“Stocks and deeds are fine, but what will they count for when Tormark decides she wants to dispossess him?” I narrowed my eyes. “Or are we assuming that she wants to consolidate power in Prefecture III and he’ll be content with Prefecture IV?”

“Right now it does look as if their areas of interest do not overlap too much, which is a blessing.” The Countess crossed her legs. “As it is, Bannson has spent a great deal of money hiring up MechWarriors. There are those who are quite legitimate and who are, for whatever reason, blind to his machinations. He has also been buying the services of the less scrupulous. There is some worry that a couple of his factories have been building a few more BattleMechs that he has licenses for, so he could have a fully armed force ready to deploy already—and will claim he is just protecting his holdings in this time of uncertainty.”

I nodded. Since Stone’s reforms had been instituted, the manufacture of BattleMechs and munitions had been placed under strict regulation. While Bannson had the capacity to produce lots of them, without government contracts or the allowance to sell the ’Mechs outside The Republic, he could be fined for creating too many. Stockpiling them in a time of uncertainty made sense, and if The Republic could not sanction him for producing too much, he would emerge as a very strong player on the military scene.

“That would be Bannson all right—show up as a knight in shining armor and tell everyone how he’s already saved them. Thing of it is, of course, that a lot of folks that I befriended on Helen do think Bannson is pretty special; for them, he does have a certain charisma. They see him as someone akin to Robin Hood, defying the establishment as he proves you can start with nothing and become something. It’s a seductive message. Someone like Sam would buy into it wholesale, and Bannson might just make it come true for a bunch of folks.”

I tapped a finger against my chin. “Bannson’s another reason you’ve kept Sam alive, isn’t he? You’re hoping Bannson or his agents will hire Sam.”

Consuela nodded. “I hope your being used as bait in this regard will not be a problem.”

I smiled and was reminded of the old joke: Strategic is when you get reports about fighting; operational is when you hear shots fired; and tactical is when you’re taking fire. “This is strategic bait, so I’m okay. You’re thinking that there will come a time when he decides that hostile takeovers are just more convenient than bribery?”

Nessa snorted. “Bannson is the sort of cold-blooded bastard who would look at it in terms of a balance sheet. If it would cost him 100,000,000 stones in bribes and economic incentives to gain control of a world, versus 70,000,000 to invade and repair, he’ll go for the latter, damn the cost in lives.”

Janella shook her head. “He doesn’t think of them as lives. He refers to them as actuarial risk units. Deaths are not tragedies, but exposures to lawsuits. Wiping out a village of farmers can be calculated in terms of settlements and factored into the equation about how he should take a place. It’s the cost of doing business.”

“I can see why he was never made a noble,” I said. “Countess, I could see Katana Tormark being persuaded to be reasonable by an appeal to honor and tradition, and that might limit what she chooses to do, but I don’t imagine any brake of that sort on Bannson. If he is going to be stopped, he’ll have to be killed.”

She looked at me with an unwavering, dark-eyed stare. “No one has authorized the murder of a citizen, and certainly not one who would be seen as a martyr.” Her comment left me no doubt the concept had been discussed but rejected with good reason.

That actually heartened me a lot because I’d been afraid that the madness that seemed to be spreading through The Republic might actually have seeped into the government. If Bannson or Tormark or any of a number of other people were challenging the power structure, the authorization of extreme measures to be taken in such desperate times would have been easy. There were those who would argue that eliminating those challengers would certainly slow, if not stop outright, the dissolution of The Republic. They would go further and suggest that the swift dealing of justice to these people would also deter others from following in their footsteps.

A few would even suggest that this is the course of action that Stone would have taken, but I didn’t agree with that. Stone had certainly crushed his share of enemies, but they had known he was coming and had opportunity to reform their ways before he imposed reformation on them. A shot in the dark did not seem like the sort of thing he would have condoned.

I was also dubious of the deterrence argument because, for each person who would decide he wanted to live more than he wanted to rule, there would be two others who would make alternate decisions. One would decide that she could do it better and avoid the mistakes that got her predecessor killed. The other would decide that such an arbitrary abuse of power needed to be opposed, and would rally forces to depose the government that sanctioned the execution of one of its own citizens.

In my advancing the question, Consuela read exactly what I was asking: if Bannson hired me, would I be ordered to kill him? As a Ghost Knight I got all manner of training, and most of it with a wide variety of weapons. I learned them inside and out, both so I could use them and so I could learn to defend myself against them. I could never beat Katana Tormark in a swordfight, but then I knew the best defense against someone with that sort of skill is a 12.5mm sniper rifle at one klick.

It also wasn’t a question of whether or not I’d refuse the order to kill him. As a Ghost Knight I’d been trained to use my discretion to deal with problems. Assassination might be authorized, but that didn’t mean I had to kill him. If there was another way to neutralize him, I would be free to use it. The problem with Bannson, however, was that the man was a shameless boor who was too rich to buy, too bitter to pacify with a title, and beyond blackmailing over indiscretions.

In fact, if Bannson knew his murder was being discussed, he’d rejoice and start buying advertising to let everyone know he was under a death threat.

Chewing my lower lip, I scooted forward onto the edge of the couch. “I take it these two are emblematic of a number of other jackals. Right now they are functioning on operational and tactical levels—though we have rumors of skirmishing on Ankaa and New Rhodes III. Once they have consolidated their power bases you think they will go strategic and formally carve out their own little empires.”

“Exactly. We still have many loyal people. Tara Campbell on Northwind is gathering the Highlanders. Helen, Towne, Murchison and Galatia III could become a diamond of worlds where the Highlanders and Dragon’s Fury decide the fate of Prefecture III. Bannson has his enemies and the Prefect of Prefecture IV, Aaron Sandoval, is likely to resist him strongly.”

I nodded. Learning more about the whole situation did help clarify a lot of things, but brought with it more dread. Before I was just afraid, but now I had really good reasons to be afraid. People who had the skills, will and resources were ready to divide The Republic. Other people were willing to oppose them and, regardless of who won, the damage that would be done to their forces and to The Republic itself would weaken it to the point that when the lions did return, they would scatter the jackals and gorge themselves on the kill.

I could also see why the leadership was in a quandary about what to do. The Republic had maintained order and guided progress through economic stimulus and education. Those who opposed The Republic could not participate in the prosperity, and those who made The Republic better were vastly rewarded with money and honors.