Her down-home, beguiling manner caused everyone to invariably underestimate her. This never happened more than once to anyone with any common sense. When Muzeal replaced Trah Zoizuh (a man who invariably came across as sleazy and boorish because he was), on the Committee of One Hundred, he let it “leak” to the press that he thought she was a softy, not worthy of the position. When they met for the first time at the swearing in, Muzeal said “Trah (no way she intended to call him Mr. Zoizuh), I’m sorry we didn’t meet ten years earlier. I’m told you used to be a great man.” The Septadian ambassador summed it up best when he said, “Her naïveté is surpassed only by her cunning.” Muzeal was somewhere between Ma Kettle on the outside and Margaret Thatcher on androgen cream on the inside.
“You know,” Muzeal said, “I have two cousins living in the rebel area. They are sympathetic to some of the issues of the revolution, that’s why they never left, but to my knowledge, they never personally supported Rennedee and have never born arms against us. I love them dearly and I am proud of them. They are good, honest, hard-working people, and both have families.” She paused. “I’m sorry to interject my own personal feelings, but for my own conscience I must mention them. You have my approval to use the power of the Cube, if required.”
Rommeler turned to the man on his right. “General, we’ve discussed this several times in private, but for the record, give us your opinion please.”
“Sir,” said Raton, “I am confident we will not be forced to use the Rankin Cube as a weapon. Major Rommeler will kill Rennedee on Earth. We have chosen the right man and he is backed up by the best unit in our military. But if we can not defeat the rebels here within two to three weeks, which is very possible but not at all assured, or if Major Rommeler cannot stop Rennedee on Earth, I believe we should turn the power of the Cube against the rebels.”
“I now call for a vote,” said the Chairman. “All in favor of using the Rankin Cube against the rebels, please signify by saying “aye.”
All said “aye,” and all raised their hands.
“Any opposed, signify by the same sign.”
There were none.
There was visible relief. It was done. Everyone knew they had just made the most important decision in their lives. But even before they could start to unwind, the Chairman said, “Unfortunately, we have answered only half of the question.”
There was silence, broken only by that look of What? on everyone’s face.
“We must now decide when we will be willing to unleash the power of the Cube. Rather than take the chance that Rennedee might return with the nuclear weapons, should we consider a preemptive strike with the Cube and end the conflict now?” said the Chairman.
“What,” Redd blurted out. “What! A preemptive strike?” he said with a look of both amazement and disgust.
Ricc’e visibly stiffened. Blanck started to stand up then sat back down and spun his chair to the rear, as if it would be able to distance him from the question. Muzeal just looked down and ran her fingers over the wood grain of the table. If there was one thing Wir-Gardena didn’t like it was surprises, and this was a doozy. He looked straight at the Chairman and then at General Raton with a stare neither had been subjected to before. The others just shook their heads.
“General,” said the Chairman looking at Raton with a nod, “should we make a preemptive strike?” The Chairman then repeated himself, so as to give everyone a little more chance to regain their composure. “Should we make a preemptive strike?”
“I was the one who raised the possibility with the Chairman,” said Raton. “It’s a standard military option whenever your opponent has the capability to destroy you or inflict very serious damage. Should we strike first? There is no more difficult a question. You are trading one uncertainty for another. The uncertainty of victory or defeat is replaced by: Did we need to do it?”
People were starting to calm down with Raton’s explanation of the facts and decision-making process. Blanck spun his chair back around to face the table.
“In general,” continued Raton, “the deciding factor is the likelihood the event will occur. If your opponent has the ability to destroy you and it is inevitable they will attack, then the decision is clear—you must attack first. In our situation that’s not inevitable. If Rennedee gets to Earth, I put the chance that he will be able to obtain the weapons at 50 to70 percent. Against this is a 40 to possibly as high as 60 percent chance that Major Rommeler will be successful in stopping him on Earth. Even if Rennedee is successful in obtaining the weapons, I put the chance that we might be able to defeat the rebels within the next two weeks before he can return at 20 to maybe 30 percent. The bottom line is that the chance Rennedee could return to Oria with nuclear weapons and be in a position to use them is low, but unfortunately, is not zero. It is very real. I estimate it to be at least 10 percent, and it could be as high as 20 to even 25 percent.”
The Chairman knew this would be controversial in the extreme, the discussion could be rancorous and emotional, and that he might even lose control of the meeting. But he needn’t have worried. Raton had barely finished when Wir-Gardena instantly stepped in. “Mr. Chairman, we could debate this issue all day. It is a question of military judgment that none of us ever had to consider or even contemplate before. It is outside of our areas of expertise.”
Wir-Gardena looked at Raton. “General, what do you recommend?”
“I recommend we do not make a preemptive strike,” said Raton.
“I trust your opinion, I support it, and I agree,” added Wir-Gardena.
“Is there any further discussion?” said the Chairman as he looked around the room. There was none.
“I apologize that the way I introduced the issue caused undue concern,” said the Chairman. “That, of course, was not my intention. However, it was an issue that needed to be mentioned.
“In summary, you have given me the authority to use the power of the Cube, should the situation dictate. I will seek the counsel of General Raton and whomever else may be required, but the final decision will be mine.
“Is there any further discussion?” There was none.
The meeting was clearly due to end. “I would be remiss,” said the Chairman, “not to caution you to not mention the substance of this meeting, or even that it was held, to anyone, including other members of the Committee of One Hundred. Absolute secrecy is essential. We must bear this responsibility ourselves.”
As soon as the meeting concluded, Geneen Ricc’e headed to her office. Within three hours she had transferred more than 90 percent of her personal assets to the home planet of the Septadians, the safest planet in the galaxy.
Chapter Four
Oria and Odibee Rankin
The four inner planets of the Earth’s solar system are of the terrestrial type, with a small dense mass and rocky surface made mostly of the heavy elements. The next four planets are much more massive, with a thick atmosphere made of light elements and without a solid surface. Pluto is similar to neither and, depending on who you talk to and which day of the week it is, may or may not be considered a planet.
Oria is the first and largest planet in their twelve planet system. All of the planets are of the terrestrial type and decrease uniformly in size so that the twelfth planet, MA’ton, is only 9 percent of the size of Oria and is sixteen times farther away from Oria, as Oria is from the center of their solar system. All planets lie in the same plane and if they rotate, spin in the same direction.
Infinitely