As if aware of the younger man’s scrutiny, Tolwyn turned to meet his gaze with ice-blue eyes. “You’re quiet, Mr. Bondarevsky,” he remarked. “How much do you know about the situation out in the Landreich?”
“Not much, sir,” he said. “I’ve learned to take the news reports with enough salt to fill up a hangar deck, but aside from a few dark hints from Admiral Richards I can’t say I really know what’s going on out there…or how we’re supposed to be a part of it all.”
“You’re smart to ignore TNC, at least,” Richards commented. “Did you catch that report by Barbara Miles last night?”
“The pirate raid story?” Tolwyn asked.
“Yeah.” When Bondarevsky shook his head Richards leaned forward in his chair with an intense frown creasing his forehead. “According to the news channels, there was an attack on Ilios last week. Heavy casualties in the district of Dardania, property destroyed, several industrial centers put out of operation for weeks, maybe months. All very deplorable.” His frown deepened. “And it’s true, too…except that what they described as a ‘pirate raid’ was actually an attack by Kilrathi operating out of the Hralgkrak Province. We have proof, damn it, and we’ve shown it to the Confederation ambassador and sent details to the Joint Chiefs and the Office of Confederation Security and the goddamned Confederation Peace Commission. But they’ve passed the word to TNC news to play up this ‘pirate’ angle, and the Kilrathi don’t get into the reports at all.”
“You told me once that you’ve had some real pirate problems, too,” Tolwyn said. He shifted in his chair. “I suppose there’s just enough truth in their stories so that they can justify their position. And they’ll tell you it’s no good rocking the boat with the Kilrathi, or some such. Right? They’ve staked everything on the Treaty. If anyone outside the government got the idea that the whole Treaty was virtually a dead letter, the President wouldn’t stand a chance. I doubt he’d get the luxury of impeachment proceedings.”
“Maybe so,” said Richards. “But Ilios was the most recent colony to join the Landreich. And it’s one of our leading industrial worlds. Damn it, Geoff, things are getting serious out there. Except for a couple of raids back and forth, the Cats never saw any reason to press the attack against us. Our stretch of the frontier was too far away to be important to the main course of the war. But now that the Confederation’s knocked out Kilrah, independent clans all through Cat space are striking out on their own-and their side of the frontier is as fresh and untouched as ours. Which means they have the strength to be a real threat, and they see the Landreich as easy pickings without the Confederation to back our play.”
“So some Cat clan chief is playing at empire-building,” Bondarevsky said. “And he’s chosen the Landreich to be his first big conquest.”
“Exactly,” Richards said. “We’re pretty sure the Haka Clan is behind the troubles we’ve been having. Ukar dai Ragark, the Governor of Hralgkrak, was no friend to Thrakhath and the Emperor when they were alive. He owed his particular position at the edge of nowhere to the fact that he was openly critical of the way Thrakhath conducted the Battle of Earth. Now that they’re dead he’s been turning up the propaganda to claim that the Empire only lost in the end because of incompetence and cowardice in the Imperial Palace.”
“ ‘We were stabbed in the back,’ ” Bondarevsky said.
“What’s that?” Tolwyn asked.
“Just a line out of the history books,” he answered. He glanced over at Richards. “After World War I…the argument Hitler used to rally Germany behind his call for a new government that would restore the country’s greatness.”
“That’s just about the line Ragark is taking,” Richards said. “And pretty damn successfully, too, according to the reports we’ve been seeing. Ragark has a fair-sized battle fleet, plenty of ships that didn’t see much combat action during the war. Fortunately they’re mostly about the same as what we have in the Landreich, older ships that weren’t good enough for Thrakhath’s command. But they’re enough to give Ragark some muscle, and I he’s set himself up as the warlord who can give the
Kilrathi something to replace what they lost with Kilrah, a new spirit of victory. It’s even taking on religious overtones… Kilrah perished because the Emperor lost touch with the old ways, the Word of the Codices, all that. It’s powerful stuff…and with neither an Emperor nor a homeworld, a lot of Kilrathi are eating it up.“
Bondarevsky looked down at the tabletop for a long moment. “Something doesn’t make sense, though,” he said. “Why should the government shift the blame to human pirates? I mean, all our dealings have been with Melek, haven’t they? He formed the caretaker government after Kilrah was destroyed and negotiated the treaty afterwards. Why can’t the Confederation take action against this Ragark as a renegade Kilrathi?”
“Who knows what goes through the minds of those bastards?” Richards said with a shrug. “Could be they’re afraid the great unwashed masses can’t tell a good Cat from a bad Cat. Lord knows the propaganda effort for the past few decades has certainly been devoted to peddling the message that the only good Cat is a dead one. Hell, our one genuine Cat hero turned out to be a traitor in the end.“
Bondarevsky saw a spasm of emotion pass over Tolwyn’s face. Ralgha nar Hhalles, the Kilrathi pilot who had joined the Confederation years ago, had been the spy who betrayed the secrets of the Behemoth to the enemy. And Tolwyn had trusted the renegade completely…
“I think it goes deeper than that,” Tolwyn said quietly. “I think there are elements in the Confederation who would be quite pleased to see a Kilrathi warlord absorb the Landreich.”
Richards gave him a look. “Now, Geoff, you know I’m no fan of the government. But, come on! You don’t really think they’re setting us up deliberately?”
“Well…maybe not,” Tolwyn said, but he had that stubborn look again. “But you have to admit that the way things are going there’s not much chance of Confederation intervention out in your stretch of space. And I’ve seen the same intelligence estimates you have, Vance. Ragark’s forces can gobble up the Landreich for breakfast once he gets moving. The only thing that’s likely to save your hides right now is the Cats’ lack of cohesion without the Imperial system directing things. So whether it’s deliberate or not, I’d say you’ve got plenty to worry about.”
“We’ve got plenty to worry about,” Richards corrected him. “We’re in this thing together…unless you’re backing out after all.”
“I’m with you, Vance,” Tolwyn snapped. “I’ve got just as many good reasons for wanting to help the Landreich as you do. Maybe one or two more.”
There was an awkward moment of silence as the two strong-willed admirals regarded one another thoughtfully. Bondarevsky took the opportunity to change the subject.
“Couldn’t you take your evidence straight to the people, Admiral?” he asked Richards. “Let them know about the Kilrathi involvement? Surely the Confederation government doesn’t control every news channel.”
“Maybe not all of them, but all the ones that matter, son,” Richards told him gruffly. “And at any rate, the propaganda effort’s being stepped up against us, lately, too. We’re agitators, troublemakers, a threat to the success of the Treaty. When we complain about Kilrathi violations, we’re simply trying to stir up trouble on the border. If we take any kind of aggressive action ourselves we’re deliberately provoking an interstellar incident. So any evidence we presented would be discredited as a fabrication before the report was off the air.”
“Then what’s Kruger planning?” Tolwyn asked.