Belle's Ruin (Belle Machado Book 1) by Joseph McRae Palmer

Author:Joseph McRae Palmer [Palmer, Joseph McRae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ansible Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-07-20T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

IRON SEER LEFT Belle and Grant to eat a small lunch. They agreed to meet afterward in the Commons Room.

Belle felt overwhelmed by the events with Iron Seer. Humanity had not yet made contact with an intelligent, sentient alien species. Now Belle and Grant had met one and heard of a confederation of multiple other species, and the latter were potentially hostile to humans.

“This is too big for us to handle on our own,” said Belle to Grant. “We should be telling DPE about the First Contact and letting them take over.”

“I agree completely,” said Grant. “How do we even know if Iron Seer is telling the truth? Or perhaps she’s honest but just mistaken. Belle, I’m worried. We’re considering what could be construed as a conspiracy to hide details about a First Contact event.”

“We wouldn’t be permanently hiding the event. Only until we find the Zyd agent.”

“But what if there is no Zyd agent? Or we can’t find it? What then? I think we need to find the quickest and safest way to return home and immediately inform Kepler of the First Contact. Let them take over from there.”

Belle’s view of the universe had been completely altered. What if she and Grant mishandled their relationship with Iron Seer? It could have negative consequences for all of humanity. What if humanity refused to help her? Now that Iron Seer had revealed so much information about herself and this facility, would she still allow Belle and Grant to leave freely, as she’d promised, or might she change her mind?

Knowledge of Iron Seer and the listening post would drastically change Kepler’s activities on Clinton. Certainly, DPE would revise its survey contract. There would be questions about who owned Clinton. Was it a Quynh possession? By aiding Iron Seer, were they implicitly aiding the Quynh in their war with the Zyd? Were the Zyd actually hostile or merely conducting low-level surveillance of a peer state?

“If we were in contact with them, I would agree. But we’re not. We need to make a decision on our own, using the best information we have.”

“Look,” said Grant, “my responsibility is to return you safely to base. That priority overrides all others.”

“What if the easiest and safest way to do that is with Iron Seer’s help? And what if the only way to get that help is by agreeing to her conditions?”

“I suppose we’re under duress. Let me avoid judgment until I see what this auger can do.”

It’s not like Grant had any alternative plans. They were stuck there, and Iron Seer offered to return them home. The condition was that they help her with the Zyd problem, but they would actually be helping the humans on Clinton also. To Belle, it was a win-win. On top of that, add the potential benefits to their careers from being the humans who made First Contact. She might still get promoted despite the loss of her ship and crew. To her, there was an obvious choice. Grant would come around.

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