Boundless by Jack Campbell

Author:Jack Campbell [Campbell, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

AN hour later, Geary sat in the same conference room, this time with Tanya Desjani beside him, facing another set of people from the Boundless. He felt cautious optimism over the fact that this group wanted to meet in person.

Their leader, a tired-eyed man whose age wasn’t otherwise obvious, smiled at Geary. “I’m Dr. Kottur. It’s a great pleasure to meet you.”

The others with Kottur all nodded in agreement, smiling, except for one woman at the far end who seemed either bored or unamused. Geary found his eyes drawn to her not for that reason, but because of a nagging sense that she resembled someone he knew. “We’re happy to help make this happen,” he said to Dr. Kottur.

“This is quite an opportunity, Admiral,” Kottur said. “If we can successfully link the hypernet gate at Midway to the Alliance hypernet, it’ll be a huge scientific and technical breakthrough.”

“We’ll have to convince Midway’s leaders to let us try, Dr. Kottur,” Geary said. “They’re bound to be concerned, and they don’t entirely trust the Alliance.”

“But I understand they trust you?”

“I think so,” Geary said.

“Well,” Kottur said, “you’ll be able to tell them that we’ve got some of the best minds in the Alliance with us when it comes to hypernet theory and engineering. Allow me to introduce Dr. Ken Bron, and Dr. Talisen Rajput, and Dr. Jasmine Cresida—”

“Cresida?” Geary looked at the woman he’d noticed earlier, realizing who it was she resembled. “Are you related to Jaylen Cresida?”

Dr. Cresida gave Geary a cold look. “I was. She was my sister.”

Tanya Desjani was also gazing at Dr. Cresida in surprise. “Jaylen’s personal record listed her parents as her only next of kin.”

“We had a falling-out,” Dr. Cresida said, her voice somehow even frostier. “I thought she was risking too much by entering military service, that her talents would be far better put to use working in theory with me. I didn’t want her mind, her potential, thrown away in some senseless battle. Unfortunately, I was right.”

Geary spoke into the silence that followed Jasmine Cresida’s words. “Jaylen played a major role in saving the fleet by analyzing the danger of the hypernet gates. She also figured out the nature of the malware used by the enigmas. Her loss was a terrible blow, but she made invaluable contributions before then.”

Dr. Cresida didn’t look at him as she replied. “So you sent her to her death. What a fine reward.”

Dr. Kottur finally recovered from his shock. “Let’s not—I mean, we have an important purpose. I don’t want any . . . unprofessional behavior.”

“I can do my job,” Cresida said. “I don’t have to pretend to like who I’m working with.”

Captain Desjani gave her a thin smile. “Likewise.”

Geary exchanged a hapless look with Dr. Kottur. Together, he and Kottur got the meeting back on track. The science and engineering team’s questions mostly revolved around Dauntless’s sensor records of the hypernet gate at Midway, and the best means of convincing the leaders of Midway to buy in to the proposal.

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