Fire with Fire

Chapter Fifty-One

MENTOR

Debarking from the Russlavic Federation shuttle inside one of the Pearl’s subsurface hangars, Caine found himself mere meters away from military hardware he’d only read-and written-about. Downing impatiently gestured for him to catch up, leading them towards a bank of gray, yellow-stenciled elevators beyond the security scanning pad. “I am scheduled to brief and be debriefed in ten minutes,” he tossed over his shoulder, “then back up here to catch a clipper to the outbound shift-carrier Borodino. If I miss it, I’ll have a thirty-day wait.”

Personnel in Federation gray-green and Commonwealth blue-black mobbed the three of them with scanners, sniffers, and snoopers, reprising a similar dance of detection that had swirled around the trio when they had first transferred to the shuttle just over an hour ago.

Downing went to the smallest elevator, ran his security fob over the sensor. The door opened and, hand extended, he urged Caine and Trevor to enter.

Caine stepped forward-and stopped. For the briefest moment, he felt-what? A profoundly sharpened awareness of his surroundings: edges seemed more crisp, sounds more clipped. Time itself seemed to narrow down into a tunnel of many rings, rather than a pervasive, shapeless flow. Yet it all felt more like a premonition than an experience, as if these sensations were important only because they presaged the moment to come-

Caine backed away from the open elevator. “No,” he said.

Trevor blinked, then stared. “Caine, are you-are you okay? Problems from the decompression, again?”

“No. I–I think we should use the stairs.”

Downing, still holding the elevator open, was studying him: Caine could feel the assessing gaze. “It’s six flights down, you know.”

“I didn’t know. But the exercise will do us good.”

“Caine, are you quite-?”

Caine, feeling foolish, shook his head and yanked open the door to the staircase. Maybe Trevor was right; maybe it was all some after-effect of having nearly been vacced a few hours ago.

But it sure hadn’t felt that way.

He started down the stairs.

CIRCE

The tall man, who wore his sunglasses even in this dim room, made a gesture of annoyance and leaned back. To his left, a small cube with one open side emitted vapors and a pungent, musky stench. Near his right hand, a bowl of olives stood forgotten.

“This is most inconvenient,” he murmured.

His assistant, unsure if the utterance had been meant for him, or was simply his superior thinking out loud, asked, “You mean, that Riordan chose not to enter the elevator?”

The man paused as if mildly surprised to rediscover that he was not alone in the room. “No. It is not his failure to enter that troubles me. It was his reason.”

The assistant looked at the screen: the three men-Riordan, Downing, Corcoran-had disappeared into the staircase. “But how could you possibly know why he-?”

“I know,” said the man sharply. “How I know does not concern you. But you should report to your superiors that, in Riordan’s case, my abilities will be less efficacious now.”

“Mr. Astor-Smath will want to know why.”

The other man sneered. “And so the quizzical dog tasks his master to tutor him in cosmology. Very well, relate this: your employer has now had me exert my abilities many times in Riordan’s immediate vicinity. Consequently, Riordan is starting to detect the onset of the Reifications.”

“Reifications? What do you mean? Is that what you call your-?”

“You are familiar with the principle of quantum entanglement or-perhaps more suitable to your perception-Einstein’s ‘spooky action at a distance’?”

“Yes, of course.” The assistant overcame the impulse to cross his fingers as he answered.

“Very well. Now imagine what might be achieved if it was possible to impose a limited amount of order on that statistically-predictable chaos for just one moment, and in a small volume of space.”

“So you can focus-I mean, ‘reify’-the phenomena of quantum entanglement to produce a desired outcome?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“But how-?”

“For now, all you need to understand is that when a person has been proximal to numerous Reifications, that person may begin to have the ability to detect their onset. A crude analogy would be how some animals know when they are approaching a magnetic field.”

“Is that because the Reification manifests as a wave front, or a-?”

“Silence. You now know enough to explain why Riordan could be harder to kill.”

