A Deepness in the Sky

There was a rattle of indignation from around the table. General Smith answered in terms a good deal milder than the question merited. "Unfortunately, it's not a matter of prestige. The Southland Ultimatum requires us to weaken several of our military arms. In fact, I doubt that it would make the Southlanders any safer in their deepnesses—but it would increase our vulnerability to a Kindred first strike."

Chezny Neudep, Director of Rocket Offense: "Indeed. Now the Southlanders are simply Kindred puppets. Pedure and her bloodsuckers must be happy. No matter how this comes out, they win."

"Maybe not," said Minister Nizhnimor. "I know many of the top Southlanders; they are not evil, or insane, or incompetent. We have come down to a matter of trust here. The King is willing to go to Southmost for this next meeting of the Southlander Parliament, and stay there for the remainder of this session. It's hard to imagine a greater expression of trust on our part—and I think the Southlanders will accept it, no matter what Pedure may wish."

Of course, this is what Kings were for. Nevertheless, the Minister's offer was a shock; even "Old Megadeath" Neudep seemed taken aback. "Ma'am...I know it's the King's power to do such things, but I can't agree that this is a problem of trust. Certainly, there are honorable people in high positions in the South. A year ago, the Southland was nearly an ally. We had sympathizers at all levels of government. Colonel Thract told us that we had—to be blunt—spiesin positions of power there. If not for that, I don't think General Smith ever would have encouraged the technical growth of Southland....But in less than a year, it seems we have lost all our advantage there. What I see now is a state thoroughly infiltrated by the Kindred. Even if the majority of Parliament is honorable,it doesn't matter. " Neudep shot two arms in Thract's direction. "Your analysis, Colonel?"

Blame-assignment time. It had been part of each of the recent staff meetings, and each time Thract had been more the target.

Thract gave a little bow in Megadeath's direction. "Sir, your assessment is generally correct, though I see little infiltration of the Southland rocket forces, per se. We had a friendly government there—and one that I would swear was carefully ‘instrumented' with Accord agents. The Kindred were active, but we had them stymied. Then, step by step, we lost ground. At first, it was bungled surveillance, then fatal accidents, then assassinations we weren't quick enough to block. Lately there have been trumped-up criminal prosecutions....Our enemy is clever."

"So the Honored Pedure is a genius beyond our ken?" asked the Director of Air Defense. Sarcasm dripped.

Thract was silent for a moment. His eating hands twisted back and forth. At earlier meetings, this was where he would counterattack with statistics and fine new projects. Now—something seemed to break inside him. Belga Underville had counted Thract as a bureaucratic enemy ever since the chief's children were kidnapped, but now she felt embarrassed for him. When Thract finally spoke, his voice came out an anguished squeak. "No!Don't you know I...I've had friends die; I've lost others because I began mistrusting them. For a long time, I thought there must be a Kindred agent high in my own organization. I shared critical information with fewer and fewer people, not even with my own superior—" He nodded at General Smith. "In the end, there were secrets plucked from us that only I knew and which I communicated with my own crypto equipment."

There was silence, as the obvious consequence of these claims hardened in the minds of his audience. Thract's attention seemed to turn inward, as if he didn't care that others thought he might be the Father of All Traitors. He continued more quietly, "As far as one person can be a paranoid and be everywhere, so I have been. I have used different comm paths, different crypto. I have used differential frauds....And I tell you, our enemy is something more than any single ‘Honored Pedure.' Somehow, all of our clever science is working against us."

"Nonsense!" said Air Defense. "My department uses more of what you call ‘clever science' than anyone, and we are entirely satisfied with the results. In competent hands, computers and networks and satellite reconnaissance are incredibly powerful tools. Just look at what our deep analysis did with the unidentified radar sightings. Certainly, networks can be abused. But we are the world's leaders in these technologies. And no matter what else may be broken we have a completely robust encryption technology....Or do you claim the enemy can break our crypto?"