"Of course."
People were milling around the room, when Jan raised her voice to cut through the conversations.
"If we could all be seated, please."
When all were seated, Jan stood up at her place.
"President Turner would like a brief word before we break for lunch. Go ahead, Mr. President."
"Thank you, Admiral.
"Just to get our discussions over lunch headed in the right direction, I would like to announce we are agreed in principle on the points of your proposal, and we want to move to substantive negotiations toward a final agreement this afternoon."
He waved his hand back to Jan, who signaled the staffers. They opened the doors into the adjoining room once more.
"And with that, lunch is served," Jan said.
Over lunch, Durand leaned over to Jan.
"That was quick," Durand said.
"There's no downside for them, other than the actual financing of the colonies, and they get to sidestep all the R&D costs and uncertainty of replicating our technology. I think their biggest point of discussion was probably whether we could be trusted. I do have something of a reputation for being sneaky, you know."
Durand chuckled.
"And why would they think it's not a con of some sort?"
"Because I'm wearing the highest awards of both nations on my uniform. I have to be an honest broker or I'm no better than a common pirate. False flag. Jake Turner knows I would never do that."
"Do you think he's that subtle?"
"Oh, yes. No doubt in my mind at all."
The Deal
After lunch, staffers cleared the dishes and they sat around the lunch table over coffee. It was a smaller table than the conference room table, round, and was more amenable to informal conversations.
"Our standard-design large freighter is big enough already for the cargos you've outlined. We just need to make more of them. On the passenger ships, do they really have to be bigger? We could respond faster with ships if we use a standard design," Hernandez asked.
"If you outfitted the passenger spaces as steerage, with a couple of bunks per cabin, you could do it, I think. It would be tight. And how do you keep that many people entertained for a couple weeks? Not going to be any space for recreation," Bill said.
"VR. If there's one thing we're good at, it's VR," Turner said, getting chuckles in response. "Put a VR system on every bunk, and encourage everybody to use it. Maybe we could put colonization training on it, tell them to study up during the trip."
"That would allow us to get ships built faster. No design cycle," Hernandez.
"That could work, then," Bill said.
"What were you looking at for the exchange ratio?" Turner asked.
"One warship per colony squadron," Durand said. "The warship has the new 2.6g drive engine, the new beam weapons, the new shield generators, flotation beds for all the crew cabins and a lot of the duty stations, the drone weapons, which all have their own 5g drives. It's an expensive proposition. The civilian ships are one-g drives, no weapons, no shields, no flotation beds, no drones. The only new thing on them is the new hyperspace generator."
"That ratio sounds good to me," Turner said.
Jan was relieved. Six ships for one doesn't sound like a good deal, until you figure in the relative costs. She had hoped it wouldn't be a sticking point. Turner's naval background had helped there.
"I'm concerned about the timing," Hernandez said. "The Outer Colonies are preparing for war now. If we reach agreement, and we begin building ships, it's going to be a while before we have ships to trade. Madam Chairman, you said you would cover us against attack from the Outer Colonies. How would that work?"
Desai waved a hand toward Jan to respond.
"On the immediate near term, we would protect Earth reactively. With our ships sitting at the new hyperspace-1 system limit, we can respond to an attack on Earth within three hours of the news reaching here. That's the same way we intend to defend the Commonwealth, with a military response from Jablonka.
"If we set up a courier system between Earth and Jablonka using the new courier drones, we can respond within five hours to an attack on Earth or any Commonwealth system. We already have the courier drones in place throughout the Commonwealth, and we have plenty more to equip the Earth-Jablonka run.
"But it's clearly better if you can defend your own space with your own ships. We were planning on delivering warships and drones before you had the reciprocal colony ships available to trade."
"How soon?" Hernandez asked.
"We have worked up scenarios for fighting the war with the Outer Colonies with various numbers of the new ships available, from none to eight squadrons. With their drone weapons, the new ships are so powerful we have organized them in sections of two ships each as independent combat units," Jan said.
"So you're not worried about feint attacks drawing you out of position," Turner said.
"No. An attack would probably get a response of a single section. I already have a squadron – four sections – of the new ships working up.
"The best scenario for us is for the Commonwealth to take the first two squadrons of the new ships as they come in. We had planned on the third squadron to go to Earth in trade, whether the colony ships are ready by then or not."
"When does that third squadron come along?" Turner asked.
Jan looked to Durand.
"Another year," Durand said. "The current plan is a squadron every six months, and the first squadron just got here."
Turner sat back in his chair and stared blankly at the ceiling. Durand was going to say something else, but Jan lifted her hand just a couple inches off the table in a 'wait' gesture, and Durand sat back.
Finally, Turner looked back down at Jan.
"I worry about the Outer Colonies' timing. They're building up to something nasty, and we've got no idea when they're gonna pop off. Once we receive the warships, we still have to train crews and work them up. So I was thinking. It seems to me the difference between none and four of these ships is a lot bigger than the difference between twelve and sixteen. Would it be possible to split that second squadron with you, Admiral? You're organizing them in pairs. Instead of the third squadron, can we get the second and fourth section of the second and third squadrons? So you get two, we get two, through the second and third squadrons."
