Part 10 (1/2)
Exactly the same thing that had happened to the last Pax s.h.i.+p. And the one before that. ”That makes, what, three s.h.i.+ps in two weeks?” he asked, backing up to the best view of the Pax s.h.i.+p and freezing the image.
”Right,” Pirbazari said. ”Counting that big monstrosity, the Komitadji.”
Forsythe glared at the display. ”One s.h.i.+p might just be hara.s.sment. But not three. What do you suppose they're up to?”
”I'm not sure.” Pirbazari leaned over the desk to tap at Forsythe's keyboard. ”But this may be significant: the s.h.i.+ps all went to different nets.”
Forsythe frowned at the display. ”Coincidence?” he asked, though he was pretty sure what the answer would be.
”I doubt it, sir,” Pirbazari shook his head. ”You have to come from a particular direction to be caught by a particular net. That, or wait until the one you want has moved around in its...o...b..t.”
Forsythe rubbed his fingers gently on his desktop. Pirbazari was right, of course... and to hit each of three different quadrants from as far away as the Pax would take careful selection of catapult launch sites indeed. ”They're looking for something,” he said. ”But what?”
”Wreckage from the Komitadji, maybe?” Pirbazari suggested. ”You'll remember EmDef had to do a fast recalibration on that one. Could be they did it too fast and wound up sending the thing through a star after all.”
”We can always hope,” Forsythe grunted. ”But in that case, shouldn't a single reconnoiter have been enough to show the s.h.i.+p wasn't destroyed at Lorelei? And shouldn't the follow-up s.h.i.+p have been sent to the same net?”
”There's another possibility.” Pirbazari hesitated. ”It could be they're mapping out the system. Defenses, belt mining and refinery centers, comm focal points. Maybe even Lorelei itself; we really don't know how good their optics are.”
Forsythe stared up at him, a cold knot settling into his stomach. ”You realize what you're saying.”
Pirbazari met his gaze steadily. ”Yes, sir. Pre-invasion reconnaissance.”
Forsythe looked back at the display. ”And they've even turned our own net system against us,” he said. ”Using it to get maximum coverage with minimum effort. Clever b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.”
Pirbazari nodded. ”Anyway, I thought it might help you to have this before the joint Resource/Commerce meeting this afternoon.”
”Yes. Thank you.” Forsythe glanced at his watch. ”Do me a favor, will you? Pull up the report we wrote and integrate this new material into it. You have a copy?”
”Yes, sir,” Pirbazari said. ”Incidentally, I also checked on the media coverage of the ceremony this morning as you asked.”
”My father's name come up?”
”Inevitably,” the other said dryly. ”But they didn't play on him nearly as much as they could have. The general consensus these days seems to be that his resignation was a reasonable and legitimate act of conscience.”
Forsythe snorted. ”Generous of them to allow him his ethics,” he said scornfully. ”Maybe they've forgotten that was even possible before the angels came along.”
”Sure couldn't prove it by some of them,” Pirbazari agreed. ”Mostly, though, they left your father alone and focused on your own record and prospects in the High Senate.”
Forsythe nodded. ”I hope they didn't dump too much on Ronyon for dropping the angel.”
”Not a bit,” Pirbazari said with a smile. ”In fact, I don't think more than two or three of them even mentioned it. Whatever anyone thinks of you or your politics, everybody likes Ronyon.”
”He's an eminently likable person,” Forsythe said. So there went the last potential snag with this whole thing. If the media had been even slightly suspicious, they might picked at it until it came unraveled.
But as Pirbazari said, everyone liked Ronyon.
”At least we're done with the pomp and ceremony,” he went on. ”Let's get that report ready.”
”Right,” Pirbazari said, moving toward the door. ”Maybe it'll be enough to finally get some action.”
”Let's hope so,” Forsythe said as the other pulled open the door. Because if it doesn't, he added darkly to himself, they may not get another chance. Not before there are Pax troops on Lorelei.
”...so the bottom line here,” High Senator Bjani of Uhuru said, slouching back in his chair and stabbing a pair of fingers at the graphs he'd put up on the central display, ”is that the decision to move most of the hypers.p.a.ce nets further out in their respective systems has played more havoc with s.h.i.+pping than we originally thought it would. So much so that if they don't get some sort of relief the smallest companies are likely to go under within the next few months.” He sent a questioning look around the table. ”Suggestions?”
