The question had been directed at Lieutenant Woorunmarra, but it was Niles who responded. “It is not ‘wrong,’ ” he said levelly. Amasee Niles, like his counterpart, looked exhausted. “Eastland wishes to be an entity unto itself. That is not wrong, but it is shortsighted.”
Technically, as the Imperial legal representative and negotiator, this portion of the meeting was under the direction of Woorunmarra. It was up to him to attempt to bring about a resolution to this conflict, based in Imperial law and protocol if possible. However, it was a sign of his training that he knew when not to speak as well. Recognizing that much of what he was attempting to get Salera to realize was being said now by Speaker Niles, he remained passive during their several exchanges, speaking only when necessary.
“Simply put,” Niles continued, “as I’ve tried to convince you many times in the past: We need each other, Pallatin and the Hundred Worlds, just as our two Congresses need one another.”
Salera snorted contemptuously, crossing his arms resolutely across his chest. “We don’t need you anymore.” He said the words slowly, almost individually, the meaning behind his words plain.
“And why is that?” Adela put in before Niles could respond. “Because you’ve taken over one of the most important parts of the pressure-tap network, the northern control station on the west side of Arroyo?”
“It is a matter of self-preservation!” Salera was on his feet, his face flushed. He pointed across the meeting room to a point that must have represented Niles’ holographic projection from his perspective, although there was no one seated where he indicated. He looked angrily at the empty chair, adding, “I know that tremors have increased west of Arroyo. We’ve monitored them, but did nothing to stop them—at least as far as the effects have been felt on your side, that is. However, should you decide to join us in our opposition to the Hundred Worlds, Niles, we’ll be more than happy to share the tap network.”
Adela was about to counter his outburst, but the brief smile that appeared on Speaker Niles’ lips stopped her before she could say anything.
“You see, Kip?” he said softly. “You need our half of the network.” He paused, the smile lingering, and directed his remarks at the Eastland Speaker, although it was clear he was addressing the room at large. “You’ve just proven my point—we need each other. Because of the conditions here, because of the violent physical division of Arroyo, Pallatin can never truly be one world; and yet, we can never be truly separated.”
Salera snorted again and retook his seat. Niles’ image turned from the Speaker and, the viewing angle of his reception apparently more accurate than the other’s, looked directly at Adela.
“Dr. Montgarde, several weeks ago I told you that I once felt much as my counterpart does. Do you remember asking me at the time what changed my mind?”
Adela nodded. “As I recall, you changed the subject.”
He pursed his lips in an abashed half-smile and sighed. “Yes, I guess I did.” He leaned forward as he spoke, resting elbows on knees. “Nearly twenty years ago—probably at about the same time you left Earth to come here—I was a junior representative to the Joint Dominion, assigned to accompany a trading delegation to Killian’s World, a frontier trading world that deals in science and engineering. Specifically, I was to bring back the technology needed to develop the pressure-tap network.”
“But that wasn’t necessary,” Woorunmarra interrupted. “You could’ve obtained that technology from the Empire. You didn’t need to go to another frontier world to—”
“No? It is when you’d rather conduct business outside your world, simply to avoid letting the influence of outsiders in. We… I was as stubborn as the rest of Pallatin in my belief that the influence of the Hundred Worlds should not be felt here, even if it meant going outside for what we needed and bringing only that one thing back. There was control that way, you see? That way there would be no danger of any outside ‘contamination’ from the Empire’s influence.
“Killian’s World is close; using one of our fastest starships, the entire trip lasted under six years. I was on my way back, less than a month out, the technology to control our world in my hands…” He thrust his hands, balled into tight fists, forcefully out in front of him. He sat like that for several moments, his fists gradually loosening as he brought the painful memory under control. “There have been many earthquakes here since Pallatin was settled centuries ago, but none as devastating in terms of loss of life as the one that occurred while I was gone.”
Speaker Salera remained quiet in his chair, and Adela noted that the anger seemed to have drained from his features as he listened to Niles. The defiance still glowed in his eyes, but behind them lay a glimmer of—what?—sorrow at Niles’ story? My God, she suddenly realized, there is a connection between them. Were they related? Was there a common experience or a shared background that, despite their different philosophies, constantly tried to draw these two men together?
“We rebuilt, of course,” Niles went on softly. “We always rebuilt. But the tap technology I brought back ensured that we might never need rebuild again; that we might never see the losses we saw then. Working together, controlling Arroyo from both sides of the fault tamed it, made us the masters of our world at last.” He lifted his eyes, turning to face the other Speaker. “But it was something that could have been done years earlier, were it not for our foolish isolationist paranoia. Cutting ourselves off from the Hundred Worlds—and my support of the belief that it was the right thing to do—killed thousands, including members of my own family, unnecessarily. Killed them at a time when I was safe and cozy aboard a Pallatin starship.”
He hesitated, overcome with emotion, and reached outside the image for a moment. His hand returned with a glass of water, and he sipped quietly before going on. “Much time has passed since then, and in that time we in the west have gradually come to realize the folly of isolationism on a world like Pallatin.” He turned again to Salera. “We can be different, we can honor different customs and ideas that are dear to us, we can live our lives as we choose. We can even disagree. But we can’t continue this separation, Kip. It’ll destroy us both.”
The room was silent. Salera leaned back heavily in his chair, stroking at his neck and forehead with a handkerchief.
“Then join us,” he replied coldly. He thumbed a control on the armrest of the chair, and his image winked out.
They spoke to Speaker Niles for several minutes longer, then he, too, signed off and the three of them considered carefully what both men had said and how it would relate to whatever actions they would ultimately have to take. The discussion that followed lasted nearly as long as the session before the holoconference.
“Like he said, they are adamant in their stance.” Woorunmarra rubbed his face tiredly. “As he sees it, isolationism applies only to interaction with the Hundred Worlds; as long as both sides of Arroyo control the fault, Salera feels that they are united. And as long as he controls the Leeper stations, he’s willin’ to wait until Westland agrees with his stance.”
“The man is an idiot,” Adela spat. The tone in her voice took both Woorunmarra and Montero by surprise—neither had ever seen this side of her before. She became suddenly aware that they were staring at her, but didn’t care. Stupidity, in whatever form she encountered it, angered her and she felt that Salera was stupidly blinding himself to the truth of everything Speaker Niles had said during the holoconference. “He feels that as long as control can be maintained on a rudimentary level, Pallatin has no need of anyone else.”