Earth Star(26)

It was more a complaint than a question, but Leveque answered it anyway. ‘Because you handled things too well during the first few hours. It’s always a mistake to replace a good commanding officer in the middle of a crisis situation. The General Marshal knows you’ve a reputation for keeping your head under pressure, which is precisely what’s needed here. Acting quickly and decisively is much easier than patiently waiting and doing nothing.’

‘It certainly is.’ Colonel Torrek returned his attention to me. ‘Jarra, you weren’t just called in because of the History team. I …’ He broke off, seemed to hesitate, and then glanced across at Nia Stone. ‘It’s probably best if you handle this, Nia.’

She nodded. ‘Jarra, Fian, we’d like you both kept fully informed about the tactical situation, so we’ve put you in the same accommodation area as the Attack team. If there’s anything you think I should know, or you have any problems, please contact me at once.’

Colonel Torrek put down his plate at this point and stood up. ‘I’m going to bed. Nia, you have command. Fian, Jarra, you were staring longingly at the desserts earlier. Please take some with you.’

We all scrambled to our feet as Colonel Torrek left the room, and then Fian and I made a confused and undignified exit carrying two plates of cake. I was puzzled by that last exchange between Colonel Torrek and Nia Stone. There’d been something odd about it that …

Fian interrupted my train of thought. ‘You’re a Major now. I’m a Captain.’

‘Yes. Does that bother you?’

He was frowning. ‘I was just wondering. Are different ranks allowed to …?’

I worked out what he meant and giggled. ‘Fian, over 90 per cent of Military are born into Military families. Where do you think all the little Military come from? You heard the Colonel say that Commander Leveque and Commander Stone are married. Do you really think Twoing contracts and marriages end every time someone gets promoted?’

‘Oh, that’s all right then.’

Despite his words, he still seemed worried about something. We went back to our quarters, put the cakes on the table, and he gave them a depressed look.

‘Fian, what’s bothering you?’ I asked.

He sighed. ‘It just keeps getting worse. First, you turn out to be a Military Honour Child, with a Colonel for a grandmother. Next, you get the Artemis. Now you’re a Major in the Military, with Commanders and Colonels eagerly wanting your expert advice, while I’m just a clueless civilian interrupting to tell them things they don’t want to hear.’

‘You’re a Military Captain yourself, Fian. Why haven’t you mentioned this famous great-grandfather of yours before?’

He sighed. ‘My great-grandfather got in a lot of trouble with the Military. They exiled him to Hercules, where he helped found the University with a group of …’

He broke off for a second. ‘They’re obviously pulling in people so fast for the Alien Contact programme, that Military Security hasn’t had time to do background checks and find out I’m Jorgen Eklund’s great-grandson. Now they know, I’ll probably get thrown off the base, or put in prison.’

I shook my head. ‘I don’t believe Colonel Torrek would blame you for something your great-grandfather did, and he certainly wouldn’t invite you to help yourself to cake if he was planning to arrest you.’

Fian hesitated for a second before speaking again. ‘Jarra, my great-grandfather was involved with Cioni’s Apprentices.’

I gave him a blank look. ‘With who?’

‘You haven’t heard of them?’ Fian seemed startled. ‘Vast amounts of scientific knowledge were entirely lost in Exodus century and the Earth Data Net crash, and there are other things we blindly accept as fact because they were once proved, but all record of the original proofs has been lost. Archaeologists look for old stasis boxes in the ancient cities to try and find that lost knowledge, but Cioni’s Apprentices were taking the other approach of trying to recreate the ancient science themselves. They named themselves after Leonardo da Vinci, who was an apprentice of a painter called Cioni.’

I shook my head. ‘So why would that get them in trouble with the Military? Lots of scientists do that sort of thing.’

‘They got in trouble with the Military because they were prepared to do anything to help their research, including breaking the protection of humanity laws.’

‘Oh.’ The protection of humanity laws prohibited things like robots, cyborgs, clones, and genetically engineered human beings. I knew some of the historical events that made people pass those laws, and … ‘Yes, well, that’s very bad, but Leveque obviously knew all about your great-grandfather so he must have known about these Apprentices too. If he was going to arrest you, he’d have called Military Security before you left the room.’