The Shadow of Saganami

'Which isn't the same thing as saying that it won't cost us millions, possibly even billions.'

'No, Mr. President. It isn't.'

'And your recommendation is still that we accept the damage rather than sending in bomb disposal units to try to prevent it?'

'Mr. President, if I thought there was a chance in hell of disarming those bombs without setting them off, I'd personally lead our BDUs into those tunnels. I don't think there is. So I'm recommending we not get people killed in addition to the damage we're already going to take. The bombs are going off, Sir. Do we really want to get our own people killed, and assume the political consequences stemming from the electorate's view that we did it because we were too stupid to take Westman's word for what would happen?'

Suttles looked at him for several moments in silence. Then the System President inhaled deeply, planted his hands on his desktop, and shoved himself erect.

'All right, Chief Marshal,' he sighed. 'Let's get on into the Cabinet meeting. And, if you don't mind,' he actually managed a smile, 'let me at least pretend to listen to everyone else before I decide we're going to do things your way.'

'Of course, Mr. President,' Trevor Bannister said, and rose with considerably more genuine respect for his President than usual.

Be damned, he thought, following Suttles out of the office, might just be the man's got a spine, after all. Be nice if he had a brain to go with it, but who knows? It may turn out he's even got one of those if he ever decides to stand up on his hind legs and use it.

Chapter Thirty-Three

'Well, what do you make of it, Andrieaux?' Samiha Lababibi asked.

'What do you mean, what do I make of it?'

The Spindle System President and New Tuscany's senior delegate sat in a private dining room at one of the most exclusive restaurants in Thimble. It was a very private dining room-one whose security against any known listening device was guaranteed, as was the discretion of the wait staff which served diners in it.

'Andrieaux, let's not play games, please,' Lababibi said with a winsome smile. She picked up the wine bottle and poured fresh glasses for both of them. 'The probability that Nordbrandt's dead is bound to affect everyone's calculations. What I'm asking for is your estimate of how it's going to affect Alquezar's, Aleksandra's... and ours.'

'Surely it's much too early to be formulating new policies on the basis of something which hasn't even been confirmed yet,' Andrieaux Yvernau protested gracefully, and Lababibi's smile took on a slightly set air. He sipped his wine appreciatively, then set down the glass with a sigh. 'Personally, I find the entire matter extraordinarily tiresome,' he said. 'I'd like to think that if she really is dead-and I do devoutly hope she is-we might be allowed at least a few days, or weeks, of peace before we have to return to the fray with Alquezar's hooligans.'

'It's extremely unlikely Joachim is going to give us that sort of vacation, Andrieaux,' Lababibi pointed out. And , she didn't add aloud, if you want a little rest, you smug, self-satisfied ass, you might think about the fact that my own life was ever so much more restful before that crazed bitch drove me into your waiting arms-yours and Aleksandra's .

'Really, Samiha, what does it matter what Joachim's willing to give us? As long as we hold firm, he and that disgusting Krietzmann have no choice but to await our response.' He smiled thinly. 'According to reports I've received from certain people officially on the other side, our dear friend Bernardus is having steadily mounting problems holding the RTU-backed delegates for Alquezar. And if they come over to our side-'

He shrugged, his smile turning into something remarkably like a smirk.

'They haven't shown any signs of breaking with him yet,' Lababibi pointed out.

'Not openly, no. But you know there have to be fissures under the surface, Samiha. They can't possibly be comfortable siding with lower-class cretins like Krietzmann, whatever Van Dort and Alquezar are demanding. It's only a matter of time before they start coming over, and when they do, Alquezar will have no choice but to accept the 'compromise' between Aleksandra's demands and my own, far more moderate position.'

'And you don't see Nordbrandt's death affecting that equation in any way?'

'I didn't say that,' Yvernau said with a patient sigh. 'What I said is that it's too early to be formulating new policies when all we can do is speculate upon the effect her demise is likely to have. Although, if I had to guess, I'd be tempted to wager it will strengthen my position more than anyone else's. To some extent, of course, Aleksandra's contention that Nordbrandt never represented any serious threat will be validated. Insofar as that view is accepted, it will also tend to validate her stand in holding out for the most liberal possible protection of our existing legal codes and societies. However, it will also take some of the pressure off certain of her... less enthusiastic supporters, shall we say?'

He darted a look across the table at Lababibi, who returned it with an expression of complete tranquility. An expression, she knew, which fooled neither of them. She had, indeed, been driven into Tonkovic's camp by the wave of panic Nordbrandt's extremism had sent surging through the Spindle System oligarchs. If Nordbrandt truly was gone, and if her organization truly was crippled, some of that panic might begin to subside. In which case, the pressure being exerted on Lababibi to maintain a united front with Tonkovic might also ebb. It might even be possible to move back towards a position based on principle instead of other peoples' panic.

Not that Yvernau would be particularly happy if she managed that.

'If,' he continued, 'Aleksandra's bloc of votes begins to show signs of crumbling, Alquezar will scent blood. He and Krietzmann-and Bernardus, if he ever deigns to return from Rembrandt-will begin to press their demands that we accept the Star Kingdom's legal code lock, stock, and barrel with even greater fervency. Which, of course, will only stiffen Aleksandra's opposition. I suspect we'll see a period of gradual erosion of her support base, unless, of course, some replacement for Nordbrandt appears. But it will be a gradual process, one which will take weeks, even months, to show any significant effect on the balance of power in the Convention. Eventually, of course, the balance will tip against her. But she already knows that as well as you and I do, whether she chooses to admit it or not. Which means that somewhere deep inside she's already accepted that she'll never get everything she's holding out for. So if I choose my moment properly, when I step forward to present my compromise platform-one which gives Alquezar perhaps half of what he wants-she'll endorse it. And if both of us unite in a sudden surge of goodwill and the spirit of compromise, Alquezar will find it extremely difficult not to meet us halfway.'

'And if he refuses to, anyway?'

'Then he loses his own oligarchs,' Yvernau said simply. 'Not even Van Dort will be able to hold them if Alquezar first throws away a chance for a compromise solution and, second, makes it clear the draft Constitution he favors will strip them of every single legal protection they've spent centuries acquiring. Which means, in the end, that I and those who think like me will get everything we've wanted all along. Effectively total local autonomy in return for a unified interstellar fiscal, trade, diplomatic, and military policy emanating from Manticore.'

'And you believe this will take weeks. Even months.'

'I think it's extremely likely to,' Yvernau acknowledged.

'You're not concerned about Baroness Medusa's warnings that our time isn't unlimited? Nor worried that if things stretch out that long the Star Kingdom may simply decide to walk away? To take the position that if we can't put our own house into order well enough to report out a draft Constitution after all this time, then obviously we're not really serious about joining the Star Kingdom at all?'

'I think there will probably be some internal, domestic pressure for the Star Kingdom to do that,' Yvernau said calmly. 'In this instance, however, I think Aleksandra is correct. The Queen of Manticore herself has committed her crown and prestige to the annexation. If she's actually told Medusa there's a time limit-if our beloved Provisional Governor hasn't simply manufactured the threat to push us along-I suspect her 'time limit' actually contains a large