Shades of Trust

[Ethan Neufeld 0]

Some minor details to plan remained: how they’d go about finding Ford, team assignments, radio frequencies, timing, et cetera. As Pher had mentioned, there was also the critical need to decide when it would be safe to deliver medical aid to the current casualties and who would go. But, having outlined the key points of his idea, which dealt primarily with Ford, Ethan quietly scrutinized Shane as he waited for more input or for Troy to make his decision.

 

Shane was the only member of the Qob who had weighed in on the idea as yet and had predictably opposed it at first. The only point with which Shane had initially agreed was forcibly retaking control of the computer from Ford. But Ethan felt that was best left as a last-ditch move and declined to debate any of it with the cybornetic engineer. Let Troy decide the merits of what he was hearing and deal with whatever obstacles that might arise: that was the burden of command. It wouldn't have served anyone for Ethan to start a debate with Shane.

 

Still, he might have made a persuasive argument. He wasn’t talking simply because he liked the sound of his voice; though different, his expertise was just as real as Shane’s. But Ethan didn’t like the idea of discussing his references with just anyone and not with most of those currently present. Nor did they have the time to argue.

 

That Shane thought negotiating was pointless aside, one of Shane’s chief disputes with Ethan’s idea was that severing hard-lines into Ford’s location would endanger lives. But, by ‘temporarily sever’ and as Tomar had apparently understood, Ethan had meant temporarily diverting control through a hard-line method to prevent software bypasses. The more critical systems that required constant monitoring, like M/A and Fusion Reactor Controls and the fuel pods, would remain untouched. The systems Ethan wanted to target were weapons, helm and navigation, life-support, and doors -- all systems that wouldn’t become an immediate hazard if there was a brief gap in monitoring -- and bypasses would occur only at human interface points, leaving connections to the core intact. The ship’s orbit would take several hours to decay, and they’d have enough air to survive, assuming they started soon enough to retake control before it was depleted. The idea was to wrest control without permanently or dangerously crippling the ship and give them the chance to approach and subdue Ford.

 

It seemed Shane wanted to take a more complicated route if he couldn’t just kill Ford; keep fighting electronic warfare with electronic warfare. But, in Ethan’s opinion, there were enough software tricks going on in the Capricorn’s century-old computer; using the very links to which Ford was objecting would only escalate him, and breaking encryptions would take time they might not have. It was foolhardy to rely on that as their only contingency and Ethan could have expounded on that concept at length.

 

But he’d held little faith that any of it would change Shane’s mind coming from him. Nor had he believed it would sway Shane's cooperation if he’d pointed out that the cuffs were just a show to put Ford in a sense of security and talking mood. It was unlikely that Ford would talk under any other circumstances, and negotiating was the only way they could remotely expect to gain the trust of those following Ford. Ethan didn’t think it would bother Shane to know that if they couldn’t talk Ford down, the situation might ultimately end with crippled relations, more casualties and more damage. But he was almost certain that if positions between Ford and Shane were reversed, Shane would have wanted the same chance to talk and prevent the deaths of his comrades that they wanted to offer Ford. Almost certain. Shane gave every indication that he saw fighting as the only answer and expected nothing less from Ford. There was a chance he might be right.

 

In another place and time, Ethan might not have considered or tried negotiating with someone like Ford, where the lines between friend and foe were thicker. Ford would have been a priority target. But it was different when the lines were blurred and anyone you encountered could easily become friend or informant as much as foe; you had to consider lives and relying on your potential enemy for support. Every risk and gain had to be weighed, and, in this case, they stood to gain more with Ford alive if they succeeded.

 

Shane’s apparent state-of-mind wasn’t the only reason Ethan had anticipated opposition. Shane wasn’t the first member of the Qob or the expedition to distrust or discredit Ethan. Given the pattern of discredit that he’d encountered since Xorax, he harbored some skepticism that anyone -- save maybe Joe -- would be inclined to consider his ideas. Tomar had been another exception. But Ethan couldn’t immediately account for Shane’s capitulation after Tomar showed support of Ethan’s plan. What made Shane trust Tomar -- whom he’d known for less than a day and was the acting captain of the same band of pirates that had attacked the expedition -- over Ethan? Was it loyalty to Joe? A loose idea of authority and rank? A sense of kinship? It made Ethan question how well Shane would continue to cooperate once Tomar wasn’t there. Could they trust him to carry through on his part?

 

If Troy decided to use Ethan’s plan, they wouldn't have much of a choice.

Edited September 24, 2011 by Ethan Neufeld