Quiet Invasion(151)
“Do we know that this is the best?” countered bloated K’ptai, overflying him without regard to rank. D’seun might be younger, but he had been an ambassador longer than she. “Our understanding is still incomplete.”
“Helen is an ambassador.” Z’eth steered her path between D’seun and K’ptai. “We must agree that her words are more accurate than any engineer’s could be.”
“Ambassadors, Ambassadors.” P’eath lifted herself up until it seemed as if she would touch the clouds. “We are not children playing about the edges of our village. These are not appropriate questions for the open air. We must return to our debate chamber, crude as it is, and make proper consideration of all matters there. Our haste is unseemly. We have not examined all the evidence.” But D’seun did not miss the way she glanced up at Z’eth as she spoke, almost as if she were seeking permission to be reasonable.
“There is one question we might think on as we return, however,” said D’seun softly, lifting himself up so they would all feel his words. “The New People require raw material from the world they call Earth to maintain themselves. We have many records of this fact. The distant family is threatening to withhold this. Do we deny our neighbors access to the raw materials they need to survive and spread their own life because an insane family stands in their way?”
Silence spread across the wind. D’seun flapped his wings, taking himself outside the quieting circle of ambassadors and saw what he expected. They all looked to Z’eui. Could they all owe Z’eth? Had she brought every vote with her? And she had promised her vote to him.
If that was true, it was done. Even if T’sha returned this minute, she could not ruin what he grew here. The New People would be contained or destroyed. The health of New Home was assured.
D’seun swelled. All was finally well.
Helen watched the People filter into their dirigibles and depart. She felt empty, as if somehow drained of purpose.
Not surprising, I suppose. I just gave the world away. She brushed her hair back behind her ears and tried not to hear Vee’s accusations ringing in her ears.
The radio crackled to life. “Scarab Ten, this is Venera Base,” came Tori’s voice.
Helen leaned forward and touched the Reply key. “This is Scarab Ten. Go ahead, Venera.”
“I’m glad we got you, Dr. Failia. There’s a message here incoming from Earth, and they won’t talk to anyone else on the governing board.”
Won’t talk to anyone else? Is it Su? “Can you send it down?”
“It’ll be audio only, but yes, I can.”
Helen pushed herself up a little straighter in the chair on pure reflex. “Okay, Tori, put it through.”
“Everything okay up here, Dr. Failia?” Adrian’s head poked around the corner from the analysis nook.
“Fine.” She picked a coffee cup up out of its holder and stared at the dregs in the bottom. “It’s just the C.A.C. calling to tell me I’m in contempt, I’m sure.” Or to find out what I think I’m doing, at the very least. She tried to remember whether the cup was hers or not, and couldn’t. She put it back.
“Helen?” said the voice from the intercom. “This is Su. I have Secretary Kent with me. You’ve raised a great deal of concern with your…abrupt disconnection from the committee meeting.”
I’m sorry to have to drag you into this, Su. “Good afternoon, Madame Secretary Su.”
Venus spread out in front of her. Beta Regio lifted itself out of the ragged plain. The plateau was the color of ashy coals in the twilight, but with bright ribbons of lava lacing its side from the volcano that forced itself up from the tableland’s edge. It steamed and smoked in the wavering air and would continue to for centuries to come.
Unless, of course, the People wanted to do something else to it. Could they stop a volcano? They could travel instantly across light-years, and they were talking about transforming an entire world. What was one volcano compared to all that?
“Dr. Failia,” came Secretary Kent’s voice. “I’m not going to turn this conversation into a total farce by informing you that you’ve been charged with contempt of a governmental committee.”
I’m so glad.
“What I am going to tell you is that in accordance with the articles of incorporation for Venera Base, you are being removed as head of the governing board.”
“By whom, Madame Secretary?” asked Helen.
The time delay dragged out. Helen watched the smoke of the burning mountain. She remembered her first glimpse of the volcano. She’d been dropped down with Gregory Schoma in a very crude version of what would become a scarab. Theirs was more like a cross between a turtle and the original lunar rover. It was cramped as hell, they were strapped in to the point of suffocation, and despite the shielding, despite the scrubbers, despite everything, the cabin still smelled strongly of rotten eggs.