“I move we begin final balloting,” Mandela said, interrupting Jonah’s thoughts.

“Seconded,” Heather said immediately.

“All those in favor?” A unanimous chorus of ayes followed. “Very well,” Drummond said. “The final balloting will now begin. Once a majority of Paladins have agreed on a single candidate, the election process will be complete.”

Jonah felt a sensation akin to being ambushed in battle. He felt surrounded and under-armed. Thanks to that last message, he finally knew who the third candidate was, and the prospect of that person being elected panicked him far more than did the idea of Sorenson becoming Exarch.

Lights already began appearing. Two red lights appeared, and Jonah caught Kessel and Sorenson leaning back in their chairs. Red must be Sorenson.

Three yellow lights announced a new leader in the election. McKinnon, Jonah guessed. He was the only other Paladin with such a unified bloc of support.

A blue light illuminated. The third candidate had a vote.

One more of each color lit. Three red, four yellow, two blue. Just over half the votes in, and McKinnon held the lead.

Then blue. Blue again. And a third time, giving it the lead with five votes, six more to come.

“All votes must be cast in a one-minute interval,” Drummond droned. “Please submit your choice.”

Two more blue. The third candidate had seven, two votes shy of victory. Then another vote for McKinnon’s yellow, followed by yet another blue.

Red held at three. Sorenson’s support was dwindling while McKinnon’s five had remained firm. But the third candidate had eight, needing only one to become Exarch. And Jonah held the final vote.

He could use his vote to end the election right here, or he could vote for a fourth candidate and keep the balloting going. But he knew what line needed to be held. And from his earliest days as a militia commander, he had never asked anyone to do a job that he wasn’t willing to do himself. No matter how much he might wish otherwise, some tasks couldn’t be delegated.

He pressed a button. A ninth blue light came on.

Tyrina Drummond looked down at the display on her desktop, then left her seat and went to the lectern. Once again, the Nova Cat Paladin swept the chamber with her commanding gaze, and then she spoke.

“Fellow Paladins,” she said, “the final ballot has yielded a victor. The Exarch-Elect of The Republic of the Sphere is Jonah Levin.”

Office of the Exarch, Hall of Government, Geneva

Terra, Prefecture X

2 January 3135

Aweek after the election, Jonah Levin was still in a daze. Today’s meeting in the Exarch’s office with the Ghost Paladin—the head of The Republic’s most secret intelligence force, the commander of the Ghost Knights—didn’t seem likely to clear his mind. Even the physical office itself depressed him, since it had been loaned to him by Damien Redburn for the occasion with the cheerful remark that it was all going to be his soon anyway. Jonah was not looking forward to that day.

He’d spoken to Heather GioAvanti shortly after the election, pretending to blame her speech for dooming him to office. She’d just shaken her head and smiled.

“I didn’t even mention your name. I just said what kind of person we needed. It’s not my fault that most of the Paladins agreed that you’re that kind of person.”

“I’m not sure I am,” he said honestly.

“That’s okay,” Heather said. “The rest of us think you’re that kind of person. That’s enough.”

At that point, he accepted that it was time to stop worrying about the situation he’d been thrust into, or entertaining doubts about his adequacy. It was time to focus on the job that needed doing.

Today, that job involved waiting alone in Damien Redburn’s private office for a man to arrive. Or perhaps a woman—no one except for the Exarch, and soon the Exarch-elect, was in a position to know the Ghost Paladin’s identity for sure. Jonah wondered for a moment how the Ghost Paladin came and went in the Hall of Government without revealing his identity, and made a mental note to ask him or her.

At precisely the appointed hour, the inner door of Redburn’s office opened and the Ghost Paladin walked in. Jonah looked at the newcomer for a moment; then, despite the heaviness of office that already had descended upon him over the past few days, he smiled.

“An excellent cover identity,” he said to the concierge of the Hotel Duquesne. “And well placed for watching everybody of importance, thanks to The Republic’s generous policy of housing so many of its people in your fine establishment.”

Emil seated himself, smiling all the while under his waxed mustache. “You’ve put me to a great deal of extra work over the years, Paladin Levin, with your insistence on staying at the Pension Flambard. I can assure you that Madame Flambard is, indeed, as incorruptible a guardian of her guests’ personal privacy as you have always believed. The woman is a veritable dragon, and I’d give a great deal to have her working for me.”

“Yes. Well. The Exarch—”

“The current Exarch,” corrected Emil gently.

“The current Exarch says that you’ve prepared a summary for me of the overall intelligence situation in the aftermath of the election.”

“Yes,” said Emil. He took out a datacube and set it on Redburn’s desk. “This cube contains copies of the Exarch’s eyes-only intelligence files. You’ll probably want to familiarize yourself with them before your inauguration.”

“Of course,” Jonah said.

“In addition, I have a couple of quick verbal updates. First, as regards the Steiner-Davion investigation, and based mostly on material taken from your own closing report to the Exarch, Senator Geoffrey Mallowes and Henrik Morten have been charged in a thirty-seven-count indictment.”

“Only thirty-seven?”

“For the moment, yes. Also, your contract employee Burton Horn has been reimbursed for his expenses. And he has been cleared, by virtue of his exercise of your authority, of any charges anyone might consider bringing against him related to this matter.”

“And the rest of the Senate?”

“Will not be cleaned up in a day. Lina Derius looks to be the most likely to fall next, but even that’s no sure thing.” Emil looked steadily at Jonah. “Devlin Stone established the Senate to serve as a valuable aide to the Exarch. As of this moment, and probably for most of your term, the Senate is going to be your enemy. They see the way things are going, and they want to hold on to power. Many of them see themselves as nobility first and Senators second, particularly since the HPG blackout. While there are many Senators who are loyal to the Exarch’s office and who continue to support The Republic, a significant number have begun to show a tendency to fall back into the old ways, in which nobility automatically equates to rulership.”

“Won’t make my job easier.”

“I’d say not.”

“Can I arrest them all?” Jonah said, and he wasn’t entirely sure he was joking.

“Eventually, maybe,” Emil said with a ghost of a smile.

Jonah shook his head. “The whole idea of Paladins and Senators working together—the nobles and the military, all cooperating for the good of the people—that was one of Stone’s best moments. That goal was supposed to keep all of us thinking of things larger than ourselves.”

“That’s difficult for many people. Especially nobles.”

Jonah almost laughed. “I wish we could just blame the nobles. But it’s clear that The Republic’s problems run deeper than that.”

Jonah sighed. “All right,” he said, refocusing on the tasks at hand. “What about the Kittery Renaissance?”

“Clandestine, insurgent organizations are designed to keep information concealed. Cullen Roi, the man Paladin GioAvanti captured, is quite gifted at staying silent. We’re fairly certain he was one of the top three people in the organization, but he’s not helping us confirm anything. We’re certain we didn’t get everyone. The woman Paladin GioAvanti calls Norah is still at large, for one, and there’s likely several more out there.”