by David Weber
"It's got to be you," she said emphatically.
"As the ranking TFN officer in the Rim, you're the only possible choice. And remember what I said earlier; your prestige to i couldn't be higher."" Neither of them had really noticed the courtesy call turning into a political conference, but that, Trevayne realized, was exactly what it had become. He'd already reached the same conclusions, but he'd needed to hash out the problems and objections with someone. And in the loneliness of supreme command, there had been no one.
"I can't do it alone," he began. "I don't know these people..." "But I do,"" the woman said flatly.
Two pairs of dark-brown eyes met, and they were allies. "I can't just make the proclamation out of the blue, though." He resumed his pacing. 'Fhat would defeat the whole purposccence of involving the Rim leadership. I need to meet the key people in this provisional government and arrange for a statement of solidarity from them to follow the announcement. And we need to set up an interim legislative assembly to handle inter-systemic statutory matters. Just the inflation that's bound to overtake a wartime economy will require a mass of bread-and-butter amendments to practically all Federation statutes that specify monetary amounts.
"Good point," Miriam interjected. She cocked her head to one side and looked at him. "I must say, for a professional military man you seem to have quite a good grasp of these things." "I've read a little history." He gave a deprecatory half-smile. "But as I was saying, I need to meet with the loyal leadership unofficially, so it probably wouldn't be a good idea to do it at Government House his "Why not here?" she asked.
Trevayne stopped in midpace. "Why not, indeed? Can you contact the people I need to talk to?" She nodded. "As to when... my schedule isn't too flexible. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stay dirtside." No more than a few days, he thought. Maybe after the trip to Gehenna.
"How about the day after tomorrow, at 1000 hours?" "Day after tomorrow?" he echoed faintly, staring at her. "Weffful," she said reasonably, "these people are scattered all around the planet. I may not be able to get them all together by tomorrow." He nodded slowly. It was a new sensation for him to find himself caught in someone else's slipstream.
"We stvon't have time to bring in anybody from off-planet," she was saying, "but at least Bryan MacFarland--he's an Aotearoan--is already in Prescott City. And, of course, Barry de Parma he's a senior partner in my firm and he's got a finger in every political pie on the planet.
And..." "Make a list. I'll need a briefing on each of them. It shouldn't take too long to..
." His voice trailed off as he looked at the clock. "Bloody Goddamned hell!" he ploded. "Er... excuse me." She choked down a laugh as he adjusted his wrist communicator. "Genji?" "Admiral? I was trying to decide whether or not to call you." "Genii, I'm going to be at Ms. Ortega's a bit longer than I expected. You'd better postpone tonight's appointments. And don't schedule anything for day after tomorrow, at least not i the morning or early afternoon." Two days later, they were once again alone in her sitting room, this time among a litter of scattered chairs and heaped ashtrays. He waved a hand vaguely before his face, as if to brush away the canopy of tobacco smoke. Aside from the chairs and ashtrays, the room was much as before, except for the cloth that covered the easel.
"Well," Miriam said, "I think you've done it." "You had as much to do with it as I did," Trevayne demurred.
"No, it was you. You didn't just win them over to the idea, you overwhelmed them with it. When you announce the Rim Provisional Government, they'll come through right on schedule-and they'll do it because they know you're right.
We'll reconvene the current provisional government as a sort of committee of the whole to organize the Rim Legislative Assembly, then invite all the Rim systems to send representatives." "Good. In fact, I'd like you to move ahead on setting that up right now, but the public announcement is going to have to wait a week or so." "A week?" She cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. "No problem. I'll go ahead and get the messages out--they're going to take a month or so to reach some of the more distant systems--comb why wait that long for the initial announcement? The provisional government can be ready to go in two or three days." "I know. But for now I have to go to the RandD Station, which means a flight to Gehenna, of course.
My chief of staff is organizing a project out there one that's at least as important to the survival of the Rim as what we've started at this end." "Oh? Ready to start producing new weapons?" "How the devil did you know that?" Trevayne stared at her, reminding himself once more never to underestimate this woman.
