And, as it turned out, humanity also had to survive its own nature. From some of Ralph’s comments, Ivan was beginning to get that this might be the more immediate threat.

If the Makers were willing to help humanity out with some of these issues, then obviously Ivan should be cooperating fully. But there was still the possibility that Ralph’s visit had more sinister consequences. Ralph was strangely reluctant to answer some questions, and Ivan’s spidey sense was starting to twinge.

He needed a strategy for the latter possibility. It would, unfortunately, probably involve deliberately getting himself blown up. He’d have to wing it to a large extent, but some chains of events did seem to be coming together in a way that could be useful.

66.Naval Exercise

66.Naval Exercise

Twelve Navy vessels—four battle cruisers and eight frigates—set out from the Lagrange Four Naval base on a surprise exercise. Aboard the flagship, the cruiser Outbound, Admiral Moore stood watching the bridge crew. A double horseshoe shape on two levels accommodated all the stations required on a Navy ship. Crew spoke quietly into their headsets and worked their panels with no wasted motion. The aura of calm efficiency made Moore nostalgic.

Captain Xuân Lê sat, relaxed but alert, in the Command chair. Trim and clean-cut, his buzz cut immaculate, the captain was a graduate of the new Naval Academy. Moore still wasn’t completely convinced of the value of the changes, but so far Lê seemed competent enough.

A buzz of focused activity showed off the crew’s skill. Moore felt the nostalgia turn to regret. He’d always wanted to make admiral, and it had seemed like the pinnacle of his career at the time; but he admitted now that the days commanding a vessel had been the most enjoyable part of his time in the Navy.

Lê glanced in his direction, but would wait for the admiral to volunteer information or give orders. In an exercise, unless Moore spoke up, he was invisible.

Bentley had put together a masterful piece of detective work, collating and integrating observation and tracking data not only from the base, but several traffic control centers and shipyards in the Earth/Moon system. The resultant trajectory had considerable scope for error, but they at least had a general direction for the Mad Astra. Lê raised an eyebrow at the specified coordinates, but followed orders without comment.

Moore smiled. A rescue exercise at close to perpendicular to the ecliptic was unusual, but not unheard of. The whole point of exercises, after all, was to practice activities that wouldn’t be routine.