The Privilege of Peace

by Tanya Huff

  “Group of beings,” Alamber corrected.

  “Right. What’s either a group of sentient beings, being held captive . . .”

  “It’s not being held captive.”

  “They!”

  “Fine. They’re not being held captive.”

  “So they can leave the room if they want to?”

  “It’s a sheet of plastic!”

  “And I think it’s been established that some plastic is sentient.”

  “Fine. If it’s sentient, it’s an enemy.”

  “They were abandoned in an underground bunker during the war,” Craig pointed out. “They’re not our enemy unless we make them our enemy.”

  “By taking a bite out of them,” Alamber growled.

  “Talk to your reporter friend about that!” General Morris drew himself up to his full height and folded his arms across his chest. “And if you want to talk about full disclosure, let’s talk about how she sprang that on everyone, including Warden Ryder.”

  “He’s right,” Craig acknowledged.

  “Presit doesn’t work for the government; full disclosure doesn’t apply.” Alamber leaned toward the general. “And now you’ve taken a potentially powerful group of aliens and locked them away again.

  “Locked them away again,” General Morris repeated. His eyes widened in triumph. “What if they were locked away by their own people? What if they’re criminal plastic?”

  “Justice Department.” Werst waved at him. “Criminals are our business, not the military’s.”

  “Or?” Captain Carveg asked, her voice commanding the room. “You said either, Warden di’Cikeys. Either a group of sentient beings, being held captive. I assume there’s an or to follow?”

  “If the data sheet isn’t sentient, then we’re investigating a priceless artifact being smuggled out of the Confederation by the military under a complete media blackout in direct opposition to the full disclosure laws, and . . .” Alamber closed his hand around Craig’s wrist. “It reacted to my pheromones.”

  The hum of the Susumi engines sounded unnaturally loud in the sudden silence.

  Then the hair of every di’Taykan in the room lifted out from their heads, Alamber’s a half a heartbeat behind, responding to their response.

  “And it looks like the priceless artifact investigation is off the table,” Craig announced. “If that’s what he meant by initiating sexual contact with a sheet of plastic?”

  “Which isn’t a crime,” Alamber pointed out.

  “Didn’t say it was.” Craig touched two fingers to the inside of Alamber’s wrist, then turned back to the watching officers. “You knew the data sheet reacted. You knew that meant they’re sentient.”

  “I know nothing of the sort,” the general began.

  Captain Carveg cut him off. “We saw what happened on the security recording, but we have no idea if what we saw was Warden di’Cikeys tripping a program or an actual response.”

  “It rose to touch my fingers.” Alamber held out his hand, fingers spread, obviously reenacting his part of their meeting. “It was responding when your lot showed up.”

  The captain’s nostril ridges closed slightly. “My lot?”

  Alamber’s hair dipped in toward his jaw. “Your security. Ma’am.”

  “Warrant?”

  The MAA’s blue eyes darkened as more light receptors opened. “If it . . . they were responding, he’d know, Captain.”

  “We need to investigate this!”

  Craig wasn’t sure who General Morris was shouting at, but Captain Carveg looked like she was just about finished with his shit.

  “We were ordered to leave it alone,” she said flatly.

  “And look how well that worked out.” The general spread his arms wide. “We have new information. We need to throw every di’Taykan on board at that thing while we have the chance, while we’re still in Susumi. Sergeant!”

  “Sir!”

  Boots hit the deck in a fast one/two as the Mu’tuv sergeant stood.

  “General Morris, I’m about to resolve the argument we were having earlier.” Captain Carveg drew herself up to her full height of a meter nothing and looked impressively taller. “This is my ship, General. On my ship, my orders take precedence. Back in your seat, Sergeant. We won’t need you.”

  “Ma’am.” The sergeant sat.

  Werst turned an exhale into smug approval. Craig started breathing again.

  “We can request new orders when we leave Susumi,” the captain continued. “Until then, if you would, Commander.”

  “Warden di’Cikeys.” Commander Kahananui wasn’t particularly tall, but he was solidly built, powerful looking. Craig doubted he could beat him in a fight. On the other hand, that was Werst’s job and, like Torin, he’d never given a shit about size.

  Alamber stepped forward, looked down at Craig’s hand on his arm, then up at Craig. “Hey, guilty as charged. I took out their security and, technically, I broke and entered.”

  “Technically?”

  “Nothing’s broken.”

  Craig shook his head. “We’re investigating . . .”

  “We weren’t then,” Alamber reminded him.

  “At least something’s being done right,” the general muttered. “Have you recorded this, Lieutenant Jonnez?”

  His aide jerked, startled at being addressed. “Sir. As previously agreed with Captain Carveg and Commander Kahananui.”

  “Excellent.” General Morris’ smile was all politics. “The Minister of Defense will be reviewing this.”

  The captain ignored him. “Commander Kahananui, secure Warden di’Cikeys, find out how he gamed our system, and have him help fix the weak points so no one can do it again.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Then release him back into Warden Ryder’s supervision. Try to supervise him, Warden Ryder.”

