“But wh—”
“Let me finish. So I went on a little hunting expedition. Got a nice double catch: one snow ghost; one secret spaceport under Hand Glacier. That’s when we copped to the periodic tramline. True Church was getting all primed to jump a big shipment in. Scared the crap out of ‘em. Told ‘em that if they didn’t prove to me, on the spot, that there was no Motie technology involved in any of it, and no Moties anywhere, Bury would turn New Utah into glass just to be on the safe side, and ask permission later. Which he would have done.”
HG was even more confused. He looked from Renner, to Horvath, to Renner, to Horvath, waiting for a volley of salvation.
Horvath sighed. “Now you see the earnestness of this mission. ”
“No, I don’t. I’m sorry, but I just don’t—”
Horvath continued. “A little over thirty years ago—my God Kevin, has it been that long?—thirty years ago I was—about your age—and science minister for the Trans-Coal Sack sector. I was assigned to the First Contact mission.”
HG nodded vigorously. It had made Horvath famous. My God, the first scientist to have exclusive access to a newly discovered sentient civilization, with unimaginable technology and—
“Kevin here was sailing master on the MacArthur. We disagreed on just about everything to do with the Moties. Did. Disagree. Don’t now. Once we understood their phenomenal reproduction rates; their endless internecine warfare; their sheer capacity to overwhelm our own economies with their constant technological innovations—”
“Yes, yes, I know this. Everyone does. Every taxpayer does. The blockade is hideously expensive.”
“Yes, and hideously necessary. Even I have come to understand this. But even then, Bury was positively adamant.”
“Yes, yes, but since second contact and the C-L worm—”
“Now let me finish. Think about that. Horace Bury, Magnate of Imperial Autonetics, fully supported absolute blockade and a Motie technology import ban. He could have made—well, he already had made billions. Trillions maybe. But he saw the Moties as a direct, personal threat to the existence of humankind. After that, Bury made Kevin an offer he couldn’t refuse. Kevin signed on as Sinbad’s pilot.”
“Bury’s personal ship.”
“Yes. Kevin and Bury did a lot of things together, but one of them was to fully, rigorously investigate anomalies that could indicate that Moties had somehow broken the blockade.”
“But there are no Moties on Maxroy’s Purchase!”
Renner cut in again “Nope. Turned out all that “gripping hand” crap was Jackson himself. Making much of his tour as an Able Spacer on the first expedition.”
“Yes,” said Horvath, “but more to the point, it meant Sinbad was on hand when the Crazy Eddy jump point from Mote Prime shifted last year.; the Sister opened; all of that.”
HG’s eyes widened. “You mean Sir Kevin—”
“Yes. Fewer than two dozen people have ever had direct contact with Moties. Precious few of us have ever been to the Mote system. Sir Kevin Renner’s done it twice, and lived to tell the tale. The second time, with Sinbad. Bury did it twice as well, but didn’t make it back the second time. Died on the final jump. Like Moses, who saw, but could not enter, the promised land.”
He let HG chew on that. Renner continued. “So, here I am again. Like a bad penny. Johnny on the spot. The Navy’s strapped beyond limits maintaining this blockade, plus policing the Motie Consortium blockade at the Sister. It’s not going to dedicate a ship just to play ferryboat. The Imperial Traders Association—”
“—and the True Church, and Governor Jackson—”
“yes, all of them, offered, but they aren’t exactly neutral ground, are they?
“Neither are you.”
“Well, no, neither am I, but Imperial Autonetics already passed on the opal meerschaum trade when Bury was alive. And profitable as a few containers of selenium supplements and medical supplies might be for a small trader, not really my style, is it? Get bogged down shipping vitamins, fertilizer, and rocks? I’m as neutral as you’re gonna get right now.”
Renner gave that grin again. HG detested that grin. Renner was getting to old to play fighter-jock cocky. “I still don’t see where Moties come into it.”
“They don’t. Let’s just say I’m curious. Back to where it started last year. The True Church thinks New Utah is Heaven, all evidence to the contrary. Thought I’d take a break and see what all the fuss is about.” And, he thought, Bury always felt there was too much money in this system, opal meerschaum aside. We never found out why.
Horvath looked at him sharply, but let it slide. “So, from a science and technology standpoint, the earnestness of this mission is twofold. First, all the normal accession concerns—accurate assessment of existing levels and accomplishments; whether introduction of Imperial technology would be destabilizing, and so forth. And related to that, prevention of S&T leeks during the assessment and classification phase. No leading questions; no idle chatter, all that.”
“Yes, yes.” HG was flapping his hand. He really was good at that part of his job, which is why he’d been chosen as ground man.
“But in this case, given the proximity to the New Caledonia System, and the Crazy Eddy jump point from the Mote, there’s the added concern of inadvertent transfer of Motie technology.”
“What Motie technology? I mean, Imperial Autonetics pretty much has a lock on what’s available for public sale.” He trailed off. “Oh. I see.”
This time, Kevin did not grin. He smiled. “Yes. And Imperial Autonetics would very much like to maintain that prerogative. We have a keen interest in preventing—and detecting—piracy.”
“So your interest isn’t just personal.”
“Let’s call it professional curiosity.”
In the end, like most well-run meetings, there were no surprises. Kevin and the Sinbad crew would host; Kevin would pilot; Kevin would have broad discretion to determine whether any violations of Imperial Autonetics licensing, production, trademarks, or copyrights had occurred.
Governor Jackson would head the delegation, not in his official capacity as governor of Maxroy’s Purchase, but as Emissary of the Viceroy. The True Church would send Bishop Ohran, who had led the secret supply missions from Maxroy’s Purchase for decades.
Horvath himself would not go. He was not a young man. He had other duties elsewhere in the Empire and, since the Trans-Coal Sack Science Minister was tied up with Motie issues, HG would have to soldier on.
To his mortified disappointment, the Maxroy’s Purchase ITA representative was upstaged by another from out-of-sector. Officially, there had been no trade with New Utah during the embargo, so initial ITA representation was reserved for a “neutral,” meaning not-Maxroy’s-Purchase, party.
Since he was already on the ground, Colchis Barthes would get a temporary appointment as cultural attaché. There would be a small uniformed Marine bodyguard. No mention was made of Asach.
So, all-in-all, Jackson was satisfied: he and Ohran covered Church and State; HG was from New Cal, so local and presumably sympathetic; Barthes didn’t matter; the ITA rep could angle all he wanted, but MP held proximity, which was the biggest fact on the ground; and Renner was, well, Renner. Nominally acting on behalf of himself; Imperial Autonetics; of service to the Empire. Renner was the loose cannon, but it couldn’t be helped.
They’d be ready to leave within the week, as soon as the ITA rep arrived. Sinbad would travel to Maxroy’s Purchase, then hold station at the jump point. Jackson would keep a shuttle on standby, so that the delegation could work planetside as needed, then rejoin Sinbad once the jump point opened.