At least it was raised in semiprivate.
“I am here because I chased a ship full of mutineers here,” Kris said slowly. “I caught them and would have gone back to Alwa except we discovered your radio and TV transmissions at the same time we identified the alien ships that had fled here to lick their wounds and regroup after the last time we defeated them.”
Kris paused to make sure her translator had stayed with her. Then she went on.
“Hard as it may be to believe, it is a long series of coincidences that led me here. After capturing my miscreants, I was considering going back to Alwa without making contact with you. However, when the aliens launched their attack, I chose to defend you.”
“There are twenty-two of them and only eight of you,” Madame Gerrot said. “Do you expect to win this battle?”
“I expect to, but one never knows in battle, does one?”
“No,” Almar said. “Lady Chance dances a jig in every battle.”
“What will you do if you win?” Lady Gerrot asked. Now her tail was twitching.
“I will return to Alwa, which I have a duty to defend on my honor,” Kris said. “But I think your question was what will I do about you here?”
“That is correct,” President Almar said, standing very still, as if waiting to pounce.
“I would prefer to leave you alone,” Kris answered.
“Alone?” came from both of them. Kris didn’t even need a translator for that. In their surprise and shock, both took a step back. Several of their advisors seemed to be pacing now, tails lashing their sides.
Kris went into her prepared speech. She spoke slowly both so the translator could follow her and so her words would have weight.
“You are at a precarious stage of your civilization. You are still divided into tribal factions. Only now, you are tribal factions with atomic weapons. You can destroy yourselves and everything that lives on this planet. I would prefer not to have anything to do with you until you decide for yourselves if you are to wipe yourselves out or will grow beyond your childhood.”
“That is an interesting perspective,” Almar said with a snort.
“You are where we were four or five hundred years ago. We chose one path. You are still at that crossroads. Which path will you choose?”
“Will these aliens you are about to fight stand by while we choose?” Almar asked.
Now it was Kris’s turn to frown. If she’d had a tail, she might have twitched it. “They create a problem.”
“Will you stay here and guard us?” Madame Gerrot demanded.
“No,” Kris said.
“And why not?” President Almar asked.
“I am charged to defend Alwa,” Kris said.
There was a long pause at that.
“And you do not have enough ships to do that, do you?” President Almar said slowly.
“What admiral ever had enough ships for her job?” Madame Gerrot said slyly.
“I think you are inviting us into a war that is still very much in doubt, isn’t it?” Almar said.
“I am not inviting you into any war. It is coming at you,” Kris said.
“But you cannot defend us,” Gerrot snapped.
“And you cannot defend yourselves,” Kris snapped right back.
The two leaders turned back at that and joined in heated conversation with their advisors.
THIS GOING WELL? Jack asked on Nelly Net.
ABOUT AS WELL AS I EXPECTED.
KRIS, I CAN FOLLOW MOST OF THEIR TALK. SOME WANT TO TAKE YOU HOSTAGE AND DEMAND YOU PROTECT THEM. OTHERS FEAR YOU. THAT SLAGGED MOUNTAIN REALLY IMPRESSED THEM. A FEW JUST WISH YOU’D GO AWAY AND TAKE THE OTHER ALIENS WITH YOU.
SO, NO CONSENSUS, NELLY.
NOTHING EVEN CLOSE.
JACK?
I’VE ALREADY ALERTED THE MARINES OUTSIDE. THERE DOESN’T APPEAR TO BE ANY MOVE TO CONTAIN THEM. I’VE GOT OTHERS MOVING INTO PLACE.
PENNY?
I’VE SET REPEATERS INTO MOST OF THE POLICE NETS. THEIR ELECTRONICS ARE NOT VERY SOPHISTICATED. THERE’S NOTHING ON ANY NET ABOUT MOVING AGAINST US.
SO IT’S JUST TALK. JACK, KEEP YOUR MARINES ON STANDBY. THERE’S NO TELLING WHAT ONE DESPERATE TYPE MIGHT DO.
TRUST ME, ADMIRAL, MY WIFE, I’M VERY ALERT.
Finally, the two statesmen stepped away from their advisors and faced Kris.
“What might we do to gain a defensive alliance with you and your king?” Madame Gerrot asked.
“First, let me be very clear. If any of you launch a nuclear war, or any war of conquest that exhausts your resources and lays waste your lands, all bets are off. You will be on your own.”
Kris paused. She knew she’d spoken too fast for the translator. Besides, there were several aides who were elbowing others in the ribs. No doubt, someone had brought up the idea.
“Secondly, yes, a planet must have a united government to apply for membership in the United Societies. It must be democratic and have arrangements to see that the will of the majority rules while protecting any minorities under a rule of law.”
Again Kris paused.
“It sounds like you have had plenty of experience with fractured governance,” President Almar said dryly.
“Yes, it lacks balance. Finding that balance is often bloody.”
“But you will not impose that single governance,” Madame Gerrot said.
“That always leads to more blood, not less,” Kris said.
That brought what Kris took for grim chuckles from both leaders.
“But you, yourself, have said that we cannot stand against these aliens. We might as well roll over on our backs, show our bellies to be scratched, and piss ourselves. What are we to do?” Madame Gerrot said.
“You have not yet sent one of your own to walk your moon,” Kris said.
“We have talked about it. It will be very expensive,” President Almar said.
“It will also be very productive. It will require you to advance your science and technology. It will put you into space.”
“But we still won’t be able to stop these attackers,” snapped Almar.
“But you will have started down that path.”
“And if we are attacked in the meantime?”
“Empty your cities. Spread out. Be prepared to be attacked with nerve gas. Fight them. Make this victory so expensive that they turn away in disgust,” Kris said.
“But you will not sign a defensive pact with us,” Madame Gerrot said.
“No,” Kris answered.
Madame Gerrot’s tail was thrashing now.
“Mort, don’t have yourself a coronary,” President Almar said to her sister politician. “She’s an admiral, for pity’s sake. Yes, she may be the whelp of her king, but still, she’s just an admiral here. Would you want some admiral, even of your royal bloodline, negotiating a military treaty for you to sign? And negotiating it with no authority and no guidelines?”
“Thank you for understanding the limits of my authority here,” Kris said.
“I think there are more limits here than you want to talk about. You are going into battle at three-to-one odds. Something tells me that you don’t have the resources to protect us if you did sign that treaty Mort is so hot to get your paw print on.”
“You will understand that such issues might be covered by the State Secrecy Act.”
“We have one, too,” Almar agreed.
“Just how much danger are we in?” Almar asked after a pause. “What do these aliens want? Slaves? Resources? Control of the means of production?”
“They want your heads,” Kris said bluntly. “They want to sanitize your planet down to the smallest signs of life.”
The big cat visibly gulped at that. Madame Gerrot had been consulting with her aides. Now she turned back to Kris. “Our heads?”
NELLY, PROJECT THE INSIDE OF THAT PYRAMID FOR THEM, Kris thought as she turned to face the opposing wall.
The hologram was very solid. Suddenly, the walls were no longer marble but lightly worked granite. The pillars became figures encased in cubes of glass.