Part 17 (1/2)

”Yes,” Zoe said, staring up at Jane. ”I understand, Jane. Not a word.”

”Thank you, Zoe,” Jane said, and then bent down and kissed the top of Zoe's head. ”Go ahead,” she said, to me.

”Hickory, you remember when we had the conversation where I told the two of you that I wanted you to hand over your consciousness implants,” I said.

”Yes,” said Hickory.

”We talked about the Conclave then,” I said. ”And you said that you didn't believe the Conclave was a threat to this colony.”

”I said that we believed the threat to be negligible,” Hickory said.

”Why do you believe that?” I asked.

”The Conclave prefers that colonies are evacuated rather than destroyed,” Hickory said.

”How do you know this?” I said.

”From our own information on the Conclave, provided to us by our government,” Hickory said.

”Why didn't you share this information with us before?” I asked.

”We were told not to,” Hickory said.

”By whom?” I asked.

”By our government,” Hickory said.

”Why would they tell you not to share this?” I asked.

”We have a standing order from our government not to share information with you on matters about which you are not substantially informed,” Hickory said. ”It is a courtesy to your government, which requires security and confidence from our own government on numerous matters. We have not lied to you, d.i.c.kory and I, but we are not allowed to volunteer information, either. You will recall before we left Huckleberry that we had asked you what you knew of the status of this part of s.p.a.ce.”

”Yes,” I said.

”We were attempting to discover how much of our knowledge we were allowed to share with you,” Hickory said. ”We regret to say it did not appear you knew much. So we were not able to share much.”

”You're sharing it now,” I said.

”You're asking now,” Hickory said. ”And Zoe has told us not to lie.”

”You've seen our video of the Conclave destroying the Whaidi colony,” I said.

”Yes, when you shared it with all of your colonists,” Hickory said.

”Did it match your own video?” I asked ”No,” Hickory said. ”Ours was much longer.”

”Why would our version be so much shorter?” I asked.

”We cannot speculate why your government does the things it does,” Hickory said.

I paused at this; the construction of the sentence left a lot of room for interpretation.

Jane jumped in. ”You said the Conclave prefers to evacuate colonies rather than destroy them. Are you saying this because of the video or do you have other information?”

”We have other information,” Hickory said. ”The video shows only the first attempt by the Conclave to remove a colony.”

”How many others have there been?” Jane asked.

”We do not know,” Hickory said. ”We have been out of communication with our government for the better part of a Roanoke year. However, when we left, the Conclave had removed seventeen colonies.”

”How many of those were destroyed?” Jane asked.

”Three,” Hickory said. ”The rest were evacuated. In ten cases the colonists repatriated with their races. Four chose to join the Conclave.”

”You have evidence of this,” I said.

”The Conclave extensively doc.u.ments each colony removal and shares it with every nonmember government,” Hickory said. ”We have information on all the removals up to our arrival here on Roanoke.”

”Why?” Jane asked. ”What relevance does this information have to the two of you?”

”Our government was well aware this colony was being founded despite the warnings of the Conclave,” Hickory said. ”And while we did not know for certain, we expected that the Colonial Union would attempt to hide this colony from the Conclave. When the Conclave found your colony, we were to show you this information.”

”For what purpose?” Jane asked.

”To convince you to surrender the colony,” Hickory said. ”We could not allow it to be destroyed.”

”Because of Zoe,” I said.

”Yes,” Hickory said.

”Wow,” Zoe said.

”Quiet, sweetheart,” I said. Zoe lapsed back into silence. I studied Hickory carefully. ”What would happen if Jane and I chose not to surrender the colony?” I asked. ”What if she and I decided the colony should be destroyed instead?”

”We would prefer not to say,” Hickory said.

”Don't evade,” I said. ”Answer the question.”

”We would kill you and Lieutenant Sagan,” Hickory said. ”You and any other colonist leader who would authorize the destruction of the colony.”

”You would kill us?” I said.

”It would be difficult for us,” Hickory allowed. ”We would have to do it without our consciousness implants active, and I believe neither d.i.c.kory nor I would choose to activate them again. The emotions would be unbearable. Also, we are aware Lieutenant Sagan has been genetically altered back to Special Forces operational parameters. This would make killing her more difficult.”

”How do you know that?” Jane said, surprised.

”We observe,” Hickory said. ”We know you try to hide it, Lieutenant. Small things reveal you. You chop vegetables far too quickly.”

”What are they talking about?” Zoe asked Jane.

”Later, Zoe,” Jane said, and turned her attention back to Hickory. ”What about now?” Jane asked. ”Would you still kill me and John?”