“Good evening.” The young driver smiled, jumping out to check the servo-bot and holding the passenger door of his groundcar open, “and welcome to Sea View. It’s a real privilege to welcome such distinguished guests.” When Simon glanced into the young man’s eyes, he realized the greeting wasn’t just standard patter. He’d meant every word. Deep emotion burned in his eyes, the kind founded in personal gratitude of life-altering dimensions. Simon wondered who’d survived, to put that look in his eyes. The young man’s crisp white uniform, trimmed in scarlet and gold, glowed in the light of the double moons, but not as brightly as that look in his eyes. Simon smiled.
“Thank you, very much. My wife and I are delighted to be here.”
A startled grin broke across the younger man’s face. “Wow! Congratulations!”
Kafari broke into a broad smile as she slid into the ground car, moving over to give Simon room to join her. The driver jogged around and a moment later they eased smoothly away, heading down a wooded lane that lay like a dappled ribbon in the moonlight. The snow-covered Damisi rose majestically to their right.
The driver spoke quietly from the front. “There are alpine lakes just above the lodges, where you can fish, swim, sail, ski, and hike. In the winter we have some of the best snow skiing anywhere on Jefferson, but in the summer, like this, there’s an abundance of thermals for gliders and ultralights. We have a wide beach at the bottom of the cliff, with a breakwater to ensure plenty of calm water for swimming and snorkeling, or you can sail or just soak up the sun. There are plenty of group activities, if you like that sort of thing, plenty of privacy and solitude, if you don’t.”
When the groundcar stopped at the entrance to their private cabin, they could hear the crash of the surf far below.
“There are beach cabanas for refreshments,” the driver added as he held their door, “and plenty of shuttles running up and down the cliff for your convenience. And here’s the servo-bot with your luggage.”
The driver opened the lodge, handing Simon the key as he pointed out the main amenities: datanet hookups with built-in terminals, kitchenette and dining nook, bedroom, sitting room, jacuzzi, all the comforts of home with a view of the ocean through a massive window that overlooked a rustic deck. The driver unloaded their luggage and Simon handed him the customary tip, then they were finally alone again.
“Wow,” Kafari breathed softly. “Being Mrs. Khrustinova is turning out to be a pretty good deal!”
“You betcha, it is.”
“That being the case,” she said, voice going abruptly husky, “let’s get started making some little Khrustinovs.”
She melted against him… and that was the last coherent thought Simon had for a long, long time.
Chapter Nine
I
Simon knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into President Lendan’s office. It was more than the shocking exhaustion in Abe Lendan’s long, lean frame, stooped under a burden too heavy for one man. It was more than the scent of illness lingering on the air, more than the ghastly tension that crackled like static electricity on a winter’s night.
“Come in, Major,” President Lendan said, in a voice that was alarmingly fragile. “And thanks for flying in early, to meet with me.”
The president’s secretary closed the door behind him as Simon crossed the room, feet and spirits sinking into the thick carpeting. “That’s what I’m here for, sir,” he said, conjuring up a smile.
Abe Lendan didn’t return it, which left Simon feeling even more distressed. So much so, in fact, he remained standing, almost unconsciously at parade rest.
“In about ten minutes,” the president said, glancing at a clock on his spacious desk, “my senior advisers will be walking through that door. There’s something you and I need to discuss, before they do. Sit down, Major, please.”
Simon sat down. He identified the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as raw fear, for the man on the opposite side of the desk, for the future of this lovely world Simon had made his own.
A ghostly smile flickered into being, for just an instant, lighting Lendan’s deep-set eyes. “I always did approve of a man who knows when to comment and when not to.” The crushing weariness came back, then, almost worse for its temporary absence. “I’m not sure how much constitutional law you’ve soaked up, Major, since your arrival, but my second term in office expires about six months from now. We have a two-party system, on Jefferson, not one of those multiparty messes that requires a coalition just to stay in office and comes crashing down to ruin every time some splinter group gets cold feet. Or, worse, decides to support some crazy issue the majority of people wouldn’t take seriously for anything in known space. That’s one of our strengths, at least. Term limits are another. No one can hold the presidency longer than two five-year terms. Even that can be too long if someone spends a whole decade doing damage.”
Simon nodded cautiously, having studied the constitution rather thoroughly during recent weeks while drawing up planetary defense plans and poring through Sonny’s surveillance reports. The president’s frailty worried Simon. He didn’t look strong enough to endure another six weeks, let alone six months, in the grueling hot seat of the presidency. “I’ve made a fairly detailed study of it, sir.”
“Good. I think you know just how critical this afternoon’s vote in the Joint Assembly will be.”
“I do, sir.” Simon knew only too well. It was his job to deliver an unpalatable ultimatum from Concordiat Sector Command to Jefferson’s elected representation.
“Nobody likes to be threatened, Major, particularly not in the way I suspect you’re about to threaten us. But I do know something about your job, your wider responsibilities. I have not seen the communique that came in for you via SWIFT, this morning. Not even I possess the clearance to decode that. But I can guess exactly what you’ve been ordered to do.”
Simon’s jaw muscles twitched. “You realize, sir, that from the Brigade’s perspective, something has to be done? And quickly?” Jefferson’s refusal to honor its treaty obligations in a timely fashion had created a hole in Concordiat security, one that had to be plugged. Simon wasn’t looking forward to the rest of the day. Judging by the look in Abe Lendan’s eyes, neither was the president. He confirmed it a moment later.
“Oh, yes,” he said softly, “I do understand what has to be done. And why. I may not have the clearance to read coded Brigade messages, but I do have the intelligence,” he smiled faintly, ironically, “to watch the starmaps on the far side of the Void.” The smile vanished. “Given what’s showing up on the open channels, I’m willing to bet your starmaps look even worse than what we’ve been allowed to see. Frankly, I’m a little surprised the Concordiat’s waited this long to threaten us with revocation of the treaty. The trouble I’m looking at, the most immediate trouble, is how that’s going to play, politically. Particularly with major elections only six months away and a serious anti-treaty movement gaining a groundswell of support. I won’t insult your intelligence by asking if you’ve been tracking it, Major.”
Simon smiled. “Thank you, sir.”
“I’ll be frank,” Lendan said abruptly. “My doctor has advised me — strenuously — to step down immediately and retire from public service. A final gift from the Deng, I’m afraid.” Again, that ghostly, painful little smile flickered across his face.
Simon stared, horrified to the soles of his boots. The president’s blunt words had set up a tremor of shock like an aching sickness, that vibrated clear through him. He should have seen it coming and kicked himself silently for not putting the pieces together. Despite massive amounts of rest, Kafari still hadn’t recovered her full strength after her exposure to alien radiation. Abe Lendan didn’t look like he’d had a moment’s rest in the entire six months since the attack. Simon knew combat fatigue. Abraham Lendan’s reserves of strength were shot, depleted by the demands of rebuilding a world in financial ruins. He had the look of a man a few tottering steps from total collapse. Some head of defense you are, Major Khrustinov, he snarled at himself. Dear God, if Abe Lendan stepped down…