"Unfortunately"-Cleatus sighed with false regret-"I think a Bill of Severance has just ceased to be an option."

He was the Dragon's First Executive a.s.sistant. Even his enemies didn't presume to treat him the way Hannish had been treated: interrupted and hectored at every turn. Only Len had dared insult him-and the weak little man clearly had no intention of doing so again. The votes who were dependent on the UMC hung on his every word, waiting for him to save them from their dilemma. Those who weren't actively hostile gave him a chance to persuade them. And the rest didn't risk offending him.

With nothing except Holt's voice to distract him, Cleatus was allowed to speak for his master unimpeded.

"The whole point of such a bill," he explained, "is that it preserves the present hierarchy, operations, and personnel of the UMCP. It shifts accountability from the UMC to the GCES. Everything else is maintained intact.

"In other words," he stated heavily, "Warden Dios remains as director."

He sighed again. "Well, you heard Ensign Hyland. She's 'concerned' that Director Dios is being blackmailed. And I, for one, take her concerns seriously. I think she knows what she's talking about.

"To be injected with a delayed-reaction mutagen would be a terrible thing. But it would be even more terrible to let a man in that condition keep his job."

Good, Holt murmured. Don't stop.

In case the sheep weren't scared enough, Cleatus asked, "Do any of you think you could stand up to that kind of blackmail? Do you think Warden Dios can? For myself, I'm not sure.

"If you aren't aren't sure," he a.s.serted, "it would be inexcusable to let him stay on as director." sure," he a.s.serted, "it would be inexcusable to let him stay on as director."

Vertigus fluttered an arm like a drowning man; tried to inject a protest. The idiot refused to give up. Even Hannish had enough sense to hang her head; but Vertigus went on floundering.

Cleatus talked over him.

"Captain Vertigus wants to suggest an alternative. Perhaps an amendment to his Bill, stipulating that Min Donner a.s.sumes the position of UMCP director until the immediate crisis is past, and Warden Dios can go to a lab for some blood-work." The look on Sixten's face showed that Cleatus had guessed right. "I'm sorry, that isn't good enough. Min Donner is aboard Punisher Punisher, a ship she doesn't command. Her own life is in the hands of renegade cops who may or may not be telling us the truth about what they want.

"In fact," he digressed, "we have reason to think they are not. I'll get to that in a minute."

Then he resumed, "My point is this. If she can't control her own movements, or make her own decisions, she certainly can't take charge of the UMCP.

"And who else is there?" Grimly he restrained his impulse to shout the sheep into flight. "Director Lebwohl? Do you want him to command our defense? No, I'm afraid a Bill of Severance is no longer a viable alternative."

Argue with that that, you silly b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. I dare you.

Enough, Holt p.r.o.nounced. They're convinced. Unless they're too stupid to live. Go on before you lose them.

Cleatus swore mutely at the voice in his ear; but he obeyed.

"On the other side"-visceral outrage gave his voice an edge he couldn't suppress-"Director Hannish has raised some rather distressing objections to my proposal. She blames virtually every crime the cops have committed on Holt Fasner.

"For her part, Ensign Hyland doesn't go quite so far. She only accuses Holt Fasner of wanting her dead so she can't testify that Captain Thermopyle was framed-of wanting her dead so badly that he ordered Director Dios to give control over DA's welded cyborg to Nick Succorso.

"I'll respond to those charges."

He paused to let his anger grow. If he couldn't contain it, he might as well use it. Still he chose his words carefully.

"I think we'll have to take Director Hannish's facts as given. Ensign Hyland has confirmed a number of them. And since she's safely sequestered aboard Punisher Punisher, we can't examine her evidence. Because we have so little time left, we must a.s.sume that Director Hannish, at least, has told us the truth."

As it appears to her, Holt prompted unnecessarily.

"As it appears to her," Cleatus intoned.

"I've already talked about this. I don't want to belabor the obvious. Everything Director Hannish has revealed was supplied by Director Dios-the man directly responsible for the crimes she reports. And she can't prove any of her charges. They're all based on inference and distrust.

