The Shadow of Saganami

'I simply can't believe that anything could overcome the repugnance and hatred for those responsible that something like this generates,' Khumalo argued, shaking his head and waving his hand at the bloodsoaked imagery once again.

'Trust me, Admiral,' Medusa said quietly. 'Gregor's right about the Kornatian economy, and the political dynamic in a situation like this one is complicated and fluid enough for almost anything to happen. Especially if those in authority stumble and botch things. The Kornatians are going to want firm, decisive action, but they also have a tradition of the fierce defense of individual civil liberties. Whether Tonkovic's position here at the Convention is based on genuine principle or just a huge dose of self-interest, there are plenty of people in the Split System who do have firm political principles that would be outraged by any sort of police state mentality. So any action the government takes to crush Nordbrandt and her lunatics is going to be a potentially double-edged sword.'

Khumalo shook his head again, his jaw clamped stubbornly. But he appeared unwilling to disagree openly with his civilian superior.

'One other thing of which we ought to be aware,' O'Shaughnessy said. All eyes swiveled to him, and he smiled, with absolutely no humor. 'According to my carefully cultivated sources, Henri Krietzmann is meeting at this very moment with Joachim Alquezar, Aleksandra Tonkovic, and Samiha.'

'Do you have any prediction of what will come out of their meeting?' the provisional governor asked.

'No, Milady. There are far too many variables for me to even hazard guesses at this point. I hope to have at least some information about that for you by this evening, however.'

'Good.' Medusa grimaced. 'Oh, how I wish Van Dort were still here on Flax! Drat the man's timing!'

'I wasn't aware he'd left, Milady,' Khumalo said in some -surprise.

'Oh, yes. He's been gone for almost a T-week. He left the day after Hexapuma sailed.'

'Then I have to agree that his sense of timing was... -unfortunate,' the portly rear admiral said.

'Well, he obviously didn't know this was going to happen,' Medusa sighed. 'He was afraid his image as a 'moneygrubbing capitalist' hovering about the fringes of the debate like a vulture or a spider was exacerbating the situation. He told me he felt like the ghost at the banquet and said he wanted to get out of the spotlight because he thought his presence was hampering the Convention's deliberations.'

'I suppose I can understand that,' Khumalo agreed with a frown. 'Like you, Milady, I wish he hadn't chosen this particular moment to disappear, though.'

'He may return to Spindle when as he hears about this,' Medusa said, then gave her head a little toss. 'But whatever he may do, we have to decide what we're going to do.'

'With all due respect, Milday,' O'Shaughnessy said, 'I think that's going to have to depend in large part on how the Talbotters react. At the moment, I'd say there's probably a seventy-thirty chance President Tonkovic is going to officially request assistance from us. I don't know if she'll want to, but if she hesitates, there'll be a lot of pressure on her from other delegates who want us involved.'

'I'd be cautious there, Governor,' Chandler said. She looked at him, and he shrugged. 'At the moment, this is purely an internal affair of Kornati. We're involved, but only at one remove-as the supposed justification for the criminals' actions, not as an actual presence on the planet. And, as you just pointed out, they have that deeply ingrained civil libertarian tradition, crossed with a genuine sense of economic inequality from much of their lower class. So if we suddenly start landing Marines on the planet at the upper classes' request to kick down primarily lower-class doors, we run the risk of lending credibility to Nordbrandt's allegations. The fact that our assistance was requested by the legally elected local authorities won't be much protection once her adherents start twisting and spinning the story.'

'Ambrose has a legitimate point, Dame Estelle,' O'Shaughnessy said. He gave the commander a rare look of unqualified approval. 'In fact, to be blunt, Nordbrandt does have some valid points about the political system. It's thoroughly skewed in the favor of a relatively tiny number of wealthy families... like Tonkovic's. Some of those families will want to keep us far, far away-or at least to minimalize our 'interference' on their world-lest we contaminate the situation with our off-world notions. But others are going to press for immediate, powerful intervention on our part. They're going to want us to come in and stamp out the flames for them right now, immediately , before they get burned any worse. So I'm afraid you may find you're going to have to walk a fine line between giving Tonkovic the assistance she asks for-assuming she does ask-and avoiding the appearance of sending in some sort of... imperial storm troopers.'

'Oh, marvelous,' Medusa muttered. Then she produced a wan but genuine smile. 'Well, Her Majesty never promised me it was going to be easy!'

She drummed her fingers on the table, thinking hard for several seconds, then looked back up at Khumalo.

'Admiral, I want you and Captain Shoupe to begin contingency planning. We can't make any hard and fast decisions at this point, but I want to know exactly what our resources and capabilities are if, in fact, President Tonkovic does ask for help. I'd also like recommendations from you and Commander Chandler, Gregor, on what levels of support we want to offer if it's requested. I want the best appreciations the two of you can put together of the most effective kinds and levels of assistance we could offer. And I want your best estimates as to how the Kornatian public's liable to react to each of the different levels. And the same for the Kornatian political leadership. I know any 'estimate' you put together at the moment can't be more than a guesstimate. But get started now, and integrate any additional information as it comes in.'

She paused, and her expression turned bleak and hard.

'Understand me, People,' she said then, in a voice just as cold and focused as her expression. 'I don't want to escalate anything that doesn't have to be escalated. And I certainly don't want us to look like-what did you call them, Gregor? Imperial storm troopers?' Her mouth twisted on the words, but she didn't flinch. 'Our job isn't to support, or to give the appearance of supporting, repressive local regimes. But if the legitimate government of any star system in the Cluster requests our assistance, we will provide it. We may make our own judgments about the most effective way to do so, but we have a moral obligation to support the legally elected governments who've requested that we take them under the Queen's protection... and, especially, their citizens . And if it turns out we have to land Marines and kick down doors to do that, then we'll land Marines with great big nasty boots. Is that clear?'

She was the smallest person at the table by a considerable margin, but every head nodded very quickly indeed.

'Good,' Dame Estelle Matsuko said quietly.

Chapter Sixteen

Nuncio was a poverty-stricken star system, even for the Verge. Which was particularly ironic, given the system's potential, Aivars Terekhov thought as Hexapuma decelerated smoothly towards her parking orbit and he listened to the soothing routine of his bridge.

The G0/K2 binary system boasted two remarkably Earth-like planets, thoroughly suitable for human occupation with only a little development. Basilica, the habitable world of the G0 primary component, orbited its star at a distance of twelve light-minutes, and boasted a planetary environment any resort world might have envied. With a planetary mass ninety-seven percent of Old Earth's, a hydrosphere of eighty percent, rugged mountains, gorgeous volcanic atolls, sandy beaches, endless rolling plains, and an axial inclination of less than three degrees, Basilica was as close to climatically idyllic as any home for humans outside man's original star system could hope to be. Unfortunately, the planet's successful colonization had called for a degree of subtle genetic manipulation of the terrestrial plants and food species to be introduced there. Had Nuncio been colonized today, or even as recently as the last couple of T-centuries, it would have been a snap. Even at the time the system actually was settled, making the necessary alterations would have been relatively straightforward for a good Solarian genetic lab.

Unfortunately, the colonists' analysts had missed the data in the initial planetary survey which should have told them before they set out that the changes were needed. By the time they realized what they actually faced, all of the 'good Solarian genetic labs' and their capabilities had been light-centuries behind them... which explained