"You're still risking her life," Black said. "You're risking her life and she's only a child."

"If she stayed here, she would have died like the rest of us," Jane said. "By going, she'll live, and she gives us a chance to survive. We did the right thing."

Marie Black opened her mouth to respond. "You need to think very hard about the rext thing you say concerning my daughter," Jane said. Black closed her mouth with an audible clack.

"You've set this course of action without us," Lol Gerber said. "But you're telling us now. I'd like to know the reason why."

"We sent Zoe because we thought it was necessary," I said. "That was our decision to make, and we made it. But Marie is right: You are going to have to live with consequences of our actions. We had to tell you. If Marie's any indication, some of you have lost confidence in us. Right now you need leaders you feel you can trust. We've told you what we've done and why. One of the consequences of our actions is that now you need to vote on whether you want us to lead the colony any further."

"The Colonial Union won't accept anyone new," Marta Piro said.

"I think that depends on what you tell them," I said. "If you tell them we've been consorting with the enemy, I'm guessing they'd approve the change."

"So you're also asking us whether or not to turn you in to the Colonial Union," Trujillo said.

"We're asking you to do what you think is necessary," I said. "Just as we have done." I stood up; Jane followed. We walked outside of our office and into the Roanoke sunlight.

"How long do you think it will take?" I asked Jane.

"Not long," Jane said. "I expect Marie Black will make sure of that."

"I want to thank you for not killing her," I said. "It would have made the vote of confidence problematic."

"I did want to kill her, but not because she was wrong," Jane said. "She's right. We're risking Zoe's life. And she's a child."

I walked over to my wife. "She's almost as old as you are," I said, rubbing her arm.

Jane pulled away. "It's not the same and you know it," she said.

"No, it's not," I said. "But Zoe's old enough to understand what she's doing. She's lost people she's cared for, just like you have. Just like I have. And she knows that she stands to lose a lot more. She chose to go. We gave her a choice."

"We gave her a false choice," Jane said. "We stood in front of her and gave her the choice of risking her own life or risking the lives of everyone she knows, including ours. You can't tell me that was a fair set of choices to give her.'

"It's not," Isaid. "But those were the choices we had to give her."

"I hate this fucking universe," Jane said, looking away. "I hate the Colonial Union. I hate the Conclave. I hate this colony. I hate all of it."

"How do you feel about me?" I asked.

"Now is not a good time to ask," Jane said. We sat and waited.

A half hour later Savitri walked out of the administration office. Her eyes were red. "Well, there's good news and bad news," she said. "The good news is that you have ten days before they tell the CU that you've been talking to General Gau. You have Trujillo to thank for that."

"That's something," I said.

"Yeah," Savitri said. "The bad news is that you're out. Both of you. Unanimous vote. I'm just the secretary. I couldn't vote. Sorry."

"Who has the job now?" Jane asked.

"Trujillo," Savitri said. "Of course. Bastard started angling for the job before you two closed the door."

"He's really not that bad," I said.

"I know," Savitri said, and wiped her eyes. "I'm just trying to make you feel like I'll miss you."

I smiled. "Well, I appreciate that." I gave her a hug. She hugged me back fiercely, and then stepped back.

"What now?" Savitri asked.

"We have ten days," I said. "Now we wait."

The ship knew the Roanoke defenses, or lack thereof, which is why it appeared in the sky on the other side of the planet, where the colony's single defense satellite couldn't see it. The ship let itself down gently into the atmosphere to avoid the heat and drama of reentry, and slowly crossed the longitudes of the globe, heading toward the colony. Before the ship crossed the defense satellite's perceptual horizon, and the heat of its engines would be sensed by it, the ship cut them out, and began a long gravity-assisted glade toward the colony, its small mass supported by immense but whisper-thin electrically-generated wings. The ship fell, silently, toward its target, us.

We saw it just as it finished its long glide and discarded its wings, switching over to maneuvering jets and flotation fields. The sudden plumes of heat and energy were caught by the satellite, which immediately sent a warning—too late, as it turned out, because by the time it had signaled, the ship had already maneuvered to land. The satellite sped telemetry to our beam turrets and warmed up its own beam defenses, which were now fully recharged.

Jane, who was still in charge of colony defense, signaled for the satellite to stand down. The ship was now within colony borders, if not within the walls of Croatoan; if the satellite fired, the colony itself would be damaged. Jane likewise took the beam turrets offline; they too would end up causing more damage to the colony than the ship would.

The ship landed; Jane and Trujillo and I walked out to meet it. As we walked a bay on the ship slid open. A passenger shot out from the bay, yelling and running at Jane, who prepared herself for the impact. Badly, as it turned out, because she and Zoe' both tumbled to the ground. I went over to laugh at them; Jane grabbed an ankle and pulled me down to the pile. Trujillo stood at a prudent distance, so as not to get caught up in the mess.

"It took you long enough," I said to Zoe, after I finally detan-gled myself. "Another day and a half, and your mom and I would be headed to Phoenix on a treason charge."

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," Zoe' said. "I'm just glad to see you." She grabbed me in another hug.

"Zoe," Jane said. "You saw General Gau."

"Saw him?" Zoe said. "We were there for the assassination attempt."

"You what?" Jane and I said simultaneously.

Zoe held up her hands, placatingly. "Survived it," she said. "As you can see."

I looked over to Jane. "I think I just wet myself," I said.

"I'm fine," Zoe said. "It wasn't that bad, really."

"You know, even fcr a teenager, you might be a bit blase about this," I said. Zoe grinned. I hugged her again, even more tightly.

"And the general?" Jane said.

"Survived it too," Zoe said. "And not just survived it. Came out of it furious. He's using the attempt to call people on the carpet. To demand their loyalty to him."

"To him?" I said. "That doesn't sound like him. He said to me that the Conclave wasn't an empire. If he's demanding loyalty it sounds like he's making himself an emperor." f

"Some of his closest advisers did just try to murder him," Zoe said. "He could use some personal loyalty right now."

"I can't argue that," I said.

"But it's not over," Zoe said. "That's why I came back. There's still a group of planets holding out. They're led by someone named Eser. Nerbros Eser. They've been the ones attacking the Colonial Union, he said."

"Right," I said, remembering what General Szilard had said about Eser.

"General Gau gave me a message for you," Zoe said. "He says that Eser is coming here. Soon. Eser wants to take Roanoke because the general couldn't. Taking Roanoke gives him leverage, the general said. A way to shew he's more able to lead the Conclave."

"Of course," I said. "Everyone else is using Roanoke as a pawn. Why not this asshole?"

"If this Eser is attacking the Colonial Union at large, then he's not going to have any trouble finishing us off," Trujillo said. He was still keeping his distance from the pile.