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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Fat flakes of snow fell like silent, feathery ghosts in the windless sub-arctic night beyond the window. Hamish Alexander stood watching them through the thick, double-paned plastic and felt the welcome heat of the fire against his back. His study was in the oldest part of White Haven, the sprawling Alexander family seat, and the walls of native stone were over two meters thick. Unlike some commodities, rock had been plentiful when White Haven was first built, and enough of it worked just as well as more esoteric off-world insulation would have.
He turned back to the huge fireplace and added another log. He adjusted it with the poker, settling the native hemlock (which, in fact, bore very little resemblance to the Old Earth tree of the same name) into the bed of coals, then straightened and replaced the poker in its stand as he checked the wall clock again. It was twelve past comp, well into the twenty-seven-minute midnight "hour" officially called Compensate that adjusted Manticores 22.45-hour day to permit use of Standard Reckoning time units, and his eyebrow rose again. Even allowing for the time zone difference, it was unusual for his brother to screen him this lateand even more unusual for him to specify the exact time at which he would call.
The com terminal on his desk beeped as if to punctuate his thoughts, and he walked briskly over to answer it. He sat in the huge, padded chair his great-grandfather had commissioned from the craftsmen of the Sandalwood System over a T-century before and signaled acceptance of the call.
The screen lit with his younger brothers face.
"Hi, Hamish," the Honorable William MacLeish Alexander said.
"Hello, Willie." Alexander tipped the chair back and crossed his legs. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Your Commander Harrington," William replied, coming to the point even more quickly than usual.
"My Commander Harrington?" Alexander arched both eyebrows, and William grinned from the screen.
"Dont take that surprised tone with me, Hamish! Youve gloated enough over what shes been up to."
"Gloat is such a crude word," Alexander protested. Then he grinned back. "Still, I suppose I have alluded to her achievements a time or two."
"And usually as rudely as possible, when theres a Liberal or Progressive in the vicinity," William agreed.
"A family trait. But just what was it you wanted to say about her?"
"Actually, Im acting in something of the role of an emissary for my esteemed prime minister." Williams words remained light, but there was an undertone of seriousness in his voice. "Were you aware that Klaus Hauptman went out in person to browbeat her into backing off?"
"No, I wasnt." Alexander made no effort to hide his disgust. "I suppose I should have expected it. I doubt he succeeded, though."
"No, he didntbut Id like to know why you seem so confident he wouldnt have."
"If Harrington were the sort to back down, she would have done it already. Besides, Ive been peeking at Jim Websters reports on a fairly regular basis. She couldnt be doing the job she is or raising this much general hell if she were stupid or hadnt thought the whole operation through ahead of time. That means she must have known what sort of reaction she was going to face before she decided to go ahead and step on the land mine."
"Land mines a pretty good word," William agreed with sudden, complete seriousness, "and if she had backed down, it might have blown up more than just her career."
Alexander said nothing, but his eyes asked the question, and his brother shrugged.
"Before he went out, Hauptman hit every button he could reach back home in Landing. He didnt make much headway with the Duke, but he certainly bent Janaceks ear. And he called in his markers with Countess Marisa and Sheridan Wallaces New Men, too. I think weve underestimated the contributions hes been making to certain parties coffers, including the New Men, but he definitely has his hooks even deeper into the Liberals than wed thought. Marisa cant give a centimeterofficiallywithout breaking with the Government and losing her post as Minister for Medusan Affairs. Shes not about to do that, but its pretty obvious she and Wallace were primed to come down on the Navys entire handling of Basilisk Station. If Harrington had crumbled at this point, they wouldve been able to claim the Navy, in her person, had bungled and made the Kingdom a galactic laughing stock by first creating interstellar incidents with our neighbors and then proving its irresolution by backing away from its duties under pressure."
Alexander snorted contemptuously, and his brother gave a grim, wintry smile. "Of course it would all have been gobbledygook. Theyve never complained about the situation on Basilisk Station before, and jumping on Harrington for going back to the status quo ante at the same time they criticize her for changing the status quo in the first place would be as stupid as it would be illogical. On the other hand, the Liberals have never been noted for the logic with which they approach Basilisk, have they? And if they talked fast enough and loud enough, they could probably engender enough confusionespecially among the uncommitted peers and MPs whod probably see any retreat on Harringtons part as a slap in the face to the Kingdoms prestigeto at least get a motion to repeal the annexation onto the table."
"A lot of good that would do them," Alexander growled.
"Depends on how they did it, Hamish," William warned soberly. "And on who they got to help them do it. For instance, it looks like High Ridge was ready to support at least their initial moves."
"High Ridge was throwing in with Marisa and Wallace? Thats a switch," Alexander observed.
