"Can I take a rain check?" Brian said. "I'm sort of rushed for time at the moment."
"Again with the time," Hayter-Ross said. "I can tell you're new at this being an artificial intelligence thing. Fine. We'll table it for later. Tell me why you're in a rush."
"Friends of mine are in danger," Brian said.
"Harry Creek and Robin Baker," Hayter-Ross said, as she reached for a cookie from the tea service. "And of course you are right. They are in danger. The Church is tapped into the Nidu computer system, as I'm sure you've guessed. The Nidu ambassador to Earth has informed his government that they're on the Neverland cruise ship. As soon as the Neverland enters Nidu space at Chagfun, the Neverland will be boarded by Nidu troops and Robin Baker will be taken and brought to the planet Nidu itself. After Robin Baker is used for me coronation ceremony, it's likely to be war between Nidu and Earth, or so everyone involved appears to believe." Hayter-Ross bit down on her cookie, precisely.
"Do you know differently?" Brian asked.
"I might," Hayter-Ross said.
"Tell me," Brian said. "I need to warn Harry."
"You can't warn Harry," Hayter-Ross said. "I've been examining you for a couple of days, Brian, and only now just zipped you back up. Right now the Neverland is about to jump from the planet Brjnn to Chagfun. You can't hail a ship in n-space. And when the Neverland arrives, its communications will likely be jammed by the Nidu. Church analysts believe that once the Nidu extract Robin Baker, they're almost certain to destroy the Neverland and claim it never arrived at all. And who could argue the point? Robin and Harry are traveling under different names, after all. Her presence at the coronation will prove nothing. She's not likely to survive long past the coronation anyway, of course." Hayter-Ross took another precise bite of her cookie.
"And what about Harry?" Brian said.
"If the Nidu haven't already killed him for trying to defend Miss Baker, I imagine he'll go down with the Neverland" Hayter-Ross said.
Brian pushed away from the table. "Let me out of here," he said.
Hayter-Ross looked up at him with a bemused smile. "Why would I do that?" she said.
"I have to do something," Brian said. "Anything."
"Do you know how you died, Brian?" Hayter-Ross said.
"What?" Brian said.
"Your death," Hayter-Ross said. "You know you died, I'm sure. I'm asking you if you know how it happened."
"Harry told me it was at the Battle of Pajmhi," Brian said. "So what? What does that have to do with anything?"
"It might have quite a lot to do with everything," Hayter-Ross said. "I told you that everyone seems to think Earth and Nidu are headed toward a war. A war that will be no good for Earth, obviously. But as I've said, I'm quite the observer of the human condition—and for the last several decades of the Nidu condition as well. I know things that no one else knows, and I can share them with you, but you're going to have to do something for me."
"I'm now even less in the mood for sex than I was before," Brian said.
Hayter-Ross laughed. "I've tabled the sex, Brian, really, I have," she said. "Honestly. I want to help you, Brian. And I want you to help your friends. But to do that I have to make sure you fully understand what I'm going to tell you and why. And to do that you and I are going to have to do a couple of things. The first of these is to show you how you died."
"Why do you want to help me?" Brian said.
"Because I like you, you silly boy," Hayter-Ross said. "And because I would no more have humanity squashed under Nidu rule than you would. I am human. Or was. And enough of me still is to want to pull our species' nuts from the fire."
"I don't trust you," Brian said.
"Nor should you," Hayter-Ross said. "I have a history of doing bad things to people I like. I liked Robbie Dwellin, you know. He was sweet, in a gormless con-artist sort of way. And look what I did to him. But I'm afraid if you want to help your friends you really have no other choice. This is a lovely garden, but it has no entrances and no exits that you can use. And I think you know by now you're no match for me, Brian. I have many, many years experience being an artificial intelligence. I could unzip you again at my leisure, and you have no assurance I'd put you back together again. So you either do things my way or you can have tea in this lovely garden all the way through to the heat death of the universe. Your choice."
"For someone who wants to help me, you sure are threatening," Brian said.
"Nice is nice," Hayter-Ross said. "But being a bitch gets results."
"You said that there's no way for me to reach Harry anyway," Brian said "If I'm not able to do that, I don't see what advantage playing your game has for me."
Andrea Hayter-Ross sighed. "If I promise you that the Nidu will not get the Neverland without a fight, will that be enough for now?"
"It might," Brian said.
"All right," Hayter-Ross said. "Then it will give you pleasure to know that the Church has dispatched a messenger to tell the UNE about the Nidu plans for the Neverland. Someone who knows your friends. Now will you please sit back down?"
Brian moved back toward the table. "Who is this messenger talking to at the UNE?"
"Someone who can get results," Hayter-Ross said.
"Who?" Brian said, sitting back down.
"Your brother, of course," said Hayter-Ross. "More tea?"
Ben Javna was at his desk when the lobby security detail rang through.
"Yeah," Javna said.
"Mr. Javna, we've got a gentleman here who says he needs to speak to you about a sheep."
"A sheep?" Javna said. "Who is he?"
"His ID says his name is Samuel Young," the guard said.
"Have someone bring him up to me," Javna said.
Two minutes later Samuel "Fixer" Young was standing in front of Javna.
"Let's cut the bullshit and get right to cases, if you don't mind," Javna said to Fixer, after the security guard had left. "Tell me where Harry Creek and Robin Baker are, right now."
"Fine," Fixer said. "Creek and Baker are on a cruise liner called the Neverland. Right now it's in n-space between Brjnn and Chagfun. They're safe for the moment."
"And you know this because," Javna said.
"Because I put them on the ship," Fixer said.
Javna felt himself relax. "That's good news," he said.
"It's not," Fixer said. "The Nidu know they're on the ship. When the Neverland arrives at Chagfun, the Nidu will likely board the ship, take Robin, and destroy the Neverland and kill everyone on board."
"How do you know this?" Javna said.
"I can't tell you," Fixer said. Which wasn't exactly true. He could tell, but the Church had offered him a substantial chunk of cash to keep its name out of it Fixer had had a rough few days, but if he lived through the next few he was going to be richer than hell.
"Can you prove what you're saying to me?" Javna said.
"No," Fixer said. "But it's true."
"Do you seriously expect me to believe you?" Javna said.
"You could double-check my story with the Nidu," Fixer said. "I'm sure they'll be happy to admit they're planning to torpedo a cruise liner filled with UNE civilians."
Three minutes later, Javna and Fixer were in Jim Heffer's office. Fixer repeated his message.
"Isn't this convenient," Heffer muttered, looking up at Javna. "And just a few hours before you and I are supposed to be on our way to Nidu for the coronation ceremony."
"It's no coincidence," Javna said. "They grab the girl and get her to Nidu before there's time to do anything about it. The coronation ceremony starts late, but it finishes nonetheless. And there's another wrinkle."
"I can't wait to hear what it is," Heffer said.
"Robin Baker's no longer a UNE citizen," Javna said. "We disenfranchised her to make her her own sovereign species and to keep the Nidu from having an excuse to break our treaties. But it also means that if they grab her and use her for the ceremony we have no legal way to protect her. We have no treaties with the woman."