The Clones of Mawcett (49 page)

Jenetta was shocked by the revelation. “And Captain Gavin was in on all this?”

“No, not fully. He was only instructed to present you with difficult problems, and give you opportunities to solve them, so that you could be evaluated. At first, he was strongly opposed to having a recently promoted Lieutenant Commander as his first officer for the trip to Earth, but your performance so impressed him that he completely reversed his opinion before the ship had even left the spaceport. His reports on you have been so glowing that you'd think he'd invented you in a workshop.”

“Then why did he allow my position on the Prometheus to be filled by someone else? He told me that it would be held for me.”

“That was our doing; mine and the Admiralty Board. After hearing how well you did setting up the new base, we decided that you should remain there for a while, but we couldn't leave a senior post open on an active-duty warship.”

“But why was I left at Dixon, sir? You must have known that I wanted nothing more than to be on the Prometheus, in any capacity.”

"As I said earlier, we wanted to round out your education a little. You did so well the first month that we felt you could handle the job on an extended basis. A year in a duty assignment like that is very educational. Don't you agree that you've learned a great deal? You've met half the GSC captains in this deca-sector of space, and probably a hundred freighter captains, while learning to manage thousands of people and solve a myriad of problems each day, just as I do here. You were not only responsible for thousands of Space Command personnel, but for a large population of civilian transients as well. If you had stumbled a bit, we had the built-in excuse that you were inexperienced and that you were creating an entirely new command structure. A few serious problems were expected; there are always serious problems on a large base. But you performed beyond everyone's expectations. If there were serious problems, neither Space Command Supreme Headquarters nor I ever heard about them. Dixon, although a border post, has been the quietest base in GA space for the past year.

 “And you actually became a victim of your own courtesies. The word got out that the entire senior staff of every ship stopping at Dixon was invited to have dinner with you, so almost every captain that could find an excuse to visit Dixon, did so. Probably just for the opportunity to meet Jenetta Carver and hear her stories.”

“Was I wrong to show courtesy to the senior officers of the ships?”

“No, not at all, although I've never heard of anyone else doing it on such a consistent basis. Normally, just the captain, and possibly the first officer, is invited to have dinner with the base commander when a ship docks.”

“Then Space Command has been satisfied with my performance at Dixon?”

“Extremely. Every report that I've seen from the ships visiting Dixon have praised your accommodation and re-supply efforts. The merchants that have leased space on the station haven't been complaining to Space Command about anything, unlike merchants at most other bases, and the freight haulers haven't complained about excessive bureaucratic delays. I had considerable trouble getting you away from Dixon when your year was to be up. Some members of the Admiralty Board at Space Command were so pleased with your performance that they wanted to turn Captain Desmond back and leave you on Dixon for a full five-year tour. They even promised me that you'd receive another promotion before your tour was up so you'd be able to move right into your own warship command when you left Dixon. I argued that you could be much more valuable to us elsewhere over the next four-years, even though I wholeheartedly concurred that you should get your own ship after that. We have plenty of good administrators, but few enough line officers like yourself. We argued back and forth for months. The final decision to allow Captain Desmond to relieve you as base commander wasn't made until several days before the Havana actually arrived at the station.”

“I guess that explains why I wasn't given notice that he was arriving. Thank you, Admiral. I appreciate your support and that you were able to have me relieved on Dixon.”

“The Admiralty Board was correct in their assessment of your ability to run that station. Since you left, I've received numerous requests from Captain Desmond for the immediate appointment of additional senior officers to his administrative staff. He claims to be inundated with work and can't comprehend how you were handling it with just one lieutenant as an aide.”

“I didn't really have very much time to teach him my procedures. The Havana was only to be in port for seventy-two hours.”

“Well, that was done at his request. He wanted to get in and take over quickly without any extended goodbyes to the staff from the outgoing Base Commander. He may have been a bit premature in making such a request before acquainting himself with the operation.”

“Yes sir. Are there any plans for me now?”

“There were, but they'll have to be reevaluated in light of the press conference.”

“What should I do about the other interviews?”

“Other interviews?” the admiral said, his eyes widening. “You've scheduled more press conferences?”

“Yes sir. We promised every news service broadcasting the opening statements of the press conference that we'd give them a private 30 minute interview.”

The admiral stared at Jenetta for a few seconds without saying anything. “With your and Eliza's cooperation we might be able to turn this around. It'll be up to the two of you, Commander.”

“If you'll assure me that the clones will have their status settled, I'll do whatever you wish, sir.”

“I can assure you that Space Command is ready to address their status and make a recommendation. I can't speak for the Galactic Alliance Council.”

“That's good enough for me, sir.”

“When are these interviews supposed to start?”

“Tomorrow. We have six scheduled in the afternoon.”

“Okay, Commander. You and Eliza report here tomorrow morning at 0900 hours so that we can rehearse what you'll say.”

“Yes sir. Tomorrow at 0900 hours.”

