Mutually Assured Destruction (23/?)

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Memory transcription subject: Governor Sam of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: September 1st, 1974

I thanked my human secretary as he handed me the past few reports for the day. Admiral Banlek preferred to glare at him.

As soon as my secretary left, Banlek reached over and reactivated the projector in my desk. Dots of varying sizes flared to life in the air - planets, asteroids, ships.

"I implore you to act," growled Banlek. "Surely the secret will get out soon. We have to solve the problem before it happens!"

Venlil leadership was freaking out over Commander Veln's emergency message. Our involvement at Cuba was exposed, and our allies might not be allies for much longer.

"Not just yet," I said. "We aren't going to turn on our allies because of a mere probability that they might turn on us."

Of course, the humans had comported themselves admirably so far and it was a stretch to think violence was a potential outcome of this revelation.

But when the truth came out, we'd just be another target, smack dab in the middle of their favored hunting ground.

I could tell Banlek was simmering, ready to blow. It'd been a hell of a job gaining the trust of the Navy, especially since almost every Venlil in a position of power was Navy. Selvim had made his impression on them, and his penchant for heroics made my colleagues open and to the point. Brash, even. My predecessor wore his heart on his sleeve - an admirable trait. However, it had more cons than pros in the realm of government.

"How about this?" I took the desk controls and highlighted several points. "Our logistics network is sorely lacking in the outer rim. I'd like delivery hubs placed here, here, here and here, fully staffed. We could get shipments of grain out from there in record time. I'd also like a hub around Mars, to service the Arxur colony. That way we can get greater coverage."

Banlek made a rumbling angry noise before catching on. "Wait… oh. Sure. And you'd like to have… surveys done, right. Make sure we know what everyone needs, to get the right deliveries out."

"Yes. We'll know the moment anyone needs anything. We'll have supplies at their tent-flap before they even ask."

Admiral Banlek laughed so hard, he doubled over wheezing. He looked at me appraisingly, leaning on the desk for support.

"I don't know whether Selvim would be proud or disgusted of you. You're different, that's for sure. No one quite knows what to make of you."

I pushed my reservations down and watched as Banlek exited my office, going to order our secret fleets to deploy. It'd been pretty easy to do, hiding production values for the Mercury shipyards and funneling away the occasional cruiser while the rest went to the Human-Venlil defense fleets. And these hidden ships were equipped with the best of the best, the things we'd assured the humans would be utterly impossible, we'd tried it, to look into it would be an enormous waste of time and resources. The pocket sand, the hidden weapon. Our final solution.

Banlek knew what to do. Put these hidden ships at strategic points throughout the solar system, poised to deliver relativistic buckshot towards the oblivious human fleets the moment they showed any sign of turning on us. It was like dealing with a friend while holding them at gunpoint under the table should they do the wrong thing. Dishonorable. Cruel. But very, very effective. About as effective as a handful of tungsten "grain" traveling at half lightspeed. Selvim had been nothing if not effective. But enough warmongering. I had civilian work to do.

There was a general order for all Venlil civilians to prepare to leave Earth. My decision. A preemptive measure to get the civilians out of harm's way when the humans learned the truth and started rioting.

Also, my rational brain thought, because then we could bomb Earth indiscriminately without regard for Venlil casualties.

I didn't want to do that. Earth was a rarity, escaping almost unscathed from the wars that shook the galaxy. It would not do to turn Earth into another wasteland; those were far too common. But if push came to shove…

Venlil passenger liners had landed at several strategic points. Families had their things packed, their apartments kept in spartan simplicity. My people were poised for something. But for what?

Other than that, it was business as usual in the highly isolated Venlil enclaves. The only discrepancy was from the Ministry of Truth, Commandery 7 - the branch in charge of censorship for the Venlil in what the humans called China and Mongolia. It looked like the Venlil there had been exposed to the local customs of ancestor worship, which was straying dangerously close to historical records of an unauthorized religious group that was stamped out some centuries ago.

Apparently, the cult worshiped 'the Ancients,' a hypothetical predecessor to the Venlil that was exterminated by the Federation. Of course, the existence of such ancients had been proven false, but the censors seemed to be freaking out over it. Might as well check Selvim's old forbidden library to check it out. Maybe I might find something.

