “You’re serious.”
“I’m afraid so, yes.”
Caine noted that Elena was the first to recover, pick up the earlier threads. “And these-Dornaani-asked for me to attend this …meeting?”
Downing shrugged. “Not by name; they simply asked for an adult child of Nolan Corcoran.”
Now it was Elena’s turn to be flustered. She looked around the table, as if their eyes were accusing her of something. “Well-send Trevor. He’s part of your organization now, anyway. And he’s military, so he’ll be of interest to them-and of use to you. Good grief, I’m just a semiotic anthropologist-”
Downing smiled. “I seem to recall that your appointment to the State Department is as one of the section heads of the xenoculture analysis task force.”
Trevor leaned back. “So, I’m off the hook?”
“No. We can’t know which of you they will consider Nolan’s best representative, so I need both of you. And, Trevor, you will also be the delegation’s unofficial expert in military technology. And we will definitely need a pair of eyes and ears that are dedicated to immediate security. So that’s your other job. And since we need at least two people watching our backs, we’ll be taking Major Patrone, as well.”
“Whoa, wait a minute. You’re taking me to meet ET? I don’t think so.”
“Major, I think so, and I say so.”
“And what is my essential expertise for this mission?”
“That you can help keep us out of trouble and can follow orders.” Downing’s head was suddenly very stiff and erect upon his neck. “You all seem to think that this assignment is voluntary. With the exception of Caine and Elena, you are active duty members of the United States Armed Forces and these are your new orders. End of discussion.” Caine could tell from the pause that Downing had saved him for last. No reason to wait for it.
“So let me guess; I’m coming along, too.”
“Of course.”
“What happened to my new life of freedom, Richard?”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to take that up with the President, Caine.”
Oh, shit. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that President Liu is formally asking you to serve your country, the Commonwealth, and your planet by accepting the position of Senior Negotiator of the Deputation.”
Caine sighed, then nodded. “Okay. But-fair warning-I’m no politician.”
“And no one is asking you to be one. You will not make policy; that is for other members of the delegation. Your role is as liaison; you are the conduit for contact and exchange.”