Cobra Alliance

Jame straightened up, brushing bits of dirt from his fingers. 'Except that they won't behave themselves,' he said quietly. 'They'll fight, especially Jonny and the other Cobras—and that is, after all, just what the Committee and Joint Command want them to do.'

D'arl sighed. 'That's always been the fate hanging over their heads, Moreau. We knew it when we sent them out—you probably knew it, down deep, when you first came up with the plan. Whatever happens now, it was still worth the risk.'

Jame nodded. 'I know, sir. But I can't help wishing there was something we could do for them here.'

'I'm open to suggestions.'

'How about letting the Trofts close the Corridor in exchange for leaving the colonies alone?'

D'arl shook his head. 'I've thought of that, but the Committee would never go for it. Impossible to verify, for starters. Besides which, we've put a lot of money, people, and effort into those worlds, and we couldn't simply cut them adrift without a fight.'

Jame sighed and nodded in reluctant agreement. 'I'd like to request a place on the courier ship, sir, if you can get me aboard. I know it's short notice, but I can be ready before the scheduled lift from Adirondack.'

D'arl had suspected the request was coming, but that didn't make his answer any easier to give. 'I'm sorry, Moreau, but I'm afraid I can't allow you to go. You've pointed out yourself the danger of Troft capture or destruction on the return trip—and before you tell me you're willing to take the risks, let me say I'm not willing for you to do so. You know too much about the internal workings and frictions of the Committee, and I'd hate to have the Trofts using our own most petty politics against us.'

'Then let me take a fast recall-blockage treatment,' Jame persisted. 'It wouldn't delay the lift by more than a day if I can schedule my recuperation period to be aboard ship.'

D'arl shook his head. 'No—because you could lose it all permanently with a hasty treatment like that, and I'm not risking that, either.'

Jame exhaled in defeat. 'Yes, sir.'

D'arl gazed off across the haiku garden. 'I'm not insensitive to your feelings,' he said quietly, 'but such a hurried meeting with your family under these conditions would be bittersweet at best and certainly unproductive. The best thing you can do for them is to stay here and help me hold off the diplomatic breakdown as long as I can. The longer we have before actual hostilities begin, the more time they'll have to prepare.'

And the more time—he didn't add—the Dominion would have to prepare its own defenses. Because important as they were, the Outer Colonies represented less than four hundred thousand people... and from the perspective of the dome, the Dominion's seventy other worlds and hundred billion other people were vastly more important. In the defense of those people, Aventine and its sister worlds were ultimately expendable. The greatest good for the greatest number was still the most stable guidepoint D'arl knew.

He was careful not to spell it all out for Jame... but then, the other had probably already figured it out. Why else would he have wanted to go to Aventine and say good-bye?

With a sigh, D'arl continued down the path. One more curve and he would be back to his office door. Back to the real world, and to the looming specter of war.

And to waiting for a miracle he knew wouldn't happen.

Statesman: 2432

The bedside phone's signal was a loud, directional buzz scientifically designed to wake even deep sleepers. But it had been months since Jonny slept merely deeply, and his mind barely noticed the sound enough to incorporate it into his current dream. It wasn't until Chrys's gentle prodding escalated to a vigorous shake that he finally drifted up to partial wakefulness. 'Um?' he asked, eyes still closed.

'Jonny, Theron Yutu's on the phone,' she said. 'He says it's urgent.'

'Uff,' Jonny sighed, rolling heavily onto his side and punching at the hold-release button. 'Yeah?'

'Governor, I'm at the starfield,' Yutu's voice came. 'A Dominion courier ship's on its way in—ETA about an hour. They want you, Governor-General Stiggur, and as many syndics as possible assembled here when they arrive.'

'At—what is it, three in the morning? What's the rush?'

'I don't know, sir—they wouldn't say anything more than that. But the starfield night manager said they wanted no more than a twelve-hour turnaround.'

'They want to leave in twelve hours? What the hell is—? Oh, never mind; I'm sure they wouldn't tell you.' Jonny inhaled deeply, trying to clear the ground clutter from his brain. 'Have you gotten in touch with Stiggur yet?'

'No, sir. The Hap-3 satellite's still out, and it'll be another half hour before Hap-2 is in position to make the call.'

And once he was notified it would be another three hours before he could get back from the outland district he was touring. Which meant the whole burden of greeting this mysterious and apparently impatient Dominion representative was going to fall on Jonny. 'Well, you'd better get some people calling all the syndics—even the ones who can't get here in an hour should come as soon as they can. Uh... any idea of what rank this guy is?'

'No, sir, but from his attitude I doubt he's looking for much in the way of ceremony.'

'Well, that's one bright spot, anyway. If it's efficiency he wants, we'll give it to him with spangles. We'll skip the Dominion Building altogether and meet at the starfield's entrypoint building. Can you get us a decently sized office or conference room and set up some security around it?'

'Almo Pyre's already down there—I'll have him find you a room.'

'Good.' Jonny tried to think of anything else he should suggest, but gave up the effort. Yutu generally knew what he was doing, anyway. 'All right, I'll be at the starfield in half an hour. Better get out there yourself—I might