“I’m surprised to see you,” Brooks said to Vandoss. “I’m not supposed to be meeting with a member of the Tribunal.”

He already knew what that meant, of course, which Vandoss confirmed grimly.

“I am no longer on the Tribunal,” he said.

Which begged a new question in Brooks’s mind. “But the fleet always gets to have one of its own in a case like this, and who is higher than you?” That much still didn’t make sense to him. The Voidfleet had no singular head, but as commander of the Sol System Fleet, Vandoss was first among equals.

“The Dessei have exercised their right to place a member on the council, and they chose Fleet Advisor Nuuan to represent the Voidfleet. He is stationed on Gagarin, so he was a reasonable pick.”

“I’ve never heard of him,” Brooks said, frowning heavily.

“I don’t know him well,” Vandoss conceded. “Only met a few times – he’s technically got the rank of admiral himself, though he’s only an aid to the Dessei Earth Council Detachment.”

Not one of the actual commanding admirals that Vandoss would normally interact with. “This reeks of interference. Is there any connection between him and Freeman?”

“Not that I’ve been able to find,” Vandoss admitted grudgingly. “Though he was once on the Dessei Research Council – so it would be a safe bet.”

“I’ve got good relations with Admiral Luoyyani, I served under him for a year in Detachment Training to the Dessei Republic Fleet. I’ll send a message to him before we start. See what he can dig up.”

Vandoss nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. “All right, good. I’ll meet you back here, I have more things to check on before it starts.”

“You’re still going to be there?” Brooks asked.

“Yes. I have appointed myself your fleet advocate. I’ll fly into the sun before I’ll let them take one of my officers on such absurd charges as these.”

Brooks smiled, genuinely. “Thank you, Admiral. I’ll see you soon.”

----------------------------------------

Urle tapped impatiently on his desk, wondering where his time had gone. He hadn’t eaten lunch today, and his stomach growled – because he’d also skipped breakfast. Hannah and Persis had taken longer than normal getting ready for school, and while that wasn’t unusual, it had cost him enough time that he’d thought he’d just make it up with lunch.

Maybe he’d just take a meal infusion. The nutrients and lipids, simply injected into his system. Before he’d become a father he’d done that often, but since having kids he’d found himself eating meals with them most of the time. And usually he had time to eat a breakfast!

To think, at one point he’d considered the act of eating to be superfluous . . .

Just as he had decided he would take the infusion, the line he’d been waiting on picked up.

“Hello, Acting-Captain,” the man said. He had a calm face and a high forehead. Urle saw his rank, though, and his stomach lurched.

“Ah, Deputy Assistant,” he replied. “Thank you for getting back to me. But I’m afraid I was holding for the Director-Ambassador of the External Non-Union Branch . . .” The man who could actually come through for helping N’Keeea and his people . . .

“I’m very sorry, Acting-Captain, but the Director is extremely busy right now. It’s all this business with the Glorians and Corvus.”

Urle’s frown wasn’t visible through his full-coverage face plate, but the mechanical sound of agitation certainly was audible. “What’s going on with the UGR now?”

The United Glorian Republic – one of the other human governments out there, formed by a fleet of generation ships that had left in the 23rd century.

The group was hardly united – more like subjugated by one particular colony, who called themselves Glorians for the world they’d colonized. While consisting of a mere one hundred and fifty systems, they were supremely militant, and resisted the call to join the Sapient Union as a united humanity.

While the Sapient Union had accepted that, the aggression of the UGR had not put the two governments on good terms.

There had been conflict, that had resulted in a lot of civilian deaths in the Sapient Union from their surprise attack on Mir. Their operation, however, had been ill-advised. The resulting war had lasted only thirty days with a bloody defeat of the UGR. Yet other conflicts had threatened to break out repeatedly since . . . and diplomatic relations had remained chilled, to say the least.

“I can only tell you public information, Acting-Captain, but it appears that there has been a popular uprising against the government of the Corvus system. There are a lot of reasons to believe it is, in fact, a coup, however.”

Urle didn’t know the place; his system brought up the relevant information though. It was another system that hadn’t joined the Sapient Union, but also wasn’t a part of the Glorian Republic.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“What does this coup have to do with the Glorians?” he asked.

“Corvus borders their space, and the Glorians have been encircling the system with several fleets. They claim it is help with a peaceful transition of power.”

That was an obvious lie, Urle thought. It was an aggressive move. And what was worse, Corvus was astride a major zerospace path that led to Earth.

“Glorian fleets have also ventured beyond the system, claiming to be hunting down pro-government rebels,” the Deputy Assistant added.

“They couldn’t possibly be planning an attack on Sol,” Urle said. “That would be suicide.”

“Regardless,” the other man said pointedly. “It has us quite busy. The coup in Corvus has rather . . . suspicious timing, as their government was in open negotiations to join the Sapient Union.”

Damn, that would have been a nice gain, Urle thought. The majority of systems interested in unification had joined quickly; those that hesitated rarely seemed to change their minds.

“As for the threat to Earth, the Glorian High Dynast’s speeches have spoken repeatedly lately about their ‘ancestral and legal rights to Holy Sol’,” the other man continued. “As well as their need to ‘cleanse the stars of competing civilizations’. Needless to say, this has caused a number of diplomatic issues both within and without the Sapient Union.”