“But surely, the occasional accommodations you have provided for Mr. Astor-Smath have not affected-”

“‘Occasional,’ you say? Let me remind you of just how ‘occasional’ the Reifications have been.” The tall man flicked olive pits off the table with his long-nailed finger to punctuate each incident: “First there was the sustained influence required to ensure that the second engineer on board the Tyne would carry out his suicidal sabotage of its engines. Then there was the disabling of the enemy’s security systems and independent power plant in Alexandria. And let us not forget the need to compel the attackers to wear the self-destruct vests provided by your employer. Then, in the space of three days, two Reifications were required to kill Nolan Corcoran and Arvid Tarasenko. I have also learned, within the hour, that my colleagues failed to assassinate Riordan with a technical malfunction at the Convocation Station. And now, he avoided the elevator which would have dropped him to his death-along with two other troublesome adversaries. You call this battery of requested accommodations occasional?”

The assistant shrugged. “Well, it was necessary: your success rate has not been as high as you guaranteed. But be assured that Mr. Astor-Smath has been happy to overlook that.”

The man turned his shaded eyes upon his smaller assistant. “You are certainly not implying that these failures were in any way my fault.”

“Oh no, no; I was just-”

“Your employer has involved me in actions that were routinely inelegant, rash, and unprofessional. Had your employer been less intemperate, he would have fared far better, and Riordan would not be sensing the Reifications. Indeed, he would be dead.”

“Is there any way to distract Riordan during future attempts? To ensure that he misses the warning signs of-?”

“The only warning you should be interested in,” said the tall man quietly, “is the one I am giving you now: cease your inquiries regarding the nature of Reification.”

“My apologies,” answered the assistant, whose anxiety compelled him to babble on. “I do not understand why Riordan is still important to us, anyway. He revealed all his crucial information at the Parthenon Dialogues: he is no longer worth killing.”

The tall man smiled. “You could not be more wrong.”

“Then what dangerous secrets does he still know?”

“Riordan knows things-or will-that he does not yet know he knows.”

“What?” said the assistant.

But the tall man with the sunglasses had rediscovered the olives and evidently, forgotten about the presence-and possibly the existence-of his assistant.

MENTOR

Downing emerged from his debriefing and motioned for Caine and Trevor to follow him into a nearby conference room. Upon entering, he flipped on the white-noise generators and ran his RF detector around the room’s perimeter.

“Clean?” asked Trevor, setting down the box he had brought on board the Dornaani ship.

Downing nodded, motioned them to seats. Well, there’s no use beating around the bush. “Caine, I have an Executive Order to induct you into the United States Space Force.”

“Induct me?” Riordan’s smile was bemused rather than sardonic. “I wasn’t aware there was a draft in effect.”

“There isn’t.”

“Meaning that you don’t actually have compulsory powers in this matter.”

“Caine, don’t make me-”

“Richard, I’m going to save us all the embarrassment of letting you finish that sentence. My answer is this: ‘I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States of America.’ Now, where do I sign?”

Just like that. Caine had agreed without a flinch or a blink. Just like that. “Caine, I didn’t expect-”

“Richard, our relationship-such as it is-has no bearing on this moment. The threats to our world-to our species-are no longer hypothetical, but real. And when my country-in the person of the President, no less-asks me to serve, I say ‘yes.’ Without delay. Now, where are the papers?”

“I’ll give them to you later. For now, let’s go through what’s going to happen once you sign them. Firstly, you will immediately commence twenty-nine days of combined Advanced Basic and OCS training.”

Trevor smiled. “Are we making ‘four-week wonders’ now, Uncle Richard?”

“I’m not joking, Trev. He will complete the course in twenty-nine days-”

“Uncle Richard, I’m sorry, but not even you have that kind of clout. Basic qualification and commission cannot run concurrently, and are, by order of the Joint Chiefs, confirmed at a minimum of-”

“Commander.” Richard hated doing it, but addressing Trevor by his rank rather than his first name stopped his godson in mid-word. “In time, or under immediate threat, of war, the concurrency limitation can be waived. Particularly when an Executive Order is involved. Furthermore, Mr. Riordan has already spent some time in the military-”

Caine raised an eyebrow. “I have?”

Downing consulted his notes. “You spent two weeks going through the first phases of BT with army recruits back in 2098; it was research for your series in Jane’s Defense Weekly. In 2102, book research led to a formal invitation to audit a course in strategy and tactics at Annapolis. Where, it seems, you received the highest mark in the class.

“President Liu has accepted the recommendation of the Joint Chiefs that these earlier participations in service-related training be recognized as counting towards both your basic and officer training. Hence, the wartime minimum of six weeks of training has been reduced to four. Questions?”

