{"id":248,"date":"2012-09-16T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2012-09-16T04:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=248"},"modified":"2012-09-15T10:50:41","modified_gmt":"2012-09-15T14:50:41","slug":"chapter-thirty-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=248","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Thirty-seven"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Another of humanity\u2019s traits that is terrible and admirable all at once is our capacity for denial.\u00a0 It is both a mechanism that enables us to survive and something that will, someday, get us all killed.<\/h3>\n

— Erich Quizibian, Roots of Disaster: Predicting the Death of the Human Race<\/em>, c. 5073 PD<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

20 Novem, 5249 PD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adam met them outside the meeting hall.\u00a0 He was waiting for them, expression serious, almost grave.\u00a0 His eyes betrayed a brief flicker of surprise when he saw Frederick in the skimmer\u2019s backseat, but it was quelled in an instant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay asked as she climbed out.\u00a0 Her heart began to beat a little faster.\u00a0 Bloody hell, what\u2019s gone wrong now?<\/em>\u00a0 She felt sick, stomach bucking like a boat in rough seas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard from Alana,\u201d he said, gaze flicking between his niece and his wife.\u00a0 \u201cShe sent a tight-beam signal to my personal comm half an hour ago.\u00a0 They made the system and they\u2019re about five ours out by her estimation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFive hours out?\u00a0 That\u2019s pretty shoddy plotting,\u201d Rachel said.<\/p>\n

Lindsay\u2019s lips thinned.\u00a0 Brendan\u2019s a better astronavigator than that, but I don\u2019t think \u2018lana is.\u00a0 I\u2019m not surprised they\u2019re still so far out.\u00a0 <\/em>She felt the overwhelming urge to mentally reach for Brendan, a desire she quashed, though denying it left her feeling even queasier.\u00a0 Focus, Lindsay.\u00a0 You can come unglued later.\u00a0 You can give in later.<\/em>\u00a0 She caught her lip between her teeth, biting down hard enough that she was surprised she wasn\u2019t leaving marks, drawing blood.<\/p>\n

Frederick, silent as a wraith, appeared beside her.\u00a0 He took her hand and squeezed.<\/p>\n

She sucked in a breath.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s going on, Uncle Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlana wouldn\u2019t talk about it on an unsecure line, but she said that none of them would be speaking to anyone when they got back unless it was me, Aidan, or the two of you.\u00a0 I imagine that Alana doesn\u2019t trust Daci yet.\u201d\u00a0 His gaze slid toward Frederick.\u00a0 \u201cI want you at their debriefing.\u00a0 Whatever they saw and learned is apparently disturbing enough to make an ex-Compact black ops agent paranoid.\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cShe also said that we have to pull the sensor logs of that ship as soon as they set down, before D\u2019Arcy gets wind of their return.\u00a0 Up to that, Eaglet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel frowned slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m rusty and I\u2019ll need my kit, but I think I can manage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam nodded.\u00a0 \u201cGood.\u00a0 Now we just need to make it through this Council meeting without anyone suspecting that something\u2019s amiss.\u201d\u00a0 He crossed his arms, looking between the three.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s aide is Freder supposed to be?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMine,\u201d both women said simultaneously.\u00a0 Rachel looked at Lindsay curiously as Adam favored them both with an amused expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you thinking?\u201d\u00a0 Rachel asked.<\/p>\n

Lindsay shrugged with one shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cThat odds are on one\u2019s going to notice me dragging someone along.\u00a0 No one ever noticed Brendan until he made himself noticed.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be under more scrutiny, if Kara and the Marshals and I are right and you\u2019re the Speaker\u2019s top choice to succeed him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel\u2019s lips thinned.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam squeezed her shoulder and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cLike as not, Eaglet, you are.\u00a0 Amelda\u2019s too young and Kara\u2019s too young and the rest don\u2019t have the balls for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel just shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s not how it\u2019ll be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen Sergei is going to work himself to death,\u201d Adam predicted.<\/p>\n