Yes . . . last time the Glorians had attacked an allied species vessel, there had been ramifications on Earth. No species – well except maybe the Bicet – were fully united, but it was unheard of for a faction of Dessei or Sepht or any of the others to attack another species in a coordinated military effort. So when the Glorians had done so in the past, it had reflected very badly on the rest of humanity . . .

Which explained not just the difficulties the diplomatic corp was having, but also the increased Voidfleet presence Urle had been noticing the last few days. Fleets not normally stationed in Sol were all over the place.

“It’s been in the news quite a bit,” the man said now, frowning.

“Oh, I’ve . . . just been busy,” Urle told him. He hadn’t bothered to check the news for a few days. “But can you tell me anything about the request of the Hev Ambassador of the T’H’Tul? He is quite anxious . . .”

“I’m sorry, Acting-Captain. His request is not forgotten, but right now our staff are stretched very thin.”

“I understand . . .” Urle said, with a sigh. “But I hope you can give me something, soon. Ambassador N’Keeea is concerned for the continued existence of his people.”

The man looked grave. “I understand. I promise you I will pass word personally to the Director-Ambassador.”

“Thank you,” Urle said, feeling a little relief. “I hope all goes well on your end – for all of this.”

“Me too,” the man said, a hint of worry in his words.

----------------------------------------

At least the fish were nice, Apollonia thought. She was sitting as close as she could, Y next to her, and the fish seemed very, very happy.

She could recall dozens of cheap, fake fish she’d seen in her life. They swam around, acted in cute ways, some even would come to the surface so you could pet them. But they also would often break and keep swimming in circles, or have bits of their pseudo-skin peel off to show the tech beneath. The creepiest were the ones that sang to you. She had vague memories of an event with the singing kind, and one kid had been so freaked out that he’d started crying.

These were definitely alive; she thought so, but had asked Y as well, and he had concurred.

“They are indeed biological! And that water is swimming with tiny organisms besides them that are also true organic beings! I believe that some of them might match my sample from earlier. I wonder if people actually touch that water?”

He seemed to give something like a shudder at the thought.

“What kind of fish are they?” she asked.

“Starting alphabetically, there are two Clownfish, a Bicolor Blenny, a Yellowtail Damselfish-“

She listened to his words but began to tune out, as something itched at her mind. It took her a moment to even realize that something was wrong, but then the awareness was upon her, and she sat back, grabbing Dr. Y’s metal hand.

“Nor, are you- Oh, Ambassador. Hello.”

Kell had walked into the room, and he was not alone. Three other beings were with him, human in appearance, but their faces unnaturally calm and blank. Two flanked him on either side with the last behind.

“Doctor. Ms. Apollonia,” Kell said as a greeting. He did not look happy.

Though Apollonia felt like she could hardly see his face. The effect was so much worse, it had to be because of the others. They, too, were Shoggoths. And there was something about them, a resounding hostility that made her almost want to vomit.

Clenching her abs, she fought that feeling down.

“Here for the inquiry?” she asked.

Kell gave her a slight nod, then moved away.

“It’s your fault we’re here,” she said after him, the words just slipping out of her mouth.

Kell did not answer her, and she felt both stupid and ashamed after speaking.

Y was watching her, but she couldn’t make herself look at him as she whispered;

“He killed it. Brooks is getting blamed, but Kell murdered Michal Denso.”

“I am not sure that what still existed in that body can truly still have been said to be Michal Denso,” Y replied, also quietly. “And I do not say that easily. Truly, Nor, did you know a better solution to what you believe Kell did?”

“I don’t believe he did it – I was there. I saw it.”

“I was not,” Y said. “Therefore I cannot accept with absolute certainty. I will give credence to your understanding, as it is beyond me. But the events are so alien and bizarre that it is hard to give them my full weight of belief.”

Apollonia fell silent for a time, watching Kell, who stood with his entourage on the other side of the room. They, too, were watching the fish tank, but were not sitting. Just standing . . . unblinking.

The Shoggoths around him, their hostility wasn’t directed at the humans in the room, she realized. Just Kell.

They knew, she thought. They knew, and . . .

Maybe they agreed with her.

“He did something that was terrible,” she said to Y, feeling unable to really lay out more. “Something unforgivable.”

----------------------------------------

Over the next few minutes, more people arrived. They were all grave individuals, and Apollonia only felt more and more out of place. They were mostly human, save for two short Sepht who slithered, tentacles entwined, straight through to another room, and a Dessei who was taller than most of the humans. He had a notably large crest that was a vivid shade of blue, as opposed to Lieutenant Pirra’s green. Her tablet told her that the size of the crest meant that it was a male.

One very old man came in. She realized she had not seen many people who looked as old as he, his skin having that slightly crinkled shine and age spots. His eyes, though, were brown and clear, and he moved without difficulty.

A drone came and beckoned her, and as she rose, she noticed that Dr. Y was not moving.

“I cannot go with you,” he told her, his voice more somber than normal, though still lighter than it seemed the situation warranted. “But do not worry, it will all be fine. You are not in trouble.”

That was what they always said, she thought. ‘We just want to ask you a few questions . . .’

But what choice did she have? She followed the drone.

Glancing at her tablet again, she saw that it was almost 1830.