“I’m not . . .” Rycerz sighed heavily, slumping a bit. “Admiral, first contact is a very delicate matter. There are a tremendous number of things that can go wrong.”

  Once again, his sense of humor came to Geary’s rescue. “Ambassador, it wasn’t so long ago that I and this fleet were being sent into alien space specifically to establish contact with the enigmas and anyone else we found.”

  “So far relations with the enigmas aren’t an endorsement for that decision. And the other species, the . . .”

  “The Kicks,” Geary said. “If our first contact with the Kicks had been a diplomatic mission, they’d have died before they could escape. I will remind you that we also established relations with the Dancers and managed to do that successfully enough that they aided us at both Midway and at Unity Alternate.”

  Rycerz gazed at him for a long moment before nodding. “Fair enough, Admiral. Fair enough. How do you believe we should respond to the Taon? Before you answer, I think we need to be careful about rejecting their invitation.”

  He had to take a few seconds to think about that. “You, and Boundless, have to stay here. I wouldn’t want you to be left unprotected as of yet since the Dancers haven’t agreed to let Boundless remain, or even offered any guarantees of safety for you. And, frankly, since we know so little of the Taon, any ships sent in response to the Taon invitation would be at risk of not returning. If the Dancers end up rejecting our request to establish an embassy, you would need a strong escort for Boundless back through enigma space.”

  “This Lokaa invited all of your ships,” Rycerz pointed out.

  “But we already know that’s impossible,” Geary said.

  “Then instead of rejecting the invitation outright and possibly causing a serious incident, why not send only a portion of your fleet?”

  “I can’t—” He couldn’t trust the security on this line, so he couldn’t tell her that he couldn’t run such a risk given the threat within the fleet from the conspirators. But at the same time he faced that dilemma, he heard Bradamont’s voice in his memory. You’d have to arrange some means of plausibly being out of contact for a while, and you’d have to set it up well in advance.

  Did he dare take such a risk? It would give the conspirators an apparently perfect opportunity, what should be irresistible bait, but he wouldn’t be present to ensure they were stopped. Could he trust whoever was left here to handle such a critical matter? “I need to discuss this with my senior ship commanders.”

  “Let me know what you decide,” the ambassador said, clearly happy to dump a matter outside of her assigned mission back into Geary’s lap.

  All right, then. This was his ball to run with. “In the meantime, we can ask the Taon for more information about themselves,” Geary added. “And we can ask the Dancers for more information about the Taon. That is, if I am permitted to.” It wasn’t just a matter of getting a dig in, but also stretching whatever boundaries the ambassador was trying to establish on his ability to talk directly to the Dancers.

  “Just send your proposed message through me,” Rycerz said, looking pained. “Didn’t the Dancers already tell us something about the Taon?”

  “Yes,” Geary said. “At the last star system the Dancer reply to our questions about the Taon was answered with ‘Ships are Taon.’ That’s it.”

  “Oh, yes.” Rycerz closed her eyes as if the words were inciting a headache. “Which means everything if you know what Taon are, and nothing if you don’t. Still, they’re here in Dancer-controlled space. They apparently conducted some trade activity at the last star system we were in. That tells us something.”

  “It tells us they’re able to get along with the Dancers,” Geary said. “Whether that means they can get along with us as well remains to be seen.”

  * * *

  AN hour later, Geary found himself once more in the fleet conference room, but this time only the fleet’s senior captains were present in virtual form, along with General Carabali, Colonel Rogero, and Kommodor Bradamont. Geary had just replayed the message from Lokaa of Taon for them. “All right. I need advice, suggestions, insight. Go.”

  Captain Jane Geary, her chin resting on one hand, shook her head. “This sets off so many alarms. Like, ‘Hi, we just met, we’re friends, come visit with all of your warships.’ Really?”

  “That was my reaction,” Desjani said.