  “I’ll do my best, ma’am. But . . .” He spread his hands as she fought a smile.

  “Indeed. But. Keep him busy, at least.”

  “Ma’am.”

  Together, they watched the commander escort Alamber from the room, two of the MAA’s ratings falling in behind them once they reached the corridor. When Alamber began talking, the commander cut him off. “What part of secure do you not understand, Warden?”

  As they disappeared, Captain Carveg sighed. “What is it, General?”

  The general’s cheeks had flushed. “You can’t just release him.”

  “I’m not just releasing him. I’m using him first.”

  “He interacted with the plastic!”

  “He had no orders to stay away.”

  “He didn’t know it was here!”

  “Until he did.”

  “You can’t do this.”

  “I think you’ll find that on my ship, I can.”

  General Morris stared down at her for a long moment, cheeks darkening, then pivoted on one heel and stomped out. Lieutenant Jonnez dropped his gaze to the floor and followed, shoulders tightening when Elisk murmured a few words in Krai as he passed.

  “Master at Arms.”

  “Captain.”

  “Find out how Warden di’Cikeys knew the data sheet was on board.”

  “Working on it, Captain.”

  “Warden Ryder.”

  He took a step back to lower the angle. “Ma’am.”

  “I want full disclosure on any investigation of the Justice Department that happens on my ship.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She smiled. “And congratulations on expanding the Justice Department’s view of the universe. It’s good to see you again.”

  “And you, Captain.”

  Chief Warrant Officer di’Palik gave him a not entirely friendly nod as she followed Captain Carveg out of the briefing room.

  Craig turn
ed to Werst, realized Werst was focused on something behind him, and remembered there were still thirteen Marines in the room. The sergeant had reached the bottom of the stairs when he turned, the others in a line behind her. He hadn’t heard them move.

  “That was entertaining,” she said, smiling broadly as the squad moved silently past and out of the room. “Wish I’d had snacks.”

  Fuk it. Craig went right to the point. “Sergeant. Why are you here?”

  Dark brows rose. “That’s classified, Warden.”

  “Full disclosure, Sergeant.”

  “I’ll bring that up with my CO. Word of advice, stay out of the Marine packets. The general’s orders take precedence there. Werst.”

  “Britt.”

  “Threat?” Tylen asked when they were alone.

  “Warning,” Werst told her. “Marines don’t make threats. We make statements of fact.”

  “Oh, fuk off . . .” She led the way out of the briefing room, the team following behind.

  “Now what?” Elisk asked, falling into step on Werst’s other side.

  “We investigate,” Craig told him.

  “What do we investigate? Precisely?”

  “Let’s start by establishing the data sheet’s response to the di’Taykan and see if we can use that to confirm sentience.”

  Werst snorted. “Establishing the data sheet’s response? We’re making shit up as we go, aren’t we?”

  “We’re writing the playbook for seducing a sheet of plastic.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I said.”

  * * *

  • • •

  They had to wait for Alamber to be returned to them before they could begin the investigation. Commander Kahananui’s people refused to release the codes for a high-security compartment, and the commander himself was busy.

  “He’s busy resetting the locks with one of our Wardens,” Craig snapped.

  “Then you’ll be able to access the compartment when your Warden returns.”

  “Navy,” Werst grunted, as Craig cut the connection.

  “You’re up their tree,” Elisk reminded them. “They won’t push you out, but they’ll laugh if you fall.”

  Yahsamus stood by the big wall screen on the bulkhead of their packet’s common room, flipping through the entertainment options. “And if you ask, LT?”

  He spread his hands. “I’m a Warden now. Ex-Navy. Me, they’d probably push.”

  * * *

  • • •

  “They wanted me to tell them how I found out about the plastic—I lied, by the way—and we fixed a few exploitable pinholes in their security system.” Alamber’s hair lifted as Tylen ran her hands over his body. “My punishment involved explaining things to stupid people and a really bad pouch of coffee. No one beat me with a blunt object.”

  “Still checking,” she muttered.

  “Not complaining, just pointing out you’re not going to find anything . . .” His hips jerked forward. “. . . but that.” He twisted his upper body around to face Craig. “Were we going to investigate the data sheet now?”

  “Yes. We are. But only because we couldn’t start sooner.” Craig tossed his coffee pouch in the recycler and stood. “We need to gather as much info as we can while we’re still in Susumi—before Captain Carveg gets new orders that include us and the amount of contact we’re allowed.”

  “End game?” Yahsamus asked, catching Tylen’s hands and moving her bodily away from Alamber.

  “Status of the data sheet. Better understanding of the plastic.” Craig shrugged. “A conversation starter with Big Yellow.”

  Yahsamus’ eyes lightened. “I got the feeling Torin was going to open with what the fuk do you want? And see where it went.”

  “Yeah, well . . .” Craig rubbed the back of his hand against his beard. “Torin’s not here.”

  * * *

  *Move in closer.*

  Fingertips still in contact with the reaching plastic, Alamber stepped in until his toes tucked under the bottom of the sheet and his entire body was no more than three centimeters away. A deep enough breath and the clothing over his chest would brush the sheet.

