directly to galactic north of Manticore, ideally placed as an advanced picket for the systems of Yorik, Zanzibar, and Alizon, all members of the Kingdoms anti-Haven alliance. Perhaps more to the point, it was less than ten light-years from the Seaford Nine System, and Seaford Nine was one of the People's Republic of Haven's largest frontier bases. Which was very interesting, since Haven had absolutely nothing worth protecting within a good fifty light-years of it.
'Leave it to Mark Sarnow,' the earl said, and Webster groaned.
'Damn it, I knew you were going to say that! He's too junior, and we both know it!'
'Junior or not, he's also the man who talked Alizon into signing up with the Alliance,' White Haven countered, 'not to mention having set Hancock up in the first place. And if you've read my report, you know what kind of job he's been doing out there.'
'I'm not questioning his competence, only his seniority,' Webster shot back. 'No one admires the job he's done more than I do, but now that the yard facilities are coming on-line we're upgrading the station to a full task force. That means we need at least a vice admiral out there, and if I put a rear admiral—and a rear admiral of the red, at that!—in command, I'll have a mutiny on my hands.'
'Then promote him.'
'Lucien already bumped him from commodore at least two years early.' Webster shook his head. 'No, forget it, Hamish. Sarnow's good, but he just doesn't have the seniority for it.'
'So who are you thinking of putting in?' White Haven demanded, then paused with an arrested expression. 'Oh, no, Jim! Not me!'
'No.' Webster sighed. 'Mind you, there's no one I'd rather have out there, but even with the upgrade, it's only a vice admirals slot. Besides, I want you closer to home if the fecal matter hits the rotary air impeller. No, I was thinking about Yancey Parks.'
'Parks?' One of the earl's mobile eyebrows rose in surprise.
'He's almost as good a strategist as you are, and he's one hell of an organizer,' Webster pointed out.
'Why do you sound like you're trying to convince yourself of that?' White Haven asked with a small smile, and Webster snorted.
'I'm not. I'm trying to convince you to agree with me.'
'I don't know, Jim...' The earl rose, clasping his hands behind him, to take a quick turn around his study. He gazed out into the wet night for a moment, then wheeled to stare down at the crackling flames.
'The thing that worries me,' he said without turning his head, 'is that Yancey's too much of a thinker.'
'Since when has that been a liability? Weren't you just objecting to Caparelli because he's not one?'
'Touche,' White Haven murmured with a chuckle.
'Not only that, he's been working with BuPlan on the general buildup in the sector. He knows it backward and forward, and the first priority has to be getting Hancock fully operational.'
'That's true.' The earl frowned down into the fire, then shook his head. 'I don't know, Jim,' he repeated. 'There's just something about the idea that... bothers me.' His hands fisted and opened behind him a time or two, then he wheeled to face the First Space Lord. 'Maybe it's just that he doesn't have enough fire in his belly. I know he's got guts, but he second-guesses himself. Oh, he's got good strategic instincts when he listens to them, but sometimes he over-analyzes himself right into indecision.'
'I think an analyst may be exactly what we need,' Webster argued, and White Haven frowned a moment longer, then snorted.
'Tell you what—give him Sarnow as a squadron commander, and I'll give you my blessings.'
'Blackmail!' Webster grumbled around a grin.
'So don't pay. You don't really need my approval, Your Lordship.'
'True.' Webster rubbed his craggy chin, then gave a sharp nod. 'Done!' he said crisply.
'Good.' The earl smiled and sat back down behind his desk before going on in an unnaturally casual tone. 'By the way, Jim, there was something else I'd like to speak to you about while you're here.'
'Oh?' Webster sipped coffee, regarding his friend levelly over the cup's rim, then lowered it. 'What might that be? No—let me guess. It wouldn't be your newest protege, Captain Harrington, would it?'
'I'd hardly call her that,' White Haven objected.
'Oh? Then it must have been someone else who's been badgering Lucien and me to get her back into space,' Webster said ironically.
'She was Raoul's protege, not mine. I simply happen to think she's one hell of an outstanding officer.'
'Who happens to have gotten herself shot up so badly it's taken a T-year or so to put her back together.'
'Oh, for God's sake!' White Haven snorted. 'I haven't been monitoring her medical condition, but I've met the woman. She beat the hell out of a Peep battlecruiser that out-massed her damn nearly three-to-one after she'd been wounded! And I also know a bit about traumatic injuries, thank you.' His mouth tightened, then he shook himself. 'If she isn't back at a hundred percent physically by now, I'll eat my beret!'
'I can't argue with you there,' Webster said pacifically, but behind his calm eyes he was surprised by the genuine anger in the earl's voice. 'And as you're perfectly well aware, it's BuMed that's been throwing up the 'hold' signals. I want her back in space, Lucien wants her back in space, and you want her back in space, but they're concerned about the possibility of putting her back too quickly. They just think she may need more time.'
'Get her back up on the horse, Jim,' White Haven said impatiently.
'And if the Commanding Officers Board has a few reservations?'
'Reservations?!' White Haven half rose, and his eyes were dangerous.
'Will you please sit down and quit looking like you want to assault me?' Webster said with some asperity. The earl blinked, as if only then aware of his own expression, and twitched his shoulders. Then he resumed his seat and crossed his legs with a faint smile.
'Thank you,' the First Space Lord said. 'Look, Hamish, it's the psycho-babblers who're worried about her.' White Haven started to say something quick and angry, but a raised hand stopped him. 'Just hold your horses, will you?' Webster waited for his friend to settle back again, then continued.
'As you know perfectly well, even Lucien and I have to have a damned compelling case before we can override BuMed, especially for commanding officers, and Harrington's had a rough convalescence. I don't have all the details, but there were some fairly serious complications with her treatment, and as you yourself just said, you know better than I do how that can wear someone down!'
He paused, holding the earl's eyes steadily, and White Haven's face tightened. His own wife had been a near-total invalid for years, and he bit his lip for a moment before he nodded.
'All right. From what I can make out, all the complications and therapy had her pretty low for a while, but she's bouncing back from that. What worries the psych types is all the people she lost in Grayson. Then there's Raoul. He was damned near a second father to her, from all I can make out, and he died when she wasn't even there. There's a lot of room for pain—and guilt—in something like that, Hamish, and she hasn't exactly been forthcoming in discussing it with anyone.'
White Haven started to reply, then frowned. Harrington had lost nine hundred dead, with another three hundred wounded, stopping the battlecruiser
'What do the evaluations show?' he asked after a moment.
'They're within acceptable limits. But don't forget her treecat,' Webster said, then snorted. 'BuMed certainly hasn't! I got a long, involved memo from Captain Harding about how that telempathic link can throw the testing parameters out of kilter.'
'But it might also explain why she hasn't cried on the psychs' shoulders, too,' White Haven said thoughtfully. 'And without doubting Hardings sincerity for a moment, you know the head-shrinkers have never been happy about their inability to figure out just how that link works. But even they have to admit it can be a powerful stabilizing influence, and she's as stubborn as they come. If she can fight her way through something on her own, there's no way she's going to ask for help.'
'Granted, but BuMed doesn't want to put her in a situation where she has to make the same sorts of decisions if she's hanging by her fingernails out of stubbornness. Too many lives could depend on her judgment— and putting her in that sort of crunch situation would be totally unfair to her, too.'
