But from what source? He was a man who valued style and flair, and one who carried it off with ease, yet that wasn't explanation enough. It came to her suddenly that Trevayne had been reared to lead even as she had, but in a society which openly acknowledged and accepted such expectations. He expected to be a leader, and because he expected it of himself, others expected it of him, as well. His undoubted brilliance simply confirmed the wisdom of those mutual expectations.

"I'm sorry, Ian," Rutgers said, suddenly serious. "You'd better delegate the shopping to Natalya. As for Colin... I know things are touchy just now, and Ill try to leave you time for lunch, but I may not be able to. Your leave's been Han sat straighter and felt her face become masklike. Vice admirals" leaves were not cut short on whims.

"I see." Trevayne's face was very calm as he studied the Port Admiral. Too calm. It was a mask, too, Han realized sadly; everyone wore masks these days, even in the Fleet, "And might one ask why, Admiral?" "One might," Rutgers said grimly. He glanced over at Hah for a moment. "I asked you two to come in together to save a little time; wha left-brace I have to say will affect you both. On the other hand, I trust that I don't have to remind you beth that what's said here sta left-brace ts here.

Clear?" Both his juniors nodded.

"All right. As you know, the Assembly's been in a furor ever since the MacTaggart assassination.

And it didn't help a bit when Skjorning murdered Fouchet left-brace I--was He broke off and glanced at Han, then smiled unwillingly and shook his head.

"Captain, I seem to recall a certain midshipman's expression which generally indicated disagreement. Why am I seeing it now?" "Disagreement, Admiral?" Han shook her head. "Not disagreement. It's just that I find it difficult to condemn Assemblyman Skjorning." "Who said I condemned him? I only said it didn't help, which it didn't. Mind, I'm not saying the same thing wouldn't have happened ff he'd held his hand; I think it would have, in fact. But it's happened now, and it's up to us to pick up the pieces." "Yes, sir." "What "pieces" d'you mean, Bill?" Trevayne asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I wish I knew," Burgers sighed, running a hand over his hair. "I take it you're both reasonably informed on events on Old Terra.tm They nodded, and he continued. "Well, things are coming to a head. The Assembly has decided to impeach Skjorning." "It's not as if they really have a choice, Bill," Trevayne pointed out, "but it doesn't automatically follow that the impeachment will be sustained." "Oh, you're so right, lan," Rutgers said softly, and pulled out a classified binder. He slapped it down on his blotter and pressed his thumb to the lock. Scanners considered for a moment, then released the latch, and he pulled out a sheaf of yellow security paper.

"This," he said, "is an ONI evaluation of the situation as of three weeks ago. It arrived today.., by courier drone." Han's inner tension clicked higher.

Galloway's World was a Corporate World, tied into the communications net the Corporate Worlders had used to deadly effect against the Fringe for decades; No eom beam could be driven through a warp point, but it was quite possible to build deep-space relay stations within star systems. All messages had to be physically carried through warp points aboard ships or small, unmanned courier drones, but once through, they could be transcribed and transmitted to the next warp point. Yet such systems took time to emplace, and thev were incredibly expensive, both to build and maintain. he Corporate Worlds had capitalized upon that.

But if ONI had sent this data bv drone, it meant whoever had sent it didn't trust the relays.

It wasn't all that unusual for classified data to be sent physically rather than risk interception,- bat Admiral Burgers' tone and expres- sion told her this drone was more important than most.

"Indications are that the Taliaferro crowd doesn't plan to challenge the Ortler precedent," the burly admiral continued grimly. "Rather than push for Skjorning's civil trial on Old Terra, they're going to expel him from the Assembly and send him back to the Kontravian Cluster under Lictor escort. As Taliaferro puts it--was he thumbed through the Naval Intelligence report for the passage he sought, and his voice was harsh as he read aloud his-com"Let us send the barbarians among us back to the Fringe where they beltingSo"" Han felt her face blanch. No wonder Trevayne's leave had bn canceled! When the Fringe heard about this--I Butgers watched her calmly, and she returned his gaze levelly. He shook his head.

"Han, someday klou may be able to keep me from guess- ing what you're thinking. Until that day comes, I wouldn't waste the effort, if I were you." "Sir" "You know precisely what I mean. This--was he tapped the piece of paper his-comis probably the stupidest brilliant litical maneuver in human history. And, my dear, you ow it as well as I do." "As the Admiral says," she said in a colorless voice. "One day, Han," Rutgers mused, "you'll try the China doll trick once too often." Despite her concern, Han's lips twitched, and he grinned at her. Then he sobered.

'? is also--was he said slowly, tapping the paper again his-comgoing to make a bad situation much, much worse. Amalgamation and reapportionment would be terribly hard for the Fringe to swallow under any circumstances, but when you add the MaeTaggart assassination and what they're going to see as a calculated and contemptuous rejection of justice.... his "I should bloody well think sol" Trevayne said. "Talk about a cat among the pigeons left-brace his "I know, lan. I know. But ONI thinks it's going to happen." "But it hasn't happened yet, has it?" "No, but it will, Ian. It's only a matter of time, and what matters to us right this minute are the Fleet orders which came in the same drone. They're the reason your leave's been canceled, and why you, Captain, aren't going to Christophon after all." He pinched his nose wearily. "In ali my days in the TFN, I have never received orders quite like these," he said soberly. "As of now, the Fleet's primary mission has been changed 'forthe duration of the current political crisis," as our instructions so neatly phrase it. Our new mission is to play fireman across the width and breadth of the Federation when this gets out." "Good God, Bill," Trevayne said mildly. "They have to be out of their minds. They do realize the Federation is over fourteen hundred light-years across, don't they? How do they expect us to be everywhere we'll have to be?" "They don't. Intelligence has identified a dozen critical systems and dusters with an exceptional potential for disaster. Our immediate concern is to place a battlegroup or two to cover each of them as a show of force." "Against our own people, sir?" Han asked softly.

"Against anyone, Captain," Rutgers said heavily. "If you'll pardon my saying so, Bill," Trevayne said quietly, "that's an excellent recipe for disaster if something does go wrong. Since you're talking to us, I assume you mean Battle Fleet units, not Frontier Fleet." "I do," Rutgers said. "Frontier Fleet's spread t6o thin as it is--Frontier Fleet is ahoays spread too thin." And, Han thought sadly, too many of Frontier Fleet's officers were too sympathetic to "their" sectors' needs to be "reliable." "So we're dispersing some of Battle Fleet to the trouble spots; a little less than half our active units, to be precise." "And ff the balloon goes up, we won't have concentration of force anywhere," Trevayne pointed out.

"Very well.?Rutgers rose to signal the end of the inter- view and held out his hand again. "My yeoman has your orders. Pick them up and carry them out. And may God have mercy on us all." IA Han reclined in lotus position in the center of her cabin carpet. By planet-side standards, her cabin was small and cramped; by Navy standards, it was luxuriously large; and by anyone's standards, a proud Hangchow government had furnished it with elegant taste. Her eyes drifted to the priceless fifth-century lacquered screen hiding her safe, and the thought of what lay within it undermined her abiiiw to find tranquillity.