“Are we really going to negotiate?”
“Patel is claiming that a payoff is cheaper than all-out war. So now we’re dickering over a ‘reasonable’ price.” He shook his head with dark admiration. “The directorate is working up backgrounds on the principal negotiators over there. I want workups from you as well, both for Jayant Patel and his ExCom equivalents. Also, I want Caroa out of deep freeze. He might be useful, especially if we’re going to get this augment back alive. There might still be R&D opportunities. He’s the expert on our target. Maybe he can help clean up some of his mess.”
“Are you sure you want to bring him back?”
“Worried about seeing your old boss again, Jones?”
Jones shook her head. “He… was bitter when he left.”
“Well, maybe he’ll be grateful now, since you’re the one who will be rescuing him from the land of penguins. Tell him that if he’s useful, I’ll let him move somewhere warm. He can intercept with us before we meet for negotiations in the Seascape.”
“We’re going to the Seascape? In person?”
“You, me, and all of ExCom.” Enge blew out his breath, irritated. “Patel Global has invoked their global treaty rights. Full diplomatic conclave, heads of corporate governance, all of it guaranteed under the Chinese consulate’s diplomatic protection.” He made a face of disgust. “Global treaty rights. We should have burned them when we had the chance.”
“That’s… inconvenient.”
“Patel’s very good at taking advantage of even the worst situation.” Another grimace. “Now that the Chinese are involved, we can’t exactly drop Havoc and claim it’s an accident. Pack your full dress uniform, Jones, and be at the anchor pads in an hour. You’ll have quarters on the Annapurna for the journey. I’ll want background briefs on the Patel negotiators twenty-four hours before we arrive.”
“We’re taking a flagship?”
“Not just the Annapurna. A good bit of the North Atlantic fleet, too. Karakoram, Eiger, Denali, and the Mojave. They’ll be doing military exercises in the sea-lanes just outside the Seascape’s territorial limit.” Enge smiled darkly. “Given that the Patels have asked for formal negotiations, we’ve decided to remind them exactly who they’re negotiating with.”
36
“CHECK OUT ALL the pomp and ceremony!”
Even though she was running late to join the ExCom and begin diplomatic negotiation with the Patels, Jones couldn’t help smiling. Tory was coming down the Annapurna’s central corridor, grinning widely.
“I was wondering if I’d see you,” she said.
“Wondering if you’d see me? I’m not the one who got all high and mighty and promoted.” He flicked the ExCom shoulder patch on her dress uniform, then stood back. “Let me check this out.” He made a show of studying her uniform up and down, nodding in approval. “Pretty swank, for a junior analyst.”
“They took the ‘junior’ away.”
“I bet they did.” Tory laughed. “Our own little intel baby, all grown up, and changing her own diapers, even.”
“You know, for a minute, I almost missed you.”
Tory was unrepentant. “Just trying to make sure my baby bird doesn’t try to come back to the nest. That was a neat trick you pulled, by the way. Should have known you were going to be dangerous.” He stepped aside as a squad of Fast Attack augments marched past in honor guard uniform. “Damn. Looks like there’s going to be a big show today. ExCom. Dress uniforms. Diplomatic flags.” He gave her own dress uniform a significant glance. “And you’ll have the best seat in the house.”
“We’re hoping it’ll be a boring show. And quick.”
“So you’ll finally get your target?”
“That’s the idea.”
“You really think Patel will cave?”
Jones thought back to the threats that had been sent to the Patels, the analyses that she’d run on the profitable upside of an all-out war with Patel Global. Even now, ExCom was preparing moves against the company. Trade and Finance had gone from annoyance at the prospect of a war, to intrigued predatory hunger.
“He’ll cave. This is all just show, saving a little face. He’s too smart to start an actual war. It would be suicide for him.”
