Part 29 (1/2)
”We didn't have to do that,” Holden said.
”Yes we did,” Fred said. ”After a loss, the most important thing for a leader to do is be seen. And be seen walking under their own d.a.m.ned power. Sets the narrative.”
”Still.”
”It's something I can still do,” Fred said. ”I'm sure as h.e.l.l going to do it.”
Fred's old office was still being repaired. Until its walls and floor didn't open on vacuum, Drummer had set up a s.p.a.ce for him near the overfull brig. It was a smaller s.p.a.ce, less comfortable and less imposing. Holden couldn't be in it without feeling like Fred had given himself a demotion. Or had accepted without complaint the one the universe had handed to him.
Fred settled in behind his desk and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. ”The truth is that almost everything we do here won't even be a footnote in the history books.”
”You don't know that. You're just feeling discouraged,” Holden said, but Fred was already pulling up his work on the desk monitor.
”I had two messages last night. Well, more than that, but two that were interesting. The first was from Earth. Avasarala was on Luna when it happened, and she's putting together a response.”
”A response?”
”A diplomatic conference. The Martian prime minister was already en route. She wants me to be there too. To 'represent the slightly less bats.h.i.+t wing of the OPA.' If humanity really rests on that woman's diplomatic skills... well, that'll be interesting.”
”What's the worst that could happen? War?”
Fred coughed out a grim laugh. ”I've already talked with Drummer. She's ready to take over operation of Tycho in my absence.”
”You're going to go, then?”
”I don't know if I'll go there, but I won't stay here. There's something else I wanted you to see.”
Fred opened a message, and gestured Holden toward it. A pale-skinned man with close-cut white hair and the wrinkles of early age competing with acne scars of long-past youth. The date stamp at the lower left corner said it had been sent from Pallas Station.
”Anderson Dawes,” Fred said. ”You've heard of him?”
”Big mover and shaker in the OPA, isn't he?”
”The man who reached out to me, back in the day. Made me into the inward-facing figurehead of the Belt. Instrumental in the transition of Ceres to OPA oversight. The last few years, he's been negotiating for the OPA to have a stake in Ganymede equal to Earth and Mars.”
”All right,” Holden said.
Fred started the recording, and the man came to life. His voice was gravelly and low, like he'd been punched in the throat too many times. ”Fred. I know this has got to be a hard time for you. For what it's worth, it's pretty shocking to all of us. But so it goes. History's made of surprises that seem obvious in retrospect. I want you to know, I didn't sanction any of this. But I know the men who did, and say what you will about their methods, they're true patriots.”
”What the f.u.c.k is this?” Holden said.
”Wait for it,” Fred said.
”I'm reaching out to you now to make peace within the organization. I know as well as you do how much you've sacrificed and how hard you've worked for the OPA over the years. It's not forgotten. But we're in a new age now, and it carries its own logic. I know you're enough of a man to recognize the difference between justice and the things that have to happen. I'll get you back in the fold. I swear to that. But I'm going to need a token. Something I can take to the new powers to show that you're a reasonable man. That you can negotiate. You've taken a prisoner. Not one of the people who partic.i.p.ated in the insurrection. Even they know asking that so soon is a bridge too far. But a prisoner of yours nonetheless. His name's William Sakai. As a gesture of good faith, I'm asking that you turn him over to me at Pallas Station, in return for which I will guarantee you a seat at the table when -”
Fred stopped the recording, Anderson Dawes caught with his eyes and mouth half-open.
”You have got to be kidding me,” Holden said.
”No one's laughing.”
Holden sat down on the edge of the desk, staring at the frozen man, his chest a welter of conflicting emotions: anger, surprise, outrage, amus.e.m.e.nt, despair. ”You could tell him we already threw him out an airlock.”
”Would that be before or after we threw him out an airlock?”
”Either way works for me.”
Fred smiled and shut down the display. ”You say that, but you wouldn't do it. Even angry, you're too decent a man. And it turns out I am too.”
”Really?”
”I got soft when I got old. Everything seems... delicate to me now. We're still under lockdown, and I have to open that up. Have to get some semblance of normalcy. That's not the point, though. I have invitations to two tables. The inner planets are in retreat. They're regrouping. The radicals within the OPA are becoming the new leaders.h.i.+p.”
”But they're crazy ma.s.s murderers.”
”Yes,” Fred said. ”And we don't know who they are. Dawes does. I don't.”
”Wait a minute,” Holden said. ”Hold on. Are you about to propose that you trade Sakai to this Dawes guy so that you can feed the names of whoever's behind dropping rocks on Earth to Avasarala? How many times are you looking to change sides in one career?”
”I never changed sides,” Fred said. ”The sides keep changing around me. I was always the one who wanted order. Peace. Justice, even. What happened at Anderson Station opened my eyes to things I hadn't seen. Or had chosen not to see. Now this...”
”It's done the same thing again.”
”I don't know what it's done. That's what I'm trying to decide. There have always been radicals within the OPA. The Voltaire Collective. Marco Inaros. Ca.s.sandra Lec. But they were on the margins, where we thought we could control them. Keep them in line, or if not always that, use their excesses to make the mainstream places like Ceres and Tycho seem the least of the available evils. Now, they're in charge. I don't know if the best thing is to declare against them or stand beside them and try to control the fall.” He shook his head.
”Your friend Dawes seems to be in bed with them already.”
”His loyalty's to the Belt. When the best thing was to find a way to be respected as an equal by the inner planets, that was what he aimed for. My loyalty is to... everyone. There was a long time that meant speaking for the people who had the least voice. Then the protomolecule came and changed the game, and now, if riding beside the radicals gives me the most influence... As long as my people hold Medina, no one can ignore me. I can throw in on whichever side I think it will do the most good to be on, in the long-term.”
”That sounds like post hoc realpolitik rationalizing bulls.h.i.+t,” Holden said. And then a moment later, ”Sir.”
”It is,” Fred said. ”But it's what I've got to work with. If I commission the Rocinante to take me to Luna and the meeting with Avasarala, will you accept the job?”
”If we finish checking all of Sakai's work and you bring your own crew, sure. Or, better, we go pick up mine from wherever they've gotten to.”
”And if I hire you to take me and the prisoner to Pallas?”
”Then you can go f.u.c.k yourself.”
Fred chuckled and stood up, checking his sidearm. ”I do always enjoy our little chats, Captain. Take the day off. I'll get back to you when I've made a decision. Either way.”
”Where are you going now?”
”To talk with Sakai,” Fred said. ”See if there's anything about this I can glean from him. The prospect of not getting thrown out one of my airlocks might make him more willing to talk with me.” He looked at Holden, and his expression s.h.i.+fted to a strange place at the friction point between pitying and pleading. ”I try to do the right thing, Holden. But there are times when it's not obvious what that is.”
”I agree with you,” Holden said. ”Right up to the part where you tell me this is one of those times.”