They roared with approval, and she studiedthem for a moment, knowing exactly what they wanted. Heroes?Absolutely. Exciting stories to entertain their grandchildren?Definitely. But mostly, they wanted Zia to tell them they weresafe. She didn’t blame them for that. She wanted it too.
She just wasn’t sure she could tell them whatthey wanted to hear. At least, not yet.
So she waited until the exuberance died down.Then she told them gently, “Thanks for the warm welcome. It’ssooo wonderful to be home. And I have so much to share withyou, but let me start by honoring our Malaran allies. AmbassadorHumber?” She turned to him and smiled. “The alliance is strongagain, thanks to our joint effort. We thank you for that.”
Once Humber had taken a modest bow, shegestured toward Rem and the other officers. “It was my greatprivilege to serve with, and to be protected by, Captain JeremiahStone, Lieutenant Robert Harada, Ensign Matthew Jackson, andSergeant Michael Pao.” She waited for the applause to subside, thenreminded the crowd, “As you know, Sergeant Pao gave his life in theservice of his planet. I had the privilege of visiting with hisparents yesterday, and they told me some amazing stories. It seemshe was destined to be a hero, right from childhood. Always playingsoldier. Always protecting the defenseless on the playground.Always a credit to his family, his country, and his world.”
A sob rose in Zia’s throat as she rememberedthe tearful conversation she had had with the grieving mother,father, and two brothers. There had been nothing she could say ordo for them. They had lost their precious Michael, and nothingwould be the same again. Not ever.
She knew from experience that their raw hurtwould fade, but the knowledge of what they had lost never would.Nor would they want it to.
“I’ll never forget what Sergeant Pao did forme,” she continued sadly. “The way he protected me. They way theyall did. Lieutenant Harada risked his life for me. So didEnsign Jackson. And Captain Stone did it so many times, I lostcount. Give them a hand now, won’t you, please?”
The crowd erupted in noisy tribute, and whileZia knew it was partly for Pao, she was pretty sure it was RemStone they were really excited about. And why not? Any doubt heruncle had created about Rem’s willingness to protect Zia had beenpermanently refuted by vids of the battle. There were probably somein this crowd who had misjudged him, and they needed to clap extraloudly now, in apology as well as appreciation.
And she owed it to Rem to show herappreciation too, so when she turned to the row of handsomemilitary men, she let her smile linger on him. He flashed a proudgrin, and she felt a shiver of excitement that she couldn’t affordto encourage, so she turned back to the podium and quieted thecrowd.
Leaning toward the microphone, she told them,“I have something important I’d like to talk to you about today.I—oh . . .” She bit her lip, noting that Dr. Annur was ascendingthe stairs to the stage. He walked over to Humber and handed him apiece of paper, then faded into the background without a glance inZia’s direction.
“Excuse me,” she murmured into the mike, thenshe walked over to Humber and arched an inquiring eyebrow. Hisexpression told her nothing as he handed her the folded paper, andher knees went so weak, she had to hurry back to the podium andhold on tightly before opening the report.
The print was tiny, and there was lots of it.Too much to read right now, so she skimmed until she saw thephrases she needed to know.
Not an approved calmative . . . Euphoric .. . Docile . . . Suggestible . . . Hallucinogenic . ..
Her eyes flooded with tears at the thought ofwhat she held in her hand. There had been so much heartache. Somuch tragedy. Young lives ruined. And now . . .
Forcing herself to take a deep breath, shelooked out at the crowd. There was so much trust in theirexpressions as they looked back at her. And confusion too, becauseshe was taking so much time.
Scaring them, probably.
There was no need for that, so she wiped hereyes and continued. “As they used to say, I have some good news andsome bad news. I’m going to give you the bad news first. Pleasedon’t worry. It’s a shame—and I wish there was some way to avoidit—but I promise you, everything is going to be fine. It’s justthat . . .” She took another deep breath. “After many, many yearsof devoted service, my uncle—Jared Quito—has decided to tender hisresignation as president, effective immediately.”
The crowd gave a collective gasp, butremained oddly quiet otherwise. From the corner of her eye, she sawher uncle start to protest, but Logan leaned over and saidsomething to him, and it must have been persuasive, because Jaredjust sat back and stared into the distance without saying or doinganything else.
So Zia continued. “As part of hisresignation, my uncle revokes the appointment of his vicepresident. The next person in line for succession is Commander SeanLogan, so he will become our next president effectiveimmediately.”
The spectators were starting to mutter, andsome were calling out questions, while others were expressingveiled contempt for Jared. Zia shushed them quickly, remindingthem, “Didn’t you forget? I said there was good news too. Wouldn’tyou like to hear it?”
A few riffheads shouted that they thoughtJared’s resignation was the good news, but she ignored themand steadied her voice again, not daring to look at Rem, whom sheimagined was completely confused by now. “New evidence has arisenin an old case, conclusively proving that Vice President AengusStone was completely innocent of all the charges brought againsthim twelve years ago—”
This time, the audience reacted swiftly,rising up as one, alive with noise, even before they had completelygrasped what she was saying. And then, as though seized by a primalwave of joy and relief, they began whooping and shouting, andrushed the stage in a show of power that stunned Zia. She tried tocalm them, but they were swarming all around her before she couldthink of what to say or do.
