“I exaggerate slightly, of course. Even if I unleashed the lawyers, we wouldn’t do more than damage Admiral Moore in the short term. A Board of Inquiry, possibly, and some fast footwork by the Navy. And if he chose to play up the Baby Rock affair, he would be very unlikely to unwind our strike. However, he could do considerable damage in the short term, as could we.”

“So it’s a standoff,” Kemp said.

“Yes. Admiral Moore assured me that our presumed actions would never see the light of day as long as he didn’t come to work to find a horde of rabid lawyers camped on his porch. We discussed it at some length and came to an understanding.”

Kemp rubbed his face with one hand. “So there’s nothing you can do?”

“I didn’t say that. I simply can’t engage in a frontal assault. But rest assured, Doctor, I will keep digging.”

“And meanwhile, Ivan is now a full-time lab rat.”

Jennings hesitated for a moment. “Hmm, on that subject, Admiral Moore admitted that ‘disappearing’ Ivan for study had been considered, but that they did actually kill him in the detonation. He was quite adamant about it. Despite myself, I’m inclined to believe him.”

“Why? Did he say?”

“He explained that further discoveries made it clear that Ivan was too dangerous to keep around, even as an object of study. He even played the fate of the human race card.”

“Huh.” Kemp walked back to the nuker in response to the ding, and retrieved his lunch. “What about his widow, Captain?”

“The admiral and I discussed that as well. He was surprisingly sympathetic, for an incarnation of pure evil.” Jennings chuckled ruefully. “He suggested that, for the sake of Ivan’s family, it would be best to treat this as a death due to an unknown disease, at least publicly. He also suggested that it would be most appropriate if I took care of the call.”

“Mighty generous of him.”

“Well, I would be doing it in the normal course of affairs, if Ivan had died while on the tour.”

“But they blew him up! Even if you take Moore’s statements at face value.” Kemp could feel himself getting angry, and he stopped to take a few deep breaths.

“We did discuss official stories and such. The admiral suggested a narrative whereby Ivan was the only fatality of the mystery illness, and after his death the module was nuked as a safety measure.”

“And you’re going to go along with that?”

“It sticks in my craw, Doctor. But I’m not the only person I have to worry about. There’s the crew in general, and Ivan’s family in particular. If we were to pursue a course of action that resulted in them not getting access to Ivan’s share of the strike, I think that would be the ultimate betrayal of his desires.”