Things Fall Apart: Chapter 46

Newer York, Ellis Ring, Embassy of the Tau Ceti Treaty Organization, 5 Tammuz 2541, late afternoon

The briefing went even more poorly than Singer had feared.

At first it hadn't been so bad. The parlor was as comfortable as the name made it sound, with well-upholstered furniture and enough space for everyone to sit and feel uncrowded. The seating was arranged around a low table, and all of it facing a window that looked onto a courtyard at the center of the building. The galleries around that inner space were all hung with plants. Newer York, it seemed, really liked its greenery. It made Singer wonder how the arboretum on Zephyr was coming along.

The ambassador's aide, Rachel, was also present, apparently taking old-fashioned, hand-written notes on a tablet. Singer fully expected there was a recorder involved somewhere, as well, but didn't ask. Refreshments were set out in easy reach for everybody, and Singer made a point of filling her glass with water before she began her recitation.

Ambassador Ellison confessed she had mustered out of the Fleet as Lieutenant Commander Ellison, having served as a communications officer just like Singer, and having had Maupassant as a classmate. As a result, during the telling out of Bellerophon's wounding and limping back; the discovery of Almaty's disaster beacon and single surviving lifepod; the later encounter with The Grand Despot of Mauritania that brought Espinoza into the picture...all that the Ambassador absorbed with somber approval, and seemed downright eager to hear the tale. She clearly approved of how Singer and her crew had stepped up to meet the challenge. It was tragic, but there was a heroism to it, even told out as factually as Singer was trying to do.

As soon as Singer's story reached Gliese-581, however, the Ambassador had begun to come unraveled before her eyes.

It's possible a non-empath would not have seen it—Singer would have to ask the others for their opinion later, perhaps. Long years of practice at a poker face were clearly paying off now, as Ellison continued to give Singer undivided attention. Occasionally, Singer got a break from her narrative when the ambassador asked a question better answered by Cadotte or Espinoza, each of whom had different perspectives and experiences during the relief operation.

The news that every artificial habitat in Gliese-581, and every ship, Fleet or civilian, were wiped out, though, had left the Ambassador hollow inside. Singer found herself actually grateful she was the main narrator of the story, now. It gave her something else to focus on besides watching a person collapse in on herself.

When Singer finally reached an end, with a summary of the interrogation of Lucas before Zephyr's last leg to David's Star, she felt like she'd just read an entire novel, non-stop, out loud; or at least...what was that single-scroll text that got read periodically in synagogues? A megilah. She'd just read a whole megilah.

Worse, she was increasingly certain she would have to do so again. She had been hoping that the ambassador, once briefed, would in turn take point in the briefing of David's Star's leaders. Seeing the Ambassador now, Singer wondered if the other woman would be capable of doing so.

The ambassador was dead silent for a long stretch. Singer took the opportunity to fill her glass again, this time from a pitcher of amber liquid that had been described as apple juice. Singer had never eaten an apple or drunk apple juice before, and it might have been wiser to choose something she knew, or just more water. But right now, she felt like the distraction of a new sensation might be welcome.

Fortunately, she found it cool, refreshing, and delicious, if a bit sweet for her usual tastes.

Nearly four hundred seconds passed. Singer had begun to fear that Ellison had actually gone catatonic when the older woman shook herself and emerged, saying, "Commander, I would like to thank you for that extremely thorough, well-spoken presentation on your experiences since the beginning of this crisis. I particularly admire the amount of time you spent dwelling on the skill and accomplishments of your crew, and the others involved at G-581; I've known any number of command officers who would have tried to make it all about them.

"So, I would like to thank you, but I can't. You've just confirmed my worst nightmares. You've described the obliteration of our entire alliance. Dozens of civilizations; tens of millions of people." Her voice was escalating as she continued. "Two thirds of our member systems were like Gliese-581—almost entirely Spacers. Most of our member dirtworlds are unterraformed. All of them depend on these AIs. Every! Single! Fucking! One of them! And you've just told me that they've nearly all gone berserk and destroyed...everything!"

Ellison was standing now, as if her outrage literally could not be taken sitting down. She looked like she was on the verge of starting to throw the glass in her hand just for the release of breaking something.

Instead, she fell back into her seat, setting the glass back down as carefully as she could, and put her face into her hands, sobbing.

Singer looked over at Rachel, who seemed just as stunned. Idly, Singer realized she'd seen Rachel put her tablet and stylus down about midway through the narrative. What she had not seen, since her attention had been more on Ellison, was that Rachel had been weeping, and her eyes looked like it might have been the whole time since she'd put her tablet down.

Singer felt somebody ought to say something, so she began, "Ambassador—"

Ellison dropped her hands and shouted, "Don't call me that! I'm not a damned ambassador of anything, any more. For that matter, you're not a commander! Your commissions, all of your commissions", at this, she gestured at the others, "are meaningless."

Singer felt a little unclean as she said, "We don't know that, not for certain."

"Oh, no! Because you came here first instead of Tau Ceti. The fuck was Kel thinking?! No, don't tell me. She was thinking about the diplomatic angle, of course. Or that maybe, if David's Star was unaffected, they could send help. Hah! Do you know how many hyper-capable ships the Great and Ancient David's Star Republic floats?"

