“Let me inform you officially, sir, that the Reunioners are going to be removed from the station and resettled as soon as possible. But that is a future we cannot visit until we have dealt with this crisis.”
That caught Tillington’s attention. “Removed.”
“Removed, sir.”
Sharp attention. “Is that what these visitors want?”
“I don’t think so. Out there, they had the Reunioners at any time they wanted them. I doubt they want them, or you, in any sense.”
“So what do they want?”
“Likely to find out what we are, what we wanted in building in an area they consider their territory, and whether we’re a threat.”
“So then they attack us.”
“If they do, frankly, sir, we’ll be in a lot of trouble, because we have no weapons.”
That brought a shocked look.
“We don’t,” Bren said. “They do. So I suggest diplomacy as a solution. Cooperation.”
“Tell that to Braddock!”
“Stationmaster Tillington, I want to do something about Braddock. I can’t do it while the Reunioners are in a state of distrust and panic.”
“It’s their fault, dammit!”
“I’m not debating you on the matter, Mr. Tillington. And fault is nowhere in my list of considerations. I need one thing from the Mospheiran establishment. Quiet. I agree that the aishidi’tat and Mospheirans have a treaty. I agree that, excepting the ship, which is its own authority, this station and any station must be equally divided between Mospheiran occupants and atevi. I agree that the Reunioner presence puts that out of balance. I agree that station occupants should pass screening. We are in complete agreement on these issues. The aishidi’tat is unwilling to tolerate the population imbalance. The aiji will also be arguing to a resolution, a rapid one. But we cannot solve it now, and we are not helped by measures that put the Reunioners in fear and discomfort.”
“You don’t touch those doors!”
“I agree. I would not have ordered the closure, but now that the doors are shut, this is not the time to try to resolve the problem.”
“I saved the station from riot. And I’ll tell you this, Mr. Cameron: if this ship wants the Reunioners handed over I’m not willing for Mospheirans to die to protect them.”
“I doubt the kyo can tell the difference between humans at this point, and I greatly doubt they’d care. We will deal with the Reunioner issue when we get through this. In the interim, I want your agreement, sir. I’d like access to Reunioner records, and I’d like an assurance of adequate supply over there.”
“You’re worried about their supply. We’ve had shortages the last whole year, Mr. Cameron.”
“I’m aware of that. I’d like to see the records.”
“You’d like. You’d like me to give you what you damned well know you’ve no authority to deal with. I’m not letting you meddle with the Reunioners.”
“I’d like to preserve Mospheiran authority on this station, and not agitate the situation beyond easy remedy.”
“Agitate the situation? Mr. Cameron, you agitated the situation when you picked those three kids to go down to be the aiji’s guests! Now they’re Reunioner royalty! They’re a cause! Keep the politics quiet? Not give Braddock a platform? We’ve got politics run amok over there, because they know those kids have atevi backing!”
“You have my interest in that matter, sir. Is that Mr. Braddock’s claim?”
“Of course it is! The kids. The damned kids get to go down to the planet, the kids get themselves a landing spot, and they get the aiji’s backing. What do we conclude about that?”
If there was a way to construe anything Reunioner as a threat, Tillington seemed determined to find it.
“I’d like to hear your theory, Mr. Tillington. What on earth would Tabini-aiji do with five thousand Reunioners? Understand, I have to get special permission for my brother to visit the coast.”
“The kids get in with the aiji’s son, the kids get a wedge into the atevi court, and the Reunioners get the aiji’s backing.”
“Which would do exactly what, Mr. Tillington?”
Tillington gave him a surly stare. “I think you can figure it. Five thousand technically adept humans spilling every technological step the aiji wants.”
Well, that was an interesting jump of logic.
“It’s very unlikely he would want that. Mospheira has the Archive. It’s always had the Archive. The knowledge has always been down there. We just had a coup on the mainland because the technology necessary to get shuttles up here destabilized the atevi economy, and put pressure on old regional grievances. The last thing on earth Tabini-aiji would want is a flood of humans violating the social rules, which, believe me, are what makes civilization civil down there. And it’s damned certain the aiji would not take Mr. Braddock for an advisor. Please appreciate that atevi don’t want any such intrusion. Atevi don’t want the whole continent to look like the station corridors. Modernity on the human pattern is not what they want. It’s not what they ever want.”
“Geigi does well enough having his little kingdom up here.”
“Geigi does his job up here out of loyalty. He had rather have his fruit orchards and his antiques. He had rather go sailing. No, sir, your scenario does not apply. Tabini-aiji has no desire to let these children establish residency.”
“Tell that to Braddock. He’s raised expectations. Mightily.”
“I wish he had not. Which is not to the point, Mr. Tillington. What is to the point—is that we cannot shape the encounter with the kyo around Mr. Braddock or the Reunioner issue, which I am relatively sure plays no part in what the kyo want here. What we need most is your cooperation.”
“Fine. Then get your people out of my office.”
The man had one theme.
“I still am asking, Mr. Tillington, to be assured we don’t have a crisis developing while we’re occupied with the kyo. I want to know that supplies are flowing, that we have communication within the Reunioner . . .”
“No.”
“A little cooperation, Mr. Tillington. Where is Mr. Braddock?”
“Somewhere in 23.”
“Where are the children?”
“Hell if I know. In 24. Mostly.”
“Mostly.”
“The girl’s in 23.”
“I take it the doors between 23 and 24 are still open. Or aren’t they?”
“Why are we talking about three kids, when we’ve got a ship bearing down on us?”
“Because you brought up the kids, sir, and in your general lack of information, I’m wondering if you have any idea what’s going on in the sections you walled off with fifteen minutes’ warning. I’m wondering what your communication with the Reunioners is like, and how often you undertake to inform them what’s going on.”
“They get regular news, along with everybody else.”
“Do they get it now?”
A shrug. “I suppose they do.”
He swept a gesture back toward the outer room. “All those buttons. Sir. I trust you know what they do.”
“I trust you don’t.”
“We are not coming to a good conclusion, Mr. Tillington.”