“Yes: why?”

“Why what, Caine?”

“Why induct me?”

“I trust you are not rethinking your commitment to serve?”

Caine shook his head. “That’s not even an option, given the current situation. And since the Executive herself has signed off on everything, I’m as good as wearing blue already. I just want to know why.”

“Fair enough. You are being inducted so that you have enough official clout to take command of conventional forces if you are in an intelligence-critical situation.”

“Okay, but why the rush? And why do it here at the Pearl?”

“Firstly, I didn’t want you arriving back on Earth with the rest of the delegation. The press would climb all over you: that spotlight would kill any future you might have as an intelligence asset for IRIS.”

“Not sure I’d mind that outcome.” Downing noted that Caine’s tone was rueful rather than resentful. “But I see your point. Go on.”

“Since your training will be swift and your promotion unorthodox, it will be easier to get it done on the sly out here.”

“Just how is my promotion going to be unorthodox?”

“When you finish OCS, you will immediately be breveted up to commander, in recognition of your prior ‘official service.’ Five minutes later, you will be retired into the Reserves.”

“I-?”

“He-?”

“Gentlemen, please. Let me finish. Trevor, you’re going to be bumped up again, as well. For the same reason: the higher the rank you have, the more people to whom you can issue bigger orders-particularly in a crisis. Hopefully, you’ll never need to play that rank card, but if you do, you’ll have it up your sleeve. And in your case, Caine, it’s best we keep that potential buried.”

Caine smiled. “So I get retired into the reserves here at Pearl even before my commission papers begin their glacial movement through the system and into the endless reams of Earth-bound housekeeping dispatches. Which no reporter has ready access to or any interest in.”

“Exactly. The rest of the delegation faces the paparazzi by returning first. You and Trevor slink back in after the furor has died down, with you wearing civvies. No fuss, no bother, no press. And I’m sorry to say that, from this point forward, keeping things from the press is going to be a routine necessity. For instance, only because you’re both restricted to base until the end of Caine’s training can I even reveal that I have just activated the final phase of an IRIS operation code-named Case Leo Gap, which initiates from Barnard’s Star.”

Caine leaned forward. “I heard you and Nolan mention Case Leo Gap once. What is it?”

Downing shook his head. “You don’t need those details, yet; you only need to be familiar with the code name.”

Trevor leaned back, frowning. “A damn odd name, too. ‘Leo Gap’? What’s it about, a lion’s hole?”

“No, the pass that Leonidas defended against Xerxes: Thermopylae. Had that battle gone the other way, the Hellenic world would have ended-and ours would never have arisen.”

“Thanks, Uncle Richard, I get the resonances with our current situation: I just forgot the name of the Greek commander. Who had a hell of a fight on his hands, as I recall. How many of the Greeks actually survived?”

Downing hesitated. Into that silence, Caine inserted a recitation:

Tell them in Lacedaemon, passerby,

That here, obedient to their word, we lie.

Trevor looked at him. “That many, huh?”

Downing stood. “I’ve got about thirty minutes left before my clipper leaves. Any unfinished business?”

Trevor nodded. “Yes. Well, I mean, I think so.” He picked up the box from the seat beside him. “As I was hustling to join you two on Alnduul’s ship, Elena ran me down and gave me this. She says my father entrusted it to her about a year ago, and told her, ‘Give it to Uncle Richard at the right time.’”

“‘The right time’? What does that mean?”

“Elena asked Dad the same thing. He told her that the box would become very important if we were ever on the brink of ‘fighting a war like no other.’ She thought that the recent events probably satisfy that condition. I tend to agree with her.”

“As do I.” Downing received the box from Trevor: it was cumbersome, with something weighty thumping to and fro inside. Opening it, Downing discovered another, smaller box and momentarily suspected a monstrous practical joke. But then he saw the envelope on top, with “Richard” scrawled across it in Nolan’s distinctive handwriting. He opened it and read:

Dear Richard:

If Caine Riordan is still alive, please give him the smaller, enclosed box. Except for one additional photograph, it holds the contents of the bag he was carrying when he was apprehended outside my suite in Perry City. Those contents should help him regain the one hundred hours he lost on Luna.

