Ashes Of Victory

'That, certainly. But that damned Frisbee is almost as bad,' Mayhew growled. 'Not just with the girls, either. The things are taking over the entire planet. It's more than a man's life is worth to wander through Austin Central Park after school these days!'

'Blame that on Nimitz, not me! He's the Frisbee freak.'

'Oh? Then who was it I saw romping around teaching Rachel, Jeanette, Theresa, and Honor how to throw the thing? Just before you returned to Manticore, I believe it was. A one-armed woman... rather tall, as I recall. And this year she got back just in time for Christmas and gave each of them a Frisbee of their very own!'

'I have no idea who you could possibly be referring to,' Honor said with dignity. 'You're probably mistaken anyway, now that I think about it. To the best of my knowledge, there aren't any tall Grayson women.'

'I can think of at least one, and she's been a troublemaker from Day One. This—' the Protector nodded at the lawn again, as his two older daughters finally cornered Togo, only to see him flip the Frisbee neatly to Farragut the instant before they reached him '—would give any number of conservatives apoplexy. Why, if Lord Mueller were here, sheer outrage would undoubtedly carry him off to an early grave,' he added, and several of Honor's other guests chuckled.

'All very well for you shameless infidels,' Benjamin told them. 'I, on the other hand, as Lord Mueller's Protector and liege lord, am constrained by duty and tradition to regret his possibly impending demise. Unfortunately.'

His voice lost much of its humor on the last word, and Honor saw one or two faces grimace. Not that she blamed them, she thought, looking back out across the lawn. Katherine and Elaine Mayhew sat at a shaded table, Katherine nursing the first Mayhew son, Bernard Raoul (who had finally supplanted Benjamin's brother Michael — much to Michael's relief — as heir to the Protectorship), while Elaine read aloud to Honor and Alexandra Mayhew. At twenty-one months, Alexandra was perfectly happy to lie in her traveling cradle and listen to her mothers' voices, but Honor's goddaughter had recently celebrated her seventh birthday, and she obviously would have preferred being out with the Frisbee gang. Unfortunately, she was following in her oldest sister's tracks, and the sling on her right arm had her firmly sidelined. It was a clean break, and youthful resilience and quick heal would have the cast off in another week or so, but Grayson's conservatives had been appalled to learn that the Protector's youngest daughter had broken her arm climbing the tallest tree on the grounds of Protector's Palace.

Yet another dreadful lapse to write off to my 'evil influence,' she thought dryly, recalling how hard and skillfully Mueller had worked at making that point without ever coming out and saying it in so many words. She frowned slightly at the reflection, and bent a thoughtful eye on Benjamin. She could taste something going on in his mind whenever Mueller's name came up. Something more serious and considerably darker than his normal way of speaking about the conservative steadholder might suggest. But whatever it was, he was determined not to discuss it. Or, to be more precise, he was determined not to discuss it with her, and she couldn't help wondering why that was.

'We may be shameless infidels, Sir, but we've seen enough of Grayson to know Mueller doesn't speak for most of your people,' Rear Admiral Harriet Benson-Dessouix, Grayson Space Navy, said, and heads nodded around the table on the terrace.

'Not for most of us, no,' Benjamin agreed. 'But for an unfortunately significant number of us, judging from the polls.'

'If you'll pardon an `infidel's' input, Your Grace, I think it would be a mistake to place much emphasis on those polls,' Vice Admiral Alfredo Yu said. The ex-Peep who'd been Honor's first flag captain was now the second- in-command of the Protector's Own. Since Honor was its official CO, that made him the Protector's Own's de facto commander, and it was shaping up to be an even more important post than she'd originally anticipated. In addition to the ships of the Elysian Space Navy, Benjamin and Wesley Matthews had earmarked an entire squadron of the new SD(P)s for Yu's command. The first three had already run acceptance trials and were working up at this very moment, with two more due to be released by the yard for trials within the next week or so, and the 'appropriate screening elements' Mayhew and Matthews had discussed were beginning to assemble. Not only that, but the first two CLACs were also on order from the Star Kingdom's home yards.

