“General Marish,” Cheris said, “I’m listening. Is it true that we have an enemy swarm incoming?”
“Oh, it’s not just incoming,” Marish said. Her sneer wasn’t directed at Cheris. “We have a full-scale Hafn invasion with messy calendrical business headed toward the Fortress of Spinshot Coins. General Cherkad has been given charge of the campaign, and I’ve been pulled off sentry to assist near the Jeweled Systems.”
“The Hafn have been quiescent for decades,” Cheris said. “Wasn’t there an Andan cultural exchange just two years ago?”
“The fact that the Hafn got along with the Andan should have tipped us off. Everyone thinks of the Shuos as the sneaky snailfuckers, but the Andan are so damn affable and charming and fun to be around up to the point where they stab you in the kidneys.
“Anyway, General Cheris, you should have been informed ages ago. The fact that Kel Command chose to keep you in the dark says they’re afraid you’ll turn coat. Word is there’s a Shuos in one of the subcommand composites. I shouldn’t wonder if that’s fouling up their judgment.”
“Hexarch Mikodez,” Jedao said, very softly.
“What do you expect me to do with this information?” Cheris asked, swallowing a “sir.”
“Terrible, isn’t it? I’m not supposed to talk to you, and with your brevet you outrank me. If you ask my advice, I’d say take the Fortress of Scattered Needles as fast as you can. The calendrical fingerprints will affect us in the contested sector, and the Hafn will want the nexus for themselves. If we fail, General, blow the thing to atoms. Deny it to the Hafn. – Can I have a word with General Jedao? Is he in there somewhere?”
Of course. Marish couldn’t currently see Cheris’s shadow. The angle was wrong, and people outside her swarm didn’t know how anchoring worked. Changing the lights only took a moment. Marish’s eyes flickered as she took the ninefox shadow in.
“I speak for General Shuos Jedao,” Cheris said, “and he can hear you fine.”
“General Jedao,” Marish said.
“I’m listening,” Jedao said with frank interest. Cheris repeated the words.
“I’m a Kel, sir, but I have a brain to think with,” Marish said. “The hexarchate has gone curdled. They should have decided whether to trust you and the brevet from the start, all in or all out, none of this insipid indecisive shit.
“I’m sworn to Kel Command and I’m due to fight soon and very likely die. I imagine your brevet is constrained by formation instinct. But you, sir – you’re out of the cradle so it’s too late not to trust you, and formation instinct is before your time even if you weren’t a Shuos. All in or all out. You won’t scruple over what needs doing. Fix what has to be fixed in the hexarchate, sir. You’re the weapon we have left. Brigadier General Marish out.”
“I knew things were bad,” Jedao said after that, “but I hadn’t realized just how bad. Cheris, Kel Command and I have a” – wry pause – “complicated relationship. However, in times past they have recognized that I need a certain minimum of information to be able to operate on their behalf. Now it seems that they’re hanging us out to dry. I can’t help but think that Shuos oversight has to do with it, given how much my hexarch considers me a mismanaged resource.
“Still, something’s changed since they sent us forth. It’s as if they think we’re going to take the Fortress and use it against them, although I can’t imagine how they think I’m going to escape an entire swarm of Kel. This entire siege has turned into a loyalty test.”
“Then why not recall us?” Cheris said.
“Because we’re here. They’ve already written us off. If we get the job done, then great. Otherwise, they undoubtedly have some backup plan already in motion. I would give a lot to be eavesdropping on the hivemind right now.” His voice quieted. “I don’t think our exchange with General Marish is going to help us. Or her, for that matter.”
“She wouldn’t care,” Cheris said, thinking about Kel Marish’s reputation. “She thinks she’s going to her death.”
“That’s the trouble with the best suicide hawks,” Jedao said softly, “you burn out so quickly.”
Cheris was already out the door and heading for the command center. She was shaken by Marish’s directness, but she couldn’t unknow what she’d been told. All that remained was to make the best use of the information that she could, and try not to think about how Kel Command might punish Marish if she survived.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Fortress of Scattered Needles, Analysis
Priority: High
From:: Vahenz afrir dai Noum
To: Heptarch Liozh Zai
Calendrical Minutiae: Year of the Fatted Cow, Month of the Peahen, Day of the Onager, Hour of the Greenback Beetle. Dare I ask what agricultural role the beetle fulfills? Farming isn’t my strong suit and the grid’s article on the topic was stultifyingly boring.
I realize you’ve seen three other reports from me in as many hours, but make time for this one, my dear Zai. It’s about our favorite generaclass="underline" Stoghan.
I can see you raising your eyebrows already. Truly, Zai, you must learn to concentrate on the long view. The benefits that Stoghan’s connections bring you won’t last. The Hafn, on the other hand, have the clout to make your vision a reality.
Anyway, Stoghan. Don’t yell when you read this, you know it upsets your assistant, but I’ve been having Stoghan followed. I was curious as to whether his Andan-certified courtesan was a loyalist spy, but the man is clean.
My agent wasn’t able to follow all the way in due to Stoghan’s guards, but it appears Stoghan’s been keeping a prisoner to himself. The agent believes the prisoner is a Kel.
We agreed that there would be no private prisoners, playthings, whatever. Torture to cement the remembrance days is an unfortunate necessity of the calendar, but it’s overseen by a legitimate government. If regular citizens are desperate to try their hand at Vidona-style frolics, that’s what simulators are for. Analysis One was to oversee all captives. I don’t want a repeat of the interference that scratched out Kel Nerevor just when the technicians were starting to ease her out of fledge-null.
You have more bad news, I’m afraid. Gerenag Abrana has decided that Ching Dze is a threat to her. You’d think keeping her factories safe from Shuos saboteurs would give her enough to do. Ordinarily I would be entertained, but she’s been opening holes in security to allow the Shuos to hit Ching Dze’s calibration populations, and the Shuos have noticed.
Remember: Stoghan is expendable. You can find some other popular soldier to promote to his position. But you can’t afford to have Abrana and your chief propagandist feuding. It would be one thing if you were weakening both parties on purpose, but right now the priority is simply to hold the Fortress.
I see that Jedao’s been probing the extent of the corrosion gradient, which has been holding the Kel fast. I wish our setup took less time – you could always nag Abrana about production quotas – but soon we’ll be able to punish our opponent’s unusual passivity. At times I honestly think he believes the Shuos will win this for him, when the Shuos despise him.
I need to catch up on sleep, but I made my assistant promise to wake me up when the shooting begins. You think I’m bloodthirsty, but I do adore a good one-sided slaughter. It would be tempting to get involved in some of the fieldwork if I weren’t too important to risk.