“Besides, Riordan’s arrival is most propitious politically. We now have a means of resuming discourse with the humans without angering the Hkh’Rkh by either making or accepting a diplomatic overture, without appearing ‘weak,’ as they like to say. And be sure, the humans will also see the advantage of having a negotiator already in our midst, and whose unexpected presence necessitates that we reestablish contact with them. They cannot fail to have deduced why we elected not to resume discourse when they offered, so I suspect the humans will be glad for this serendipitous development.”
“And hopefully they will also appreciate how Riordan may save them from making any further blunders.” Darzhee Kut lowered his voice slightly. “First Delegate Khraam, his decision to come out of hiding and risking proximity to the Hkh’Rkh and Ruap’s troops is a more noble gesture than our grandmothers’ songs ever led me to hope for in a human. Riordan’s act should be widely sung among our people.”
But Hu’urs Khraam simply shifted as though he had discovered a pebble between his belly-plates. “His deed may be noble. But that may create a problem for us.”
“How?”
“Such a human, one who might harmonize and keep his word, could thereby influence our simpler rock-siblings to imagine that we must reciprocally deal fairly with him, with the humans. Worst of all, they might believe that our negotiations with the humans should be carried out in good faith.”
“What?”
“Darzhee Kut, surely you cannot believe that I expected the humans to meet the greater demands that the Hkh’Rkh imposed? You said so yourself.”
“Yes, but I—”
“Be still and hear the wise hymn of the coming decade, as envisioned by your elders. Unable to come quickly to agreement, the occupation of Earth will wear on. We shall turn over the planetside responsibilities to the Hkh’Rkh, but continue to provide orbital support. Their faces, not ours, shall thus be associated with the misery of Indonesia in particular, and this world in general. Negotiations will drag from months to years. Meanwhile our fleet will reconsolidate and carry our offensive beyond Ross 154, pushing into Junction system and continuing down the Big Green Main to Zeta Tucanae. With all of human space controlled, their capitulation becomes inevitable. The Hkh’Rkh are given Epsilon Indi as their war prize, thereby establishing them on the green world that can most obstruct human contact with the rest of the Green Main. We withdraw, still quibbling over a co-dominium of Barnard’s Star. By this point, the humans will have readily conceded to a staged withdrawal from their intrusion into our space at 70 Ophiuchi.”
Darzhee Kut almost stammered. “But in the scenario you propose, the Hkh’Rkh cannot independently reach their new colony on Epsilon Indi. Their ships are limited to seven-point-four-light-year shifts and cannot cross the—”
“My song is not finished. In ten years, the humans will have rebuilt and will chafe at the Hkh’Rkh presence in their midst. Meanwhile, the Hkh’Rkh will have armed themselves rapidly with our aid, probably establishing shift-carrier construction facilities on Epsilon Indi. They will already be dreaming of seizing another green world along the main.”
“But the humans will crush them.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Our aid in this can turn the tide one way or the other, particularly given our presence, accepted or not, at Barnard’s Star.”
“First Delegate, with respect, you are creating a future in which both these races will remain at war for decades to come. They will come to hate each other unremittingly. There will be genocide.”
“Just so, Darzhee Kut, just so.”
“But this is—”
“This is their nature, Darzhee Kut. They cannot change it. Nor can we. But we can control it. We can control it so that they focus their savagery on each other and remain too embroiled in their reciprocal genocide to cast covetous eyes upon our worlds. They will cripple their economies with a series of wars. Before they are through, the Wholenest will have had time to refocus its energies and consensus to adapt to a perpetual war-footing. For with such savage neighbors as these, we have no other choice.”
“So the disputes at Convocation, our negotiations with the humans, even our alliance with the Hkh’Rkh: these are all a ruse?”
“Not entirely. We do need the Hkh’Rkh here to conduct the infantry operations. And we will indeed remain committed to supporting their demands for territorial concessions from the humans. But otherwise, my scruples are reserved for ensuring the welfare of my race, Darzhee Kut. Indeed, you might wish to be still for some moments, or hours, and ensure that your own scruples harmonize with that primary criterion.”
Darzhee Kut suppressed a wave of dizziness. “What of honesty and honor, which the human Riordan shows by coming here?”
“What of it? If all humans were capable of such deeds, such sacrifice, perhaps we would act differently. But they are not. They are as they ever were, and we must see to the safety of our Wholenest. That objective comes first and, if need be, at the expense of all other scruples and values. I’m sure you agree with that, do you not, Speaker Kut?”
I do not. But he said, “This song is new to me, and I have yet to learn its harmonies. Forgive me, Hu’urs Khraam.”
“No forgiveness is necessary. I had not envisioned a member of the Ee’ar caste learning of these plans so soon, but you are an exceptional Ee’ar, Darzhee Kut. In subsequent discussions with your rock-siblings and caste-peers, exercise the discretion I know you possess: do not mention this. Now, what insights have you gained into the current human strategy by studying their local records?”
“As I feared, Hu’urs Khraam, very little. We selected Indonesia because of its disaffection from the world government, which made it a pariah among the greater nations. Consequently, it was not included in the innermost strategic circles.”
“So there are no clues to why the humans did not destroy the antimatter refinery and refueling site on the asteroid they call Vesta?”
Darzhee Kut signaled a negative. “The corporate spies employed by CoDevCo and the few reliable collaborators we have in the Indonesian military hypothesize that the Confederation did not believe our attack to be so imminent. Thus, they had only partially completed the job of rigging the asteroid facility with the necessary explosives when we arrived there—”
“—But because our first flotilla seized Vesta and engaged their fleet at Jupiter two days before the rest of our fleet shifted in beyond cislunar space, the humans had enough advance warning to disable the larger facility on the Moon?”
“This is their hypothesis, which agrees with our own. I am puzzled at your anxiety over this detail, Hu’urs Khraam.”
“I have no logical justification for it, other than that this failure is atypical, given what we’ve observed of the humans.”
“Esteemed Hu’urs Khraam, explicate, please.”
“Consider how the humans disabled their lunar antimatter facility. They did not resort to bombs, but had the presence of mind to remove all those parts that would be simple for them to restore, but almost impossible for us to independently fabricate. How could that act of sabotage be managed so well and with such foresight, and the other so bungled?”
“Humans are inconstant, Hu’urs Khraam. We have always known this.”
“Perhaps, but consider this. We caught almost all their naval carriers in one trap at Barnard’s Star, and then more here, in their home system. We could hardly ask for better outcomes, Darzhee Kut. Yet—”
“Yet what?”
“Yet their tactics in each engagement showed great ingenuity and skill. At Barnard’s Star, they spent as few hulls as possible and yet, by turns, slowed us, inflicted maximum damage, and saved half of their own force. And here, on the ground, they routinely confound us with outdated technology amplified by their martial acumen, and by their canny observation of our weaknesses, of our unfamiliarity with the craft of war, and of the Hkh’Rkh’s tendencies toward tactical impetuosity.”