Beyond Light

Unexpected Proposal.

“Experts, thanks for your assistance,” said Eun Gong-Kim. Both men returned to their seats in their respective sides of the room. President O’Donnell approved to them with his thumb. 

President Turgenev put his elbows on the table and crossed his hands. “See? We aren’t responsible for the attack on your dreadnought. Think next time before you accuse us of such nonsense,” a smirk played with his sharp eyes. The PFSR public behind him stared with ophidian looks and murmured more gossip. 

Admiral Hopkins was about to get up and yell again, but President O’Donnell spoke before he did. “President Turgenev? you don’t know how ironical you are sounding right now. Know that you are the ones here who don’t think first before saying or doing anything. Do you remember New Dawn Station, or whatever you call it in your language?” 

The mention of that name triggered something in the Russian that made his smirk disappear. His eyes glared like a minor criminal getting accused of some petty crime. President O’Donnell let out a small grin; it was clear that he would not let them win nor try to ridicule him.

New Dawn Station. Few still remembered it. It was a PFSR’s space station that orbited Uranus, suspected to be a research facility where the federation developed nuclear materials for vessel engines and other industrial uses. It fell during the Deuterium Wars in 2522 when a Solar Special Operations (SolOps) team raided it to steal data. 

Although the SolOps team succeeded, they could not recover many useful things from the station, as most hard-drive modules got physically damaged and the PFSR’s scientists purged most of the databases. But from the little data they could save, the files of a highly classified project that the PFSR never started got revealed: The prototype of a stealth ship with a unique design counting with a propulsor that, in theory, could generate that tone of lilac-magenta seen on the unidentified ships. 

Admiral William Frost understood the shock of President Turgenev. President O’Donnell could accuse him of attacking the Eternity of Return under a secret operation. Other chunks of data in the recovered modules had information about Turgenev being involved in black operations, like hiring privateers to steal hazardous material or extorting scientist figures and other institutions.

If all that data saw the light, then not only the Russian president’s image would get stained forever, but also the PFSR would suffer several internal conflicts. Turgenev had been in power for more than 28 years and had done anything necessary to make himself an indispensable figure for the federation. 

He would likely end up being removed from office, and his generals and admirals would lanch themselves to seize power like a hungry pack of wolves over a hare. The Chinese would not tolerate the chaos, and the federation would likely end up splitting in two. 

“f*****g take that, you feddy bastard,” whispered Admiral Hopkins. A smirk formed on his previously irritated face. 

Admiral Weigh looked at them like an amused father watching his children quarrel over a toy. Suzuya shared Hopkins’ bitter satisfaction. The public on the other side looked confused yet disdainful at the three leading figures on stage.

O’Donnell looked with mocking eyes at Turgenev. The blonde man could not hinder the rage flushing through his stoic face. His forehead veins were about to pop out. He brutally moved his seat closer to the table and cursed in Russian before speaking English. “

You…You wouldn’t not. You goddamn... You know that information is highly classified. You are violating the discretion code if you dare to do that.”

“But I do not plan to reveal anything, Ivan,” responded Malcolm with a laidback tone. He adjusted the collar of his shirt. “I am pretty sure that there is no need for us to fight over something like this.” 

Ivan Turgenev looked at Jiang, who had a reflexive face, yet didn’t look any less irritated. “What do you want, O’Donnell?” the Russian faced him. “What are you trying to accomplish out of this?” 

“Gentlemen,” Malcolm cleared his throat. “one of our pinnacle spaceships carrying 3000 of our most valuable people, and a high-technology, highly expensive FTL engine got attacked in an extrasolar system and then disappeared. I’m gonna be honest with ya. You are our main suspects. Only you have the resources to build an EPAL and travel to the other side to attack our people. Let’s be honest. We don’t have good relationships, and they do nothing but worsen. Why would not you take such an opportunity?”

“And what would we take outta that? Tell me something, O’Donnell. You, better than I, know that we don’t want any conflicts right now. We are at a point where both PFSR and INSU need to focus on other things. What would we win over this? what would you get outta this if you were us?” 

President O’Donnell didn’t respond. He stared at him with the same eyes of dominance. President Jiang, however, remained particularly quiet, as if he was limiting himself to listen or wait for the American president to trigger the ace under his sleeve.

“Then what attacked us?” asked the INSU President. “If not you, then who?”