"What else would you be doing on that dust ball?" she asked dryly. Then she shook her head at him.
"Don't worry--I won't mention a word to anyone. But every Xandy knows what Zephrain RDS has been up to for the last forty years or so, you know.
Not that it matters too much, I suppose; it's hardly likely to get into the rebel news channels, now is it?" "I suppose not," he admitted with a reluctant smfie. "On the other hand, good security is as much a set of mind as anything else, so I'd rather not discuss it just now. And I'd appreciate your keeping mum about it." "Don't worry, I will," she assured him.
"Thanks." He glanced at the clock and stood, picking up his cap. "I've got to go--my shuttle's waiting at Abu'sd--but I'll be in touch directly I get back. I'll want your help on the finishing touches to the proclamation." "Try and keep me away from it!" She also rose, facing him. "You know, I really believe we're going to pull this Off." "So do I. It's not easy to feel pessimistic around you! Besides, I was impressed by your colleagues. I thought I hit it off particularly well with the MacFarland chap." "Yes, I was sure you'd like him. He even sounds like you.
Trevayne almost choked. That God-awful Anzac twang?! Then he threw back his head and laughed for the first time in far too long. She blinked at him in momentary startle-ment, then burst out laughing, too. And then his elbow brushed the easel, and the cloth slipped off.
"Oh, shit," Miriam said quietly.
Trevayne gazed at the charcoal sketch for a long moment, his taueahter dying, his face turning thoughtful. Then he eyed her quizzically.
"Do I really look that grim?" "Yup," she replied, not quite her usual brassy self, but standing her ground. He took a closer look.
"I suppose I've never thought of myself as looking that... harsh." "'Harsh" isn't the word I'd use. "Tough" comes closer. You've got the sort of face that shows absolutely no vulnerability.. And--was her voice was suddenly both gentle and bold his-comt's a pity, because I think you're a very vulnerable man in a lot of ways. One who's been hurt." She stopped abruptly, as if she had surprised herself.
Trevayne looked at the sketch a moment longer, absorbing the closed-off expression her charcoal stick had captured and feeling her words sink under the edge of his armor. The' he turned to face her.
"Yes, I have..." he began, then stopped.
Once more, he wanted to speak of how badly he'd been hurt. But he had to leave. Besides, he knew now that he would tell her everything when he saw her again... and, he realized with dawning surprise, that was enough. What really mattered was knowing there was someone he could talk freely to after so long.
"Ms. Ortega..." "Miriam." "Miriam. As I said, I'll be in contact when I return. And @u.. I'll look forward to talking again." "So will I, Admiral Trevayne." "Ian." "lan." She smiled her vivid smile. They shook hands. He left and walked up the street.
There was a brisk wind off the harbor once more, but the day was cloudless. Some of the same children were playing along the street, and the same small boy smiled at him.
He smiled back.
SEPARATION OF POWERS Genii Yoshinaka had never seen Sonja Desai so angry. To be honest, he couldn't swear he'd ever seen her display so much of any emotion.
"The Admiral must be out of his mind!" she muttered through clenched teeth. "No," she continued, answering herself before Yoshinaka could get a word in, "of course he's not. But we all know what a strain he's been under.... his "Now, Sonja," Yoshinak
a interrupted, all diplomacy, "you know the political rationale for what the Admiral is doing. We've discussed it often enough since arriving in the Rim. And if you feel so strongly about it, why didn't you voice your objections to him when he was on Gehenna?" "Oh, yes, I've heard all the political arguments, and I'm only to happy to defer to the Admiral's judgment on that sort of thing." Her voice held an infinity of exasperation with politics and the other incomprehensible interactions of her fellow humans. "But," she continued, suddenly almost venomous, "I always assumed we were talking about some ceremonial parliamentary talkfest that would give the local political gasbags an outlet for their self-importance while we get on with the important work. I never dreamed that we were going to be expected to take the farce seriously!"" She glared across the room at the duster of civilians... and, it seemed to Yoshinaka, at one of them in particular.