Lindsay shivered.\u00a0 He\u2019s right.\u00a0 She\u2019s the only valid choice in there, and I\u2019m willing to bet the Speaker knows it.\u00a0 Aunt Rachel\u2019s apparently the only one who doesn\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well.\u00a0 Her and D\u2019Arcy Morgause.\u00a0 She\u2019s just got too much self-doubt.\u00a0 He\u2019s delusional or something.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d Frederick said quietly, \u201cI suppose that means that I\u2019ll be the Oracle\u2019s aide, since I don\u2019t imagine you\u2019ve got a uniform available in my size, Grumpy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s gaze slid sideways.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t tempt me, Freder.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t take much to get one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat might actually be the least remarkable,\u201d Lindsay said.\u00a0 \u201cNo one would say anything crosswise if Uncle Adam showed up with some kind of advisor.\u00a0 Even one that\u2019s not in uniform.\u00a0 They just might assume that Freder\u2019s someone from Mission Systems or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour wife is going to have an apoplexy,\u201d Adam said to Frederick.\u00a0 He was grinning, though.\u00a0 Apparently, he didn\u2019t think this was that<\/em> terrible of an idea.\u00a0 \u201cAnd she will probably<\/em> try to murder me sometime after we leave the meeting, but my gut\u2019s screaming this will be worth it in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay smiled briefly.\u00a0 \u201cTrying your hand at some prophecy yourself, Uncle Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s got a little bit of it in them, even me.\u201d\u00a0 He winked at her, then sobered, glancing toward the stone walls behind them.\u00a0 \u201cThis isn\u2019t going to be a pleasant meeting.\u00a0 Not with the rumors on the newsnets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel blinked.\u00a0 \u201cAfter the screams every psychic around the world heard?\u00a0 We still haven\u2019t managed to confirm that someone wiped out a planet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cD\u2019Arcy\u2019s made an art form of dragging his feet.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t believe it happened, so he doesn\u2019t want to spend resources confirming that it did.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have the assets to spare right now or else I\u2019d be sending someone to have a look myself.\u201d\u00a0 He headed for the doors and they trailed behind him, Frederick first, followed by Lindsay and Rachel.\u00a0 Lindsay shoved her gloved hands into her pockets, trying not to scowl.<\/p>\n

Of course he doesn\u2019t believe that a planet died.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t want to believe it, either, but I heard the screams.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I saw the dying, the burning, three months before it happened.\u00a0 <\/em>Her lips thinned again.\u00a0 But I thought it was a nightmare then.\u00a0 I\u2019m such a goddamned fool.\u00a0 I could have done something about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t I?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>She looked down at her feet as she followed her aunt, uncle, and a dead man down the stone corridors toward the Council chamber.\u00a0 Some bloody prophet I\u2019ve turned out to be.\u00a0 Don\u2019t I have a duty to more people than just the ones on this planet?\u00a0 Do I?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I wish Brendan was here.<\/em><\/p>\n

Swallowing the lump that rose in her throat at the thought of her husband, she took a deep breath and stepped into the chamber.<\/p>\n

About half the Council had already arrived.\u00a0 She caught the flicker of shock and fear that washed across Daci\u2019s face when she laid eyes on Frederick, emotions that the Marshal was quick to bury.<\/p>\n

That was good, because Lindsay had scarcely settled into her seat before D\u2019Arcy Morgause arrived with an entourage of three of his agents on his heels.\u00a0 Her jaw tightened as she watched them haul some projection equipment into the room with them.<\/p>\n

Oh.\u00a0 This ought to be good.<\/em><\/p>\n

Her gaze flicked across the chamber to her uncle, who looked disgusted and sick at heart all at once.\u00a0 D\u2019Arcy gave him a cat-like smile before he turned his gaze, full of hate and loathing, toward Lindsay.<\/p>\n

She swallowed.<\/p>\n

And very, very bad.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Damnation and hellfire, Brendan, I wish you were here.\u00a0 I really, really wish you were here.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re going to need all the help we can get this time around, aren\u2019t we?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another of humanity\u2019s traits that is terrible and admirable all at once is our capacity for denial.\u00a0 It is both a mechanism that enables us to survive and something that will, someday, get us all killed. — Erich Quizibian, Roots … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-last-colony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p25yjF-40","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248\/revisions\/249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}