Narang sat and waited as he fetched a couple of bottled waters. Health nuts both, they’d determined early on that this was their favorite drink. Well, this and caffeine.

“I did the interview, Charlie. I went straight to Navy HQ on Olympus Station and gave them everything we’d talked about.”

“I’m sure it was hard. But you’re not betraying Ivan. It’s what he wanted us to do. I’m positive of that.”

Narang took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I know, but once you start getting into this double-agent-y reverse-double-cross stuff, I find myself wondering exactly who is getting played—them, or us?”

“We can only do what we can do, Maddie.”

“And Ivan doesn’t have the full picture, yet, either. The computer might be playing him.”

“Also a possibility. Same answer, though. At some point, you have to commit.”

Narang closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “We’re playing a dangerous game, Charlie. We’re taking implied advice from Ivan on how to convince the computer not to destroy us or Upload us. No matter how I parse it, it sounds ridiculous.”

“I know, I know,” Kemp replied. “But, as Ivan explains it, it’s the computer we have to convince. Ivan is acting like our lawyer, arguing our case and giving us advice. But once the computer makes a decision, Ivan is helpless. He might, in fact, be worse than helpless; he might be switched off once he’s no longer needed.”

“Well, we’re going to play it the way Ivan hinted at, Charlie. And the military will do their part, whether they realize it or not. Best case, they’ll take our advice about offering the cooperator move. Worst case, they’ll blow him up before the computer can do anything. I think Ivan would consider either outcome acceptable.”

72.Preparations

72.Preparations

The communication station grew steadily. With the addition of the two cruisers, Ivan had enough material to build a radio dish that would be heard all the way to the farthest homes of the Uploads.

He wasn’t sure whether it was more amusing or discouraging that a civilization millions of years old was still depending on radio communications. Or maybe Ralph didn’t feel the need to build the advanced stuff. It was one of those questions the computer was either unwilling or unable to answer.

They would have to wait a minimum of 142 years for a response. Ivan didn’t have nearly enough study courses for that. Maybe he could get Ralph to open up more about galactic civilizations. Otherwise he would discover untold new levels of boredom.