Free Earth Song: Etude to War by Mark Wandrey

with hser unblinking eyes.
    “Then what is your decision, Minu Groves?”

 
     
    Chapter 6
     
    Data was shared through the trillions of cubic light-years of the Concordia via many different means. Some moved in message packets carried by living couriers. This data was most often secure and of a military or industrial nature. Some moved from Portal to Portal through laser and beam pulse communicators. And a vast amount was transmitted using an ancient network of quantum burst transmitters.
    These transmitters used quark echo imaging to send signals that could be simultaneously received at any conceivable distance. And tied into the all-present Concordian data network, few were even aware they existed or questioned how information from worlds ten thousand light-years away was instantly available to them as it was generated.
    An automated scout ship, one of hundreds that plied the galaxy on an unending circuit of exploration and verification, discovered something it had been told to be on the lookout for more than a million years ago. The robotic scout ships carried protocols for thousands of things to watch for, but this one thing was important both in its assigned priority, and that it was the last real time order given to the ships.
    The data was forwarded through the quantum communication network, instantly appearing in billions of computer networks throughout the galaxy and available should anyone choose to look for it. As luck would have it, someone was looking for just this data.
    An Ancient intelligence stirred to higher alertness as the information arrived. Old beyond imagining, they slept for centuries at a time, always awake on some levels, watching how civilization moved and changed. They responded to these changes in the way a sleeper rolls over or adjusts the covers, in an automatic and non-conscious fashion.
    They were watchers, manipulators, the silent chessmasters. Six years ago (an imperceptible blink to them), a ship had been spotted, and the watchers took notice. Active observation was increased by a fraction. The spotting could be erroneous, a fluke. This time when it was spotted, they were prepared to respond. Contact was initiated with a new asset. For a plan to be put into motion, more information was required.
     
     
    Julast 17th, 533 AE
    Chosen Headquarters, Steven's Pass, Bellatrix
     
    “You have no ability to control your own actions!” Jacob raged at her. “You go to Herdhome just to find out more about who might have starships, and you come back saying we can be released from the Tog if you just say so? Who do you think you are?”
    “Someone who is trying to look out for our people’s interest.”
    “That is not your decision to make.”
    “Why do you think I'm here now?”
    “I don't know, to brag? I'm surprised you didn't make the phenomenally stupid decision to separate from the Tog by yourself.”
    “I'm not so sure it would be a stupid decision.” All seven sitting members of the Chosen council (plus Minu and Jacob) were gathered in emergency session, something that had last happened at the beginning of the Rasa vendetta more than thirteen years ago. Now all eyes turned to the speaker, Bjorn Ganose, who despite wearing a civilian suit also wore two silver stars on his cuffs. These days he split his time between a civilian scientific research institute and teaching at the University of Tranquility and seldom attended the council meetings, especially since being replaced as head of the science branch.
    “We're not interested in your opinions,” Jacob snapped.
    “You aren't the one to make that decision,” Dram reminded him, “and you know that.”
    “Know your place, Aluvala!” Dram's bright eyes flashed dangerously. Luckily for Jacob, someone else stepped in.
    “We are all here to be heard, First.” Of all people, it was Jasmine Osgood who spoke this time. If Minu had to make a list of those least likely to come to her aid, the black-haired Peninsula woman would be near