The room she glared across was deep in the heavily-
shielded core of Government House in Prescott City. The shielding--like the architecture, which was what public buildings had looked like in the days of the Fourth Interstellar War-- reflected the structure's origins. Its security aspects had been largely habit, given an enemy from whom nuclear warheads were more to be expected than espionage, but they'd made this particular conference room the natural site for Trevayne's first joint meeting with both his military staff and the leaders of the newly-inaugurated Rim Provisional Government. Both groups now stood awaiting him.., and, as if by gravitational attraction, had clumped themselves into opposite corners of the large chamber. The thought of security got Desai off: to a fresh start. "Damn it, Genii," she said, low-voiced and intense, "I don't really mind the idea of setting up a civilian government for the Rim; I suppose I wouldn't even want us to have to arry the whole burden of administration, which we would under martial law. But I simply can't believe that the Admiral really plans to grant security clearances to the members of this "Grand Council" who're directly connected with the war effort. Is that even legal?" "Matter of opinion," Yoshinaka opined.
"He's doing it while wearing his Governor-General's hat, which puts it in what might tactfully be called an ill-defined area of the law. As he's fond of saying, the Cabinet can tell him if they don't like it after contact is reestablished." Desai waved a hand impatiently. "That's not really the point anyway. You haven't been out to Gehenna, but you know what's at stake here.
We're not talking about some kind of minor engineering refinements! We're talking about a whole new order of technology!" She paused and took a breath. "I've got to make him see that we don't dare compromise security on this thing... not after what's happened on Gehenna." Yoshinaka nodded soberly. He could understand her feelings, after what she'd been through mere days before. But, as always, he found her intensity, oppressive. She had no lightness in her. And this vehemence wasn't like her at all.
"I've got to make him see[" she repeated.
"Surely it must be clear now that he can't trust these.., colonials!" Yoshinaka was shocked. Abrasive Desai might be, but he'd never heard a remark even remotely like that from her. It didn't even make sense; her own ancestors hadn't exactly evolved from the primordial ooze of Nova Terra! And Sonja Desai never talked nonsense. What was her problem?
He drew himself up slightly. (he still had to look ward at her, as he did at most people.) "I think," he began, in his best conversation-closing voice, "that the Admiral is committed to the course he's taken, @ddonja. And I think you missed your chance to talk him out of it when you had him to yourself on Gehenna. And I definsttest think that, in spite of what's happened since then, it would do far more harm than good to raise the point at this time, in this company. I strongly advise against it." Desai's rejoinder was lost forever as an old-fashioned double door swung open and an usher intoned "rhe Governor-General!" Trevayne was wearing an expensively-tailored civilian suit, making dear which of his figurative "hats" he was wearing. The point was not lost on the officers and politicians as they took their places on opposite sides of the large conference table. The glance he shared with Miriam Ortega, on the other hand, went unnoticed by almost everyone.
"Please be seated, ladies and gentlemen," Trevayne invited, all affability. They did so, military crispness opposite civilian casualness, and Miriam absently lit a cigarette.
"Filthy habit," Desai muttered to Yoshinaka, just below the threshold of public audibility. Miriam, almost directly across the table from her, raised a single eloquent eyebrow and blandly put out the cigarette.
Introductions and other preliminaries completed, Trevayne turned to specifics.
"We all know what's occasioned this meeting," he began, "and I know everyone shares my relief that Captain Desai is able to be with us." A murmur of agreement ran around the table. Trevayne resumed, addressing Desai. "Sonja, I apologize for having to bring you here from Gehenna on such short notice, particularly straight from sickbay." He indicated her left arm, still immobilized even though the wound was, by the standards of modern medi- INSUBBECTION cine, minor. "But we need your input, as you were closer to the incident than anyone... closer than you wou left-brace d have liked, I daresay left-brace his Desai didn't share in the genera left-brace chuckle. "lhank you for your concern, Admiral," she replied. "But there is one preliminary point which I feel it is my duty to raise before the discussion enters areas of sensitive military information. I refer to the matter of security... especially in light of what has just happened on Gehenna." Yoshinaka groaned silently.