  “That sort of . . . effusive behavior might be normal among them,” Captain Badaya pointed out. “It might be regarded as simply polite.”

  “That was Ambassador Rycerz’s reaction,” Geary said. “And it may be true. But we have no way of knowing.”

  “I wouldn’t want my daughter spending any time with a human male who acted like that on their first encounter,” Captain Duellos said. He paused for just a moment before continuing, as if he had noticed the reaction his words created in Geary. “But this is an alien of a new and unknown species. We don’t know what normal is for them.”

  “It is a nice change,” Badaya said. “I mean, thus far two out of three alien species we’ve contacted have simply wanted to kill us. The third might be friends. Maybe the fourth, these Taon, might be as well.”

  “When did you become so trusting?” Captain Desjani wondered.

  “I’m just saying it’s a nice change of pace not to be threatened with death on first contact.”

  Captain Armus snorted. “I must agree with Captain Badaya as far as it goes. The question is whether the Taon are sincere.”

  “Admiral, are you seriously considering the invitation?” Jane Geary asked.

  Geary shook his head. “Not in terms of all of our ships. Boundless has to remain here. Since we have to face the possibility that the Taon invitation is a trap, and any ships sent in response may not return, we need to leave enough ships with Boundless to get her and themselves home if necessary.”

  Captain Smythe sighed theatrically before taking a drink of what was supposedly only coffee. Since Smythe was only present in virtual form and could get away with drinking anything he wanted to, Geary suspected it might be something stronger than even fleet coffee. “Admiral, normally I’d be advising to bring at least half of the auxiliaries. However, I sense considerable unease among the rest of your officers regarding this invitation. If there’s concern that you might need to hastily depart Taon space, you might not want auxiliaries slowing you down.”

  “There’s wisdom in that,” Captain Duellos said.

  “What about your Marines and their transports?” Geary asked General Carabali.

  Carabali made a face as she gazed at the image of Lokaa of Taon. “Depending on what the Dancers tell us, I can’t see what possible use a large force of Marines would be to you. And the transports would slow you down somewhat. Not as badly as the auxiliaries, but they would slow you down.”

  Captain Armus shook his head, his voice a low rumble that perfectly matched the battleship he commanded. “If you leave that much behind, the auxiliaries and the transports, then you need to leave at least one division of battleships as well to protect them.” He looked at Geary, making it clear the idea of leaving behind a single division of battleships concerned him.

  “If we’re thinking we might have to make a quick exit from Taon space,” Duellos said, “why bring any battleships? They’re unmatched in a fight, but we won’t be wanting a battle, will we?”

  Why bring any battleships? Duellos had, without any coaching, suggested exactly what Geary had been thinking. He nodded toward an alarmed-looking Captain Armus to let him know not to object.

  “If it’s a trap,” Captain Hiyen of the battleship Reprisal said, “it must be assumed it was well prepared. I agree that any force sent in response to this invitation would want the maximum possible speed and maneuverability.”

  “You wouldn’t insist on being included to represent the Callas Republic?” Geary asked.

  Hiyen shook his head, frowning. “Like Ambassador Rycerz, my orders pertain to the Dancers. Otherwise I am supposed to employ my ship as ordered by you, sir.”

  Captain Duellos’s hand moved as he worked with something on the table in front of him aboard the battle cruiser Inspire. “All of the battle cruisers, I’d suggest. As well as half of the light cruisers and half of the destroyers.”

  “You think we should leave all of the heavy cruisers here?” Geary asked.

  “Do you want to plan for a battle, or for an escape, Admiral? I think,” Duellos added, with a wave toward Captain Hiyen, “that my fellow captains are right that any trap would be designed to overwhelm any force we brought with us.”

  “Which means planning for an escape,” Desjani said.

  The sudden appearance of General Charban’s virtual presence drew attention to him. “The Dancers may be aware of the message sent to us by the Taon. We just received something from them about the Taon.”

