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  "Thank you, Mister O'Rourke." Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Chantal Duval's cool, clear voice carried well. Now her image replaced O'Rourke's on the huge screen about her podium. "Is there any discussion?"

  Howard Anderson pressed his call key and watched Duval's eyes drop to her panel.

  "The Chair recognizes President Emeritus Howard Anderson," she said, and the mutter of side conversations ended as Anderson replaced her image on the huge screen behind her podium. Even after all these years, his ego found the attention flattering, and he propped himself a shade more aggressively on his cane as an antidote.

  "Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will be brief, but I would be derelict in my duty if I did not voice my concern--my very grave concern--over the Administration's plans." The silence became a bit more profound, and he saw a few uneasy faces. His caustic attacks on the Sakan-ami-Waldeck military policies had a nasty habit of singling out delegates who'd received their kilo of flesh to support them.

  'Ladies and Gentlemen, we have agreed to assume the role of khimhok in this confrontation between the individuals who call themselves Thebans' and the Khanate. As one who knows Khan Liharnow personally, I may, perhaps, have a better grasp than many of his tremendous concession in allowing us to do so, and, as President Sakanami, I see no alternative but to accept it. Yet we must be cautious. While circumstantial evidence certainly appears to confirm that the Thebans are descendants or the Lorelei Massacre's survivors, all the evidence to date is just that--circumstantial. And even if they have been correctly identified, aspects of their conduct both before and since their attack on the Tenth Destroyer Squadron cause me to have grave reservations.

  "First, they have, as yet, failed to explain to my satisfaction why they refuse even to consider that Lieutenant Johansen's messages outlined the true state of affairs. It is evident from the courier drones the Khanate has made available to us that they never had the least intention of making rendezvous to confirm or disprove her statements; their sole purpose was to close to decisive range and annihilate Lord Talphon's command.

  "Second, they have permitted only unarmed courier vessels to enter Lorelei since our first attempts to communicate with them, and they continue to refuse all physical contact. Their visual links to our courier ships have also been most unsatisfactory, and I find these 'technical difficulties' of theirs suspiciously persistent.

  "Third, they continue to refuse to explain how colony ships survived transit into the Theban System when no survey ships have done so.

  "Fourth, they have now refused all further negotiations until we demonstrate our ability to protect them from Orion reprisals by dispatching to Lorelei sufficient forces to mount a creditable defense of the system. Coming after their steadfast refusal to permit even a single destroyer into the system, this seems a trifle peculiar, to say the very least.'

  He paused to gauge the effect of his remarks. One or two faces looked thoughtful, but most were bored. None of what he'd said, after all, was new.

  "I can readily understand that a colony which has been isolated for almost a century would be cautious. I can even understand a certain degree of paranoid intransigence, given the traumatic circumstances which carried their ancestors to Thebes in the first place. What I do not understand is why that cautious culture should now obligingly invite us to send no less than thirty percent of Battle Fleet to their very doorstep. It is all very well to call it a major step forward, but it is a step which appears to make very little sense. If they are truly beginning to feel more confident, why do they not invite one of our harmless, unarmed courier craft to make the first contact? Surely that would be the rational approach. This sounds entirely too much like their offer to Lord Talphon."

  This time, he saw some concern in his audience when he paused.

  ' Certainly it would be insane of any single planet to challenge both the Orions and us, but we may err seriously if we assume they are rational by normal standards. Were the Fleet up to strength, I might feel less concern, but the Fleet is no* up to strength, and we can neither be certain what a potentially irrational culture may do nor risk substantial Fleet losses."

  He paused once more, wondering if he should state his case even more strongly, then decided against it. The LibProgs already called him a senile crackpot in private.

  "Madam Speaker, while military and diplomatic policy fall within the purview of the Executive, the Constitution grants the Assembly an oversight role, specifically confirmed by the Executive Powers Act of 2283. I therefore move that this Assembly instruct the Administration to hold its 'Peace Fleet' at readiness in Redwing pending a fresh approach to the Thebans, and that the Tnebans be informed that the Federation requires direct, face-to-face contact before any Federation warship enters the Lorelei System. If these people are sincerely eager to rejoin the rest of humanity, they will accept. If they are not sincere, it would be the height of foolhardiness for us to expose so substantial a portion of our Navy to risk without overwhelming support.

