by David Weber
“Granted,” Lecter said. “But let’s face it, Dominica, even if the Alignment never existed at all, the Mesa System would probably be plenty nervous about our frontiers getting this much closer to it. It’s entirely possible Ottweiler really was acting for his government in this case, rather than for any clandestine organization.”
“Except that in that case I would have anticipated the messengers between Ottweiler and the home system also being representatives of his government, Ma’am,” Commander Edwards pointed out. Lecter looked at him, and he shrugged. “Why send people like Anisimovna and Bardasano, with no official connection to the Mesa System government at all? Unless those people had connections to something besides the Mesa System government that was really calling the shots? And if they weren’t here representing a ‘business-as-usual corrupt business deal,’ then who were they representing?”
“That was one of the points that struck me most strongly, too,” Michelle said with a nod. “And according to Alfredo, Hongbo registered a lot of uncertainty himself when it came to whether or not the Alignment existed. And here.” She tapped one of her own notes on the display in front of her. “When I asked him about Levakonic and what Hongbo thought Technodyne was doing out here. Alfredo says that uncertainty quotient of his peaked really high when I suggested the Alignment might have seen this situation in Monica as an opportunity to get a closer look at our military hardware. I think our Mr. Hongbo’s wondering whether or not he’s been taking orders from the Alignment without realizing it for quite some time.”
“Agreed, Ma’am,” Lecter said. “And there’s no question that we’ve clearly established that both Hongbo and Verrocchio have been squarely—and knowingly—in somebody’s pocket from the very beginning. I think we’ve also established that Hongbo was really the primary contact point between Mesa and everything else going on in the Madras Sector. That was worthwhile in its own right, and it’s going to help steer the investigators to the evidence they need. And I’ll concede that Hongbo, at least, is coming to the conclusion the Alignment actually exists. But he wasn’t able to give us a smoking gun. There’s nothing in any of his responses, whether they were truthful or lies, that demonstrates any actual knowledge on his part that the Alignment is a reality and not just a figment of our imaginations.”
“No, there isn’t,” Michelle acknowledged. “There is clear confirmation, though, that somebody in Mesa was pulling the strings out here. That everything we’ve been saying about outside involvement was justified, and that it was coming out of Mesa. Whether it was the Alignment or not is really beside the point, in that regard. Personally, I’m pretty damn sure it was the Alignment. But whether I’m right about that or not, I don’t see any reason to think the string-pullers in Mesa are going to suddenly stop acting against our interests. And it’s occurred to me that there’s one place in the galaxy where we can probably find proof whether or not the Alignment exists.”
Lecter’s eyes widened with what might have been a touch of alarm, and Michelle smiled thinly.
“In my opinion, what we’ve already established from the files we’ve cracked, completely exclusive of anything Hongbo may have said to me or Alfredo may have picked up from his mind-glow is that some group in the Mesa System was directly behind the actions leading to the deaths of our personnel in New Tuscany. Moreover, Ottweiler’s involvement means the Mesan government was involved. There’s a phrase that describes an official government action hostile to the interests of and to the safety of the citizens of another government, people. It’s called ‘an act of war,’ and that’s precisely what the Mesa System has perpetrated against the Star Empire of Manticore.”
Silence hovered for a moment. Then Lecter cleared her throat.
“I can’t disagree with anything you just said, Ma’am,” she said very carefully. “Can I ask where you’re going with it, though?”
“Instead of just asking me whether or not I’ve lost my mind, you mean?” Michelle inquired with a smile which looked oddly impish.
“Far be it from me to put it in those terms, Ma’am.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Michelle chuckled, but then her expression sobered.
“This isn’t some impulsive decision on my part, Cindy.” She let her gaze circle the table, meeting each of her staffers’ eyes in turn. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since the Yawata Strike, and especially since Cachat and Zilwicki got home from Mesa. The Solarian League and the Star Empire are at war, and we got there because of someone else’s machinations. And while those idiots in Old Terra appear unwilling or unable to admit the possibility, whoever’s behind all this obviously doesn’t have the League’s best interests at heart any more than she’s looking out for ours. We’ve done our best to suggest that possibility to the Mandarins, but they’ve been too busy spinning the confrontation to consider our suggestions seriously. Of course, that’s the best-case explanation for their actions. The worst-case explanation is that the bureaucrats calling the shots in Old Chicago know exactly what’s going on and they’re in the Alignment’s pocket. I’m not quite paranoid enough to buy into that theory, though. If for no other reason because if they already controlled Kolokoltsov and his buddies that thoroughly, they’d have no need to set the League on a collision course with the Star Empire and the Republic.”
