Chapter 9: Higher Authority

"You can't be serious," protested Trinity as Neo finished relating his encounter with the machines to her. She was slightly upset with him for insisting that he go alone, though she was more irked at having to admit that he was right than at the outright act of going. Still, he had put himself in enough danger to considerably jangle her nerves, and, it now appeared, for relatively no useful information. "You really think they don't know?"

"Why would they lie to us?" Neo seemed surprised that anyone would even question the validity of the machines' claim.

Trinity sighed and took another sip of the lukewarm coffee in her mug. The entire crew was seated in the mess hall discussing their next plan of action. She hadn't really expected an easy answer, but the lack of any answer at all made her decidedly nervous. Her instincts told her the machines likely weren't innocent, but she knew that Neo was better attuned to them than she was. Her mind had been biased by years of war. Besides, to question the machines' honesty on one matter would bring it into question on every matter including the peace agreement. And that was the last thing anyone wanted.

"Oh, I don't know," said Sparks dryly. "Any reason from they get a kick out of it to they want to keep their city alive by sucking the living daylights from thousands of innocent humans. No offense, Neo, but why wouldn't they lie?"

"Hey," interjected Kid. "Leave him alone."

"Oh, so now you're the One's personal watchdog?" shot back Sparks.

"Leave me alone," said Kid, his voice rising in pitch and volume.

"Enough," said Trinity, running a hand irritably through her hair. "The last thing we need is to start fighting with each other."

"Thought this was a discussion," mumbled Sparks in a voice she could barely make out.

"Sparks," said Niobe, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Sorry, captain," he muttered. It was unclear whether he intended this to Trinity or Niobe. Trinity decided to just settle for silence and not push it at the moment. There would be time for discipline later, if needed.

"All right then," said Niobe, taking control of the discussion momentarily. Trinity leaned back in her chair, mentally thanking her first officer. "We've got a problem here. The machines say they don't know anything. Some of us believe them. Some of us don't. What are we going to do about it?"

"Have one giant sparring match and see which side kicks the other's ass," muttered Sparks sarcastically.

"That's enough," warned Trinity, barely able to control the anger in her own voice. "Ghost? Link?"

Link shook his head, dark dreadlocks rearranging themselves on his shoulders.

"I don't like this. I don't like it one bit."

"Just what we need, another doomsday prophet," said Sparks. He melodramatically clamped a hand over his mouth as all eyes turned to glare at him.

"Ghost?" asked Trinity again.

Ghost shook his head thoughtfully.

"I don't know, Trinity. I can only suggest that you do what I do when I am in a difficult position."

"What's that?" she asked, curious despite herself. Ghost never failed to have an interesting answer.

"Seek the knowledge of a higher authority."

"Well, well," said Niobe, "that's the first valuable suggestion yet."

"So what then?" asked Kid nervously. "We go back to the Council?"

Trinity nodded slowly.

"I think that might be our best plan of action."

"Wait," said Neo, pushing back his chair. "We can't go to the Council yet. Not when we're fragmented like this. They'll tear us to bits in a matter of minutes."

"I don't think we really have a choice, now that you mention it. We're not authorized to act diplomatically besides getting what information we can, and probing farther will require discretion. You know Lock would throw us in the stockade without so much as a thought if he felt we were doing anything to jeopardize the peace."

Neo sighed, and she knew that she had won.

"Besides, we'll have plenty of time on the way back to agree on a concrete position," said Trinity, looking pointedly at Sparks. "Niobe, set in a course for Zion."

Niobe made her way into the Core silently, not wanting anyone aware of her presence immediately. She knew she should be making her way back to her cabin—it was already late at night—but somehow the day's events had sufficiently unsettled her to make sleep a faraway thought. Ghost was seated at the Matrix feed console, assigned the graveyard shift. He turned instinctively despite Niobe's attempted stealth.

"Captain?"

"Not anymore, Ghost," said Niobe quietly.

"Sorry…Niobe," said Ghost uncomfortably. "Old habits die hard."

Niobe sighed and sat down in the chair next to Ghost's. She had been debating whether or not to share her concerns with anyone, but Ghost had always been her most trusted officer, and she needed an unbiased opinion.

"What's wrong?" asked Ghost, reading her mind as always.

"Tell me, Ghost. What happened today? In that discussion?"

He sighed thoughtfully, dark eyes full of distance.

"Neo stood up for the hard side of the argument. Kid did what he does best, which is to follow blindly. Sparks panicked, and took it out on everyone in typical Sparks fashion. And Trinity…is trying very hard to run this ship diplomatically, though I think she'd much rather just act on her own instincts."

"And if she did? Would the crew support her?"

Ghost frowned at her.

"By Zion law, they would be required to."

Niobe smiled a little at his logic. Ghost was playing with her, in his own way, attempting to get more information out of her than she could get from him, though he'd never admit it.

"But would they?"

"What are you asking me, Niobe?"

"Are you and Sparks loyal to Trinity now, or to me?" said Niobe at last, through gritted teeth. "I'm not accusing you, Ghost, but as you said, old habits die hard."

"I am loyal to my captain," said Ghost noncommittally. "Sparks I cannot speak for." He reached forward and tapped a few keys, switching the search area on the monitors. It was an excuse to pause for a moment before he asked the next question. "What about you, Niobe? Who are you loyal to?"

Niobe resisted the urge to bite her nails, a childhood nuisance that resurfaced every once in a while when she was feeling the pressure especially severely. She hadn't wanted to admit it to herself, but it was exactly his question that had been haunting her since that afternoon.

"I'm loyal…to the truth," she said finally. "Whatever that means."

"But whose truth?" asked Ghost. "Would you go against your captain if it meant standing up for your truth?"

"Maybe," answered Niobe slowly. "I don't know, Ghost. She's a good captain, and a better friend, but this is just such a sticky situation. There are a million ways she could go wrong. Any one of us could. I don't know what I'd do if that's what it came down to."

"When the going gets tough…" said Ghost, offering her a hint of a smile.

Niobe laughed.

"Why, Ghost, I like your philosophy."

The smile blossomed into a rare grin.

"That has to be a first."

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