“That’s not our problem. The PFSR negates all responsibility for the attack on your ship. You just heard the experts. Those vessels don’t correspond to any known design.”

“Oh, but maybe they do, Ivan,” President O’Donnell smirked. His eyes darkened. “do I need to remind you about what we, casually happened to find on New Dawn—”

“You goddamn bastard!” the Russian got up, slamming his chair to the ground. “Dare. f*****g dare. I’m going to make you pay for it! All of you will be asking mercy like the rats you—”

“President Turgenev!” yelled Eun Gong, getting up as well. “Remain calm! That behavior is not going to be accepted here in—”

“Shut up!” the Russian pointed his round finger at her. The veins on his hairline were about to explode. “You don’t know what—”

“Behave now!” the Korean woman yelled harder. Three security guards approached, with their hands on their AM1’s resting in their belts. They were likely just using stun charges, but if they shot him, then that assembly would turn into a fully-fledged quarrel. 

President Turgenev made one’s stomach turn on itself just by looking at the rage he emanated. His face boiled. He looked at everyone with revolver eyes and showed his teeth. He turned around and flounced to the entrance, pushing a guard with a shoulder jab. He told Jiang something before finally leaving.

The murmuring voices rushed once he was out of the room. Hopkins and Suzuya could not look happier. They stretched hands with infantile grins. “Drinks on me when we’re outta this!” cheered Hopkins.

“Order, please!” Eun slammed her gavel against the desk. She sat down again, and the guards returned to their places. President O’Donnell wore a relaxed and confident face. “President Jiang, this assembly may be over if you desire. Do you wish to continue?” 

The Chinese man raised his head and turned it to his public, telling them something in Mandarin. They traded some words, and he finally responded. “Yes, we are still on this.”

Admiral Frost felt nervous. Unlike Turgenev, who was more choleric with his actions and plans, Jiang was a rather reserved person, one who had always something under the shadows and preferred to act discretely. His cunning was not something to be messed with.

He straightened up and focused his black eyes on President O’Donnell. “Sorry over that misunderstanding, Malcolm. You see, I’m going to tell you something. Where you and Ivan see the data from New Dawn as a weapon meant to make us spill each other’s blood, I see a tool that can help us to be closer to each other.”

“What’s your point, Cheng?” President O’Donnell tilted his head. The INSU’s public shared looks of mild surprise.

“Let’s be real. You and I know that the PFSR didn’t attack your ship. But we are too old and close-minded to declare that… second option is plausible,” he licked his lips. “so, look. What would you say if we offer you our help?”

President O’Donnell deviated his eyes from him. He turned his head around to his subordinates, but they all looked as confused and surprised as him. “What’s it? What are you proposing?”

“Look, we could just give you access to classified information from our plans, and even grant you access to our databases, but I guarantee you that you won’t find anything related to those ships. You won’t know again from your ship until you go there and find out what happened. You don’t need to tell us anything for us to know that the leap damaged your dreadnought. It’s also impossible to repair all of those communication buoys. Our scientists somehow did a better job than yours at calculating that.” 

He looked with mocking eyes at Doctor Weiber. The messy-haired man squeezed his lips and shot a stare back.

“We had to take our risks,” justified President O’Donnell. “But where you do want to arrive? What's your point?”

“Don’t you see, Malcolm? This is like a second opportunity for you to improve, and for us too. We don’t need to be so hostile to each other anymore. I’ll be direct with you from now on. Let’s work together in a joint operation."

"Joint Operation?" President O'Donnell swallowed his own saliva. "What do you mean?"

"You know something about New Dawn? you aren’t the only ones with access to that information, but you are the ones with outdated data. The stealth ship project. The one you want to use to doom Turgenev. We have worked on it a lot and made lots of improvements. I am sure you have made lots of progress with your own tech too. Let's work together to create that ship. Think about it. We improve the prototype, equip it with an EPAL, and send it to Hawking-616a. It’s the only way to find out if the Eternity of Return has not been destroyed yet.”

“Are you kidding?” intervened Hopkins, getting up “That’s stupid, Mister President! I told you to—”

“Admiral,” Eun got up too. “One more time. One more time and I am kicking you out. Understood?”

Both sat again. Admiral Hopkins rolled his eyes with rabies. 

