Su did not crumple in her chair, but she wanted to. Too late, too late.
“Just a moment, please, Dr. Failia,” Secretary Kent interrupted by raising her hand slightly. “Would you please elaborate on that earlier point. You had to teach them very little? About what? About English?”
Helen kept her expression admirably placid. Su felt certain that she spent the whole long time delay inwardly kicking herself.
“The People seem to have a facility with language,” said Helen. “They are picking up English rapidly.”
“Dr. Failia,” said Secretary Haight sternly. “How long do the aliens say they’ve been on Venus?”
For the first time, worry lines creased Helen’s forehead. “They haven’t said.”
“Have you asked?” Secretary Haight reached for one of the rolls on his desk and opened it. “Wait.” He held up a hand, but his attention stayed focused on the roll. “Let me change that question. How long have you been aware of their existence?”
“For ten days,” said Helen. Her voice was still calm, but Su could hear the strain creeping in around the edges. “As soon as we learned they were there, I contacted Ms. Yan and asked her to arrange this session.”
“I wonder.” Secretary Kent laid her hands, one on top of the other, on her desk.
“About what, Secretary Kent?” asked Su.
Secretary Kent blinked her huge blue eyes. “Your people were so resistant to having a team of U.N. observers come to Venera Base. It was almost as if you were afraid the team would see something you did not want them to see.”
At last, Su saw a chance to step in. “The only reason Venera Base did not want the U.N. team on Venus was that they were concerned about possible interference with an ongoing scientific investigation of the first importance. The team members were unknown quantities and the Venerans had no say in their selection.” Well, little say, Su added silently. Now was not the time to bring up Helen’s lobbying efforts or Su’s own covert maneuvers.
“And yet,” said Secretary Sun, “there are these reports that the Discovery was in fact fraudulent.” He gestured to the rolls on his desk.
Helen hesitated, visibly gathering her inner resources. Su answered for her again. Save your voice, get your bearings, Helen. “The investigation of the Discovery is ongoing.”
“And I understand from this report that the Venerans are making use of the laser that is part of the Discovery in order to communicate with the aliens?” Secretary Sun sounded overly innocent, as if there was nothing behind his question but honest curiosity.
All at once, Su saw where the questioning was going. For the first time in her whole political career, her mouth went completely dry. She felt the eyes of her colleagues on her, Edmund Waicek’s most of all. I missed it. I had all the facts in front of me, and I completely missed this interpretation. Oh, Mother Creation…
“It is part of the holography system, yes,” came Helen’s answer. She hadn’t seen it yet. Or maybe she had. These words were six minutes old. Maybe it had dawned on her by now.
“Convenient that it was in working order, isn’t it?” said Secretary Kent. “And just what you needed?”
Cut it off, Su. Su leaned forward. “Secretary, fellow committee members, we are all aware that when a complex occurrence is scrutinized, the separate events rarely add up directly. Loose facts can be stuffed into any number of boxes.” Heaven knows I’ve done it often enough, and there’s enough going on here that you could find an interpretation to fit every need. “What is before us now, and what must remain before us, is that for the first time, we are speaking to another intelligent species. We must send a diplomatic team to properly welcome them and begin formal contact.”
“A diplomatic team will most certainly be sent,” said Secretary Haight. He sounded far too righteous for Su’s liking. “But there are one or two other background matters that need to be cleared up first. The first is this photograph we were sent.”
Photograph? The photo appeared on Su’s desk screen. A copy sped toward Venus. Su, suddenly afraid, looked down at the black-and-white satellite shot that caught the alien’s portal.
Su’s heart thudded once, hard. Where did they get that from? They shouldn’t have that. The room was tense, silent. Su realized they were waiting for Helen to receive the image. Su looked to the holotank and saw the representation of her old friend trapped inside, almost as if it were Helen herself who sat in that clear cage. The image looked down, and focused, understood what was before it, and Su saw no possibility of explanation appear on Helen’s tight, distraught face.