Costa smiled. “Someone who sent Marines down to the surface of Europa and recovered them should not question the wisdom of keeping certain matters under wraps.”
“I supported conducting that operation openly and I do not believe it should be kept secret,” Geary said, wondering why Rione had not warned him of this beforehand. He stole a glance her way and saw Rione displaying an unusually open amount of surprise.
“I have a voting proxy from Senator Navarro—” Rione began.
“Which ceased to be in effect once we arrived back at Varandal,” Suva informed Rione.
Sakai looked straight ahead, his expression as hard and unrevealing as stone.
“Do you understand the Grand Council’s orders?” Costa demanded of Rione.
“I understand every word,” Rione assured her in a toneless voice.
“Then we are done here.” Costa headed for the shuttle, followed by Suva and Sakai.
As the shuttle ramp began closing, Geary nodded toward the craft. “I take it you were as surprised as we were?” he asked Rione.
She nodded but held up a cautionary hand. “We’re not supposed to talk about it.”
“Costa and Suva clearly supported that decision, but Sakai didn’t seem happy.”
She smiled enigmatically. “Sakai didn’t express any emotion at all. But I suspect that you are right. Without my proxy vote, it would have been two against one when Costa and Suva unexpectedly cooperated.”
“What can we do to stop this nonsense?” Charban demanded.
“Legally?” Rione asked in reply. “Nothing. Admiral, please excuse me. I have some personal business to attend to.”
“Personal business? I admit I was surprised that you didn’t go with them,” Geary said.
“There have been lots of surprises, haven’t there? I should be able to learn all there is to know about the status of my husband without leaving this fine ship, and I want to stay in communication with the Dancers.”
She was leaving something out. He knew she was. But Geary didn’t call her on it.
“Admiral—” Charban began once more.
“I will see what I can do,” Geary said.
Charban, still upset, left the shuttle dock in Rione’s wake.
Desjani waited until the shuttle had departed, then gave Geary a sidelong look. “That woman wasn’t angry.”
“Rione? No. She pretended to be surprised, but if she had really been blindsided by the news she wouldn’t have shown it. Rione knew the senators were going to drop that bomb just before they left. Sakai must have warned her.”
“I can read her attitudes enough to know what she’s going to do, Admiral. There will be records in the ship’s comm system if she does… anything. Those records could cause major problems.”
“I think I can guarantee there won’t be any records,” Geary said. “Not from this ship.”
“Not from—?” Desjani glanced toward the outside of the hull. “The courier ship?”
“I’d bet on it. If Sakai tipped her off, she had time to set something up. Either an automated routine she slipped past the safety nets on the courier ship’s comm system, or one of Rione’s agents aboard the courier ship who’ll do the same thing.”
Tanya laughed. “So, if there’s any leak, it will come from the ship the senators are on? Explaining that ought to keep them busy for a while. How in the hell do those idiots expect me to keep my crew from talking about anything that happened in Sol Star System?”
“Damned if I know,” Geary said. “Dr. Nasr was right. Classification has nothing to do with reality anymore. Some things have to be kept secret, but this? Billions of people in Sol Star System know what we did there, and have records of what we did there. None of this is secret or can be kept secret. But I imagine the government will continue to officially deny everything even after—I mean, even if—that information leaks. Somehow leaks, that is. By means I don’t know about.”
The next day, Geary was standing in sick bay, waiting for Dr. Nasr to release the quarantine on Lieutenants Yuon and Castries, when Desjani joined him. “You’ve got a call from Admiral Timbale, sir.”
Geary walked to the comm panel on the nearest wall and called up the message. Admiral Timbale, the fleet officer in charge of all the facilities at Varandal, had a long-suffering expression. “Admiral, I have been instructed by representatives of the Grand Council to pass on to you orders that two civilian-leased courier ships en route the hypernet gate, and two more en route jump points for other star systems, be intercepted and stopped by any means necessary. The courier ships are believed to be carrying information classified by the Alliance government. I was told to emphasize to you that these orders must be carried out. Timbale, out.”
Geary frowned at Desjani. “Why didn’t you call me from the bridge as soon as this came in?”
“Because I was just about to come down here, and”—she gestured in the general direction of Varandal’s hypernet gate—“it’s impossible to stop those courier ships with any Alliance warship. All of them are too close to the gate or the jump points they are heading for, and none of our warships are close enough. The only jump point being patrolled is the one to Atalia. If we had been told to stop those courier ships four hours ago it would have been possible, but not now.”
“All right.” He didn’t question Desjani’s assessment. Government orders might not take into account reality, but physics had never shown any tendencies to change the rules of the universe just because someone in a position of human authority was demanding it. “Do we know why we were ordered to stop those courier ships? Why the government thinks they are carrying classified information?”
Desjani’s look of feigned distress was almost laughable. “We’re starting to get news feeds which are full of details about events in Sol Star System while we were there. Apparently, the local news sources waited until we couldn’t stop the courier ships before they started broadcasting the reports.”
“Is there any indication of the source of the reports?” Geary asked.
“Not that we were told.”
He didn’t need any special displays or information to analyze the situation or attach to the message, so Geary tapped in the commands to transmit his reply from here in sick bay. “Admiral Timbale, this is Admiral Geary. Unfortunately, there is no possibility of intercepting any of the courier ships before they depart due to the positions and vectors of those couriers and all available warships. Please advise the representatives of the Grand Council that we regret the physical impossibility of carrying out their order and stand ready to assist in any other way they request. Geary, out.”
Dr. Nasr, painstakingly reviewing every piece of available data on the two lieutenants, had not even noticed the nearby conversation and message transmissions. Now, finished, he stood up and nodded tiredly as he spoke for the record. “I can find no indications of infection. Based on the information provided by Sol Star System authorities, any infection must have manifested one week prior to this. I therefore recommend that the two lieutenants be allowed to leave quarantine.”
Geary spoke with equal solemnity. “I concur in your recommendation and order that Lieutenants Castries and Yuon be removed from quarantine.”
Nasr touched the controls to speak to the two lieutenants. “In two minutes, the seal on the hatch confining you will open. You are to remove all clothing before leaving the compartment. Do not attempt to take any objects with you when you leave. You will be met by two personnel in isolation suits who will ensure you undergo full physical decontamination, after which you will be allowed your freedom of the ship once more. Do you understand?”