“A colony isn’t a military regiment,” I said.
“No it’s not,” Rybicki agreed. “But the same skills are required. And since you’ve been discharged, both of you have worked in colony administration. You’re an ombudsman—you know how a colony government works and how to get things done. Your wife is the constable here and is responsible for maintaining order. Between the two of you, you have pretty much all the skills you’ll need. I didn’t just pull your names out of a hat, Major. These are the reasons I thought of you. You’re about eighty-five percent ready to go as it is, and we’ll get you the rest of the way there before the colonists head for Roanoke. That’s the name we’ve chosen for the colony,” he added.
“We have a life here,” Jane said. “We have jobs and responsibilities, and we have a daughter who has her own life here as well. You’re casually asking us to uproot ourselves to solve your little political crisis.”
“Well, I apologize about the casual part,” Rybicki said. “Normally you would have gotten this request by Colonial diplomatic courier, along with a full load of documents. But as it happened, I was on Huckleberry for entirely different reasons and thought I would kill two birds with one stone. I honestly didn’t expect I’d be pitching you this idea standing in the middle of a field of sorghum.”
“All right,” Jane said.
“And as for it being a little political crisis, you’re wrong about that,” Rybicki said. “It’s a medium-sized political crisis, on its way to becoming a large one. This has become more than just another human colony. The local planetary governments and press have built this up as the biggest colonization event since humans first left Earth. It’s not—trust me on that—but that fact doesn’t really matter at this point. It’s become a media circus and a political headache, and it’s put the DoC on the defensive. This colony is getting away from us because so many others have a vested interest in it. We need to get on top of it again.”
“So it’s all about politics,” I said.
“No,” Rybicki said. “You misunderstand me. The DoC doesn’t need to get back on top of this because we’re counting political coup. We need to get back on top of this because this is a human colony. You both know what it’s like out there. Colonies live or die—colonists live or die—based on how well we prepare and defend them. The DoC’s job is to get the colonists as prepared as we can get them before they colonize. The CDF’s job is to keep them safe until they get a foothold. If either side of that equation breaks down, that colony is screwed.
“Right now, the department’s side of the equation isn’t working because we haven’t provided the leadership, and everyone else is trying to keep anyone else from filling the vacuum. We’re running out of time to make it work. Roanoke is going to happen. The question is whether we manage to do it right. If we don’t—if Roanoke dies—there’s going to be hell to pay. So it’s better that we do it right.”
“If this is such a political hot potato, I don’t see why throwing us into the mix is going to help things,” I said. “There’s no guarantee anyone will be happy with us.”
“Like I said, I didn’t just pull your names out of a hat,” Rybicki said. “Over at the department we ran a slate of potential candidates that would work for us and would work for the CDF. We figured if the two of us could sign off on someone, we could make the colony governments accept them. You two were on the list.”
“Where on the list?” Jane asked.
“About halfway down,” Rybicki said. “Sorry. The other candidates didn’t work out.”
“Well, it’s an honor just to be nominated,” I said.
Rybicki grinned. “I never did like your sarcasm, Perry,” he said. “I understand I’m dropping a lot on you at once. I don’t expect you to give me an answer now. I have all the documents here,” he tapped his temple, signifying he’d stored the information in his BrainPal, “so if you have a PDA I can send them to, you can take a look at them at your leisure. As long as your leisure is no longer than a standard week.”
“You’re asking us to walk away from everything here,” Jane said again.
“Yes,” Rybicki said. “I am. And I’m appealing to your sense of duty, too, since I know you have one. The Colonial Union needs smart, capable and experienced people to help us get this colony going. You two fit the bill. And what I’m asking of you is more important than what you’re doing here. Your jobs here can be handled by others. You’ll leave and someone else will come in and take your place. Maybe they won’t be as good, but they’ll be good enough. What I’m asking of you two for this colony isn’t something that just anyone else could do.”