Read Online The End of All Things #2: This Hollow Union by John Scalzi - Free Book Online

was beginning to wonder if I should have assigned her a security detail. I also wondered when she was going to speak again.
    That, at least, was answered momentarily. “None of us is innocent,” she said, forcefully. The chaos began to settle. “ None of us is innocent,” she said again. “The Colonial Union and the Conclave, those from Earth and those outside of our governments. All of us have people who saw weaknesses, who saw pressure points, and who saw ways to use our own ways and stubbornness against us. This threat is real. This threat is both practical and existential. If it isn’t met by all of us, all of us are likely to be destroyed.”
    “You are the enemy!” someone shouted to Abumwe.
    “I may be,” Abumwe said. “But right now, I’m not the enemy you should worry about.” She walked off the podium, to a rising chorus of anger.
    *   *   *
    “How dare you,” Unli Hado spat at Abumwe.
    We were in the conference room adjacent to Tarsem’s public office, the impressive one he used for formal events. In the room were Tarsem, me, Oi, Lause, Abumwe, Hado, Sca, Byrne, Lowen, and Harry Wilson; essentially, representatives of every group called out in Abumwe’s speech. Tarsem had us all pulled into the room immediately after the speech.
    “How dare you,” Hado said again. “How dare you question my loyalty, or the loyalty of my nation to the Conclave. How dare you suggest that any of my people would conspire against it, or conspire with you. ”
    “I didn’t dare, Representative Hado,” Abumwe said. She sat at the conference room table, impassive. “I merely told the truth.”
    “The truth!” Hado said. “As if the Colonial Union had ever bothered with that particular concept.”
    “Where is Utur Nove, Representative Hado?” Abumwe asked. “Our information about him tells us that he was a diplomat of some note among the Elpri. If you doubt the information that we’ve provided, why not ask him?”
    “I’m not obliged to stay apprised of the whereabouts of every member of the Elpri diplomatic corps,” Hado said.
    “That may be, but it’s of interest to me,” Oi said. “And I’ve just looked at the cached version of his information. We have Utur Nove allegedly retired for several Elpri years, and offered a sinecure at a research foundation. The foundation’s contact information for Nove has him ‘on sabbatical,’ with no additional information.”
    “Are you serious, Director Oi?” Hado said. “The absence of information is not the same as the presence of information. I knew Utur Nove. There is nothing in his past that even suggests he would act against Elpri or the Conclave.”
    “Not against Elpri, I’m sure,” Oi said. “But against the Conclave?”
    “What is that supposed to mean?”
    “It means that you have been immensely critical of the Conclave recently. It’s not unreasonable to assume you are offering a perspective shared by your government at large.”
    “I have been critical of them! ” Hado flung an arm in the direction of Abumwe, who continued to sit impassively. “These humans, who represent the single largest material threat to the Conclave in our history. Or have you forgotten Roanoke, Oi?” Hado turned to Tarsem. “Have you, General?”
    “I don’t recall the Colonial Union pretending to be an ally, Hado,” Oi said.
    “Do that again,” Hado said, turning his attention back to Oi. “Accuse me of treason one more time, Director Oi.”
    “Enough, both of you,” Tarsem said. Hado and Oi quieted. “No one will accuse anyone here of treason, or of faithlessness to the Conclave.”
    “It’s too late for that, General,” Sca said, speaking for the first time. It glowered at Abumwe.
    “Then let me say it plainly,” Tarsem said. “ I have not accused either you or Unli Hado of treason or faithlessness, nor will I. In this particular case, this is a statement that matters.”
    “Thank you, General,” Sca said, after a moment. Hado said