“Well…we’ll need new top managers. Most of them were interned.”
“I’d suggest, then, that you don’t make any significant changes among the employees…”
Vincenzio looked puzzled. “But they’re Revvie sympathizers. They have to be.”
Van looked squarely at the younger man. “They had thirty percent of the business. The government took care of the ones they thought dangerous. If you get rid of any more, you’ll lose both too much talent and the institutional memory those employees hold. They’re scared. You keep them and treat them well, and they’ll line your pockets. You don’t, and what you bought won’t be worth a third of what it was in less than a year.” Van smiled politely. “I know that with everything that’s gone on, that might take some considerable political skill on your part, but it’s clear that’s an area where you excel…” As he talked, Van just hoped he could steer Vincenzio away from more useless vengeance.
Chapter 91
Three days later, Van, Alya and the Joyau had left Denaria and headed out-system. Just before jump, Van had retuned the drives to Argenti standard and changed the ID and authorization packages.
“Ser?” Alya had asked.
“We’re headed for trouble—Setioni—one of the fringe Keltyr systems. I need to see what’s happening there.”
“You know best, ser.” Alya’s tone conveyed great doubts about the wisdom of Van’s decision.
Entering a Keltyr system wasn’t necessarily wise, especially if the RSF had ships deployed, but, the way Van felt, it was necessary. Are you sure it’s necessary, a part of his mind asked. Van pushed the question away and jumped the Joyau.
After the black-turning-white and white-turning-black endless moment of eternity, the Joyau dropped back into normspace and headed in-system. Van scanned the monitors, the EDIs, and the farscreens. After almost fifteen minutes, he had picked up a small Republic flotilla—two battle cruisers, four frigates, and six corvettes. The two nearest corvettes had changed to a course line and inclination that would intercept the Joyau in less than a standard hour.
Van checked the other vessels, but none followed the corvettes.
“I don’t think we’re going to make Setioni orbit control, ser,” observed Alya.
“Probably not, but I’d like to see what they have to say.”
“Are you certain that they won’t use their torps to begin the conversation?”
“I don’t think they’ll fire on an Argenti vessel without giving a warning, and our shields are strong enough to handle two corvettes.”
“I need some tea, ser. You?”
“Café, if you will.”
Van continued to wait and watch, sipping first one mug of café, then a second.
In time, he walked to the galley for a moment, washing and racking the cup, before returning to the cockpit, where he strapped in.
So did Alya. “How long?”
“Any moment.”
Unidentified vessel, Setioni is a closed system at present. Interrogative registration and purpose.
Van cut the internal ship gravs to free more power and stood by to throw full power to the shields. Then he responded. This is Argenti ship Palabra, inbound for commercial purposes. Interrogative ship.
RSFS Pylmer, stabilization patrol. Palabra, request registration this time.
Van didn’t intend to argue. Not yet. Pylmer, registration information dispatched.
Wait one, Palabra.
Van continued toward the corvettes, ready to use his heavier shields and his torps, as necessary, although he hoped neither would be.
Palabra, your registration is cleared. You may depart system this time.
Pylmer, interrogative departure. Palabra bound for Setioni.
Palabra, Setioni system is closed to non-RSF vessels at this time. Request your immediate departure, or we will be forced to fire.
Stet. Commencing turn and departure.
The corvettes followed only another few minutes before turning in-system.
“Where to, now, ser?” asked Alya.
“Back to Perdya.” Van doubted he’d like what the IIS staff had discovered there, either.
Chapter 92
Once the Joyau was locked to Perdya orbit station two, Van had given Alya two weeks well-deserved leave, sealed the ship, and headed to Cambria. The first night there, he’d tried to get a good night’s sleep, but even planetside in the penthouse quarters above the IIS offices, he had had more of the nightmares.
In the end, he was one of the first in the offices the next morning, and that was after he’d run five klicks and done a half hour of exercise, then cooled down. His first task was to review the IIS financial figures—the ones he almost feared to see, given the events of the past year.
Fortunately for him, Laren wrote well, and while the numbers were not wonderful, neither did they reflect a complete disaster. Laren did offer the caution that the negative results caused by the collapse of the Revenant government would drag on for at least several years. The reason why IIS was only marginally affected was simple enough. IIS only had had a handful of offices in the Revenant systems. The negative effect of the Taran Republic’s Economic Security Act promised to be far worse on future IIS revenues and operations, unless its effect could be mitigated.
There was also an update on the military situation on the Revenant planets. The Coalition was continuing to embargo and isolate systems that did not make reforms, leaving the locals to work out the details. There was one notable exception—the Leiphi system. There, some on-planet military types had modified a magshuttle, loaded it with something, and accelerated it into a Coalition frigate in orbit. The frigate commander had clearly been lax, but he had paid for that with his life—and that of the crew. The system commander sent a message back—with torps launched down at the planet. Large holes dotted numerous hilltops where once Revenant temples had stood.
The Argenti forces had opted for a case-by-case approach, leaving more options to the local system commanders. They’d also suffered more casualties, without much better results.
The problem was, Van reflected, that the Revenants had taken over so many planets, and with the high birth rate of their faith, they had always had fanatics and bodies to spare.
Laren peered in the open door. “Do you have any questions, ser?”
“A few.” Van collapsed the holo screen onto which he
