Like talking to Veronica Hatch about the possibility of useful action?
He barely knew Dr. Hatch. There were a thousand other people he would have rather had on the tip of his mind right now. But she was outside it. She didn’t have the visceral connection to Venera that almost everyone else here did. Even more important, she’d actually talked to the aliens. She was on the front lines of the whole mess, at least when it came to information, and information was what he needed if he were going to explode Helen’s inspirational speech.
He redirected his steps, up one level and around one of the inner corridor rings until he stood in front of Dr. Hatch’s guest quarters. The door scanned him and opened automatically.
You were expected, he thought as he went inside.
Dr. Hatch sat cross-legged on her bed, doing something with her briefcase. She looked up as he came in but did not look surprised.
“That was quick,” she said, shutting the briefcase down. “Thank you for coming.”
Michael nodded and took a seat on the desk chair. “What did you want to talk about, Dr. Hatch?”
She met his gaze, and he knew what she saw. She saw fear and she saw anger. She probably even saw disbelief at the display he had just witnessed. How had it happened? How had it gotten so bad so fast?
“We need help with a little espionage,” said Dr. Hatch.
“We?”
She nodded. “Me and Dr. Kenyon.” Dr. Hatch leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “We’ve got to talk to the People, without your friends on the governing board knowing about it.”
“We do?” Michael’s eyebrows lifted.
Dr. Hatch frowned, hard. “Look, the People don’t know what they’re getting dragged into. They haven’t been told. It sounds like we’re asking them for more rescue help or maybe a technology exchange, not help dealing with an invasion. We’re playing games with them. It is not fair and it is not right.”
“What the aliens think is the least of our problems,” said Michael, remembering the crowd cheering Helen on. Helen didn’t know what was really going on. She hadn’t heard him the first time. That was the only answer. He could walk in there and show her again what Ben had done, what Grace had done, and then, and then…
And then what? She’d be alone in the Throne Room, with him, and what would he say to her then? How would he stop this, stop her? What if he said the wrong thing and she decided he was a traitor and should be put on the ship as well? Would she think to send Jolynn and the boys with him? Would he have to ask to be allowed to remain with his family?
Michael didn’t know if he could stand that.
I can’t believe I’m even thinking like this. Holy God, what’s happening to us?
“What the aliens think is the least of our problems, is it?” Dr. Hatch was asking as she raised her own eyebrows, in mockery of his own expression, Michael suspected. “This is all happening because of the People. Because the People came here. Because Helen and Ben think they have the People’s support for what they’re doing. Without the aliens—” she waved her hand—“poof! Nothing happens, except the exposure of a little well-perpetrated fraud.”
“So what do you want to tell them?” asked Michael. “Sit back while we sort this out?”
“Essentially.” Dr. Hatch dropped her hand back onto her knee. “They understand politics. If we tell them this is a political debate that needs to be resolved, I think they’ll give us the time.”
“This is a little more than a political debate.” A little more? Who am I trying to kid?
“Let me talk to them,” said Dr. Hatch, low and earnest. “Let me get them to talk to you. Together we can at least try to pull them out of the equation. Without them, Failia and Godwin will have to deal with the U.N., because without the People, Venera cannot make a real stand.”
Michael chewed the inside of his lip and turned the idea over in his mind. Hatch and Kenyon. Josh he had known for years. He was steady, quiet, uncomplicated. He did his work and he went home. Dr. Hatch acted like a fool some days, but she was the one who spotted that the Discovery was fraudulent.
“It’s a good idea,” he said. “It’s worth a shot. But I’ve got to tell you”—he tugged on the end of his pony tail—“I’m not sure how much I can help you right now. I’m not sure about a whole lot of things.”
Veronica nodded, all the bluster and kidding gone from her face. “Just help me not get thrown out of here. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Michael searched her eyes for a moment. She meant it. She wanted to stay, and he wanted…