  *Looks like the symbols are piling up opposite your body.*

  Alamber glanced down. “That’s because the symbols are piling up opposite my body.”

  He opened his light receptors until his peripheral vision expanded enough to watch the entire sheet. The symbols sped in, rising and falling like waves, creating a three-dimensional, orange shadow of his body. There were no features, but the image of his hair moved with his hair. When he flexed his right hand, the image of his fingers flexed. When he raised his right arm to mirror his left, two points of plastic protruded until they touched his first two fingers. The rest of the sheet remained completely smooth.

  *What if they get into his brain?*

  *On their way into his pants?*

  *That’s where he keeps his brain.*

  *Cut the chatter, people.*

  Alamber smiled and missed Torin.

  *Alamber, with the first finger of your right hand, write hello on the sheet.*

  The word rose up under his finger, then fell again.

  “Didn’t the plastic the Boss talked to speak Federate?” he asked, writing hello again with the same result.

  *They’d been in brains. This one’s been in a hole on Threxie. Write your name and draw an arrow pointing to its image of you.*

  He couldn’t stop himself from rocking forward as he wrote.

  As he finished the arrow, the plastic rocked out to meet him.

  *Energy spike!*

  *Alamber!*

  White light filled the room. Eyes streaming tears, receptors snapped closed, Alamber sagged forward, felt a firm touch . . .

  When his knees buckled, the plastic held him up.

  *Alamber!*

  *Ryder you can’t go in there! He’s had his masker off. We’re filtering the air as fast as we can!*

  *Alamber!*

  *Calm down, Ryder, I know these readings. He’s fine.*

  Alamber rubbed his cheek against a smooth curve. “Very fine.”

  * * *

  • • •

  The data sheet had the exact same reaction to the other two di’Taykan. Expanding their variables, they pulled in a Naval volunteer and would have pulled in a Marine di’Taykan as well, but General Morris had refused to allow it.

  “Now he’s being petty . . .”

  Humans and Krai could rub against the plastic all they wanted. Without the pheromones, nothing happened.

  “So is it intelligent, or is it a sex toy?” Captain Carveg asked.

  “An alien sex toy only responsive to di’Taykan?”

  “Why not?” Her nostril ridges closed halfway, an instinctive response to a conversation about Taykan pheromones. “Everyone else is.”

  That was fair, Craig acknowledged. “It looks like a data sheet.”

  “To us.” She pressed her thumb against her slate, swept the file off the screen. “It also looks like a big yellow spaceship. I’m going to tell you what my jernine told me when I left the tree. It takes all kinds, and most of them are edible. Now, you tell me if it’s intelligent.”

  Craig shook his head, wishing he had a different answer. “We don’t know yet.”

  “What would happen if we pheromone bomb Big Yellow?”

  His brows rose. “There’s a way to do that?” There hadn’t been during the war, not without risking Confederation troops being caught in the effect.

  “Damned if I know, but maybe we should start finding new ways to do things.” Another thumbprint, another swipe, then the captain focused her entire attention on him. “So you have a lot of data and no conclusions.”

  “Not yet.”

  Her nostril ridges spread. “There’ll be a Susumi pac
ket heading back to command as soon as we jump out. And a few billion plastic aliens shaped like a big yellow spaceship. And a general who’d be perfectly happy to start another war if it kept him relevant.” Her gaze turned inward, and Craig knew she was accessing memories of blood and battle. He knew that expression. After a moment, she blinked and said, “I’ve had enough of war. Keep working on it.”

  * * *

  The station orbiting Silsviss was one of thousands scattered across Confederation space, a government observation platform around each Confederation world. Theoretically, there was one identical to it tucked into the core of the government station orbiting Paradise, although the odds were higher it was more the idea of the original station rather than the actuality—Torin couldn’t keep her entertainment unit working for more than five years and the station had been there for centuries.

  The Elder Races saw no point in messing with a system that worked. Every government station used the same initial footprint, changes forbidden until a planetary government was securely in place.

  While uniformity of design would make her job easier, when it came down to it, the Elder Races weren’t very innovative.

  Or at all innovative.

  How different was the tech she used from the tech the Younger Races had been promised to get them into the fight? Her area of expertise was limited, but the advances she knew of had been made when Human or Taykan or Krai adapted the Confederation standard to their specific needs. Had the Confederation not been forced to seek them out, would they have discovered the Confederation on their own by now? Given those extra centuries of isolated development, what would they have brought with them? Confined to their planets by Parliamentary decree, what might they create?

  Besides the kind of weapons historical records referred to as self-inflicted extinction events.

  Any hope they might have learned enough to avoid blowing themselves to hell and gone vanished during even a cursory examination of Humans First. Who might have a small point about the Confederation holding Humans back.

  Torin set that aside to think about later. Later, when she wasn’t about to go into battle with a race of warrior lizards. Or one warrior lizard. Or . . . “Bilodeau, do we have any idea of how many of them are in there yet?”