Tory made a face. “Too bad, I was looking forward to dropping some Havoc on that fancy floating arcology of theirs. I’ve got, like, ten drones circling their island right now. Plus the ones we’ve got shadowing their shipping in the Atlantic. I’ve never had this many drones to work with in my life. I can sink half a fleet in a flat minute, if I get the word.” He made goggle eyes of pleasure. “So. Much. Fun.”
“Well, I’m glad someone’s enjoying—” She broke off. ExCom was coming down the corridor. She and Tory both stood aside, saluting stiffly. Enge gave her a sharp look as he strode past.
“I’ve got to run,” she said. “I’m supposed to be on the first debarkation pod.”
“Enjoy the spectacle.” Tory waved her on. “Maybe give me the details when you get back. You know, if you can still find your way down to our lowly intel section.”
“It was good seeing you, Tory.”
“You too, Jones. Keep your diaper clean.”
By the time she reached the debarkation lounge, the Annapurna was extending anchor tethers in preparation for final docking procedures above the Seascape.
Down below, regiments of Patel Global’s marine and navy mercantile crew were arrayed in neat squares on the floating tarmac pads. An honor guard, awaiting their arrival.
The ExCom and their secretaries milled before the observation windows, but a lone figure stood apart from them. Caroa, peering down through the glass and looking as though he was considering different ways to destroy the regiments of Patel Global augments assembled below.
Hesitantly, Jones approached. “Sir?”
Caroa glanced at her, then over at the ExCom. “Jones. Always the brave one. Talking to the black sheep of the company, right in front of ExCom.”
“I’m sorry about you getting sent to Antarctica, sir.”
Caroa shrugged. “Don’t be. I’m man enough to take responsibility for my decisions. I keep thinking back to when we hit him in the Drowned Cities. If only I’d held a missile reserve. None of the rest of this would have happened. A mistake, that. Maybe I even deserve being sent to Antarctica, for that.”
“If you help here—”
Caroa snorted. “I have no intention of helping those ExCom fools understand how I built Karta-Kul. As soon as we have him, we’re putting him down. It was a door I should never have opened. And it’s a door I’m looking forward to seeing permanently closed.”
He smiled at Jones’s surprised expression. “Are you going to report me, Jones? Planning on running off to curry favor with the ExCom again?”
Jones looked away. He’s baiting you.
The Annapurna’s cable anchors locked into place. The deck shifted subtly as the dirigible’s stabilization turbines spun down and the anchor tethers took the strain of holding the airship in place.
A debarkation tower swung slowly toward them.
Jones was aware of the ExCom staff watching her.
“You don’t have to stay,” Caroa prodded.
“I’m fine, sir.”
She thought she caught the quirk of a smile from Caroa. “Fair enough.”
Jones kept her gaze on the ground activity, pretending to be completely absorbed watching the final docking procedures, and carefully avoiding meeting anyone from ExCom’s gaze. To Jones’s surprise, Enge came over to join her. He and Caroa barely looked at each other.
“All this time and effort for just one augment,” he commented to Jones.
“An infinitely dangerous augment,” Caroa said, not looking over.
“And here we are, cleaning up your mess.”
Jones could feel the contempt radiating off Enge, yet he, too, stood beside the general, watching as the tower locked in and a passenger capsule rose to meet them.
A few seconds la
ter, the debarkation hatch hissed open. ExCom boarded the capsule, with Jones and Caroa following last, according to protocol.
The Annapurna was so large that they’d been forced to anchor in the freight area, where passenger facilities were more suited for heavy-lift dirigibles than fast and sleek luxury transports.
The capsule slowly winched down to the ground. The bay waters of the Seascape lapped against the anchor platform, gray and chill, and when the capsule doors hissed open, the November winds were cool, Seascape temperatures finally taking on a tinge of winter.
As they debarked, Jones scanned the Patel contingent waiting to greet them, identifying the principal negotiators whom she had prepared reports on.
