Opening Moves by James Traynor Read Free Book Online Page B

all through her two stomachs was one of deep, despairing disappointment. She couldn't remember having ever felt something as strongly before.
    Nevertheless she had a job to do and began the meeting. “Thank you for joining me today, honored representatives. I trust by now you have all read the reports from our scouting forces.” Her three-fingered hand held aloft a rounded tablet listing the events at Toklamakun. “It proves that the invasion of Aeta was not an isolated incident and that the Ashani are beginning an aggressive war of conquest.”
    “ With all due respect, madam: that is a matter of pure speculation,” Serrok stated flatly. “I have studied your report. I have also studied the statements of the Dominion. And while the individual circumstances surrounding the events at Toklamakun and Aeta may be regrettable, they are not exactly uncommon occurrences in these times. Or any other times, for that matter. Quite frankly, we have no evidence that the Ashani will continue to attack other worlds, let alone our or your worlds.” Serrok's face was a leathery-gray, pockmarked field of craters, the genetic result of generations of horrible runaway environmental pollution his people had unleashed on their home world. He didn't have any eyebrows. If he had, he would have raised one inquiringly with his statement.
    “ You said that five months ago. We had this very same discussion after Aeta fell, and now they have taken Toklamakun,” Mairwen recounted in a firm voice. “By the time we have our next meeting they could be orbiting this world with bombardment ships ready to strike!”
    “ It won't come to that, and I do suspect you do actually know that yourself,” Serrok said in a crisp, precise tone. “The Dominion's armed forces have invaded two single-system entities in half a year. These are the facts . Now, I can forgive the Érenni Republics for being a little nervous. These worlds were close to your borders, less than fifty light-years away. Now you share your own frontier with the Ashani. That may be an uncomfortable thought, true. But if the Dominion has been able to share a border with the Tuathaan for decades without there being a major war, what makes you think they will attack you? At least the Tuathaan give them ample reason to be belligerent,” he added coolly with a glance to Gwythyr.
    “ Careful there,” the old Tuathaan envoy growled.
    Serrok chose to ignore it.
    “Honorable Mairwen, our analysts believe the Ashani will not dare attack a nation as old and established as the Érenni. In all honesty, they lack a casus belli against you. You have nothing they don't have, too,” he said with a knowing grin. “I'm rather convinced that you'll be quite safe.”
    “ Look at these ships!” she demanded, pointing her long, five-jointed index finger at a holographic display that had manifested itself by the push of a button. Squadrons of sleek Dominion warships of all types and sizes were parked in orbit around the dust-clouded globe of Toklamakun. “Do you see their numbers? The Dominion's fleet is thousands strong!” she emphasized. “It is powerful enough to pose a significant threat to all of us. We must take some united action.”
    “ No, we do not have to. Honorable Mairwen, I do sympathize with your concerns, but that's what they remain: concerns , not fact-based threat assessments. My people share no great love for the Dominion. The houses in the border marshes raid them, and they repay us in kind. The Ashani aren't an irrational people. Yes, the invaded Aeta. Yes, they've now attacked the Makani. And they could have a thousand plausible reasons for this that has nothing to do with the Érenni Republics.” Gwythyr raised his gravelly voice.
    “ And what would these reasons possibly be?” Mairwen's long fingers twitched as she tried to calm her temper.
    “ A strategic straightening of their borders. Control over commercially viable foldspace corridors. Punitive expeditions against