If Caine is dead, then you must open the box. Handle the contents as you see fit.

I wish I was there to help you with the coming troubles. I also apologize for not sharing all the secrets that I was privy to, but the photograph I added to Caine’s box will provide adequate explanation, I think.

Your Friend,

Nolan

Downing stared at the card, felt grief, resentment, and confusion all at the same time. But mostly, he simply missed his oldest friend-even more than he felt curiosity.

He handed the inner box to Caine. “It’s for you,” he said.

ODYSSEUS

Caine opened the box cautiously.

And found himself staring down at an old bottle of red wine-Chateauneuf-du-pape, to be precise. Alongside it was a desiccated rose and a photograph of a young woman who looked very familiar-because, he realized, it was Elena, when she was perhaps twenty-four or twenty-

The memories came unevenly, yet so quickly that he gasped. Luna. 2105. Buying a rose, a bottle of wine-Chateauneuf-du-pape-and porterhouse steaks: all outrageous extravagances on the Moon. All purchased because he had been surprised by joy in a place and at a time he could not have expected it.

The young lady he met while waiting in line for coffee only introduced herself as Elena, at first. She was not much older than a college kid, but she had an unwavering gaze, and a peculiar species of certainty, of intensity, that soon had him forgetting that this was a young woman with whom he should not become involved.

That prohibition against involvement arose not merely because she was eleven years his junior, but because, midway through their conversation, she shared her full name, thereby revealing that she was the daughter of the man he had come to Luna to interview: Nolan Corcoran.

Caine should have avoided her, but he couldn’t. At their second chance encounter-which they both carefully engineered-Caine tried to adopt a casual demeanor, but instead she fixed him with her green green green eyes. He was not able to look away from them during the four-hour lunch that he had originally resolved to be the last forty-five minutes he would ever spend with her.

The memories were scattered, incomplete, ragged in places, but he did recall meeting her that night for a glass of wine. In the course of discovering that they had eerily similar tastes in most everything-from food to art to novels to films-Caine did the next thing that he promised himself he would not do: he gave her a poem he had written about her earlier that day. And in return, she gave him herself. Which led to mutual embarrassment over the speed with which they had become intimate. Which they resolved by becoming intimate again. And then again.

The next day, Caine found a note on his pillow suggesting dinner at her suite, that night. He could not have been happier, but wondered how she planned to evict her father, whom she was visiting on Luna.

The answer presented itself the next morning when Nolan Corcoran and Richard Downing began their interview by announcing that their time was limited: they were Far Side-bound. Then they turned the tables and asked the first question of the day: was Caine a writer or a patriot first? Caine had never thought about that before but was not long in doing so: as he told them, words gave birth to nations and held them to account, but writing itself never was, and never could be, the equal of lived hopes and ideals.

He could not recall all of their conversation, but they ultimately told him what he had come to learn, on the promise that he would only share select parts of it. They wondered at the ease with which he agreed to the secrecy. He wondered if, strange as it seemed, he might not be falling in love.

Which he cautiously intimated to Elena during a call later that day. Experience told him that a woman courted so quickly will back off, yet he was strangely certain she wouldn’t. And she didn’t.

So with wine and rose and steaks in hand, he arrived early to surprise her, to cook dinner for the young woman whose name-Elena Corcoran-had started to sound like music to him. But as he reached out to affix the rose to her door, the world went black.

“Caine? Caine?”

Richard’s voice seemed very far away as Caine returned the bottle and the photograph, and mentally saw how the dominoes set in motion by both the romance and abduction had fallen. Elena’s thirteen-year-old son was very likely Caine’s child. And Nolan had undoubtedly known that, if not beforehand, then shortly after. It would have been simplicity itself for him to get a sample of the baby’s DNA and compare it to Caine’s.

But that still left the question of why: why would Nolan play such dire games with his own family? How could anything-even IRIS-be so important that he felt compelled to take these terrible steps?

Caine looked down into the box and saw that there was one last object in it; another photograph. But this image was not of a person: it was of the lunar surface. But no, it wasn’t the Moon: on closer inspection, it was- Oh. Of course.

Next to him, Trevor was staring at the bottle and the old picture of his sister; he had obviously connected the dots and done the math. His voice was choked: “Why? Why would Dad choose to do all this?

