Vaikyur was worried. What had happened to Eiron? One day he was busy at work, and the next, he was gone. Headquarters assumed that he had something to do with Kesney’s disappearance; Vaikyur considered the idea that Eiron had gone back for a brief visit to Selesta. However, even if he had gone back to the Classified Zone, the council wouldn’t dare punish him now.
Public opinion of Ezáitur and the council had dropped sharply after the attack on Wysteirchan, mostly because the council had once ridiculed the actions of Miran Eiron, Wysteirchan’s hero, and his “defense ship” and negotiation ideas over the civilian channels. Though Vaikyur thought no one had seemed too concerned at the time that Eiron was ridiculed, the attack had changed people’s opinions. They now saw the bare facts. The man who had tried to help them, their former hero Vaikyur-Erlenkov, had been driven into exile by Ezáitur, and they weren’t going to forgive the Fer-innyera that easily for it.
Eiron hadn’t been the only benefactor of public concern; the week of Eiron’s and Kesney’s disappearance, Vaikyur had also issued an unauthorized message over civilian channels, urging the civilians to protect themselves by building shelters and practicing emergency escape procedures. The public had been alarmed by his unorthodox action, because they had always looked to Vaikyur as the nation’s defender, and they revered and trusted him, but also because they knew he wouldn’t risk his reputation or position unless he believed it was necessary.
As a result, and to assure everyone that things were under control, one of the nosier public information bureaus delved into the story. Deciding that Vaikyur was only acting to spite the council that had vilified his grandson’s name, they printed Vaikyur-Erlenkov’s ideas in a newsletter, questioning the prudence of his radical suggestions and leaning towards taking the government’s view, even if they believed its retaliation a bit harsh.
Of course it was ludicrous to believe that the Orians would eventually tire of small raids. Even if they decided to increase the intensity of these, they would never get that far before being pushed back as usual.
And so, the attack on Wysteirchan that had seemed to start as a small isolated raid came as a shock to those who had ridiculed the views of Vaikyur and Vaikyur-Erlenkov. The Orian space fighters had dropped in unexpectedly, in unprecedented numbers, faster than the air base could send messages to the Inen Command Center for reinforcements.
Their first target had been the Wysteirchan air base, which was destroyed before a single ship lifted off the ground. The civilians watched the sky, abandoning their homes and gathering in the streets when the fires broke out. It seemed the terrorists were looking for something beneath the surface, dropping missiles every hundred micro-nariars that rent holes deep in the ground. Nothing was left where they fell, and the explosions destroyed most of the buildings between the missile targets.
Less than a third of the city’s population survived, and many of those who did had been severely injured. Their blame fell hard and swiftly on Ezáitur. The Fer-innyera could not deny the attack this time, they knew. Somehow, the same news coverage team that had aired and denounced Vaikyur-Erlenkov’s views before had managed to arrive on the scene towards the end, and their unedited and graphic broadcast was sent across the planet to a horrified audience. Within two hours the message had been censored, but not before it had done its damage.
When the council blamed Vaikyur for the disaster, small protests against the government began in cities and communities across Tiasenne. Gradually, even the more established members of society doubted the government’s allegations, and the government decided to transmit a message to Miran Eiron Vaikyur-Erlenkov, to try to make amends.
The initial purpose of the charges against Vaikyur—to regain control by eliminating the opposition—had failed; Vaikyur was innocent in the public’s eyes, and the only open option remained to secure national support by bringing them back their hero, Vaikyur-Erlenkov. The council had realized that the people would be looking for a scapegoat and would blame Ezáitur, and they needed to reinstate the defense program to win back the public’s trust.
If they had to weaken it still more for the time being in order to bring Vaikyur-Erlenkov back from a Classified Zone with immunity, it didn’t matter. Things couldn’t have gotten much worse than they already had.
In the end, Ezáitur released a statement claiming to have overturned the council’s decision to punish the Marshall of the Defense, trying to exonerate himself from blame in the matter, hoping to put the past behind him. Vaikyur was released and put back on duty. Ezáitur also announced that he had made a deal with Miran Vaikyur-Erlenkov to build a fleet of ten rescue ships within the year, and that Vaikyur-Erlenkov would be promoted to Senka and the commander of the flagship Sukúr.
Some people reverted to their former trust, though most remained wary, their faith in Ezáitur forever shattered.
But now, two tendays after Vaikyur-Erlenkov had disappeared for the second time, dissension had broken out in the council as to what to do about it, whether to be honest and tell the public that he had gone missing, or to pretend that the Sukúr would soon be patrolling the skies under Vaikyur-Erlenkov’s leadership.
Vaikyur had heard the news that morning, that the High Command had decided to keep it quiet and hope that there were no further attacks. The typical Orian pattern indicated that the next one was likely to be seven months from now, just over a year away. Until then, the council was going to have to find someone who could finish Vaikyur-Erlenkov’s project, possibly the head engineer who had been working with him on the other ships.
Meanwhile, Ezáitur himself had summoned Vaikyur to another interview in a last, desperate attempt to wheedle some information about Orian’s strength out of him, as though seeking approval for an offensive against the planet. Vaikyur had arrived dutifully at the Fer-innyera’s office but refused to answer any of his questions.
“You think I don’t know what’s going on? What you’re planning to do with the new fleet?” Vaikyur said, addressing March, who was also present, as much as Ezáitur. The two men exchanged innocent glances, but Vaikyur refused to let them feign ignorance.
“Foolish idiots!”
“Vaikyur!” March tried to protest, but Vaikyur’s glare silenced him.
“I can hardly believe so many people have trusted you—who gave you the right to risk so many lives without considering other options?”
“The people themselves.” The Fer-innyera countered, completely unaffected.
“The people never forfeited their rights to survive. They didn’t support you so that you could gamble away their future.” Vaikyur said, his voice dangerously quiet. Uncontrolled anger was of no threat to anyone except those who happened to be in the way, but Vaikyur’s was patient, directed.
“Even if what you say is true, and I’m not saying that it is, it is the people who allowed it.” The Fer-innyera insisted. “We’ll win the war, Vaikyur, as long as you and your subordinates don’t give up on it.”
Vaikyur laughed hard. “Win this war? We never needed to be fighting it in the first place.”
“May I remind you, Vaikyur, that the Orians attacked us—”
“With just cause.” Vaikyur interrupted. “Don’t think you can simply ignore issues that are unpleasant without facing any consequences. And none of us can forsake our fellow man without accepting the consequences.”
“Our ‘fellow men’? Come, Vaikyur. I’m only trying to protect our people.” The Fer-innyera shrugged, spreading his palms wide.
“Yes, I know,” Vaikyur rejoined. “But don’t you understand? If you refuse to negotiate, if you insist on fighting with Sukúr instead of cutting a retreat for the lives of our people—you’ve damned us all!”
The Fer-innyera sighed. “Yes, yes I see your point. But it really is too late to stop things now. Moreover, you really shouldn’t underestimate our forces—”
“Isn’t the Headquarters Building heavily fortified?” March interrupted.
Vaikyur stalked off in disgust.
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