"And not one that bodes well for the Conservative Associations continued support for the Duke," William agreed. "I suppose that was Janacek and North Hollow more than anyone else. Harringtons making that ass Youngand, by implication, Janacek himselflook worse every day. But the point is that all the Opposition parties have been riding their rank and file pretty hard to prep them for some big move once Hauptman bullied Harrington into backing down, and Wallace was going to play hatchet man. He even went as far as to put down his name and the state of affairs on Basilisk Station on the list of next months Official Questions."
"Oh ho!" Alexander shook his head with a small smile. The Official Questions list gave the Opposition a way to force the Government to allow open (and generally partisan) discussion of things it might prefer to avoid. A prime minister could refuse to answer an Official Question only if he certified, with the backing of the Crown and the Chief Justice of the Queens Bench, that answering it would jeopardize the Kingdoms security. Even then, the Government had no choice but to permit individual members of Parliament to debate the Question in secret session. Potentially, that made the list an extremely effective parliamentary weapon, but it was a double-edged sword, and the timing could go wrong. Like now. Under the unwritten portion of the Manticoran constitutional tradition, a Question could not be withdrawn, even by its author, once it was on the list.
"Clumsy, clumsy," he murmured thoughtfully.
"Absolutely. Since he cant withdraw it now, Harringtons given us the perfect shot to ram through amendments to the original Act of Annexation. But thats only true if shes still senior officer on the station when the Question comes up."
"Well, I know Jim certainly doesnt plan to pull her. And Janacek cant, if Jim and Lucien Cortez stand firm. I think they will."
"And if Young gets himself back on station?"
"Now that," Alexander admitted, "is a more ticklish point. Jim and Lucien cant stop him from going back out any more than Janacek can relieve Harrington. Not unless they want to come out into the open and declare war on the Conservatives. And if it comes to an open showdown between them and the First Lord, theyll lose. They have to, or the whole concept of civilian control of the military goes out the airlock."
"Thats what I was afraid of." William sighed. "Our spies in the enemy camp suggest that High Ridge is pressuring North Hollow to suggest his son bite the bullet and go back without his ship if he has to."
"Wont work," Alexander said firmly. "In a sense, he was SO in Basilisk only because his ship was assigned there and he went with her."
"What do you mean?" William looked puzzled, and his brothers grin was wicked.
"Thats always been one of the problems with the picket there, Willie. You see, officially, there is no Basilisk Station to commandnot in the sense that theres a Manticore Fleet District or Gryphon Fleet Districtthanks to the Act of Annexation and Janaceks own policies. That means the pickets SO isnt in the same position as, say, a squadron commander. In the case of a squadron or an official station or district, a commanding officer is responsible for all operations in his designated command area and for every ship assigned to it. But thanks to the mish-mash weve actually got in Basilisk, where theres no formally specified command area at all, Youngs primary responsibility was to act as captain of his own heavy cruiser. It was only the fact that he was the senior RMN officer present that made him the picket commander. Or, to put it another way, Warlock is his designated command area, and his authority beyond her hull is restricted by her current physical location and functions on a strictly ad hoc basis. Oh, if hed detached himself from Warlock to Fearless in the first place, the Admiralty wouldnt have objected. In fact, thats what he ought to have done. But when he officially delegated the SOs job to Harrington by removing his ship from the picket, he released himselfunilaterallyfrom any responsibility for or authority over Basilisk Station until his refit is completed. Technically, he cant go back without Warlock without absenting himself from his post unless Lucien cuts him orders to that effect. I cant quite see Lucien doing that, and I can see Jim getting awfully stuffy about the letter of the regs all of a sudden if Young tries to reassume command there without Warlock."
"But how close is he to getting Warlock back from the yard?" William asked anxiously. "Can he get back there with his ship before Wallaces Question comes up?"
"He might." Alexander sat back and drummed on the desk blotter with the fingers of both hands. He thought for several seconds, then shook his head. "He just might, at that."
"All right." William drew a deep breath. "You understand, of course, that this has to be completely unofficial, Hamish." Alexander nodded, already guessing what was coming next. "The Duke has asked me to tell you that Her Majestys Government would find it most convenient if Lord Pavel Young is not on Basilisk Station for the next month."
"I understand, Willie." Alexander gazed at his brother for a few more seconds, then shrugged. "Ill see what I can dounofficially, of course."
"Thanks, Hamish. We appreciate it."
"Anything for a good cause, Willie," Alexander said. "See you later."
His brother nodded, and Alexander cut the circuit. He sat in pensive thought for a moment, and then punched a scramble-coded number into the com. The screen lit with a "WAIT" prompt, then cleared to show a sleep-tousled James Webster.
"Who? Oh, for Gods sake, Hamish! Cant you let a working man sleep?"