Forsythe looked around the table, too, carefully keeping his mouth shut. As the newest member of the Resource Development Committee it really wasn't his place to respond first, particularly not in a joint meeting with fifteen other High Senators present. But from the graphs the Commerce people had drawn up it was clear that the proper approach would be to strike a deal between the s.h.i.+ppers and the various mining interests.
And the psychological leverage, he knew from long experience, would go to whoever first offered the suggestion. He threw a glance at old Mleru Jossarian beside him, hoping the senior Lorelei representative here would be fast enough to jump on it before anyone else did.
He wasn't. ”It seems pretty obvious,” Schmid of Balmoral spoke up. ”If those graphs are right, the bulk of the problem lies in the cost of mineral s.h.i.+pments, princ.i.p.ally those from the Lorelei asteroid mines. Perhaps the gentlemen from Lorelei could offer some help.”
”I'm sure we can,” Jossarian nodded sagely. ”A modest adjustment of profit margins via the tax structure should take care of it. I can have the proper papers drawn up and sent to the entire High Senate for vote by tomorrow morning. Then all it'll take-”
Forsythe's tongue unfroze. ”Just a minute,” he said.
The entire table looked at him. ”You have something, Mr. Forsythe?” Jossarian asked mildly.
Forsythe stared at him, tongue threatening to freeze up again. Couldn't Jossarian see it? ”Sir, we can't just give away Lorelei's profits,” he told the other, keeping his voice low. ”Certainly not without getting something in exchange. The majority of the s.h.i.+pping companies are headquartered here on Uhuru-we need a solid commitment, in print, from Mr. Bjani and his people before-”
”Please.” Jossarian patted Forsythe's hand, giving him an indulgent smile. ”Excuse us,” he said to the rest of the table. ”You'll have to forgive my colleague; he's new to how we do things here. As I said, I should be able to get a vote on this by tomorrow afternoon and the orders sent to Lorelei by the next day.” He looked at Bjani. ”Will a fifteen percent reduction be acceptable?”
”It should,” the other said, tapping keys on his board. The curves on the display flattened noticeably. ”Very acceptable indeed,” he nodded. ”It will, of course, put a strain on your mining licensees, particularly the smaller companies. My numbers indicate a five percent reduction in equipment transport fees by our licensed s.h.i.+pping companies should be adequate compensation.”
Jossarian was already busy with his own board. ”Looks good,” he said. ”Though I'll need to run the numbers a bit more carefully to be sure.”
Bjani nodded. ”Certainly. Call me whenever you're done and we'll double-check them together.”
Jossarian looked at Forsythe. ”You see?” he said gently. ”It all gets done. And in a much more civilized fas.h.i.+on.”
”Indeed,” Forsythe murmured. Yes, the High Senate was indeed civilized. Civilized and peaceful; and if this was a representative example of their work, highly productive besides.
And it chilled him straight to the bone.
Because it wasn't breeding or smiles or even efficiency that made a good politician. It was, instead, the absolute, single-minded goal of protecting and nurturing his const.i.tuents' interests.
And you never protected those interests by giving something away for free. Never.
It didn't matter that Bjani had turned around and granted the Lorelei miners a quid pro quo out of the goodness of his heart. It didn't even matter that the proposed trade-off would probably benefit the Empyrean as a whole. What mattered was that Jossarian had been sent to Uhuru to do a job. And he hadn't done it.
Forsythe dropped his gaze from Jossarian's placid face to the sparkling crystal resting against his chest. Once, he knew, Jossarian had been one of the best politicians on Lorelei, a man his father had always talked about with respect and admiration.
But that was before the angels.
”Well,” Bjani said, glancing at his display. ”I believe that completes all the old business we had on line for this afternoon. Does anyone have any new business they'd care to bring up?”
Forsythe braced himself. ”Yes, sir, I have,” he said. ”I'd like to draw the joint committee's attention to my report on the recent Pax incursions into the Lorelei system. As a Pax invasion would impact rather severely on both commerce and resources,” he added quickly, to forestall the obvious objection, ”I feel it's within the province of this a.s.sembly to at least discuss the matter.”