“To what do I owe the pleasure, Ambassador Stukov?”
“You owe it to the twenty-one dead Federation citizens in the New Hope North Wards.”
“A terrible shame. And an awfully pointed thing to say, Ambassador. Are you implying I have failed the Federation in some way?”
“I mean to do more than imply. You are responsible for the Neptune. The evidence will bear it out.”
Executive Director Kent Raleigh folded his hands neatly over his end of the table. The blue sapphire set into the ring of the Fellowship of Navigators flashed from his left little finger. The movement was the tell. Not the new resting position, merely the movement.
Stukov did not need the tell, though his eyes collected and cataloged it all the same.
“Are you telling me,” Director Raleigh said, “that your vaunted signals intelligence corps has identified those soldiers as company men? You well know how preposterous that is, Ambassador. But perhaps you’re losing your touch. Do you really believe Salemo was behind the bombing, too?”
An invitation to divulge information. Stukov was in a giving mood.
“No. That was a fiction and you know that. The Dominion furnished the materiel and operational planning; Salemo supplied the patsy. We played that card face-down, the correct strategy. It seems that it has had the advantageous side effect of impeding our other adversary’s plans.”
“I’m sure I do not follow.” Kent was going to make him spell it all out. Just as well. That is what the meeting was for, anyway. Play some cards face-down; play others face-up. Some opponents should be forced to contend with uncertainty; others should be provoked and constrained by certainties.
“You are the adversary in question, sir. You mean to incite a reopening of hostilities with the Dominion. The Dominion is happy to tweak our noses and kill our men, but with Johan Hect you saw an opportunity for their adventurism to spiral out of their control. You leaked material information about the armory to Hect and ensured he would develop a connection with the knights. The knights thought they could arm, train, and create a proxy, but you knew that Hect would blunder them into an open war given half the chance.”
“I deny these allegations, Ambassador,” the executive director replied, smiling. “Besides. Open war is coming whether we like it or not. Our intelligence indicates mobilization on Bosporus. An alignment of major political actors and an amassing of resources.”
“As does ours, Director.”
“Then what’s the fuss?”
“Twenty-one dead Federation citizens in the New Hope North Wards.”
“I can hear you perfectly well, Ambassador. I’m sorry the business of war is upsetting to your delicate constitution.”
“Director, I fear that is a projection. Or perhaps simply a mistake. So I shall make very clear where we stand. My people, with whom I share an oath of adamant loyalty, are charged with bringing justice to our enemies and to those who would aid them. We and our allies are already uncovering evidence of treason against the citizens of the Federation. We will pursue these matters fully to their ends, and, the Federation Code of Justice willing, we will have the perpetrators apprehended and, each and every one of them, shot dead.”
Stukov punctuated each of the last two words with the thump of an index finger on the glossy surface of the table. Raleigh, his hands still clasped, allowed his gaze to follow the motion with distaste.
“A pretty speech. Is there any substance to the words, I wonder?”
“You shall find out.”