"Fraid not. I just got off the screen with Willie, and hes got a little job for us." Alexander outlined his conversation with his brother in a few short sentences, and Websters eyes widened while the last vestiges of sleep faded from them.
"Dont want much, do they?" he asked sardonically when Alexander finished.
"No more than we do. This sounds like the perfect opportunity to catch the Opposition with its shorts around its ankles, Jim. From what Willies told me in the past, a pretty firm majority in the Lords is impressed enough by Harringtons accomplishments to stand with the Government, and we already had a strong majority in the Commons. If Wallace has to ask his Question while shes still acting SO, the Government can respond using her policies as its basis, not Youngs, and make her look like exactly what she isa decisive officer fully discharging the Navys responsibilities for the first time in twenty years. And they can argue that whats needed is to see to it that other officers are in a position to do the same thing in the future. If that happens, we can actually turn Basilisk Station into something that works instead of a half-assed nightmare. Harringtons done her part for us; all we have to do is keep Young here in Manticore and off her back a little longer."
"Hamish, Ill be the first to admit I dream about a chance like this, but just how do you propose to pull that off? I can guarantee Lucien wont give him permission to quit his ship and that I wont let him go back without her, but Warlock cant be all that far from completing her refit."
"I know. But, you know, Jim, even the best refit crews can fall off their stride from time to time."
"I dont think this is something the First Space Lord should know about."
"In that case, dont tell him." Alexander flashed a sudden, boyish grin. "Dont tell me you dont sometimes forget to mention things to your official persona!"
"Its been known to happen from time to time," Webster allowed. "What wont I be telling myself this time?"
"Im going to go up and have a little talk with Craig, I think. Can I tell him that youve blessed my missionunofficially, of course?"
"Unofficially, but fervently," Webster agreed.
"Good. Thanks, Jim. Sorry to have dragged you out of bed."
"Dont worry about it. Just go do a good job on Craig."
"Oh, I will," Alexander agreed with a smile. "I will."
Vice Admiral of the Red Sir Craig Warner, Commanding Officer of Her Majestys Space Station Hephaestus, stole the time from his schedule to meet the private yacht personally. Longer ago than he liked to remember, a very young Commander Warner had found himself embroiled in a duel over a drunken insult to the good name of a lady. His captain at the time, a most well-born nobleman, had disapproved rather strongly of the practice of dueling, but when the circumstances and graphic nature of the insult had been explained to him, he had astounded Commander Warner by offering to act as his second. The lady in question was now married to Vice Admiral Warner and the mother of his four children, and his then captain had become a very close friendand godfather to Warners oldest son. So when Hamish Alexander asked for a few hours of his time, Warner was only too happy to oblige.
Now the yacht completed its docking maneuver, and Warner stepped up to the personnel tube to greet his visitor. It was an unofficial visit and Alexander was in civilian dresshed been on half-pay since the first week Sir Edward Janacek took over the Admiraltyso no formal courtesies intruded.
"Good to see you again, Craig," Alexander said, shaking his hand firmly. "About ready for a real space-going command again?"
"They also serve who stand and weld," Warner replied solemnly. "On the other hand, I did hear something about a battle squadron that needs a good flag officer."
"Really?" Alexander grinned. "When?"
"Ive got another seven months here first, unfortunately. BuShips likes me more than Id like them to."
"Its because youre so damned efficient," Alexander teased as they headed for the personnel capsules.
"True. Too true. But what can I do for you, Hamish? Want a tour of my little workshop?"
"Maybe later. In fact, Im sure I would later. But first, I need to bend your ear for a few minutes. In private."
Warner shot his superior a very sharp look indeed, then shrugged and waved him into the capsule.
"In that case, lets take this to my office," he suggested, punching buttons, and Alexander nodded.
The capsule deposited them at a terminal less than fifty meters from Warners office, and the two admirals walked down the passage side by side, chatting amiably and harmlessly. Warners aide and personal yeoman were waiting, but their boss shooed them out and closed the hatch firmly behind them. Then he gestured Alexander into a comfortable chair, poured drinks, and sat down behind his desk.
"And now," he said, "whats all this unofficial visit about, Hamish?"
"Its about Basilisk Station," Alexander replied, and Warner blinked in surprise. "More specifically, its about the possibility of finally getting our hands untied there. Interested?"
"Very. But where do I come in?"
"Well, Craig, its like this. . . ." Alexander leaned back to cross his legs, and reported his conversation with his brother yet again. Warner listened intently, nodding his understanding of each point, then tipped back his own chair.
"So you and Admiral Webster want me to hang Young out to dry?" he said when Alexander was done.
"More or lessand very unofficially. How about it? Can you swing it for us?"
