'I understand. I will order my defence agency to establish the quarantine zone. As he spoke, the sensors showed him the ANA ship gathering up fragments with coherent gravity pulses, pulling them out of decay paths which would have taken them down to the atmosphere.
'Thank you for your cooperation, Cleric Conservator. This is not an easy time for the Greater Commonwealth. I hope that when this situation is resolved, Ellezelin's Senator will resume his seat.
Ethan didn't bother to point out that Commonwealth politics would be irrelevant to anyone inside the Void. In fact, neither would renewed Prime aggression. 'Can the Navy stop the Ocisen invasion fleet? he asked.
'Yes. It can and it will.
'Thank you.
The call ended, and Ethan sat back, only just realizing how badly his muscles had tightened up. A headache was building behind his eyes; they were frequent now even though the last of the semi-organic auxiliaries had been removed. His doctors warned him it would still take time for his brain to recover fully. He waited a moment, gathering his thoughts, then called the defence colonel in. 'The surviving ship is staying in orbit, I want a two-hundred kilometre quarantine zone around it. Nobody is authorized to approach, I don't care who they are.
'Sir, the colonel licked his lips. 'Rescue ships may need to—
'Nobody, Ethan said firmly.
'Yes, sir.
The colonel hadn't even left the office when Marius called. 'A most unpleasant event in your skies, the representative said.
'Was that one of your agents up there?
'Someone we were affiliated with, yes.
'ANA has requested a quarantine around the wreckage. It says the Prime are part of the Ocisen fleet. It says there's a connection. Is that true?
'I know nothing of that. I don't have access to Navy intelligence.
'Really?
'Yes. Really.
Ethan wondered if he should challenge the representative directly, but couldn't see any advantage in that. 'What was your ship doing stealthed in orbit around Ellezelin?
'It was waiting for the Pilgrimage ships to be completed, then it would deliver the consignment of defence systems in its hold.
As you can understand, we don't want them sitting on the ground exposed to ANA's scrutiny.
A smooth enough answer, and one which Ethan didn't believe for an instant. 'I see.
'Neither do we want ANA to examine the remnants.
'That is completely outside my remit.
'My dear Conservator, if ANA uses the defence systems our ship was carrying as an excuse to curtail our involvement with your Pilgrimage, there will not be any Pilgrimage. And that is exactly the kind of pseudo-legal argument that so many people will seize upon.
'But I can't do anything. We can hardly attack that ship.
'A friend of mine will be in touch within the hour. She can explain to your wormhole technicians how they can assist our cause. Marius closed the link.
'Dear Lady, Ethan put his head in his hands. Events were becoming too powerful, building their own inertia. He tried to remember why he'd agreed to the representative's help in the first place. Ultradrive was turning into the ultimate poisoned chalice. But even if he reverted to equipping the Pilgrimage ships with an ordinary hyperdrive they'd still need help to get past the warrior Raiel in the Gulf. There was nothing he could do but try and ride the crisis out.
If we just had the Second Dreamer we'd be in much stronger position. She's the key to success. We have to acquire her. We have to, no matter what the cost.
The ExoProtectorate Council watched the new squadron of Capital-class ships matching superluminal flight vectors with the Ocisen Empire fleet. Five of the Navy ships were concentrating their sensors on a single Prime warship, preparing to pull it out of hyperspace.
'This habit is turning into a vulgar repetition, Ilanthe said, her voice silky with disdain.
Kazimir hadn't realized before now how much he missed
Gore at the council; his grandfather was a perfect balance against the Accelerator advocate. More accurately, Gore wouldn't put up with her bullshit point scoring and needling.
Crispen gave her a small grin. 'Ever wondered what kind of effect these snatch raids are having on the Ocisens? I mean, their most powerful allies are being pulled out of space and shot without any warning. Can't be good for morale.
'Don't compare the Ocisen psychology to ours, Creewan warned. 'Obedience to the nest father is their paramount concern, in fact it's their only concern. They don't question and worry away at issues like we do.
'Which makes this interception even more pointless, Ilanthe said. 'They can't be rattled. They're not going to turn round even if we eliminate every Prime ship there is.
'I'm not eliminating them, Kazimir said levelly. 'I want a living immotile.
'What? John Thelwell demanded. 'I thought this was the final final warning, not some capture mission.
Kazimir met Ilanthe's gaze across the conference table. The lightning outside the big curving window stroked their faces with sharp slivers of flickering light. 'It is the final warning. To her credit she didn't flinch, but then he didn't expect her to. Less than an hour ago, Paula had reported in that the ice moon Accelerator station had been destroyed by a quantumbuster. Kazimir was mildly surprised Ilanthe had turned up to the ExoProtectorate Council at all. She must know the indomitable investigator was getting close to the kind of evidence ANA needed to suspend the Accelerators.
'What in heaven's name do you want with an immotile? Creewan asked.
'Intelligence, Kazimir said. 'We need to know where they come from, which planet or planets they've colonized. Ship numbers. Technology level. Once the Ocisens are eliminated by the deterrence fleet they will be the Navy's next target.
'Glad to hear it, John Thelwell said.
'Yes, said Kazimir. 'It will be interesting to find out how they avoided the Firewall. He still didn't get a reaction from Ilanthe.
The Navy ships yanked a single Prime warship out of hyper-space. Kazimir followed the engagement closely. He couldn't fault the captains, their strategy was flawless, subjecting the warship's force field to inexorable stress. When the force field finally collapsed, weapons fire against the hull was minimal. They went for electronic warfare, scrambling electronics and knocking out power circuits with quantum magnetic pulses. All at a level that wouldn't interfere with Prime nervous systems. Even with life support equipment knocked out, there was enough air and warmth for the living Primes to survive until they were captured.
Ten marine assault teams got ready to jump across.
The Prime warship exploded.
'Shit, Kazimir grunted.
'I trust this charade is concluded to your satisfaction, Ilanthe said. 'Admiral, will you now be launching the deterrence fleet in compliance with the Senate Executive Security Commission resolution?
Creewan and John Thelwell watched closely.
'Yes, Kazimir said. 'I will order the launch of the deterrence fleet immediately. And what have you put out there to snare it? What are you up to?
Ilanthe's female persona translocated out of the old fashioned perceptual reality of the conference room. She reformed herself in a completely different zone of ANA, the Accelerator compilation, that manifested as an inverted world of dark primary colours. She walked across a verdure sky as a heliotrope ocean rippled above her. Airborne wisps of kingfisher-blue light slithered around her, winking in complex sequences designating their sentience leveclass="underline" mirrored personality repositories performing designated secondary tasks while the primary mentality operated on an upper hierarchal level. Her body characteristics morphed away to a simple flawless silver skin, and her own repositories fluttered in, perching themselves on her shoulders and arms like birds of prey. Information squeezed in through the data porous boundary skin.