“It’s starting,” Paul said. “Jetstream’s interview was only the first step in the countercampaign. DCW and BAE will have more media on-air soon.”
“Hopefully enough to drown out those idiots,” Anne added. “And even if not…”
“... I’ll be on Skyguard.” The thought was strangely comforting. “Away from this mess.”
“Not saying there won’t be social media circuses up there, too, but it’ll be of a different kind. Even the most unrepentant murderers have been off-limits to social media criticism once they’re on Skyguard.”
“Probably because their life expectancy isn’t that great.”
“Don’t you dare say that,” Anne’s voice was harsh. “Don’t you dare think that. Not for one second. You are going to be fine.”
“I intend to do my best.”
“Promise me, Andrew.”
“.... I promise I will do everything I can to stay alive on Skyguard. No unnecessary heroics.”
“And on that note,” Paul gently interjected, “there’s a few things we need to finish up before moving, or before the Sled arrives. Your legal affairs, for one - have you decided how you want your money to be managed while you’re on Skyguard?”
I shrugged. “You and Anne should have it.”
“Andrew… think for a minute. Even leaving aside your stake in BAE-Dragonfly, you have literal millions of dollars in your accounts.”
“Look, it’s not like I’ll need money up there. Anything Skyguard needs gets delivered via the Sled.”
“Don’t you want some spending cash?”
“For what? Space Amazon?”
“I was thinking you might want to donate to charities, buy presents for people, maybe for the Phoenixes.”
“Fine, I’ll talk to the lawyer.”
“And get him to fill your payment application.”
“All right. Can I at least make Anne and you power-of-attorney holders?”
“Of course. And while we’re at it, you should answer your messages. Anne tells me a lot of people have been writing to you in the last day.”
“I sorted out the spam and the hate mail,” Anne added helpfully, “but there’s quite a few messages from ultras. And soldiers. And regular folks who want to say thank you.”
I grimaced. “Can’t you just read it and tell me?”
“I have a mailbox of my own to go through, thanks. Besides, some of the stuff is, um, not stuff I should be responding to.”
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My mailbox was ‘overflowing’ in the way the Mississippi was ‘a little wet’.
Most of the messages were thank-yous from Tanisporters. Some from parents whose kids attended Everard High School.
Three teachers, too. Two of them had been in the school during the attack.
I could understand why Anne hadn’t been keen on the responses, though. Turns out that when you save a city’s worth of people, you get propositioned. A lot.
Doubly so when you just lost your girlfriend.
Some of the messages were way too graphic for Anne. I cautiously deleted the more brazen ones (including those with attached video) before moving the entire list into a separate folder.
There were messages from ultras, too. Those I took the trouble to respond to personally. It was always best to be respectful to someone who might someday become an ally.
One of the messages stood out.
The first time I’d seen Dyzer, he’d been posing tough questions to Supreme. The next time had been when we were assembling to fight for Tanisport. He seemed a no-nonsense guy, focused on getting the job done.
I recalled him being impressed by the Wolf Armour.
The message had an attached video. Curious, I clicked on the link.
On screen, a fully armoured Dyzer sat in a metallic chair.
“Belessar,” he greeted me. “I hope this message finds you well. Over the last few days, I’ve been privileged to play a role in the defence of Tanisport, and have found this to be a city filled with selfless, dedicated individuals. Many of your fellow American colleagues have given their all to protect the city. Including Supreme.” The inventor paused for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. “You may recall our first interaction in London - I was less than impressed by Supreme’s attitude. However, with the events of the last few days, I have had the opportunity to reflect. Whatever his faults might have been, when called to protect, Supreme did his duty. In that sense, I stand guilty of having misjudged him at London - an omission I would do much to correct. I regret, now, that I did not express trust in him before it was too late.
“I would do much to rewind the clock and remove the bad blood between myself and Supreme. Sadly, time travel is a power that will never be ours; therefore the only thing I can do is make amends. It is my intention to do so in a personal capacity, and I have reached out to Supreme’s estate to convey my respects to his kin.
“I hope you will not take it amiss if I offer you some advice. If you feel that my words are crossing a line, then I beg forgiveness in advance. Please know that my intentions are only to heal wounds and save others the regret that I have now experienced.