“You're dismissed, Commander.”

Jenetta stood up, said, “Yes sir” then turned and left the room.

Eliza and Jenetta reported to the Admiral's office the next morning for the interview preparation. The base's information officer was waiting with the Admiral, and over the next couple of hours they discussed the interviews and how to respond to certain questions. The information officer also provided relevant information about the different journalists that would allow Jenetta and Eliza to easily change topics by mentioning certain things that could cause that particular interviewer to go off on a tangent and waste their half-hour in pointless chatter.

Jenetta had arranged for the loan of a small vacant store on the shopping concourse for the interviews, and she and Eliza were waiting there when the first reporter, Cameron Morris, and his cameraman, showed up. It took a few minutes for the cameraman to set up his camera tripod and backdrop so they could began.

“Commander, you made the first statement at the press conference so let me start with you. What will you do now to win basic rights from the Galactic Alliance Council for your sisters and the others from Dakistee?”

“Actually, Mr. Morris, the issue has almost been rendered academic. I learned this morning that Space Command Supreme Headquarters had already addressed the problem. They can't speak for member worlds, so the issue of Terran and Nordakian citizenship will still have to be decided by the Galactic Alliance Council and planetary governments involved, but the Admiralty Board has decided to provide visas to each of the seventy-nine new people that will allow them to travel freely anywhere in the galaxy. The new people were born on Dakistee, with technology legally developed by and for the Dakistee people millennia before the formation of the Galactic Alliance and Space Command. Since Dakistee is within the confines of Galactic Alliance territorial space, Space Command is justified in confiscating and dismantling the cloning equipment, but it considers the new people exempt from personal indictment under a grandfather clause in the Galactic Alliance Charter that addresses the use of pre-existing technology on member and non-member worlds. Space Command is officially considering the seventy-nine 'new' people to be citizens of Dakistee. In fact, they are to be the only Dakistee citizens until a formal government is established on the planet, and immigration privileges become available.”

“Dakistee citizens? Then it really doesn't matter what the Galactic Alliance Council decides? Their status as citizens of Dakistee gives them basic sentient-life rights.”

“It does. The new people have an identity now and can travel freely as Dakistee citizens. Those were our primary concerns. It would be wonderful if they're offered dual citizenship on the planets their originals call home, but if that's withheld, it won't affect them greatly.”

“I see,” Mr. Morris said, mentally crossing out many of the questions that he had intended to ask. “Then let's talk about the new book.”

The rest of the interviews followed a similar pattern that day. The big nightly news lead was the recognition of citizenship rights for the people born on Dakistee, and the granting of galactic visas by Space Command under a provision in the original GA Charter. The pressure was immediately lifted from the Galactic Alliance Council and the issue died out within a few days. After the news had broken, the interviewers only concerned themselves with asking questions about the new book, or about the attack on the Loudescott archeological site by the Tsgardi ship.

Two weeks later, after the matter of the Dakistee Seventy-Nine had once again slipped into the foggy background of the collective subconscious, Jenetta was called to Admiral Holt's office.

She was only kept waiting for ten minutes on this occasion before being sent in to see the Admiral. Walking up to his desk, she came to attention and held it until he turned from his com unit and acknowledged her.

“Commander Jenetta Carver reporting as ordered, sir.”

“Stand easy, Commander. Our attempt to defuse the Dakistee situation has worked better than expected. The G.A.C. is extremely pleased with the solution.”

“That's good news, sir. Now perhaps they'll pass the legislation to give dual citizenship to the Dakistee citizens.”

“Don't press it, Commander; they'll get to it when they can. The good news is that you stopped the nonsense in time to save your career. After reviewing your initial statement at the press conference, the Admiralty Board has decided that your comments were completely innocuous, and if not for the impassioned oratory by Eliza, the conference would probably have had a completely different tone. Since Eliza is not a Space Command officer, she certainly can't be held liable for her remarks. But don't ever think that I don't know you planned it this way. If you ever again feel that you must take action so contradictory to the precepts of the service, I hope you'll come to see me first. I'd hate to see you throw your career away for nothing.”

“Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”

“I've decided that you should have a little time away from here. The Royal Family on Nordakia has formally requested that you come for a visit, so I've arranged transportation for you.”

“But sir, I haven't had a posting in more than five months. I've sat around on the Havana, sat around on Higgins, and now you want to send me to Nordakia? That's a four-month round trip aboard the Prometheus or Chiron, if we only spend a few days there. If I travel by destroyer, it's six months or more.”

“This isn't a request, Commander. You'll travel aboard a Nordakian Cruiser, the Ezillusuh, set to depart two days from now. The Royal Family has also requested that Eliza accompany you. I suppose they want to question you both about your books.”

“I can't speak for Eliza, but I think she'll welcome an opportunity to travel a little after being here on the station for so long.”

“Fine. You understand that she'll be expected to dress the part?”

“You mean as a noble?”