„Welcome back everyone.“, said Amara Vance, president of Erulas not just according to the little banner across her portrait in the holographic video conference.
The leaders of Dephyr and Dangorod were there as well, each of the three heads of state with two or three staffers or ministers. And then there was the newcomer, alone.
„As you can see“, Amara continued, „I have invited Nicodemus Hallows to this conference. He is the governor of Binary Bloom, which has become a focal point for our current predicaments. As I understand, he also has some new and important information for us all.“
The expressions on their faces were hard to read. There was hints of skepticism, a tiny bit of rejection or disapproval, a fast readjustment to a changed situation.
„Welcome, Mr. Hallows.“, the head diplomat of Dephyr said, „Just for the record, none of this means that we officially recognize Binary Bloom in any way.“
Nico was a less seasoned international diplomat and not as experienced in hiding his emotions. He also had no reason to do so and thus made no effort of that kind. He rolled his eyes.
„Not seeking recognition or anything, thank you. I’m here because we have a common enemy, who has attacked us out here and as I found out recently has been spying on all of us for a long time.“
„We have a lot of ground to cover, gentlemen.“, Amara intervened, „And the first is exactly that. As I’ve let you know by text, we - and by that I mean our three governments working together - have dismantled the traitors’ organization. That is why I believe we can talk to each other face to face again.“
She proceeded to give everyone a summary of the nightly raid and arrest of Fyfe Sirling. She also repeated in her own words what he had told her. For good measure, she also repeated the earlier words of the Qyrl ambassador, who disavowed any involvement and attributed everything to a rogue faction.
Then she turned to Nico: „Mr. Hallows. Let’s hear from you. The full picture, if you may. We have all had a lot of information from different sources, some second- or third-hand. Let us all get on the same page.“
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Nico gave them a summary of the events on Bloom, starting with the EMP and concluding with his interrogation of the prisoners.
„And that“, he came to his conclusion, „is what I’ve learnt today. In their mind, the Qyrl did not start a war with us these days. They’ve been at war with us for years. A slow-burning, low-intensity war, but a war nevertheless.“
„With you“, Secretary Tike from Dephyr stated, „given that your pirate ships are the ones plundering Qyrl and other alien merchants. None of the planets has engaged any alien ship in decades. Well, until now at least.“
A general from Dangorod interrupted: „Secretary Tike, you know quite well that the Qyrl view all of us in the Junkstorm as one entity, much like we view them. There might be factions and internal conflict among the Qyrl that we aren’t at all aware of and creatures we lump together may well be from different sides.“
Tike sighed, slightly tilting and lowering his head in a gesture of agreement, but he would not say it out loud.
„What else do you have for us, Mr. Hallows.“, the Dangorod general asked, making a subtle point of not giving Nico a title, even though Amara had introduced him with one. „I’m sure your prisoner has told you more than that?“
„Confirmation that Binary Bloom was attacked for the hypercore.“, Nico replied, „And that they had inside knowledge where to find it. Unfortunately for them, they had the right person but not the right place. Does anyone know where the damn thing is right now?“
The silence that followed was more than enough of an answer.
„We believe“, Amara said after a while, „that it was shortly on Erulas, still in the possession of the crew that originally took it. If so, then it is no longer here. They made an escape and have jumped into hyperspace together with what appeared to be a small Xylar craft.“
Eyes turned towards Nico again. He looked back confused. „What?“, he exclaimed. „That’s news to me as well.“
„Is it possible“, Ansom Tike questioned him again, „that your pirate crew works with the Xylars? Maybe without your knowledge?“
„Of course without my knowledge.“ Nico said, leaning forward, „Let’s make this clear. The crews operating out of Binary Bloom do so on their own. We are a space port where they dock, repair, unwind and maybe sell their cargo. But we are not in any way planning for or coordinating with them. Each crew is their own little autonomous bubble.“
„Is that a yes or a no, Mr. Hallows?“, Tike insisted.
Nico had been through too much recently for patience. „That’s a ‚how the fuck should I know?‘, Ansom. I can call you Ansom, right? Seeing how you prefer the informal address.“