Caine shook his head. “He didn’t choose to do it; he had to.” He held out the last picture to Trevor. “Look.”

Trevor stared, frowned. “What is this? A mining site on a planetoid?”

“Not exactly. Give the photo to your uncle. He’ll know what it is.”

“Why?”

“Because, except for the ‘mining site,’ I’ll bet he’s seen images of it before.”

Richard took the picture, studied it, frowned. “You know, this does look familiar, rather like the images Nolan brought back from…” Then Downing went very pale. “Bollocks, this is the Doomsday Rock-the one that Nolan intercepted. Except-this one shows empty mooring points for a set of mass drivers.”

Trevor was still frowning. “So what? Dad was mission commander; of course he would have kept a visual souvenir. Hell, they catalogued every meter of its surface before they-” And then the color bled out of Trevor’s face, too.

Downing nodded. “Yes. They catalogued every meter of its surface before they used nuclear charges to bump it off course. And only nuclear charges. They didn’t have a mass driver with them: there wasn’t enough lead time to use it.”

Trevor was hoarse. “Meaning that the missing mass drivers were used to push it towards us.”

Downing nodded. “The Doomsday Rock was not a natural event: it was an attack. Some extraterrestrial power visited the Solar System and surreptitiously shifted the trajectory of a rock in the Kuiper Belt to swing in toward Earth and blast us back to the Bronze Age.”

Caine suppressed a shiver: there was no other possible explanation. Even if a terrestrial nation had been suicidal enough to conceive of the plot, none of them could have carried it out: at that time, humanity hadn’t had the ability to send major missions beyond Saturn. “So that’s what led to the creation of IRIS. It also explains how Nolan was so certain that an FTL drive could be built: the Doomsday Rock was proof that we had extrasolar neighbors who could get into and out of our system at will.”

Downing nodded. “He also knew that the threat of an exosapient attack wasn’t simply hypothetical: he had already fended one off, himself.”

Caine rubbed his chin. “Yeah, which means that whoever weaponized a chunk of stone into the Doomsday Rock almost certainly learned that their attack had been foiled.”

Downing kept nodding. “And so they would have to surreptitiously try to find out what had gone wrong. And who was responsible.”

Trevor added the final piece. “Which they couldn’t do by just by sitting at the edge of our space. And we all know who had legal access to our system besides the Dornaani.”

Caine felt his skin grow very cold. “That would be our good friends the Ktor, in their role as Auxiliary Custodians.”

Downing frowned. “Which makes it likely that they are somehow connected with the faceless adversaries that Nolan code-named ‘Circe.’” He stared at the tabletop. “I wonder: do you think the Ktor might have had a direct hand in the deaths of Nolan and Tarasenko, and in some of the other ‘odd events’ we’ve been unable to explain?”

Caine shrugged. “Could be. But how would they recruit agents among us in the first place, or even establish contact? As Thandla discovered, they’ve got a radically different biology: hell, their natural environment is so cold that we can’t even make use of the same planets. So how are we a threat to them? Why would they hate us so much?” Caine shook his head. “No: it still doesn’t add up. Something’s missing.”

“I’ll tell you what else is missing.” Trevor’s voice and eyes were hollow. “The reason why my Dad never told any of us why Elena was clinically depressed after she returned from the Moon. Or who Connor’s father was. He knew answers that could have saved all of us-but particularly Elena-a lot of grief.”

Caine nodded. “Yes, Nolan knew-but he had to keep those facts to himself.”

“Oh, c’mon. At least he could have told Elena.”

Richard shook his head. “Trevor, Elena is the one person Nolan absolutely could not tell about Caine. We can predict the course of events if she had learned the truth: Elena would want Caine removed from cold sleep. Your father refuses. She asks him how he can expect his own grandson to grow up without a father-and why is it so important to keep Caine in cold sleep, anyway? What was Nolan to say then? That even if Caine was cooperative, he couldn’t be released without a huge, smoke-screening story to throw the news jackals off his scent? That any detailed questions about Caine would have led back to, and unraveled, IRIS?”

Trevor frowned, ground his molars, and then turned sharply towards Caine. “So,” he snapped, “are you going to marry my sister?”