Everyone at the table everyone in the Zephrain system, for that matter--knew what had happened, only hours mCter Trevayne had left Gehenna to return to Xanadu and announce the pounds rmation of the Provisional Ceaoernment. The security advantages of an uninhabitable planet were part of the reason Zephrain RDS was located on Gehenna. But, inevitably, a city had grown up, under domes and burrowed beneath Gehenna's reddish sands, in response to the presence of the Station and a fair number of miners @u.
. a city whose lower levels had sheltered a surprisingly wel left-brace comorganized rebel underground with carefully-developed plans to sabotage the Station.
Still, the rebels had moved before they were quite ready, unable to resist the temptation of bagging Trevayne during his inspection tour. Desai's media disinformation concerning his departure schedule had preveail that, at least. He'd been in space when the rebels had struck, heavily armed and using access codes obtained by blackmail of certain key personnel.
Of course, they hadn't expected a walkover.
The vicious, utterly unexpected boarding actions of the Theban War had cured the TFN of its habit of relegating small armsand training in their use to the Dark Ages and to such present-day Dark-Ages types as Marines. Side arms were now part of the service uniform.., but they were laser side arms, ideal for space but subject to many inherent limitations on the ground, which was why hand-held laser weapons had never entirely supplanted slugthrowers. The rebel attackers had used slugthrowers... and anti-laser aerosol grenades. Surprise had been nearly total, and the Station's upper levels had, for a time, resembled a scene from Hell. Desai herself had been caught in a surrounded office block, where she'd had good use for the personal combat training she had detested and never expected to use. But Marine quick-response teams had been on standing alert for Trevayne's visit and hadn't quite had time to stand down. Reinforcements had arrivedin combat zoots--before any crucial data or equipment had been destroyed, and no attackers were believed to have escaped. Damage had been extensive, however... especially to Desai's temper.
"And so," she concluded her description of the attack, "our schedules have been set back by weeks. I think this incident reveals a very serious security problem involving @u.. certain elements of the Rim populations." The civilian side of the table was utterly quiet@u "I wonder," Desai finished, looking straight at Miriam, "ff the Grand Councilor for Internal Security would perhaps care to comment on the fact that this conspiracy arose among the civilian population of Gehenna... without being detected@u" At the head of the ta
ble, Trevayne frowned.
Sonja was obviously in one of her moods... but he'd thought she had understood the necessity of tact in dealing with the Provisional Government. And she was being utterly unfair; Miriam hadn't even held the internal security portfolio at the time the attack took place, much less while it was being prepared. There hadn't been a Rim Provisional Government to hold it in!
But he couldn't dress Desai down publicly, for any of a number of reasons: not the least of which was that Miriam had to handle this on her own ff she was to command any sort of respect from the military people@u So he held his tongue and let her respond@u "First," she said, slowly and deliberately, to the room at large, "let me say that I share the Governor-General's relief that Captain Desai escaped serious injury, and that I deeply regret the casualties that occurred... casualties that might have been avoided ff our people had been given a free hand to investigate certain early leads which were duly passed on to Navy security on Gehenna. Correct me ff I'm wrong, Captain Desai, but I believe that this information was what led you to take the very sensible precaution of leaking a false itinerary for the Governor- INSURRECHON Geneallyalcs tour." Taking Desafs tight-lipped silence as confirmation, Miriam continued. "Jurisdiction over the civilian population of Gehenna has always been unclear. The Navy considers the entire planet a military reservation, and regards civilian law-enforcement officials as being there more or less in an advisory capacity. This is unfortunate, as local people with an intimate knowledge of local conditions would have access to sources of information beyond the normal compass of Navy security. They would be in a better position to ferret out 'the small lunatic fringe that I can't deny exists, and whose very powerlessness (as I've mentioned to the Governor-General) makes it more apt to reckless acts of violence. The solution is to give my new organization, representing the loyal mainstream of the Rim, foil authority to police our own few renegades." A confident rumble arose from the civilian side of the table. iriam sat back and, after a moment's hesitation, lit a cigarette. She didn't--quite- -comblow the smoke in Desafs direction.