'I don't know, Alfredo,' Commodore Cynthia Gonsalves put in. 'It looks like the Opposition's going to improve its representation in the Steaders by — what? I think I saw twelve seats being discussed in the 'faxes last week.'

'Fourteen, by the latest estimate,' Captain Warner Caslet corrected. 'I think that's probably high, though. It came from Wednesday's Cantor poll, and Cantor's in Mueller's pocket, whether they want to admit it or not. They've been pretty damned optimistic — if that's the right word — about the Opposition's chances all along.'

'A lot more optimistic than the numbers will support, if you ask me,' Captain Susan Phillips snorted. 'Personally, I think they've got orders from someone to keep the numbers favorable, too. I just haven't figured out whether they're trying to encourage their supporters or dis courage their opponents into staying home on voting day.'

'You people seem to be paying awful close attention to local politics,' Benjamin commented, regarding the assembled officers thoughtfully, and Yu shrugged.

'Most of us either watched our home worlds' governments go down in flames or grew up watching Dolist managers and Legislaturalists deliver completely predictable `honest votes,' Your Grace. Either of those experiences gives you a lively interest in the political process. Those of us whose native countries no longer exist are determined not to see it happen all over again, and those of us who grew up in the PRH are possibly even more fiercely attached to genuine free speech and free elections than they are.'

'Then it's unfortunate most of you aren't eligible to vote yet,' Mayhew said, 'because that's exactly the sort of attitude which preserves freedom in the first place.' His sincerity was obvious, and he smiled. 'Which makes me look forward to the day all of you, and not just Admiral Yu, do have the franchise here on Grayson.'

'Hey! I've got the vote here,' Honor protested.

'True,' Mayhew agreed. 'But everyone knows that `that Foreign Woman' is so firmly in my pocket — or that I'm in hers, depending on their prejudices — that you have absolutely no interest in genuine debate on the merits of my reforms. So the people who agree with you already listen to what you say, and the ones who support Mueller simply tune you out. Or, worse, listen selectively and edit anything you say to suit their bigotry.'

He said it lightly, but there was a bitter aftertaste to his emotions, and Honor quirked an eyebrow. The bitterness was sharpened and intensified by whatever he was determined not to discuss with her, but she was unaccustomed to feeling such tension from him.

'Are you really anticipating serious losses in the Steaders?' she asked quietly, and he shrugged.

'I don't know. Some losses, certainly. And possibly more than just `some' if the present trends continue.'

'I don't believe they will, Sir,' Yu said, and snorted a laugh when Benjamin looked at him inquiringly. 'What you're seeing in the polls right now isn't a genuine, fundamental shift in public attitudes, Your Grace. It's the result of the Opposition's media blitz, and they can't go on spending money hand-over-fist that way forever.'

Honor's eyes narrowed at the sudden, savage spike of rage which blazed through Mayhew at Yu's last sentence. The rage wasn't aimed at the vice admiral, and Benjamin suppressed it almost instantly, but she felt it resonating with whatever it was he wasn't going to mention. And the more she tasted it, the more she realized it was something he was specifically avoiding mentioning to her, not to the other members of his inner circle. Now that she thought about it, she'd tasted an echo of something very similar from her mother whenever someone mentioned Mueller.

She felt Andrew LaFollet behind her, standing at the edge of the terrace with Major Rice, and made a mental note. If anyone could figure out the reason both her mother and the Protector of Grayson had decided not to tell her something, Andrew could, and it was time she sicced him on the problem. Particularly since she was picking up a strong flavor of 'for her own good' from Benjamin. It was almost as if the Protector were afraid she might do something... hasty if he shared whatever it was with her.

'I hope you're right about that, Admiral. I suppose even the Opposition's pockets have to have bottoms somewhere,' Mayhew said a trifle sourly to Yu.