Caine blinked-and became aware of the scent of Opal’s shampoo on his shirt collar. At precisely the same moment, a memory-Elena moaning, sway-backed, hanging on to the bedposts as they moved together-tumbled newfound into his mind. “Hell,” Caine rasped, trying to fight his way out of the conflicting sense-memories, “would Elena even want to marry me? Besides, I have to straighten things out with Opal first.”

Trevor nodded. “Yeah. Okay. And given your-uh, situation-with Major Patrone, I don’t envy you your lady problems right now.”

“Me neither,” sighed Caine. “But I’m thinking that maybe Elena got over me long ago. She didn’t seem bothered by Opal-and she sure didn’t seem interested in my company.”

Now Trevor smiled. “Oh, brother-and I guess that’s almost literally true, now-you don’t know how to read my sister just yet. Yeah, she was dodging you, but probably because seeing the two of you post-corpsicle lovebirds together was making her crazy.”

Downing took a very deep breath. “Which brings up a touchy subject. About Major Patrone, Caine. Your relationship with her is not exactly a chance event. She works for me.”

“I know that.”

“Caine, I mean she has always worked for me-every second of your time together.”

Caine glared at Downing, felt his open hands becoming fists, and didn’t really care what happened next. “So tell me, Richard: is there any part of my life that you didn’t fuck with?”

MENTOR

Downing was beginning to worry that he might have to physically defend himself when Trevor intervened. “Hold on, Caine. Much as I hate saying so, this scheme with Opal sounds like it came from my dad. Am I right, Uncle Richard?”

Downing’s first impulse-to defend Nolan, to take the heat as he always had-faded. What is the use, here, in this moment, with these people? He swallowed, nodded: “It was Nolan’s plan. I didn’t like it.”

Trevor frowned. “I hate saying so, but Dad knew what he was doing recruiting a woman to be your guard, Caine. That would be the only way to control Elena once she learned you were back.”

“Huh?” said Caine.

Downing nodded. “Yes, I see what you mean. Knowing Elena, if Caine had shown up again unattached, I suspect she would have read your father the riot act and become thoroughly-and quite vocally-unmanageable.”

“Hell, she’d have called a press conference just to flip him a bird,” drawled Trevor.

“Er…yes, probably so. But if she saw Caine already in the company of another lady, then-”

“Yeah,” interrupted Trevor, “that’s my point: Elena’s a class act. She wouldn’t go barging in under those circumstances. I’ll bet that’s just how Dad set it up.” Trevor’s certitude sounded suspiciously like a lament: these were hard-very hard-things to learn and hear about an idolized father.

Downing suppressed a sigh: he had known this side of Nolan for over twenty years, and even that didn’t make today’s revelations any easier to hear. But it all made sense now, particularly Nolan’s understated pessimism about Caine and Opal’s long-term prospects as a couple. He’d never wanted a permanent connection between them, because then Caine and Elena could not be reunited. Meaning he had used Opal miserably.

Trevor was apparently reflecting on the uneven ethics of his father, as well. “Given all the family secrets Dad kept from us, and all the shady crap he pulled, I guess I’m no longer so surprised that he had you sneak his body onto that government clipper for out-shift to another system.”

Oh Christ; how did Trevor learn that? “Trevor, I-”

But Trevor wasn’t listening. “I get the charade of the cremation and the memorial: an empty casket would have prompted a lot of questions. But why didn’t Dad tell us he had found a way to be buried outsystem, Richard?”

Downing closed his eyes and hated each of the four words separately, ferociously, before he uttered them: “I cannot tell you.”

Trevor frowned. “You mean, you don’t know?”

“I mean I cannot tell you anything about it.”

Trevor sat open-mouthed for three very long seconds. “Damn it, Uncle Richard, you are going to tell me where my own father’s body is, and why it’s there, or so help me, I’ll-”

“Trev. Please. I can’t tell you about how your father’s body was ultimately handled because I don’t know.”

Trevor, who was half out of his seat, stopped. “You don’t-?”

Downing looked away. “It was all arranged after his death. It wasn’t his-or my-idea.”

“Then whose idea was it?”

Might as well tell him. “The Dornaani.”

“The-?” Trevor fell back in his seat. “What the-what the fuck do they want with Dad’s body? And why the hell did you give it to them?”