Jayant Patel, the head of the company. His various lieutenants and advisers, close around him. A daughter, also standing close. According to Jones’s intel, the daughter was the most likely inheritor of the dynasty. Diplomatic observers from the Chinese consulate also waited, preparing to make the formal introductions between ExCom and the Patels.
Wind gusted across the assembled dignitaries and troops. Jones surveyed her surroundings. She’d only seen the Seascape in entertainments and photographs, and of course through drone and camera footage when they’d sent in the Stitch & Ditch teams, what felt like a lifetime ago.
Everyone was shaking hands, pretending to be friendlier than they actually were. With China’s diplomats standing as official observers, Mercier couldn’t simply drop Havoc on the Patels, much as Tory might want to. They needed to at least go through the motions of conflict resolution.
On the other hand, if the Chinese determined that the Patels were dealing in bad faith, Patel Global’s mutual protection agreements would be dissolved instantly.
Jones scanned the sky, wondering where Tory’s drones were. Wondering if he was looking down on her, through his video feeds. Ten drones, he’d said. A whole lot of Havoc, floating on the winds above her. She shivered at the thought, remembering her dream of mistargeted missiles.
Her thoughts were broken by raised voices, angry. Jones craned her neck, trying to see over the shoulders of people arrayed ahead of her.
Finance and Jayant Patel seemed to be arguing, and a muttering was running through the rest of the assembled dignitaries. Mercier augments had their ears pricked up, alerted to the sudden change in tone, and Patel Global’s augments were also looking more alert.
Fates. Are we about to end up in a firefight?
Jones felt for a sidearm that wasn’t there, wondering how badly things were about to turn out.
Patel was making placating motions to Finance, whose pale face was flushed with fury. Enge looked enraged as well. To her surprise, she caught sight of Caroa close to him, whispering something. Enge was nodding. Jones eased forward, trying to hear. The Chinese arbiter was looking pained as he listened first to the Patels and then to ExCom.
“—simply operating in bad faith!” Finance finished.
Patel held up placating hands. “I am being absolutely transparent! Yes, we did have the augment you seek. And yes, we did provide medical aid to it. You have to understand,” he said to the arbiter. “This augment, it wasn’t until we received threats from Mercier that we came to understand what was under our roof.” He glared at Finance. “And believe me, I do not take threats against my guests lightly.”
“Guests?” Enge laughed. “Arbiter Chen, we provided ample proof of the danger of that creature—”
“This, too, came much later!” Patel protested. “The augment in question did my family a boon several years ago. He saved my daughter, and protected her for a time, when our company was under some duress—”
“While you were putting down a coup,” Finance said acidly.
“We had no way of knowing the augment was Mercier’s property when it came to us,” Patel continued. “And frankly, we had little way of confronting it once we discovered what it actually was. That creature is… horrifying.” He glared at the ExCom. “And yet at great risk to my own family, I opened negotiations with you—”
“To shake us down,” Enge interjected.
“In good faith!” Patel protested. “The augment must have sensed my intentions, though. He left several days ago. Given that he was entirely healthy when he left, he could be almost anywhere now. I certainly did not have the power to stop him, and I will be candid: I had no interest in risking my people for the sake of your company’s genetic design mistakes.”
“So you just let him walk away,” Enge said, disgusted.
“Have you faced that thing?” Patel glared. “I have. I did. It is a monster that you yourselves cannot control, even though it’s your own creation! How was I to fight it?”
“He was not a monster,” Patel’s daughter interjected. “He was honorable. He saved me.”
“You’re still harboring him!” Caroa accused.
“We’re not!” she exclaimed. “He left of his own accord! He knew you were coming, so he left! He didn’t want any more to die around him.”
Jones was surprised to see the Patel daughter choke up with what looked like real emotion.
Finance was unmoved. “And so you decided to waste all our time, by forcing us, our entire ExCom, to come out to negotiate with you, over something you do not even have.”