"I dont know, Hamish." Warner plucked at his lower lip, frowning in thought, then shrugged. "The thing is, I have to admit Ive already been dragging my heels ever since word of Harringtons activities started getting around, just to watch the little bastard squirm. He hasnt been getting the work priorities he thinks he should, and hes been in here every other day or so to complain."
"Does that mean youve used up all your tricks?"
"I dont know. . . ." Warner thought some more, then turned to his terminal and punched up the work files on HMS Warlock. He frowned at them, whistling tunelessly between his teeth as he paged through the screens of data, and Alexander possessed himself in all the patience he could manage.
"Well, now!" Warner murmured after several minutes. "Thats interesting."
"What?"
"When Warlock first arrived, Young wanted a complete overhaul of her forward Warshawski tuners. In fact, he was pretty strident about it, but as you know, BuShipsmeaning me, in this instancehas to sign off on anything that big." He looked up with a wicked grin, and Alexander smiled back with suddenly dancing eyes.
"And what was your decision, Admiral Warner?"
"I didnt give him one, Admiral Alexander. From what I can see here, hes good for another eight to ten months hyper time on the tuners hes got before he even approaches mandatory replacement wear. I refused to give him an answer mainly just to be a pain in his arrogant ass, but I doubt Id authorize it, under normal circumstances, with that much time left on the components."
"Ah. But under these circumstances?"
"Why, I think I might just find it my heart to okay the work after all," Warner said generously.
"Good! But will he bite, do you think? I thought you said hes been in here trying to get you to expedite."
"Oh, he has. And Im almost certain hell say no thank you if I make him an offer at this point. But there are ways, Hamish. There are ways."
"Such as?"
"Well" Warner switched off his terminal and turned back to his friend "I think the first step will be to hold the good news that Ive decided to authorize his requested work until the end of this watch. Youngs been spending a lot of time dirt-side, hitting the Landing night spots while Commander Tankersley, his exec, does all the workno love lost there, by the wayand while hes out bar-crawling, he leaves his com link home and lets his message service handle any calls. So if we give him time to clear out, then authorize the work, well have a full watch and a half, ten hours minimum, to hit our stride before he gets back. I imagine well have his Warshawski sails spread all over the slip before he knows a thing about it."
"Tankersley wont smell a rat and warn him?"
"As I said, theres no love lost between the two of them. Tankersleys a fairly decent sort. I dont think Youngs attempt to shaft Harrington sits very well with him, and you cant be exec to a man like Young without getting to know exactly how useless he really is. Under the circumstances, I sort of doubt Youngs explained his real motives to him, either, so Tankersley can play the uninformed but earnest exec to the hilt, if he wants to. I imagine hell screen Young, all right, but probably only to leave a message with his serviceand not one with any special priority." Warner tapped lightly on his desk for a moment, then nodded to himself. "Wont hurt to make sure, though. My aides not just good looking; shes a very bright young woman, and shes been spending some off-duty time with Tankersley. Thats one reason I figure he must be all right; Cindy wouldnt waste her time on him if he wasnt. Would it be all right if I have her mention to him that Id appreciate his keeping his next progress report to Young a little vague?"
"We cant involve Jim or the Government, Craig," Alexander warned. "If youre wrong about him, youll be the one it comes back to haunt."
"I dont think I am wrong, and Im perfectly willing to run the risk for something like this. Hell, who needs a battle squadron? Carol would rather have me planet-side for good, anyway."
Warner spoke lightly, though both of them knew the loss of his next command or even half-pay was not merely possible but probable if any of this became official knowledge. Their eyes met for a moment, and then Warner smiled.
"Dont sweat it, Hamish. Ill pull it off. And once we get Warlocks forward hull opened up, I guarantee she wont leave dock for a good seven weeks. Long enough?"
"Long enough," Alexander agreed. "And thanks."
"Dont mention it. I never liked his father, either. And Carol will be delighted when she hears about this. North Hollow was after her before we were married, you know."
"No, I didnt. I wondered why you were so ready to dislike his son, though."
"Hell, that ancient history didnt have anything to do with that. Well, not much. This little creep is a disgrace to his uniform all on his own."
Warner sat for a moment longer, running through his plans, then nodded and stood.
"Well, thats that," he said with undisguised satisfaction. "And now, while I wait to put my nefarious plan into effect, why dont I give you that tour? Then we can finish up with supper in the flag officers mess before you head back home."
"Sounds good to me," Alexander agreed, and the two admirals headed for the office hatch once more. "By the way, how are the kids?" he asked as they stepped through it. "I saw Carol last week, but we didnt have time to talk."
"Oh, theyre fine. Sandra just made commander, and it looks like Bobs got a shot at ATC early. Keith and Fred are still in school, of course, and neither of them seems interested in the Navy, but"
They walked down the passageway, chatting cheerfully.
Chapter | P | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | A |