Singer shook her head, but Espinoza had an answer, an quietly said, "Six."

"Correct!" the ambassador said. "Give the space-mogul a prize! Six. And none of them—none of them—are here, or anywhere they can be contacted. Four are out scouting beyond the boundaries of existing networks, and two are colony ships anyway, with no plans to ever return!"

Singer was a bit stunned at this news. Of course, she could have looked it up herself. She was certain it wasn't a secret. She'd never thought to do so. It never occurred to her. As Ellison had alluded, the reputation of this place was that it was a Power. Surely, that degree of influence meant mobility, influence, a fleet. Wasn't one of its leaders titled, "admiral"?

The ambassador had subsided again, the wind gone out of her, at least for the moment. More quietly, she said, "The worst part is, I meant it. I never want to leave this place. They're arrogant and insular and that slap I gave the Admiral was not just for you but for years of frustrations with the man. But I never want to leave. And now, I never will."

She took a deep breath, and met Singer's eyes. "Elyah...when we go to the briefing tomorrow, or more likely three days from now—we're going to need to wait for a delegation to come up from Revi'i, and the day after tomorrow is Shabbat, and no business will get done unless the station is actually on fire—when we go, I'll go with you. I might, if I can, even do some of the talking. Not because I'm your ambassador, but entirely for moral support, which you absolutely deserve from me.

"But when we're done, I'm walking out of here, and going out to the immigration level, and getting into a queue like a just arrived newbie, and applying for entry as a private citizen. When you go to Tau Ceti, you'll be carrying my resignation if there's anyone there to read it; and if there isn't, then it's redundant anyway."

She stood again, somewhat in control of herself. It was a formal kind of rising that signaled the end of the process, so Singer, and her people, stood as well, as did Rachel. Ellison said, "We have dinner arranged for you in an hour. I may join you, but honestly, I suspect what I'm going to do is go back to my quarters and drink myself stupid, and none of you need to be a party to that. I hope you can forgive me. Rachel, or one of the other members of the staff, will see to your needs.

"I imagine we'll know by morning whether the briefing will be tomorrow or First Day. Either way, I will see you at breakfast, at 0900 local time."

With that, she seemed to run out of words, and simply left the room.

For a moment, nobody knew what to do next. Then, by unspoken agreement, they all just sat back down. Rachel looked at Singer and asked, "Commander, is it...will it be all right if I also leave you for a bit, and come get you all at dinner time? The ambassador has clearly left you in my care, but..."

"But you also need a moment or three alone?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Singer understood entirely. "Please take them. We will either be here, or in our suite."

The other woman managed a wan but grateful smile, "Thank you, ma'am. If you need anything, there's a call button for me on the comm panel just there." She pointed at a panel on one wall.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Thank you, Rachel."

"Ma'am," Rachel said again, and left.

They all just sat for a moment. Finally, curious, Singer stood, and went over to the window to get a better look at the courtyard. The glass, or trans-steel, more likely, was sound-proof. She saw now, though, that there was also a door that would let out onto a balcony, the sibling of the galleries she saw all around the courtyard. On impulse she opened it, and stepped "outside".

Peering down from the gallery railing, she saw a lush garden, with a riot of colors. One corner was clearly set aside for play-space, and she saw and heard children, the first children she'd seen in megaseconds, playing below.

A moment later, she was joined by Espinoza and Cadotte, perhaps drawn by the sounds. The three of them just stood together companionably, breathing in the smell of growing things and generally reveling in the reminders of life.

Finally, Espinoza said, "Commander, would it bother you if I also absconded. As the Governor reminded me, I really should touch base with my mishpachah."

Singer considered a moment. She had a sudden irrational concern that he might take this opportunity, like the ambassador, to resign on her. She made a joke of it, saying, "Promise to come back in time for breakfast?"

He smiled sidelong at her, not fooled at all. "Of course, ma'am!"

"Dismissed, then. I hope I'm not overstepping when I say I hope to meet them before we leave."

The smile he returned this time was more genuine, "I'll arrange that, ma'am! See you in the morning." He turned to Cadotte, and said, "Lieutenant," and took his leave.

Another moment or two passed, and Cadotte said, "That was awful."

Singer nodded "It was, Wayra. Thoroughly. Made worse by my hunch that Ellison is also an empath; which means, despite both our efforts, we were feeding back on each other."

Cadotte blinked, whether at the use of their personal name or at the news that there had been two empaths in the room, and finally just said, "Oof."

"Yup."

"Tomorrow's not going to be much better, is it?" Cadotte asked.

Singer allowed a moment to pass, listening again to the children playing and enjoying a breeze that had to be artificially created, but felt perfectly natural as it brushed past them. "Nope. Probably worse."

Cadotte apparently took the earlier use of their name as license, and said, "I picked the wrong lifetime to not drink much, I think."

"Right there with you."

There was a padded bench along the wall behind them on the balcony, and, again without discussing it, they both sat. They spent the next little while just looking out at the green and listening to the sounds of the courtyard and the station, until Rachel reappeared to show them to dinner.