Jayant Patel bowed. “For that, I apologize.” He glanced grimly at the arbiter. “To be honest, after I received your quite explicit threats, I realized that we would need protection. Even now, we’re tracking almost a dozen offensive strike drones in the air, over the Seascape, all with Mercier telltales. Your battle groups have harassed my captains in Seascape territorial waters, and now you park this troop carrier”—he waved up at the Annapurna—“over our very heads!”
He smiled tightly. “Forgive me for thinking that perhaps I would need a way to keep you from arbitrarily burning us to ash. I have requested that the Chinese consulate oversee inspections of our holding on your behalf. They will certify that we harbor no intellectual property of yours. Mr. Chen and his arbitration team can confirm that we have already turned over all DNA and toxicology data from the augment, and we have wiped our servers of the content. That augment is gone from here, entirely, and I confess I am relieved that it is so.”
“Relieved?” General Caroa was staring at Patel, his face so flushed with anger that Jones wondered if he was about to have a heart attack. “You had him in your grasp, and you’re relieved to let him go?”
Patel gave Caroa a cold look. “According to our intelligence, you yourselves have a terrible track record with this augment. How many times have you tried and failed to eliminate it?”
Caroa recoiled at that, and Patel laughed sharply. “Yes. I understand you are disappointed. But under this flag of diplomacy, under the seal of trust provided by our mutual trading partner, you must accept that we are not in violation of any trade, treaty, territory, intellectual property, or espionage agreements.
“The augment is your problem, now. I fully recognize that he is your property. If we encounter him again, we will deliver his pelt. But in the meantime, get back on that warship of yours, and leave me and mine alone.”
Nita watched the diplomatic encounter dissolve exactly as her father had predicted it would. She wondered if, when it was time for her to take the reins of the company, she would be able to maneuver opponents like Mercier so effectively.
The ExCom was storming back to the passenger capsule, preparing to be lifted back up to their dirigible. A swirl of diplomatic finery and military dress uniforms, surrounded by war-optimized augments.
She glanced over at her father. There wasn’t a trace of victory in his expression. He was still angry at her. She could see it in the stiffness of his stance and the way he refused to look her way.
After what had happened with Tool, she wondered if he would ever trust her judgment again. Or if she would ever trust his.
Two people, both well intentioned, and yet completely at odds.
How can we see things so differently?
>
She looked away, feeling sick. Everywhere she looked, she saw augments. Her own. Mercier’s. All of them designed to be obedient.
We treat ours well, she thought, but it was cold comfort.
All her life she’d been surrounded by them. They were designed and trained to mesh with her family, her company, to do the tasks that natural human beings could not. She had never thought of them as anything other than a natural extension of her life, and the success of Patel Global.
Now she couldn’t help feeling there was something wrong with the very language used to describe augments. Words like ownership came easily when a creature was grown from handpicked cells, developed in a crèche, and purchased from a selection of other augments.
And yet, they were not identical. They had feelings. They wept at loss. Delighted in success. They were people.
Except they weren’t.
They are better than people, a dark voice whispered in her mind, one that sounded a little too much like Tool. They are the end of people.
The thought filled her with dread. Nita glanced at her father. He, too, still seemed anxious, even though the parlay had gone the way he’d predicted.
She reached hesitantly for his hand. “We won, didn’t we, Father? Mercier won’t dare attack us and anger the Chinese.”
“I wish I knew, beti. They will likely punish us in small ways, if not in large ones. Mercier has a long memory, and they are vicious.”
“But it wasn’t your fault. You—we,” she amended, “couldn’t have stopped Tool if we tried.”
He gave her a dark look. “I was sentimental. Because of you. I could have struck in force. But instead I talked first with him. And risked everything.”
“But there won’t be a war,” Nita said. “Tool left, and they understand that now. We aren’t harboring him. You’re not to blame. You proved that.”
“You think this is about proof and fairness?” He glanced skyward. “Let us hope their drone operators are not trigger-happy.”