The Shadow of Saganami

'No argument,' Dame Estelle said. 'Although there is the interesting question of exactly how well inclined towards Aleksandra Tonkovic I am at this particular moment. And, assuming we do put Split at the head of our list, there's also the question of whether or not we can afford to spend the time to hand it to Terekhov and Bernardus. It may be time for us to stop worrying about our 'storm trooper' image or whether or not we'll be seen as supporting suppression and just drop Colonel Gray's Marines in on Nordbrandt's head. Crush her as quickly as possible and then hope we can repair any damage once the shooting's stopped. And if we do that, we can send someone else-like Captain Anders and Warlock -like Khumalo wanted in the first place.'

'Part of me's inclined to think it is time to reach for a hammer, Milady,' O'Shaughnessy agreed. 'But remember what Colonel Basaricek had to say about how well hidden Nordbrandt's cells are. We can't use a hammer unless we know where the nail is, and we don't. Without proper intelligence backup to tell him where to find the enemy, Colonel Gray can't really accomplish much more than the KNP. It's not a case of the Kornatians not having enough manpower or firepower; it's a case of their not being able to aim it properly.'

'I know.' Dame Estelle scrubbed her face with the palms of her hands, and grimaced. 'It's probably as much sheer frustration as anything else,' she admitted. 'But I want these people, Gregor. I want them badly.'

'We all do, Milady.'

O'Shaughnessy thought for a moment, scratching one eyebrow as he pondered. Then he shrugged.

'The bottom line, I think, Milady, is still that the Kornatians do need the technical support Tonkovic has been requesting. I think it's probable they also need advice and a small, fast response strike force they can use as a precision instrument against identified targets. I know Ms. Tonkovic hasn't asked for those, but I think her planet needs both of them far more than they need us to simply dump modern weapons on their own security forces. And if we decide to intervene in support of the local government at all, the political equation still calls for us to make the strongest possible statement about the quality of the assistance we're prepared to offer our friends in the area. And for that, Hexapuma , especially with Mr. Van Dort on board, is still our biggest counter. Besides, Warlock isn't in Spindle any longer.'

The Provisional Governor nodded. Warlock was on her way to Tillerman, at the far end of Rear Admiral Khumalo's southern patrol line. It would take almost three weeks just to get word to Captain Anders to take his ship to Split, and another twenty-six days for him to actually do it.

Too many fires and not enough ships to put them out with, she thought.

'Who is still available here in Spindle?' she asked after a moment.

'I'd have to screen Captain Shoupe to be certain, but I believe that aside from Hercules , there's only a destroyer or two and the service squadron ships.'

'And a destroyer's too small to make the kind of statement we want to make, while a superdreadnought's too big, however ancient and decrepit she might be,' Dame Estelle said gloomily.

'Probably, yes. The fact is, Milady, that if we immediately send orders to Hexapuma , she can be in Split in roughly twenty-eight days. And that's probably about as quickly as we could get anything else bigger than a destroyer there. Not to mention the fact that they'd have Mr. Van Dort along, as well.'

'I know.' Dame Estelle laid her palms on her desk and frowned thoughtfully down at the backs of her hands. 'Whatever we're going to do, we ought to do it quickly. I have a meeting with Tonkovic scheduled for this afternoon. She requested it as soon as the reports arrived, but I didn't want to see her until I'd had a chance to view them myself. I believe it's time I spoke clearly to her, without ambiguity. I don't expect her to enjoy the conversation, and I think I'll just see what she has to say before I make any hard and fast decisions. But go ahead and prepare a full download for Terekhov and Van Dort. Whether or not we actually decide to send them to Split, they'll need to know what's going on there.'

* * *

'So that's Montana,' Lieutenant Commander Kaplan said.

