On Basilisk Station

'A family trait. But just what was it you wanted to say about her?'

'Actually, I'm acting in something of the role of an emissary for my esteemed prime minister.' William's 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 wasn't.' Alexander made no effort to hide his disgust. 'I suppose I should have expected it. I doubt he succeeded, though.'

'No, he didn't—but I'd like to know why you seem so confident he wouldn't have.'

'If Harrington were the sort to back down, she would have done it already. Besides, I've been peeking at Jim Webster's reports on a fairly regular basis. She couldn't be doing the job she is or raising this much general hell if she were stupid or hadn't 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 mine's 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 didn't make much headway with the Duke, but he certainly bent Janacek's ear. And he called in his markers with Countess Marisa and Sheridan Wallace's `New Men,' too. I think we've underestimated the contributions he's been making to certain parties' coffers, including the New Men, but he definitely has his hooks even deeper into the Liberals than we'd thought. Marisa can't give a centimeter—officially—without breaking with the Government and losing her post as Minister for Medusan Affairs. She's not about to do that, but it's pretty obvious she and Wallace were primed to come down on the Navy's entire handling of Basilisk Station. If Harrington had crumbled at this point, they would've 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. They've 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 confusion—especially among the uncommitted peers and MPs who'd probably see any retreat on Harrington's part as a slap in the face to the Kingdom's prestige—to 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? That's a switch,' Alexander observed.

'And not one that bodes well for the Conservative Association's continued support for the Duke,' William agreed. 'I suppose that was Janacek and North Hollow more than anyone else. Harrington's making that ass Young—and, by implication, Janacek himself—look 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 month's 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 Queen's Bench, that answering it would jeopardize the Kingdom's 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 can't withdraw it now, Harrington's given us the perfect shot to ram through amendments to the original Act of Annexation. But that's only true if she's still senior officer on the station when the Question comes up.'

'Well, I know Jim certainly doesn't plan to pull her. And Janacek can't, 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 can't 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, they'll lose. They have to, or the whole concept of civilian control of the military goes out the airlock.'

'That's 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.'

'Won't 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 brother's grin was wicked.

'That's always been one of the problems with the picket there, Willie. You see, officially, there is no `Basilisk Station' to command—not in the sense that there's a Manticore Fleet District or Gryphon Fleet District—thanks to the Act of Annexation and Janacek's own policies. That means the picket's SO isn't 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 we've actually got in Basilisk, where there's no formally specified command area at all, Young's 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 he'd detached himself from Warlock to Fearless in the first place, the Admiralty wouldn't have objected. In fact, that's what he ought to have done. But when he officially `delegated' the SO's job to Harrington by removing his ship from the picket, he released himself—unilaterally—from any responsibility for or authority over Basilisk Station until his refit is completed. Technically, he can't go back without Warlock without absenting himself from his post unless Lucien cuts him orders to that effect. I can't 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 Wallace's 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 Majesty's 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. 'I'll see what I can do—unofficially, of course.'

'Thanks, Hamish. We appreciate it.'

'Anything for a good cause, Willie,' Alexander said. 'See you later.'