"Yeah," Javna said.

"Mr. Javna, we've got a gentleman here who says he needs to speak to you about a sheep."

"A sheep?" Javna said. "Who is he?"

"His ID says his name is Samuel Young," the guard said.

"Have someone bring him up to me," Javna said.

Two minutes later Samuel "Fixer" Young was standing in front of Javna.

"Let's cut the bullshit and get right to cases, if you don't mind," Javna said to Fixer, after the security guard had left. "Tell me where Harry Creek and Robin Baker are, right now."

"Fine," Fixer said. "Creek and Baker are on a cruise liner called the Neverland. Right now it's in n-space between Brjnn and Chagfun. They're safe for the moment."

"And you know this because," Javna said.

"Because I put them on the ship," Fixer said.

Javna felt himself relax. "That's good news," he said.

"It's not," Fixer said. "The Nidu know they're on the ship. When the Neverland arrives at Chagfun, the Nidu will likely board the ship, take Robin, and destroy the Neverland and kill everyone on board."

"How do you know this?" Javna said.

"I can't tell you," Fixer said. Which wasn't exactly true. He could tell, but the Church had offered him a substantial chunk of cash to keep its name out of it Fixer had had a rough few days, but if he lived through the next few he was going to be richer than hell.

"Can you prove what you're saying to me?" Javna said.

"No," Fixer said. "But it's true."

"Do you seriously expect me to believe you?" Javna said.

"You could double-check my story with the Nidu," Fixer said. "I'm sure they'll be happy to admit they're planning to torpedo a cruise liner filled with UNE civilians."

Three minutes later, Javna and Fixer were in Jim Heffer's office. Fixer repeated his message.

"Isn't this convenient," Heffer muttered, looking up at Javna. "And just a few hours before you and I are supposed to be on our way to Nidu for the coronation ceremony."

"It's no coincidence," Javna said. "They grab the girl and get her to Nidu before there's time to do anything about it. The coronation ceremony starts late, but it finishes nonetheless. And there's another wrinkle."

"I can't wait to hear what it is," Heffer said.

"Robin Baker's no longer a UNE citizen," Javna said. "We disenfranchised her to make her her own sovereign species and to keep the Nidu from having an excuse to break our treaties. But it also means that if they grab her and use her for the ceremony we have no legal way to protect her. We have no treaties with the woman."

"The Nidu would still be violating their CC charter," Heffer said.

"Not if they declared war on her first," Javna said.

Heffer chuckled ruefully. "Nidu declaring war on a single person. Good lord."

"It's idiotic but it's legal," Javna said.

"We can't signal the Neverland," Heffer said.

"It's in n-space," Javna said.

"At the very least we can warn Nidu not to board her," Heffer said.

"We could," Javna said. "But how do we enforce it? Chagfun is a minor Nidu colony. We have no presence there. They could torpedo the Neverland and we'd never be able to confirm it. If they hit her hard enough, everything would simply burn up in the atmosphere."

"How long until the Neverland reaches Chagfun?" Heffer asked.

"I have no idea," Javna said.

"Here," Fixer said, fishing out a piece of paper. "It's the Never-land's itinerary."

Heffer took it and looked at it. "The Neverland jumped into n-space less than a half hour ago," he said. "You couldn't have come by an hour earlier?"

"I'm just the messenger," Fixer said. "Please don't shoot me."

"She's not due in at Chagfun until the day after tomorrow," Heffer said, and tapped his desk for a moment. "Come on, you two," he said. "We're going to the Pentagon."

At the Pentagon, Bob Pope ignored Heffer to zero in on Javna. "You know Dave Phipps has gone missing," he said.

"I didn't," Javna said. "When did this happen?"

"The day he had lunch with you," Pope said, and then pointed at Heffer. "After our little meeting with the president about the Nidu destroyers I tried to reach Dave and got nothing. He's been out since with no word."

"He told me that he needed to close down a couple of projects," Javna said, "relating to our little interdepartmental power struggle."

Pope opened his mouth to refute Javna, then shut it and looked at Heffer. "We're all friends today," he said, as a statement, not a question.

"Whatever you say, Bob," Heffer said.

"We contracted out to a team suggested to us by Jean Schroeder." It was Heffer's turn to open his mouth; Pope put up his hand. "I know. Friends, Jim. Schroeder has gone missing. The team we were using—what's left of it since the Arlington Mall incident—has gone missing, too. I'm pretty sure Dave went to see Schroeder the night he disappeared."

"So Phipps is with Schroeder and his team," Heffer said.

"I can't believe Dave would do that," Pope said.

"I have to side with Secretary Pope," Javna said. "When I talked with Phipps he said things had gone too far. He sounded like he was wrapping things up, not getting ready to run."

"If he's not with Schroeder, then where is he?" Heffer said.

Pope looked at Javna. "You know what I think," he said.

"You think he's dead," Javna said. "You two put together a team to kill Harry and Robin Baker and when Phipps decided to have them take the fall, they killed him instead."

"Bob, whatever happened to Phipps, I'm sorry to hear it," Heffer said. "But at the moment we have another problem." Heffer had Fixer repeat his warning about the Neverland.

"Who gave you this information?" Pope asked Fixer.

"The same people who saved me when one of the members of your 'team' tried to eat me," Fixer said. "I realize I don't count here, but I'm personally inclined to believe them."

"What do you think?" Pope said, to Heffer.

"We can't ignore it," Heffer said. "The Nidu have already tried every legal avenue to get Robin Baker. She's a critical part of the coronation ceremony. I think this information makes sense. I think they're going to try for her and to hell with anyone who gets in their way."

"Dropping a UNE ship into Nidu space is awfully close to war, Jim," Pope said.

"The Nidu firing on a civilian ship is already an act of war," Heffer said. "If nothing else, Nidu won't be able to hide what they're doing from us or the CC."

"If you're wrong on this, I'm taking you down with me," Pope said.

"If I'm wrong on this, you won't need to take me down with you," Heffer said. "I'll go willingly."

Pope jabbed a button on his desk; the windows in his office went opaque and the room became noticeably dimmer. Pope pointed at Fixer. "You wait outside." Fixer nodded and headed to the door. When he was gone, Pope poked a second button. A projector above his desk came to life and displayed a dimensional map of the space that contained the Earth, her colonies, and other local star systems.

"Display Chagfun," Pope said. A star near the top of the display glowed brightly. "All right," Pope said. "The closest colony we have to Chagfun is Breton Colony, here." Pope reached in to touch a star; the display flickered and reset to show an Earthlike globe. "List UNE ships at Breton," Pope said.

There were three. "The James Madison, the Winston Churchill, and the British Columbia," Pope said. "The Madison and the Churchill can't help us. Their jump engines are too weak to get to Chagfun in time. But the British Columbia." Pope touched the name in the floating list; the screen flickered again and generated an image of the British Columbia and a catalogue of its stats. "Yes, the 'Britcee' could do it. If she gets under way in the next hour, she can be there right around the time the Neverland arrives. It's going to be close, though."