President O’Donnell didn’t speak for a few seconds. Jiang could be shady like a snake, but he had been the only one willing to cooperate. Besides, his plan didn’t sound like a bad idea, and despite how much he didn’t want to admit it, the INSU needed the PFSR’s help if they wanted to build a ship specialized for such an operation, which was the only realistic option if they wanted to know again from the Eternity of Return.

“What do you say, O’Donnell?” insisted Jiang. “Would you accept our offer?” 

“...I need to consult it first with my people,” Malcolm responded. He got up and made the sign to his admirals to follow him to the exit. “please hold on for some minutes,” he told Eun before leaving.

The four admirals gathered around him in the white hallway. “What do you think? Should we take his offer?” 

“Are you insane?” growled Hopkins. “I am sure he’s luring us into something. They have already attacked us, and they won’t hesitate to do it again if we keep our guards low. Let’s do something while we have the advantage.” 

“Admiral, is more blood and conflict what you want?” asked Malcolm. "We aren’t in disposition for another war and you know it. Much less for such a petty reason like this. Let’s be honest. I need to push their buttons the most we can. They aren’t our friends. But we know that they didn’t attack the Eternity of Return.”

“I am with the president,” said Admiral Jacob Weigh. “We all know here how the PFSR operates. There is no real reason for them to attack our boys on the other side, and much less when we had the superior weapons. I honestly believe they haven’t made their first manned leap yet.”

“Well,” spoked Suzuya, rubbing his tired eyes. “just keep in mind that this problem is not the only thing making our relationship tense with them. Other things are running on. If we don’t take this opportunity to strike first, they’ll probably find their excuses.”

President O’Donnell swirled his eyes and leaned on the wall. Were his admirals blind to reality, or did they refuse to see? One didn’t need a report from the ISI to know that times were not only unfavorable for the INSU but especially for the PFSR. 

They had problems reactivating their stagnant economy and were suffering from sundry internal disputes between their integrants. Various countries were threatening to leave the Federation, and they were also losing popular support. Just like the INSU. Ad-Infinitum had been heavily advertised and promoted with hopes that people would recover their faith in the government. 

Malcolm looked at Admiral Frost. Sometimes, it was as if the old man was some of the only reasonable people left in the system. “What’s your opinion, Admiral? you haven’t said much lately.”

The light blue of William’s eyes met with the green of the president’s. “I think we should accept. What are we losing? The PFSR is going to contribute its share of the budget and resources. We know that sending a second ship to Vita Nova won't be cheap, and we can’t afford to design a ship specifically made for this mission with an improved EPAL. You heard Jiang. We won’t hear from the Eternity of Return ever again unless we go and find out what happened.”

“Of course,” dismissed Hopkins. “it’s going to be Frost who agrees with such nonsense.”

“Nonsense?” President O’Donnell raised his voice “You are the only one here talking nonsense, Fleet Admiral. Keep quiet. Keep your personal vendettas to yourself.”

Hopkins flushed from bitter anger. He didn’t respond again and looked away.

“I’m with Admiral Frost and President O’Donnell,” said Weigh. “we can’t just leave the Eternity of Return stranded. We won’t be able to cover it forever, and it will be just a wasted inversion. But I didn’t pay, so I don’t really care about that.”

“Suzuya?” inquired President O’Donnell. “What about you?”

“...I’m with you,” Rin responded, although he didn’t look too optimistic. “let’s accept Jiang’s offer.”

President O’Donnell slowly nodded. It was set. The ministers would have taken the offer in any way, as he had talked with them about similar scenarios before. “Alright. Let’s return inside.”

William felt relief on his chest. Working with people like Jiang was a double-edged weapon, but it was the only practical option they had at the moment. It was that, or leave the Eternity of Return stranded for several years to come, or in the worst of cases, get into a conflict with the PFSR. A thing that Hopkins craved, but everyone knew that the INSU was not prepared for another war. 

The number of vessels lost in the Uranian Crysis had not been fully recovered yet, and the government was tight in budget, as building the Eternity of Return, financing project Ad-Infinitum, and the reconstruction of New Prague in Uranus had cost dozens of trillions of solar units over the last two decades. President O’Donnell was not a pacifist either, but he knew well that they could not afford a war. 

They returned to the hall to inform the president’s ultimate decision. Soon they were going to have their hands full, but the hardest thing was going to be to put their differences apart if they wanted to work with the PFSR.