She sat at the bridge briefing room's conference table with Terekhov's other department heads, Bernardus Van Dort, and one midshipwoman who was acutely aware of her own insignificant rank. The blue and white image of the planet about which Hexapuma had just settled into orbit floated before them in the conference table's holo display. The service ships Khumalo had stationed there to support his 'Southern Patrol'- Captain Lewis Sedgewick's HMS Ericsson and Commander Mira Badmachin's HMS Volcano -were bright dots of reflected sunlight in their somewhat higher permanent parking orbits, hanging above the image of the planet like tiny stars.

'Pretty planet,' Lieutenant Commander Nagchaudhuri said. 'The mountains remind me a little of Gryphon. Although-' he showed Helen a half-grin, '-I understand the climate's a lot better.'

' Most climates are a lot better than Gryphon's,' Commander FitzGerald said, smiling openly at the midshipwoman, and a general chuckle ran around the table.

'Montana is a nice planet,' Terekhov said, his tone -announcing that it was time to get down to business. 'And, from all the background information available to me, the Montanans seem to be nice people.'

'They are, Aivars,' Van Dort said. 'Very nice people-in their own, deliberately rough-hewn way. They're generous, gracious to guests, and incredibly stubborn.'

There was something about his tone, some tiny shadow in his expression, that came and went so quickly Helen wasn't certain she'd actually seen it. If she had, no one else seemed to have noticed it, and he went on briskly.

'I've already contacted President Suttles and Chief Marshal Bannister. I can't say Bannister seemed delighted to see me on his com, but we have a bit of a personal history that probably explains his initial reaction. Once I explained to him why we were here, he got rather more enthusiastic. Not hopeful, but willing, at least, to give it a try. And, as I'd hoped, Westman's been to some pains to establish a communications link to the system government. If Westman will agree to meet with me at all, Suttles and Bannister think they can probably arrange the details within the next two or three days.'

'I hate to have to ask this, Mr. Van Dort,' Terekhov said after a moment, 'but my intel files say Trevor Bannister and Westman have been friends literally since boyhood. Is it your impression after speaking to Bannister that we can rely on his loyalty to the government?'

'Captain,' Van Dort began in a surprisingly sharp voice, 'that question is simply-'

He chopped himself off and closed his mouth for a moment. Then he shook his head.

'Personal integrity is the single most important ingredient in the Montana honor code, Aivars.' His voice was very level, as if he were making a special effort to keep it that way. 'Nothing's more central to their notion of honorable conduct, and both Westman and Bannister are honorable men. If Bannister sympathized with the MIM deeply enough to aid Westman's operations, he would've resigned his office and joined Westman openly.' He smiled crookedly. 'Not the most effective possible approach, I suppose, but Machiavelli wouldn't have been able to give his book away on Montana.' His smile vanished. 'I think that's one reason they resented Ineka Vaandrager's negotiating techniques so deeply.'

'It sounds like we could have worse honor codes to deal with,' Terekhov said. He looked as if he were about to add something more, but instead, he shrugged and turned to Captain Kaczmarczyk.

'Given what Mr. Van Dort's just said, Tadislaw, I think we need to reconsider our security arrangements for any meeting.'

'Sir,' the Marine began, 'with all due respect for Mr. Van Dort, and accepting that everything he's just said about the Montanans is completely accurate, it's still my responsibility to see to it that-'

'I know what you're going to say, Major.' Terekhov's voice was just a bit crisper. 'But we're here to help negotiate a peaceful settlement, or at least a cease-fire. And we're not going to manage that if we offend local leaders or suggest we believe they'll act dishonorably. More to the point, perhaps, everything we've seen from Mr. Westman suggests that he does take his personal integrity seriously. Under the circumstances, if he promises a safe conduct, I'm not going to a meeting with him surrounded by battle-armored Marines bristling with plasma rifles and tribarrels. Nor am I going to insist that he come here.'

He and the Marine locked eyes for a moment, and then Kaczmarczyk nodded.

'Aye, aye, Sir,' he said levelly. 'For the record, I'm not at all happy about exposing you or Mr. Van Dort to any unavoidable risk. But that's your decision, not mine. I hope you won't object, however, if I provide the tightest security I can within whatever guidelines you're willing to agree to? Navy captains and Crown envoys aren't exactly