It also looked like an enclave of Venlil in Commandery 4 - Eastern Bloc were pushing against their ordered protocols, if only for a day. Something about a goodbye festival. Given the locations, I wasn't really surprised. We did integrate with the steppe humans better than most. I tweaked the logistics of it and sent out a new schedule. That way our ships wouldn't have to wait on the Hungarian Venlil and work in less hospitable sectors. Like here, in Commandery 1 - United Nations HQ.

I was far into my paperwork when I heard the door opening. I looked up from my tablets to see Betty rushing into my office, followed by my harried secretary.

"What's going on, Sam? I'm getting reports that y'all are pulling out."

"Pulling out? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Sam. I have sources, you know. You've ordered a general evacuation of all Venlil on Earth. Why?"

"Well-"

"Don't bother lying to me, Sam. You're a terrible liar. What's wrong? You can tell me. I won't bite. Promise."

"Don't worry about that, Betty. Everything's fine." Everything was most definitely not fine, but I could use that. I put a tremble in my voice, let the old, nervous adjutant forced into power come through. It was less familiar than I thought it should be.

Betty sighed, but she didn't push. Instead, she sat down across from me.

"You know, we used to think secret squirrel shit was only a human thing."

"Secret… squirrel shit?"

"You know… secret projects, black operations… things you'd have to kill me if you told me about them."

My laugh was hoarser than I meant it to be. "Well, once you develop a government, that sort of thing seems universal."

"Why don't you take a break?"

I looked up from my tablet.

"A break?"

"You know, get away from all the work for a while. Relax, recover. Get the stress out."

"And what about everyone else?"

"Eh, they can deal with it. You're only one person, and everyone else can do fine for a few days, unless you've been micromanaging them. You haven't, right?"

"Pfft. An overly involved leader is the death of empires."

"So take it! It'd be a load off your mind."

I thought for a moment and made my decision.

"You know what? There's a festival in Hungary this week. A Venlil-Human integration event. We might as well show up. It would be improper of me, as Governor of the Venlil Republic, to not show up."

Betty leaned back, expression surprised. "What? Just like that?"

Betty seemed to be thinking something. Whatever it was, she must've put it on the back burner, because she broke out into a smile. It was disconcerting.

"Well, that's just great, Sam. You enjoy yourself, you hear?"

"Erm, sure."

I sat back and watched her go. Poured myself some water from the jug in my desk. The Venlil liquor was still there, but it had been relegated to a ceremonial position. Only guests drank from it now.

A chime from the clock reminded me that my schedule was now cleared. I could do whatever I wanted for the rest of the day. Well, there was one last thing for me to do.

I opened my drawer and pulled out a slim package, a box humans would've used to hold the caffeinated suicide tablets they called chocolate. What was in the box I held was poison to humans as well as Venlil.

Walking out of the office, I caught my secretary about to leave too. He had wife to tend to; pregnant, I remembered. I handed him the box and bid him farewell.

"Open it when you're halfway home. I'm certain you'll like it."

I reflected on it as I walked to my quarters.

The box contained papers. Files and dossiers - everything needed to thoroughly and totally implicate the poor man as a spy. He was a human, foisted onto me by the UN after Selvim went missing; suspicious as all hell, utterly unsubtle - and impossible to get rid of. The most annoying kind of spy. At least the Soviets tried to play at stealth - NATO lacked even the slightest pretense of elegance. Now the Third World - them I had to watch out for.

Well. My secretary might be bumbling, unsubtle, and untouchable - but there was one way to deal with him.

I could turn him, and the best way to do that was with mercy. Show him a knife and offer him your hand. And I just did that. When he stops at the gas station halfway towards his home and makes to fill the dead drop I've stuffed with red herrings, he'll open the box. He'll see exactly what I could've done to him. And he'll come back expecting nothing and promising everything. Why destroy my enemies, when I can make them my friends?

And, of course, he knows what will happen should our little agreement be found out. The Americans are utterly incompetent at spycraft, but I have to say - their secret police is top-notch.