“Over the last twenty-four hours, I have seen several remarks by other heroes in Tanisport which may be construed as attacks on your person, character and integrity. It saddens me that we have survived assault by the aliens, only to fall prey to squabbling amongst ourselves. It is with that intention that I have sought to reach out to Lady Lumina and her group, to propose a mediation between them and you.
“In my day-to-day life, I am an accredited professional mediator. For obvious reasons, I cannot offer you any more formal proof than my word. However, it is my view that a meeting between you and the other Tanisport heroes might help to heal the rifts and de-escalate the conflict. I understand that you are likely to be called up to Skyguard soon; if possible, I recommend that you leave for that most difficult position with no regrets and no unfinished business.
“If you are willing, I will volunteer my services to mediate a resolution to your conflict with Lady Lumina and her peers. Perhaps being both an ultra and a mediator, I can help you breach the walls of mistrust and come to a mutually respectful agreement. In case you are willing to consider this, please let me know.”
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Paul paused the recording. “It sounds legitimate to me.”
“Should I go for it?”
“I think so. The worst that can happen is that you and Lumina fail to agree. However, speaking to her would go a long way towards derailing the conspiracy theory.”
“She could refuse to believe.”
“Then at least you’ll have tried. Take precautions against any traps, but otherwise, you should go ahead.”
“Should I call Moira? I don’t want a repeat of Logan Jacobs.”
“This is a negotiation between ultras, not a PR contest. I don’t think Moira will help. The problem is that Lumina and the others believe what they’re saying.”
“I still find it hard to believe they’d come up with something this far-fetched.”
“I think Atlas-Grunnig is probably feeding them the theory. Prove that false, and you can at least persuade her to dial it down a bit. As for Soundwave - a little bribery should do the trick.”
“.... you want me to go in there and bribe a popular hero. In front of Lady Lumina and her peers.”
“It’s not a money bribe. From what I’ve seen - and heard - of your interactions with Soundwave, he seems to be jealous of you.”
“Wait - why would he be jealous? He’s been an established inventor longer than I have. Hell, he has that multi-million dollar contract with the headphone company.”
“It took him several years to get there, and you did it in less than one. Being outperformed that way is going to make him jealous … and a little bitter. So when someone proposes that maybe you’re not a single inventor but a bunch of scientists working together, he would latch on to that.”
“Because it means maybe I’m not actually better than him.”
“Precisely. If you prove that you’re a single person who invented several different types of technology, then it helps with Lumina but doesn’t address Soundwave’s resentment. You can, however, placate him by offering technology.”
“You want me to give him free technology?”
“I want you to offer him the schematics for the plasma grenade. A dozen working prototypes plus what you know, in return for him figuring out the mass production methods - and you each share the intellectual property rights fifty-fifty.”
I frowned. “The plasma grenades are - well, I wouldn’t say ‘not dangerous’, but they’re a bit underwhelming.”
“Compared to what you can offer? Sure. They’re supposed to be. In any case, you hadn’t planned to move them to mass production for a while.”
“They would need a very different type of fabricator.”
“Which is why you outsource the R&D for this one. Keep half the IP but let him do the hard work of developing the mass production variant. And route it through a different corporation, not BAE-Dragonfly.”
“... but why?”
“Because right now, you’re too dependent on BAE. You need to have options in case something goes wrong.” Paul held up a hand to forestall my protest. “While I trust the BAE folks - and the British government - this is a completely different tech. One they haven’t expressed much interest in. And you never know what happens - the next election could result in a new government in power, walking back some of the promises. Best to lay the groundwork for a backup now, and give Soundwave something to keep him happy in the process.”
“Okay, tech transfer for Soundwave. What about the others? Viking and Quintana?”
“Viking will probably follow Lumina’s lead. Quintana - I don’t know, but if you can get Lumina and Soundwave to agree to move to a state of ‘neutrality’, then the others may come around. And regarding Agni - they’ll probably want you to make a statement condemning her.”
“No way.”
“Of course not, but that’s not your goal here. You should propose that since Agni is a divisive issue, neither you nor the Tanisport ultras will make any statements or run any public campaigns about her actions. You will also not run any campaigns opposing the statements of the U.S. government on Agni.”
“You want me to keep quiet about Agni?”