  "Thank you."

  He sat in silence, and Speaker Duval's image reappeared.

  "It has been moved that the Administration be it instructed to hold the 'Peace Fleet' in Redwing until such time as the Thebans agree to direct contact with Federation negotiators," she said clearly. "Is there a second?"

  "Madam Speaker, I second the motion." It was Andrew Spruance of Nova Terra, one of Anderson's Conservative Party allies.

  "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Assembly, the motion has been seconded. Is there any debate?' An attention chime sounded almost instantly, and Duval looked up. "The Chair recognizes the Honorable Assemblyman for Christophon."

  "Thank you, Madam Speaker." Pericles Waldeck, the LibProg Assembly leader and Anderson's personal b$te-noire, smiled from the screen. "As the distinguished President Emeritus, I will be brief.

  "No one in this Chamber can match President Anderson's lifetime of experience. As both war hero and statesman, he deserves our most serious attention. In this instance, however, I am unable to agree with him. Prudence, certainly, is much to be admired, but President Sakanami has been prudent. Three months have passed since the regrettable attack on the Orion squadron-- three months in which no Theban vessel has attempted to depart the Lorelei System or fired upon any of our courier craft within it. They have been cautious, true, and perhaps less than courteous and forthcoming by our standards, but let us remember their history. Is it reasonable to expect any culture which began in massacre and desperate flight from the Orions, which must have spent virtually an entire century in preparation to return and, if necessary, confront those same Orions, to react in any other wayr

  "I am not well versed in technical matters, but many experts have agreed that the communications problems cited by the Tnebans are, indeed, possible, particularly when technologies attempt to interface once more after a ninety-one-year separation. And their sudden about-face in requesting a powerful Fleet presence does not strike me as inconsistent. After all their people have endured, an element of 'show me' must be inevitable where their very survival is concerned.

  "Finally, let us consider the strength President Saka-nami proposes to commit to his Peace Fleet. We will be dispatching twenty-one capital ships, fifteen fleet and light carriers, and a strong escort of lighter units. The Tnebans have shown no reluctance to allow our couriers to approach Charon's Ferry, and their fleet strength in Lorelei has never exceeded seventy vessels, only twelve of them capital ships. While this is an impressive strength for any isolated system--indeed, a strength which, following the Thebans' reunification with the rest of humanity, wul do much to repair the weakness which President Anderson has often decried in our own Navy--it cannot be considered a serious threat to the Peace Fleet.

  "With all of this in mind, and conceding every argument which urges caution, I cannot support President Anderson's contention that still more caution is required. Let us not jeopardize the chance to achieve a quick and peaceful resolution by an appearance of irresolution. Ladies and Gentlemen
of the Assembly, I ask that President Emeritus Anderson's morion be denied.

  "Thank you."

  He sat, and Anderson leaned back, his own face expressionless, as the LibProg steamroller went smoothly to work. A dozen delegates rose to endorse Waldecks words. They couldn't have been more respectful and deferential towards the Federation's "Grand Old Man," yet their very deference emphasized that he was an old man--one, perhaps, whom age had rendered alarmist.

  And, he was forced to admit, many of their arguments made sense. A dangerously complacent sense, perhaps, but one against which he could offer little more than instinct. It might be an instinct honed by over a century of military and political service, but it couldn't be quantified as ship strengths could, and it wasn't enough to convince the Liberal Democrats or the handful of Independents to join his Conservatives in bucking a powerful president and his party under the terms of an act whose constitutionality had always been suspect...

  The final vote rejected his motion oy more than three to one.

