An hour's discussion resulted in a plan. Half an hour later, Qonits, using a bottled savant in Cee Ministry, sent the basic features of an offer via Charley himself, who forwarded it using the Wyzhnyny command frequency. The vocators of the bottled savants provided a much better approximation of Qonits' Wyzhnynyc speech than any human vocal apparatus could.

The Wyzhnyny commanders could expect an "imperial" ambassador in two Wyzhnyny shipsweeks, to confer with them directly. Qonits would leave in a cruiser the next day, with David as his companion.

Unfinished Business

Months had passed since the Wyzhnyny offensive on New Jerusalem had been broken. The Burger engineers had worked diligently, transforming the army's base from a tent camp to prefabs, electrified for heat and light. The battalion officer's dayroom had a wooden frame and a subfloor of newly-sawn planks, provided by the Burgers' portable sawmill. Walls, ceiling, roof, and the floor itself were sheets of Plastosil brought from Pastor Luneburger's World with the army.

The New Jerusalem Liberation Corps was ready for winter.

Which soon would be there. It was early ElevenMonth by the Jerrie calendar-dark, cold and wet-when Ensign Esau Wesley came in after supper. He'd brought his platoon back from patrol an hour and a half earlier, had cleaned up and eaten, then come to the dayroom to read. He'd never been much for loafing, and over the months had read, then reread the books Captain Zenawi had loaned him. He found them engrossing, full of facts and ideas-even wisdom-useful to a leader.

And that's what he'd become. The previous Sevenmonth he'd been officially posted as acting platoon leader. He'd never known or wondered why. In the army, orders came from on high-the company commander, Regiment, Division, or War House-and you went along with them.

He knew very well, of course, how he'd become unofficial acting platoon leader. Ensign Berg had been killed on the Tank Park Raid, then Ensign Hawkins had broken his leg on the Artillery Base Jump. But taking over in an emergency was one thing. Having the post on the company TO was something else.

There was a story behind it. It had been Sevenmonth. The entire corps had taken a lot of casualties, and the regimental commander, Colonel Leclerc, had called in his company commanders to work on reorganizing the regiment. They'd begun right after breakfast, and had pretty much wrapped it before lunch. Some companies had been deactivated-combined with other companies, or their personnel distributed within the regiment as replacements.

Division wanted airborne-qualified personnel kept in airborne-qualified platoons; something Leclerc would have done in any case. "Zenawi," he said, "your 2nd Platoon has the most distinguished record in the regiment. With a very fine commander. But according to Major Hatta, Hawkins won't be out of the hospital for eight weeks at the soonest. Add three weeks or more for rehab… " He shrugged. "And Hatta strongly recommends that Hawkins not jump again-not in this gravity.

"Fortunately Ensign Hussain is available. From 3rd Regiment; a good man. His platoon covered Demolitions while they'd wrecked the Wyz howitzers, and taken a lot of casualties. Including Major Chou, which left Hussain the senior officer, in charge of the rear guard action and evacuating the casualties. Then the Wyz elite hit. Hairy business, and he handled it well, all of it.

"I'm assigning him to you, to lead 2nd Platoon B."

Captain Kemau Zenawi Singh chewed a lip. "Colonel," Zenawi said, "2nd Platoon has a platoon sergeant who acted as platoon leader throughout the Artillery Base Raid. I'd hoped to see him get the job."

Leclerc frowned. "Esau Wesley? I reviewed his commendations last night, before okaying his promotion to sergeant first class. A remarkable young warrior. But he doesn't have anything like the training and the leadership experience Hussain has. Are you sure you don't prefer him because he's B Company, and you're loyal to your own people?"

Zenawi set his jaw. "That's part of it, sir. But on the other hand, I'm an old friend of Hussain. We were in the same cadet squad at the Academy. Went into Tehran together a few times, to sample the ethnic eating places.

"The thing is, young Wesley's a sort of icon in B Company, though I doubt he knows it. He's better than his official record, sir. For one thing he's got natural presence. Charisma. Berg, Hawkins, Captain Mulvaney, all made a project out of him early on, at Stenders, because of his leadership qualities. And he never disappointed them.

"On the Tank Park Raid, he took out the southwest tower by himself, with cover by a couple of blastermen. Then, at the Pecan Orchard, he led a stealth team into the middle of the Wyzhnyny camp and stole their headquarters, a floater-took it from under their noses-which was vital to our success there. And… "

Leclerc interrupted. "Kemau," he said patiently, "I know those things. But his reputation stems from his individual exploits. Leadership's another matter."

"But not unrelated, Colonel. In that disorganized melee at the tank park, before he took out the southwest tower, he functioned effectively as a leader. He and his squad were one of two sent into an utterly chaotic melee to support 3rd Platoon when they were getting swamped. And it was Wesley that Mulvaney turned to to get the flak towers handled. And on the artillery base jump, Esau directed Hawkins' Platoon at the same time he… "

Leclerc cut him off. "All right. So he's a natural warrior and a promising leader. Hussain's another natural warrior, and a trained and proven leader. Where's Wesley's advantage?"

"You already identified it, sir." Zenawi showed no sign of backing off. "You wanted to keep units intact so far as possible; `for morale and unity,' you said. Wesley's been 2nd Platoon from the beginning, and he's a legend in B Company. In Airborne A Temp for that matter. He's got a reputation: they believe he can do anything, even salvage bad situations. He's smart, tough, fearless… and lucky! The men talk about it. The men of B Company, especially 2nd Platoon, would feel slighted, insulted, if he got passed over now."

Zenawi's expression was intense, his white eyes hard in his black face. "Hussain is a good man and he is a proven officer. In time, 2nd Platoon would forget their resentment, and like him. But it wouldn't be the same, and it would take awhile." He paused, and put his hand on his chest. "Speaking respectfully, sir, their company commander wants Esau Wesley, and so does his company!"

Leclerc pursed his lips, then grunted. "All right, you've made your case, Kemau. I'll post Wesley as commander of 2nd Platoon, B Company. But I want you to work with him. Help him with whatever he's short on. Give him some reading: The Infantry Platoon Leader; Working with Men; The Challenge of Command… And if he's willing, Gopal Singh's The Wise Leader. Then quiz him."

Zenawi relaxed. "Thank you, sir, I will. And sir, if you were the CO of B Company, I believe you'd have made the same request I did."

Leclerc stifled a smile. You got the old man to back down, didn't you, he thought. And now you're rubbing a little oil on. Well, it's healthy to back down now and then, when the case is good enough. But pick your spots carefully, Kemau.

That had been high summer. Now they were at winter's doorstep. Esau was rereading The Infantry Platoon Leader when Jael came in. For months they'd been in different units, quartered in different hutments, living different lives. He hadn't seen her for weeks; didn't often think about her anymore. So far as he knew, they were still married, but it felt remote.