  “More information?” Geary said, feeling hopeful.

  “Not . . . exactly.” Charban paused, looking at a transcript he was holding.

  “Taon are Taon,

  “Taon are always Taon,

  “Must remember this.”

  After a moment of silence, Tanya Desjani spoke. “Is that supposed to tell us anything?”

  “It says Taon are Taon,” General Charban replied with a hapless shrug.

  Armus glowered at nothing in particular. “What are they saying with such vague things? Does it mean there’s something we have to learn that they can’t tell us? That we have to figure it out for ourselves?”

  Captain Badaya leaned back, his eyes on the overhead. “I had a math teacher like that once. ‘You have to work it out for yourselves,’ she’d say. And I’d say, ‘If I could work it out for myself, then I wouldn’t need to be in this class in the first place, now would I?’ ”

  “Everyone,” Geary said as others laughed at Badaya’s remark, “we have a theory that the Dancers may have a very precise goal in mind in terms of what they want from us. But in order to get us to that goal, they have to avoid telling us what to do.” He explained more of Dr. Cresida’s theory, the others listening intently.

  “Who came up with this?” Captain Jane Geary asked.

  “Dr. Cresida,” Geary said.

  “Jaylen’s sister?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s good enough for me,” Duellos said, inspiring a chorus of agreement from the others that was a testament to how admired Jaylen Cresida still was within the fleet. “But do these very specific Dancer goals have anything to do with the Taon? Has Dr. Cresida looked at their message yet?”

  Geary looked to Charban, who nodded.

  “She read it in the same manner as someone watching a shipwreck,” Charban said. “I asked her opinion afterwards and her reply was that she had insufficient information.”

  “Why don’t we simply ask the Dancers whether we should go?” Badaya said. “I hate to be blunt, but why not be direct about it? Should we go? Is it dangerous? If the Dancers have some very specific goal they’re aiming for they have to give us a clearer answer.”

  “You hate to be blunt?” Desjani said, giving him a level gaze. “Captain Badaya is right, though, Admiral. Let’s not dance around this. Let’s give the Dancers a direct question and see if they answer.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Geary said. “General, please draft a message for the Dancers making sure they know that the Taon have invited us to bring our entire fleet to their territory. We want to know if the Dancers believe we should go. We have to know whether the Dancers believe that accepting the Taon invitation would involve danger to us.”

  “I will do so,” Charban said. “Since this pertains to the fleet’s security, I assume it can be sent directly?”

  Geary took a moment to think about that. Charban was right that he could invoke the safety-of-the-fleet issue to insist on the right to continue communicating with the Dancers directly. But he wasn’t ready to force the ambassador’s hand. “Let me see it first.”

  “We should ask them about the Taon technology,” Captain Armus added. “That translator of theirs. What we hear through it sounds sort of primitive, but they put it together without any actual human input. That’s impressive in a way we need to take note of. Could we have done that with an alien language?”

  “He’s right,” Duellos said. “If that translator is any guide the Taon may well be more technologically advanced than we are.”

  “Either that,” Kommodor Bradamont said, “or they know a lot more about us than we know about them.”

  That brought about a long moment of silence, finally broken by Captain Jane Geary. “That could put a different spin on their motivation for the invite, wouldn’t it?”

  “Especially,” Bradamont said, “if, like the enigmas, the Taon knowledge of and experience with humans is based on dealing with the Syndicate.”

  “Then it would definitely be a trap,” Duellos said.

  “It would certainly make it more likely,” Bradamont said.

  “Honore,” Badaya said to Bradamont, “did the people at Midway have any knowledge that these Taon existed?”

  “No,” she said.

  “Would they have told you?”

  Bradamont’s eyebrows went up and her mouth opened. Everyone watched, anticipating an explosion, except for Badaya, who seemed as oblivious as usual.

  But Bradamont visibly calmed herself before replying. “Captain, I am one of the people at Midway. President Iceni would have told me if there was even a hint of another intelligent, space-faring species just beyond enigma space.”