  * * *

  CHAPTER FOUR A Slaughter of Innocents

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  Fleet Admiral Li Chien-lu frowned as Special Envoy Victor Aurelli entered his private briefing room and sat. Aurelli's patrician face wore a faintly supercilious smile, and Li was hard pressed to keep his frown from becoming a glare as he placed a memo chip on the conference table.

  "Thank you for coming so promptly, Mister Aurelli," he said.

  "You sounded rather emphatic," Aurelli replied with a slight shrug.

  'I suppose I did. And if I did, Mister Aurelli, this"-- Li tapped the chip sharply, eyes suddenly dagger-sharp-- "is to blame."

  "I take it those are my modest amendments to your...battle plans?"

  "No, Mister Aurelli, they're your unwarranted intrusion into my standard operational directives."

  Two pairs of eyes locked across the conference table, and there was no affability in either.

  "Admiral," the envoy finally broke the silence, "this is a diplomatic mission, not an assault on a Rigelian PDC, and I do not propose to permit you or anyone else to jeopardize its success. This crisis is too grave to justify offering gratuitous insult to Theban sensibilities."

  "Considering those same Thebans' record to date," Li returned coldly, "I fail to see how any prudent deployment of my forces could be deemed a 'gratuitous insult' to their gentler natures. And, sir, while you may command the mission, / command this task force."

  "Which is a subordinate component of the over-all mission, Admiral. I direct your attention to paragraph

  r , „ } r & r three ot your orders.

  Aurelli's gentle smile made Li wish briefly that they were on one of the Out Worlds which had resurrected the code duello.

  "I am aware of my instructions to cooperate with you, sir, but Fleet orders are for a flag officer's guidance. If in his judgment the situation on the spot requires prudent and timely precautions not visualized when those orders were written, he is expected to take them. And, Mister Aurelli, this latest Theban 'request' requires the precautions laid down in my ops order."

  Aurelli sighed. The admiral was a typical Academy product: dedicated, professional, and utterly unable to see any further than his gunnery console. Of course the Thebans were acting irrationally! What else could anyone expect from a colony with their history? How would Admiral Li have felt if a "negotiator" allied with the Rigeli-ans had told him the Third Interstellar War was all a misunderstanding?

  That was why this was too important to botch by letting the military fumble around in charge of it.

  Admiral Li,' he said, "you may not oelieve this, but I sympathize with your concerns. As a military commander, it's your duty to project possible threats and counter them. I accept that. But in this instance, I must insist that you follow the instructions I've given you."

  "No." Aurelli's eyebrows rose at Li's flat refusal. "The

  Thebans have 'requested' that we rendezvous with them on their warp point with our entire strength. That will place my carriers and battle-cruisers twenty hours from the nearest friendly warp point. My battle-line units will be over a full day from it. I will not place my ships and my people in a position from which they cannot withdraw in the event of hostile action."

  It was Li's turn to lean back and glare. Victor Aurelli was an ass. The sort of idiot who chopped away at every military budget on the theory that if the Fleet could do its job--somehow--last year, it could do it with a bit less this year. And now he wanted a third of Battle Fleet to advance beyond withdrawal range into a star system occupied by a fleet which had already demonstrated that it would shoot a man out from under a flag of truce?

  "Admiral, have you detected any additional Theban units?"

  "No, but a star system is a very large haystack. Against a ship with powered-down systems, our scanners have a maximum detection range of under five light-minutes under ideal conditions. The entire Orion Navy could be out there, and without a proper network of scan sats we'd never know it."

  "But you have not detected any additional units?" Aurelli pressed, and Li shook his head curtly. "And if there were any such units, could they enter attack range without being detected?"

  "Not without better cloaking technology than we know of," Li admitted.

  "Excellent. Then whether there are additional Theban warships or not, we need concern ourselves immediately only with those we can detect. Given that, would you say you were confident of your ability to engage and defeat, if necessary, the forces you've so far identified?"

  "Given that they have no radical technical or tactical surprises for me, and that there are no additional hostile forces hidden away, yes."

  Aurelli hid a sigh. Why did the military always insist on qualifiers? They used the same worn-out tactic every time they demanded a bigger budget. If the Orions do this, if a new Rigelian Protectorate turns up, if the Ophi-uchi do that, if, if, if, if!

