Leviathan Wakes

Now if only Earth or Mars thought of the Belt as something more than an annoyance to be squashed after their true enemy was humiliated… But in truth, anti-Mars sentiment on Earth was higher now than it had been during the shooting war, and Martian elections were only four months away. A significant shift in the Martian polity could ease the tensions or make things immeasurably worse. Both sides had to see the big picture.

Fred stopped before a mirror, adjusted his tunic for the hundredth time, and grimaced.

“When did I turn into a damned marriage counselor?” he said.

“We aren’t still talking about General Sebastian, are we, sir?”

“No. Forget I said anything. What else do I need to know?”

“There’s a possibility that Blue Mars will try to disrupt your presentation. Hecklers and signs, not guns. Captain Shaddid has several Blues in custody, but some may have slipped past her.”

“All right.”

“You have interviews scheduled with two political narrowcasts and a news source based on Europa. The Europa interviewer is likely to ask about Anderson Station.”

“All right. Anything new from Venus?”

“Something’s happening down there,” his secretary said.

“It’s not dead, then.”

“Apparently not, sir.”

“Great,” he said bitterly.

Ladies and gentlemen, we stand at a crossroads. On one hand there is the very real threat of mutual annihilation, and on the other—

And on the other, there’s the bogeyman of Venus, getting ready to crawl up out of its well and slaughter you all in your sleep. I have the live sample, which is your best, if not only, hope of divining what its intentions and capabilities are, and which I have hidden so that you can’t just march over and take it from me. It’s the only reason any of you are listening to me in the first place. So how about a little respect here?

His secretary’s terminal chirped, and she consulted it briefly.

“It’s Captain Holden, sir.”

“Do I have to?”

“It would be best if he felt he was part of the effort, sir. He has a track record of amateur press releases.”

“Fine. Bring him in.”

The weeks that had passed since Eros Station had come apart in the thick skies of Venus had been good to Holden, but prolonged high-g dives like the one the Rocinante had sustained chasing Eros had long-lasting effects. The burst blood vessels in the man’s sclera had healed; the pressure bruising was gone from around his eyes and the back of his neck. Only a little hesitation in the way he walked spoke of the deep joint pain, cartilage still on its way back to its natural form. Acceleration swagger, they’d called it, back when Fred had been a different man.

“Hey,” Holden said. “You’re looking pretty. Did you see the latest feed from Venus? Two-kilometer-high crystal towers. What do you think that is?”

“Your fault?” Fred suggested, keeping the tone friendly. “You could have told Miller to drive it into the sun.”

“Yes, because two-kilometer-high crystal towers coming out of the sun wouldn’t be creepy at all,” Holden said. “Are those strawberries?”

“Have some,” Fred said. He hadn’t been able to eat anything since that morning.

“So,” Holden said around a mouthful of fruit, “are they really going to sue me over this?”

“Unilaterally giving away all mineral and development rights to an entire planet on an open radio channel?”

“Yeah,” Holden said.

“I would guess the people who actually owned those rights are probably going to sue you,” Fred said. “If they ever figure out who they are.”

“Could you give me a hand with that?” Holden asked.

“I’ll be a character witness,” Fred said. “I don’t actually make the law.”

“Then what exactly are you all doing here? Couldn’t there be some kind of amnesty? We retrieved the protomolecule, tracked down Julie Mao on Eros, broke Protogen, and saved Earth.”

“You saved Earth?”

“We helped,” Holden said, but his voice had a more somber tone. Miller’s death still bothered the captain. Fred knew how that felt. “It was a joint effort.”

Fred’s personal secretary cleared her throat and glanced toward the door. They’d need to go soon.

“I’ll do what I can,” Fred said. “I’ve got a lot of other things on the plate, but I’ll do what I can.”

“And Mars can’t have the Roci back,” Holden said. “Right of salvage says that’s my ship now.”

“They aren’t going to see it that way, but I will do what I can.”

“You keep saying that.”

“It keeps being all I can do.”

“And you’ll tell them about him, right?” Holden said. “Miller. He deserves the credit.”