Jan bit her lip and stared at the wall above Turner's head as she ran through Jessen's war plans in her head. It was a reasonable request, and would get two sections of the new ships out to Earth six months sooner. It would also delay two sections of her first two squadrons by six months. But six sections was a lot of horsepower, and otherwise Earth would have none of the new ships for a year.
Jan looked at Desai. Desai gave her a tiny nod. Jan turned back to Turner.
"We can make that work, Mr. President. It removes the need for me to cover Earth six months earlier, and leaves me with six sections for that period. I can work with that.
"At the same time, we are prepared to share with you our training classes and our Fleet Book of Maneuvers, including the chapters on maneuvers and combat using the new warships. You have no need to research and prep those materials yourself. We can bring your training staff here and have them sit in on our crew training classes to bring them up to speed."
The mention of disclosing the Fleet Book of Maneuvers to the Earth crews caused Turner to raise his eyebrows.
"A generous offer," Turner said to Desai.
"It really is in the Commonwealth's best interest for Earth to be strong against the Outer Colonies as well, Mr. President," Desai said.
"When could that train-the-trainer stuff start? And training the engineers to accommodate the hyperspace drive in the colony ships?" Hernandez asked Jan.
"Well, we have to take you back home tonight on the Odin. Admiral O'Connor can bring them here on the return trip. They could start tomorrow morning if you want," Jan said.
Turner chuckled.
&nbs
p; "This whole planet-to-planet in five hours thing is going to take some getting used to," Turner said.
The Commonwealth delegation had a draft agreement ready, and they worked through it, making the modifications they had agreed to. They sent their scrawled changes off with a staffer so the document could be edited and reprinted. They then broke for internal consultations with their teams.
When the Earth delegation had been led out to the conference room across the hall, Desai walked up to Jan, Bill, and Durand.
"Nicely done. All of you," Desai said.
"Thank you, Madam Chairman," Jan, as the highest ranking, said for them all.
Desai turned to Jan.
"You know President Turner best, Admiral. What do you think? Do we have a deal?" Desai asked.
"That will depend on what Mr. Murphy says, Ma'am."
"Ah. You picked up on that, too. Right-hand man, or force behind the throne, do you think?"
"Right-hand man, Ma'am. Jake Turner is nobody's puppet. But Murphy's opinion will matter a lot."
"My thoughts as well. And what do you think Mr. Murphy's opinion will be?"
"I don't know, Ma'am. He's very difficult to read. Admiral Durand and I think he's Earth intelligence, as well as being President Turner's eyes and ears. But I didn't pick up anything negative from him."
"Me, either. Well, I hope we're right."
"We'll see, Ma'am."
Across the hall, the Earth delegation settled in around the table in the smaller conference room.
"Well, what do you think? Malcolm, you were awfully quiet," Turner said.
"I didn't have many questions, Mr. President. The Commonwealth and Earth are now friends, largely due to the actions of you, Secretary Hernandez, and Admiral Childers four years ago. Deepening that friendship is a positive with me. The Commonwealth has the potential to be our largest foreign policy problem, and it isn't a problem at all within the current relationship. So deeper ties, more cooperation, is all good."
"And the whole colonies thing?"
"That works for me as well. Fifteen hundred or so future trading partners? And don't forget the Commonwealth could have done a hundred or two hundred colonies on its own, and not let us in on the deal at all. Instead, the agreement says we will each inform the other of the locations of our respective colonies, and compete with each other for their business. Not create satellites we keep secret from each other."
"And you, Jorge?" Turner asked.
"The timing was my big concern, and that's all been addressed. That was a great idea about alternating sections. That together with the training and the book of maneuvers will bring us up to speed quickly. Compared to the cost of trying to replicate the technology, building a couple of hundred civilian colony ships is not a problem."
"OK. So I'm down to you, Fred. What do you think?"
"The agreement itself is almost painfully straightforward, Sir. No convoluted construction, no ambiguities. It's worded as a commercial transaction – so many of these for so many of those – and not a treaty or anything of the kind. A lot of the rest is of the 'It is the intention of the parties' sort of thing, so it isn't really binding."
"Except I would treat it that way, and they know it. And I have a ten-year term absent a recall, and can stand for election once more," Turner said.
"Understood. They would likely treat it as binding as well. I can pick up no signs of anyone on their side being disingenuous. Admiral Childers in particular is easy to read, as I mentioned earlier, but even the professional politicians on their side have dropped their facades enough to give me good indication there is no dissembling there."
"And the agreement itself?"
"The only thing that bothers me about the agreement is why they should want it. I know why we think it's good for us, but I can think of several ways, if I were in their shoes, I could meet my policy goals without being quite so generous."
"It's because they really do want to be friends and allies with the Earth, and because they have a higher goal of doing the best good for humanity as a whole," Turner said.
Murphy gave him a skeptical look and Turner continued.