  "Admiral, if you were defending the Centauris System and the sole warp point to Sol, would you allow a hostile force into Centauris instead of trying to stop it at the warp points?"

  "Under some circumstances, yes," La said surprisingly. "If my forces were strong enough to defeat the enemy in a head-on engagement but too weak to block all potential entry warp points, I would concede the warp points rather than risk oeing defeated in detail. And"---his dark eyes stabbed the envoy like a force beam--"if I could, I d suck the hostiles too deep in-system to run before I let them know I had the strength to smash them."

  "I'm not going to argue anymore, Admiral." Aurelli's voice was cold. ' You wfll muster the entire task force-- not just a screen of cruisers and battle-cruisers--and advance to Charon's Ferry. You will rendezvous with the Thebans, and you will refrain from potentially provocative actions."

  "Sir, I must respectfully refuse to do so," La said equally coldly.

  "You have no choice." Aurelli's thin smile was dangerous as he reached inside his jacket. "President Sakanami anticipated that there might be...differences of opinion between the military anocivilian components of this mission, Admiral Li, and he took steps to resolve them."

  La unfolded the single sheet of paper, and his face tightened. The orders were crisp, cold, and to the point, and he refolded them very carefully before he returned them to the envelope.

  "Do you really think they'll do it?"

  First Admiral Lantu glanced at Fleet Chaplain Manak as he spoke, and the churchman shrugged. His yellow eyes were thoughtful as he stroked his cranial carapace, and his ring of office glinted on his three-fingered hand.

  "Yes," he said finally. "I had my doubts when the

  Prophet decreed it, but Holy Terra works in mysterious ways. It would seem the infidels have been blinded by our words."

  "I hope you're right," Lantu grunted, turning back to his large-scale nav display. The light dots of the infidel task force moved steadily towards nim, led by the single destroyer squadron he'd sent out as guides and spies. It was hard for Lantu to believe an
yone could be this stupid.

  ' I believe I am," Manak replied with the serenity of his faith. "The cursed Orions fell into your snare, my son. If the Satan-Khan's own children can be taken so easily, should not the apostate fall still more easily?"

  Lantu didn't reply. Satan's children or no, those Orions had shown courage. It had been obvious from the initial reports that the boarding attack had been a total surprise. There'd been no hope of organized resistance, yet somehow Znamae's bridge officers had held long enough to blow their fusion plants...and take Kepler with them.

  He glanced at the huge portrait of the Angel Saint-Just on the flag bridge bulkhead and closed nis inner eyelids in sympathy. How must the Holy Messenger feel to see his own people brought so low?

  Admiral Li sat on the superdreadnought Everest's flag bridge and ignored Victor Aurelli. Neither training nor personality would let him show his contempt before his officers, but he was damned if he'd pretend he liked the man.

  "Coming into scan range of the Ferry now, sir," his chief of staff reported. 'The drive source count looks consistent."

  "Thank you, Christine. Any new messages from the Thebans?"

  "None, sir."

  Li nodded and watched his display. The "Peace Fleet" continued its stately advance at four percent of light-speed, and he tried not to think of how far from home they were.

  * * *

  "Hmmmm..." Admiral Lantu studied the images relayed from his flanking destroyers, then gestured to his flag captain. "Look there. See how carefully they're protecting those units?"

  "Yes, sir." Captain Kumash rubbed the ridge of his snout, staring at the ships at the center of the infidel formation. "Those are the ones that carry the small attack craft, sir."

  "I know." Lantu drummed on the arm of his command chair and thought. Their contact vessels had watched the infidels closely since they'd entered Lorelei, and he'd viewed the reports on those small craft with interest. Their routine operations had shown they were fast and highly maneuverable, though he had no idea what their maximum operating range might be or what weapons they carried. Missiles, most probably, but what sort of missiles? The People had nothing like them, and the lack of any sort of comparative meterstick bothered him.