Ramon let out a sigh. “Don’t start.”

“I’m sorry,” she said contritely.

“Now I know something’s wrong.”

“No there isn’t. I’ll survive. And thanks for supporting me in there this morning.”

“The African caucus does not automatically do as the Halgarths wish, nor any other Dynasty for that matter.”

“What about Grand Families?”

He smiled broadly. “It depends on the deal which is offered.”

“Rammy, I need to ask you something.”

“Personal or business?”

“Business,” she said with a sigh. “Always business these days.”

He reached out and gave her cheek an affectionate stroke. “Thompson will be back soon.”

“Not soon enough.” She finished the antacid tablet, and they walked down the broad deserted corridor toward the Senate Hall’s main lobby. “That weekend at Sorbonne Wood, who exactly came up with the idea for parallel development shared between Anshun and High Angel?”

Ramon stopped to stare at her. “Why do you need to know?”

“There are certain aspects about the navy formation that we have to clarify.”

“What aspects?”

“The groupings, Rammy, come on. You have to admit, for a venture that size it all came together remarkably smoothly.”

“Thanks to you. It was a Burnelli weekend if I remember rightly.”

“We’re worried we might have been outmaneuvered.”

“Ha! That would be a first. I know how Gore operates. Nothing is left to chance.”

“Someone else was manipulating that weekend. We’re sure of it.”

“What’s happened? Have you missed out on a big contract?”

“No. But High Angel was a massive beneficiary, and through that the African Caucus. You owe us for that.”

“I suppose I might. I believe the idea came from Kantil. She was very eager to gain support for Doi at the time.”

“Did Patricia tell you herself, or was it Isabella?”

“Justine”—he grinned down at her—“are you jealous?”

“Please! This is important. Did Isabella tell you it came direct from Kantil, that Doi would sanction the spending?”

“I honestly don’t recall exactly. Isabella made the suggestion, so naturally I assumed it came from Kantil. Lovely though Isabella is, she’s only a first-life girl. Why, who else do you think would make it?”

“Isabella’s a Halgarth,” Justine said.

“Oh, no.” He threw his hands into the air with exasperation. “We’re back to the motion for a vote on Myo again.”

“It’s not the vote.”

“It’s looking that way to me. You took it personally. Admit it.”

“I know Valetta caught me off guard in there; Thompson would never have let that sneak up on him. It’s beginning to look as though I just don’t have his aptitude for this job.”

“Nonsense. You’re more than capable. You outmaneuvered Valetta beautifully, and gave yourself time to build support for the vote. You’re a natural.”

“It doesn’t seem that way. Damn that Columbia for forcing my hand like this. It’ll be a real show of strength in the next committee. I’m not even sure I can win.”

“You have my vote.”

“Yeah, right, thanks.”

“This really bugs you; and it’s not the first time you’ve clashed with the Halgarths and their allies. Why don’t you just declare open warfare, and have the fleet attack Solidade.”

“Because it’s their fleet, Rammy.”

“So that’s it! Gore’s pissed that they hijacked his pet project.”

“The navy isn’t a project, it’s essential to our survival. We’re at war, fighting for our very existence as a species, and the Halgarths are taking over the Commonwealth’s entire defense policy. That’s not healthy.”

“Don’t let this Senate spat blind you. Sheldon remains in ultimate command. Thanks to CST his Dynasty will always have the final say. And Kime is still Admiral; he’s Sheldon’s man, in alliance with Los Vada. With Columbia, the Halgarths only have control of planetary defense. It’s a classic Dynasty carve-up. The power structures balance out.”

“All right.” She tried to put on a convinced expression for his benefit.

“That’s better. So how about lunch? Just you and me, and no business.”

“Old times,” she said mournfully. “Sorry, Rammy, I’ve got to get back to the office. I need to start making calls.”

His hopeful expression gave way to something more melancholic. “I understand. My advice: call Crispin. He was never a Halgarth man.”

She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Thanks. See you soon.”

It was Thompson’s office. The taste was his, all lush reds and gold-brown wood furniture. She hadn’t made a single change, she didn’t have the right. When he came back, he could sit down behind his vast desk and carry on as if nothing had happened.

If the world still exists then.

Justine dismissed her aides, and ignored the urgent briefing files as she settled into her brother’s chair.

So Isabella hadn’t specifically said it was Patricia’s suggestion. That wasn’t a lot to go on, although it deepened her own suspicions that Patricia was being played like the rest of them.

“Could really do with your advice, Tommy,” she told the room. The rejuvenation clinic their family owned and used was just on the outskirts of Washington, not quite twenty-five kilometers from Senate Hall as the crow flies. Right now his clone fetus was there, about ten centimeters long, growing inside a womb tank.

She looked down at her own abdomen, resting her hand lightly against it. Her stomach was still perfectly flat, not that she’d been to the gym for weeks now. “You’re going to be born before your uncle,” she said softly. “He’s going to be surprised about that.” Along with an awful lot of other people.

With her real hand resting contentedly above the baby, her virtual hand touched Paula Myo’s icon.

“Yes, Senator?”

Does she ever sleep? “I have some unpleasant news you should be aware of. I was just ambushed in the Security Oversight Committee. Senator Valetta Halgarth asked for your immediate withdrawal from Senate Security.”

“On what grounds?”

“Very shaky ones. Fortunately. She cited interference in navy intelligence operations, claimed you were misusing government resource to pursue personal goals.”

“The observation on Alessandra Baron.”

“Precisely. I managed to delay the vote on a procedural point about the agenda. But it is only a delay. It looks like Columbia really has got it in for you.”

“I know that. Thank you for covering for me.”

“I’ll talk to the other senators, rebuild my strategic support in that committee. I should be able to pull a majority onto my side. Right now there are several people who are unhappy with the Halgarths. They’re not my family’s natural allies, but I should be able to swing them around.”

“I understand. This could be very revealing.”

“How so?”

“Do you have any indication which way the Sheldons intend to vote? It goes against the Starflyer’s interests to have me remain in Senate Security.”

“Good point. I’ll try and find out.”

***

MorningLightMountain was annoyed with humans. It had known they would strike back after its preliminary incursion into the Commonwealth; such a move was inevitable. What was less welcome was the manner of the response. It had been expecting wormholes to open above the captured planets, disgorging quantities of ships and missiles to assault its new installations. So it had dutifully prepared for that scenario, building the strongest force field generators it had over the factories and refineries it was constructing on the new worlds, placing thousands of ships in orbit armed with powerful weaponry.

With all the knowledge it had gathered about the Commonwealth and its abilities, MorningLightMountain was certain this would be enough to ward off the human attack. There was an astonishing amount of information left behind amid the wreckage of the abandoned human cities; storage crystals that contained entire encyclopedias, scientific theories and research, engineering designs, economic and industrial statistics on each of the Commonwealth worlds, and a truly endless supply of “entertainment.” For the first time MorningLightMountain was grateful it had animated the Bose memories; without that small insight into human thinking it would have been extremely difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction. And humans produced an astonishing amount of fiction to amuse themselves.