“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.”