"Look, Fred, sometimes people actually do things for the greater good. Sometimes they're nice to their friends just because. Sometimes they look at the big picture instead of their own narrow goals. You said you could see no signs of dissembling, and, if we take them at their word, that's exactly what they're thinking is.
"And one other thing. This is Jan Childers' plan, as I said before. Her fingerprints are all over it. And it doesn't ever pay to underestimate her.
"She commanded their forces during the War That Didn't Happen. The Commonwealth government never saw that coming, but she did. She had extensive plans in place to respond to it. I know. I was there. When we came in for our big 'surprise' attack, they responded with a massive pull out that began in less than an hour, across the entire Commonwealth. Twelve hundred warships, hundreds of support ships, millions of personnel, all moved in concert. It was like they were all sitting here just waiting for us to show up. Her plan avoided all the fighting and the killing, all the destruction and misery of war, to win not just the war, but to set the stage for a lasting peace between our nations. It was a huge gamble, and it paid off for everybody.
"So this is Childers' plan, and she thinks in terms of the big picture, in terms of longer timeframes, in terms of greater goals. How she came out of the slums of Earth with that kind of altruism beats hell out of me, but there it is. Maybe the view from the bottom gave her an empathy for the masses the rest of us just don't have, at least not to that extent.
"One thing she probably hasn't told her superiors is this greater plan of hers, over the extreme long term, is going to reduce the Earth and the Commonwealth both to backwater planets."
"How is that?" Aubrey asked.
"Simple. Is Babylon the capital of the Earth? Is Athens? Is Rome? No. They used to be centers of learning and power, but they each had their time. An expansion of this magnitude is going to shift power to new centers, away from Earth and the Commonwealth. We'll ultimately both be reduced to a chapter or two in a history book.
"But that progress was good for humanity on Earth, and it will be good for humanity in the galaxy as well. I suspect, though, she didn't share that little tidbit with her superiors."
"Do you think she realizes it?" Aubrey asked.
Turner chuckled. Murphy just stared at Aubrey.
"Malcolm, don't forget, don't ever forget, one simple thing," Turner said. "Everybody wants to be the smartest person in the room, but, whenever Jan Childers is there, the best they can hope to be is second. Present company not excepted. She has her weaknesses, but that isn't one of them."
They reconvened in the big conference room. With everyone seated, Turner looked around.
"Where's that document? Somebody got a current copy?" Turner asked.
Here it comes, Jan thought. What's it going to be?
A staffer brought a copy of the document to Turner. He looked at it briefly, then picked up a pen off the table and scrawled his name on it with a flourish. He slid the document across the table to Desai.
Startled at first with the abruptness with which Turner had concluded the negotiations, but not to be outdone, Desai signed the document in her small, precise handwriting.
Turner stood up and extended his hand across the table. Desai stood up as well, and they shook hands.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Madam Chairman," Turner said.
"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. President."
After several copies of the document were executed, the doors were opened to the dining room.
As they milled toward the doors, Turner came up to Jan.
"There are several opening gambits for the Outer Colonies that present a personal risk to you, Jan. Please take care," Turner said.
"We're aware, Jake, but thanks for the heads up."
What had been planned as a working supper turned into a celebration inste
ad.
After supper, Admiral Durand escorted Desai and her cohort up to the roof to board a shuttle back across Jezgra to Commonwealth Center. Jan and Bill waited to escort the Earth delegation.
"I won't be traveling back to Earth with you, Jake. Admiral O'Connor will take you back, and wait around while you round up your training and engineering people for the return trip. There's enough cabin space aboard the Odin to accommodate quite a few of them, as you wish."
"That will be great, Jan. I'm looking forward to the trip back, looking at all the displays and such."
"You didn't do that on the way here?"
"No, we all slept on the trip here. Better to be fresh for this meeting, don't you think?"
Jan laughed. No, it didn't pay to underestimate Jake Turner.
Once on the roof, with the shuttle waiting, they all said goodbye. Turner and Hernandez hugged Jan and shook hands with Bill. Aubrey and Murphy shook hands with them both.
Turner couldn't help but have the last word.
"Now don't be strangers. You two should pop out for a weekend sometime. I'll show you the Pyramids," Turner said.
Jan laughed, and the Earth delegation boarded the shuttle. A last wave, the door closed, the shuttle was away.
They stood and watched the shuttle ascend to orbit.
"You realize you just rewrote the history of humanity going forward," Bill said.
"Yes, of course."
"Do you think Turner realizes it?"
"Oh, yes. I'm sure of it."
Information Gathering
Lieutenant Commander Stuart Miller was happy. He had managed to get in touch with all eight of the remaining contact possibles on Clifton's reserve list. The Brunswick Citizen Services Office in the embassy had helped a lot. They had invited former Brunswick citizens to a party at the embassy, as a sort of reunion. "Meet other people from home." About twenty-five people had shown up for free food and booze, including all eight of his possibles. Miller had had a chance to chat with all of the possibles as well as some of the others.
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