“Agni’s reputation today does not need you to defend it, Andrew. She held off the Walking Fortress and stopped a massed nuclear bombardment of Tanisport. The world knows it, the Stratospheric Guard knows it, and General Xavier knows it. There are a thousand voices that will defend her today.”
“I won’t lie if someone asks me about her.”
“You won’t have to. We’ll get the lawyers to draft up a statement about what you will - and won’t - say or do about Agni. You’re not planning on running a campaign to have her canonized, and you won’t endorse the use of her image to sell any commercial products or for political reasons.”
“Of course not.”
“But Lumina and the others don’t know that, do they? Convince them that you will give up any such uses - stuff which you wouldn’t anyway do - in return for their silence on the matter, no comments about Agni or her actions from them either. They don’t know what you want to do. Give them something you don’t want in return for something you do.”
“... I have the strangest feeling I’ve heard this advice before.”
Paul chuckled. “Ask your sister.”
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That night, I called Dyzer back.
“Belessar, good to hear from you.” Like me, Dyzer was wearing his armour.
“Thanks, Dyzer. I thought about it, and I’m amenable to negotiations.”
“That’s great. I’ve already reached out to Lumina and the others; they’re willing to meet, in person, and discuss their concerns. However, they did make a few requests.”
“What type of requests?”
“For starters, they are uncomfortable with you bringing too much firepower to the meeting. They don’t want to be intimidated into submission. Which, as I understand, is not your desire either.”
“I’m not coming unarmed.”
“Nor should you. However, showing up in a thirty-foot-tall mech - or even a fourteen-foot-tall one - might give the wrong impression. Having said that, they intend to be in armour; so I pointed out that you should be, too.”
I frowned. “You want me to show up in nanofibre weave?”
“Actually, no. I understand the armour you used in Liverpool is a significant improvement over that?”
“It’s called Boar armour, and yes.”
“You should come in that. Powerful enough to stand off an attack by them if needed, but not so overpowering that they see it as intimidation. If you’re amenable to the idea, then I will persuade them to accept it.”
I did a quick mental calculation.
If it came to a fight - which was the worst case scenario - the Boar Armour offered enough survivability to let me get to a position of relative safety. Besides, I could equip enough ordnance on it to really mess up anyone’s day, and then teleport out.
No Hellfires or Skyfalls, but those wouldn’t be my weapons of choice for the Tanisport ultras anyway.
“That works for me,” I replied, “but they can’t bring heavy weapons or reinforcements of their own.”
“I can get them to agree to that,” Dyzer replied. “Plus, as insurance, I will also be there at the meeting in my own suit. While it’s not much compared to yours, it will add another layer of deterrence against unfortunate misunderstandings.”
“Maybe we should have several neutral observers.”
“The trouble is trying to identify - and guarantee - true neutrals. The Tanisporters won’t trust anyone you suggest, and you won’t trust anyone they suggest. My, er, considerable skills have gone into making sure they trust me in the first place. In any case, if things do devolve into violence, we can have other ultras - and the military - arrive there in less than a minute to intervene.”
“Less than a minute, huh? Where are we meeting exactly?”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to keep that confidential for now, from both sides. It’ll be within Tanisport, a sufficiently open space, and with plenty of room for both parties to gracefully withdraw in case you cannot reach a negotiated agreement.”
“... I’m not too keen about walking into a potential trap.”
“Neither are they, so I had to give them my word that you wouldn’t know the location either. I do ask for a little trust, Belessar.”
Oh well. It’s not like I couldn’t teleport anywhere in the city if needed. “Fine. When’s the meeting?”
“Tomorrow morning, eleven a.m. I’ll send everyone the exact coordinates twenty minutes in advance. It’ll be near the centre of the city, a short walk from 16th Street. At least, if you believe what Google Maps tells me.”
I chuckled. “I’ll take your word from it. I assume the others won’t start from 16th Street?”
“I’ve given them another location which is also a twenty minute walk from there. We’ll take every precaution to make all of you feel safe. Belessar - please bear in mind this is meant to be a peaceful resolution. I’d ask you to listen with an open mind, and I’m asking the same of them.”
“We might not agree, you know.”
“That’s fine. As long as both parties give it a sincere try, you may find that you have some middle ground. I’ll let you know if anything else comes up.”