“Trevor, I don’t know what they want. But they-well, they seem to revere your father. And he wanted to be buried among the stars. And they made it clear that they would both see to that request, and also be-indebted-to us if we granted them the honor of doing so.”

“So you traded away Dad’s body for some alien goodwill? What are you, Richard, a fucking monster? He was your friend-your closest friend!”

Downing felt his eyes start to burn. “Yes, he was, Trevor. And this is what he’d have wanted. And you know it.” Trevor’s stare had gone from cold to arctic, and was dropping toward absolute zero. “Trev, please understand: I wanted to tell you about your father, but the President ordered it kept quiet.”

Trevor’s eyes did not change. His voice was emotionless. “Is there more on the day’s agenda, sir, or are we done? Caine and I are due to report for our own debrief and then training.”

Downing sighed. “Yes, we’re done.”

Trevor rose quickly; Caine took a moment longer. Downing made his way to the door, shook hands with Caine-who seemed, if not sympathetic, at least accepting-and then extended the same hand tentatively to Trevor. Who took it, but with even less warmth than Caine had.

“I’ll miss you, Trev,” Downing said lamely.

“Have a safe trip, sir.”

Downing turned and tried to put Trevor’s stony expression out of his mind.

And kept trying all the way to his ship.

Unsuccessfully.

ODYSSEUS

Caine and Trevor did not follow Downing back up into the subterranean hangar, but they had to pass through it on the way to their own debriefing. As they navigated the black-and-yellow-dashed safeways, they saw a familiar object amidst all the esoteric military hardware: a secure canister from the module they had inhabited during their time at the Convocation Station.

“What the hell is that doing here?” Trevor wondered aloud.

Caine considered its size, hermetic seals, and profuse marking labels: it was the container for the biological samples they had gathered at the party. It was also just large enough to be- “Maybe Alnduul is using it as his own personal Trojan Horse?”

Trevor turned to stare at the gray shipping module as it was loaded onto the same shuttle that Downing would soon board. “You mean, you think Alnduul’s breaking the rules and going to Earth anyhow?”

“Somehow, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

As they watched the secure canister disappear into the shuttle’s hold, Downing’s spare, slump-shouldered silhouette appeared, moving steadily through the pre-boarding checkpoints.

Trevor became very quiet. “I guess I was pretty hard on Uncle Richard.”

Caine knew to tread carefully. “Well, if you were, it’s understandable. He dropped some pretty big family bombs back there.”

“Yeah. Dropped a few on you, too.”

Caine shrugged. “It’s been a busy day.”

Trevor’s answering smile was a bit quizzical. “You know, Richard and I thought you’d make a fuss.”

“About what?”

“About being impressed into service. He said you haven’t exactly been an eager foot soldier for IRIS.”

Caine shrugged. “When I’m hijacked or hoodwinked into service, I tend not to be happy about it. And it wasn’t always clear that Richard’s missions were, in fact, service to my country. More often, it seemed like they were serving his agenda. And although your uncle may have noble intentions, I don’t equate his agenda with my country’s needs.”

“Fair enough. And I’m not sure I do, anymore, either.” Trevor sighed. “But I have to hand it to him: he and Dad were right about the threats to us. God knows we got a nasty surprise at the Convocation.”

Caine nodded. “Worse than nasty. After what happened there-well, now we’re just living from one pivotal moment to the next.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that we are on the crest of one of history’s waves. Whatever happens next, it will change our lives-and our species-forever.”

Trevor stared at him. “Huh. Sounds like you were already thinking about volunteering.”

Caine nodded. “At a time like this, events trump individual wants, even needs. We just do what we have to do to protect those who depend on us.”

Trevor nodded. “I remember reading about the Allies in World War Two; a lot of their soldiers felt that way, too.”

“I think-I fear-there may be more than a few parallels, Trevor.”

Who smiled down from his 6'2" height at his slightly shorter companion. “So, wordsmith, what’s your advice for the times in which we live?”

“‘Hope for peace, prepare for war.’”

“Whoa; now you’re sounding like a career officer.”

“Not my intent, I assure you. ‘Going career’ is a life choice. I’m just stepping forward to do my part.”

“Well, career or not, you sure are starting to sound like a soldier.” Trevor looked him up and down. “Now we just have to determine if you have what it takes to be a soldier.”

Caine smiled. “Let’s find out.”