She paused for a moment, as if allowing that to settle in, then shrugged.
“There’s an old, old story about Alexander the Great back on old Earth, when he was a young man. When he was confronted by the Gordian knot that no one could untie, he solved the problem with a sword. I’m coming to the conclusion that what we have here isn’t the Gordian knot, but a Mesan knot. And Tenth Fleet makes a pretty good sword when you think about it.”
* * *
Michelle Henke sat in her quarters once again, facing her com pickup. It was very quiet, quiet enough that Dicey’s purring came clearly from under her desk where the enormous cat lay curled across her feet. She thought about moving the feet in question, but not very hard, and she smiled ruefully. The damned cat was finally establishing his ownership over her, as well as Billingsley, she realized.
She shook her head. Then the smile faded, and she considered the last couple of days.
From Commodore Thurgood’s records, she knew that none of the Madras Sector’s other star systems were even picketed. They were wide open, and she’d been considering the Gendarmerie’s reports on the populations of those star systems. It was unlikely any of the other systems would be able to assume the functions of self-government as smoothly and effectively as Meyers had, yet even in the case of McIntosh there was clearly at least a hub around which a government could coalesce. That was actually one of the few points she’d been able to come up with in Lorcan Verrocchio’s favor. He’d been venal, corrupt, and entirely too susceptible to being maneuvered by people like the Mesan Alignment. But he hadn’t been willing to unleash Francisca Yucel on planetary populations if he’d had other options, and he’d permitted a degree of self-government—or self-administration, at least—that was rare in the Protectorates.
Dispatches from Baroness Medusa and Admiral Khumalo had arrived, authorizing her capture of Meyers. Of course, she’d already done it by the time authorization arrived, but it was good to know that so far at least her actions stood approved. And although her message requesting ground forces to bolster her Marine strength hadn’t arrived when their dispatches were sent, they’d informed her they would be forwarding the first locally raised and equipped Guard battalions within the next T-month or so.
Bearing all of that in mind, she was confident she could sweep up the rest of the Madras Sector with no more than destroyers and possibly a few cruisers. And that, of course, left her battlecruisers, her CLACs, and her superdreadnoughts for something else.
She intended to use them.
Her orders and operations plan had been drafted. Within the next ten hours ships would be departing from Meyers for every other system in the Madras Sector, and two hours after t
hat, everything except a minimal security force of three LAC squadrons would depart Meyers itself. She’d already written the official dispatches to Spindle and to Manticore itself explaining her actions and intentions. Now there was one final message left to record, and she keyed the pickup.
“By the time you view this, Beth, I’m sure at least some of my professional colleagues are going to have cast a certain degree of doubt upon my alleged mental processes. In this instance, they may even have a point. But I think this is important—well, obviously I think that, or I wouldn’t be doing it.” She shook her head with a slight smile. “Trust me, I’m aware of the risks involved. I’m also aware that when you’ve already got a shooting war with the League on your hands, having someone dash off on her own and open yet another front may not be incredibly high on the list of your priorities. On the other hand, we are already at war with the League. Somehow I don’t see my going calling on Mesa making that situation a lot worse. And the potential return, the chance to actually find proof of the Alignment’s existence—not to mention the possibility of throwing a king-sized spanner into its works—strikes me as well worthwhile.
“The reason this is coming to you as a private message, in addition to and unattached to my official dispatches, is that I want you to understand that I’m doing this on my own authority for a reason. I made it as clear as I could in the official record that I’m acting on my own. The reason for this message is to tell you that I did it that way deliberately to give you the option of disavowing my actions if that turns out to be necessary. Maybe I’ve been hanging around Honor too long, but this is something that needs doing, and if the price for my doing it is that you’ll be forced to recall me or even court-martial me, it’s worth it.
“Our family has a responsibility here, over and above my responsibility as an officer in your Navy. I intend to meet that responsibility.
“God bless, Beth. I love you.”