  Colonel Rogero rubbed his chin. “I have been trying to remember anything in Syndicate records that might indicate any contact with the Taon. I don’t recall anything, even in the files kept by the snakes. There were secret annexes covering the disastrous encounters with the enigmas, but nothing about any other species.”

  Armus gave Rogero a questioning look. “Why didn’t the Syndics try probing more beyond their borders?”

  “Because the enigmas were an invisible enemy who had already pushed the Syndicate out of two star systems, wiping out the human populations there,” Rogero explained, “and repelling or destroying every Syndicate attempt to learn more. They seemed to be all-knowing, and impossible to defeat. That was, we now know, because of the quantum-coded worms they had placed in our sensor systems that blinded our ships to their presence and allowed the enigmas to know exactly what we were doing as soon as we did it. And, of course, there was the war with the Alliance, which consumed the attention and resources of the Syndicate.”

  “Colonel Rogero, Kommodor Bradamont, if we accept the Taon invitation,” Geary said, “I’d be commanding whichever force went, and Dauntless would be part of that force.” He made a small hand gesture to Captain Armus to prevent another startled reaction. “I don’t know what your orders are from Midway regarding this situation, Kommodor. Are you like the ambassador and tied to Dancer space? Or would you want to be along when we went to Taon space?”

  “We’d want to be along with you,” Bradamont said without hesitating. “These species are far, far from home for the Alliance. They’re on Midway’s doorstep. Even the Taon. We need to know as much as we can, and if peaceful relations are established we need to ensure Midway is also covered.”

  “Fair enough,” Geary said. “Are you all in agreement that we should leave the battleships, the Marines, and the auxiliaries here with Boundless?”

  “I think there are other matters we need to discuss before agreeing on that,” Captain Armus said.

  “Those matters are part of this plan,” Geary said.

  “Are they?” Armus nodded slowly. “All right, then. If all factors have been taken into account.”

  “I want to modify my earlier advice,” General Carabali said. “You might need some Marines. The Marine detachments on the battle cruisers are pretty small. I think we should reinforce those detachments to give you some better capability. And, in the same light, your standard fleet shuttles on the battle cruisers can handle lifts and drop-offs okay. But maybe it would be a good idea to swap some of them for stealth-configured shuttles.”

  “How many stealth shuttles do we have?” Geary asked. “Four, right?”

  “Yes, with the Marine scouts,” Carabali said. “I’d recommend taking two of the stealth-configured shuttles. That would give you some extra capability if you needed it, but leave some with us if we ran into trouble that required them.”

  “We’ll swap them out with the regular shuttles on Dauntless and Inspire,” Geary said. “I want everyone preparing for this operation even though we still have to wait on agreement from the Taon. Ambassador Rycerz wants to focus exclusively on the Dancers in accordance with her instructions. She’s delegated dealing with Lokaa to me. That means the Taon are our problem. We don’t know what their technology is like, we don’t know how sincere their expressed friendliness is, we don’t know whether this invitation to visit is a trap or not. But the potential benefits of establishing peaceful contact with another species are so large that we can’t afford to pass up this opportunity. If the Taon are hostile, the sooner we learn it the better. If we go in to Taon space, it will be with our eyes open and our defenses ready.”

  “We have to learn more about them,” Kommodor Bradamont said. “Whether they’re dangerous or peaceful or somewhere between those things, we need to learn as much as we can. I’m saying that not as a representative of Midway, but as a representative of humanity as a whole.”

  No one disagreed, at least not openly, so Geary nodded to everyone. “Thank you. We’re going to do this right.” He had already made some adjustments to the meeting software, so that when Captain Smythe’s and Captain Hiyen’s virtual presences vanished, everyone else remained, the others looking at Geary in surprise. “Kommodor, Colonel, could you please allow this meeting to continue without you?”