"Do you believe her? As I said earlier, consider the source. Warden Dios betrayed Com-Mine Security, framed Angus Thermopyle, tricked you into pa.s.sing the Preempt Act. He suppressed an effective antimutagen and maneuvered the Amnion into committing an act of war. And now he's been caught. He's stuck in a mess of his own making. So of course he wants to pin the blame on someone else. That's his only hope." The FEA's tone hinted at bloodshed. "He knows he'll be executed if he can't convince you he was just following orders.

"What else do you expect from a man who's capable of the crimes Warden Dios has committed?"

He paused, trying to give his question the force of an indictment. Then he went on, "It's a fact Director Hannish can't dispute that Warden Dios has refused to speak to Holt Fasner since this crisis began. And for almost twenty-four hours before that he kept himself incommunicado. He's declined to explain himself or his actions to the one man in human s.p.a.ce who could have held him accountable."

Good, Holt murmured in approval. Good.

Since Holt was satisfied, Cleatus took the next step.

"Where Ensign Hyland is concerned, I'm not convinced she's telling the truth."

Now he did his best to sound rueful: the sorrow of a man who hated impugning Hyland after all she'd suffered, but whose responsibility to the Council left him no choice.

"Again consider the source.

"For one thing, she's patently insane." He ticked off indications at random. "She kept her zone implant control. She let the Amnion force-grow her baby. She broadcast Dr. Shaheed's formula while Calm Horizons Calm Horizons could hear it. She freed Thermopyle from his priority-codes. She took command of could hear it. She freed Thermopyle from his priority-codes. She took command of Punisher Punisher.

"Which she must have done at gunpoint," he added. "Or by threatening them with those singularity grenades. I can't imagine that Min Donner would have let it happen otherwise."

Then he continued tallying the evidence against Morn Hyland. "In addition, she took it on herself to negotiate for our survival. And she sold her own son to keep herself alive." That was enough. "It's all madness. And this lunatic theory linking Holt Fasner with Nick Succorso proves it. After everything she's done and endured, she's plainly demented."

Be careful, Holt warned. The votes feel sorry for her. Don't give them a reason to react the wrong way.

"But that's not all," Cleatus said at once. "If it were, I wouldn't mention it. Who am I to question her decisions after everything she's been through? I have to ask, however"-he made a show of shouldering an unpleasant burden-"exactly what is is her relationship with Angus Thermopyle?" her relationship with Angus Thermopyle?"

He had the satisfaction of seeing the Hannish b.i.t.c.h wince. The rest of his audience stared at him, rapt or dumbfounded.

"She concealed evidence that would have led to his execution by Com-Mine. She freed him from his priority-codes. And did you notice that her deal with Calm Horizons Calm Horizons doesn't include him? doesn't include him?

"What's going on here? Is this an example of the hostage syndrome, where women fall in love with the men who trap and abuse them? Since she admits the crime of keeping her zone implant control, how can we believe her when she says Thermopyle was framed? Her only evidence conveniently exists in the datacore of a ship which has already been dismantled.

"She's a cop. She knew what she was doing. Like Warden Dios, she's ruined if she can't pin the blame on someone else."

d.a.m.n it, Holt snapped, I told told you to be careful! you to be careful!

Gritting his teeth, Cleatus forged ahead. "And isn't it really Angus Thermopyle who's in command of Punisher? Punisher? That would make more sense. He has some strange power over Ensign Hyland. He has singularity grenades. And he has a reason-he might call it a good reason-to hold That would make more sense. He has some strange power over Ensign Hyland. He has singularity grenades. And he has a reason-he might call it a good reason-to hold Punisher Punisher as well as Director Donner under duress. He's a welded cyborg. He may be slime, but he's had every vestige of choice and dignity stripped away from him. He must want revenge. He wouldn't be human if he didn't. as well as Director Donner under duress. He's a welded cyborg. He may be slime, but he's had every vestige of choice and dignity stripped away from him. He must want revenge. He wouldn't be human if he didn't.

"Everything you just heard from Ensign Hyland-including her implausible 'deal' with Calm Horizons Calm Horizons-could be Angus Thermopyle's revenge. If he wants to destroy the UMCP for what they did to him, he could hardly hope for a better way to go about it.

"Why do you think the scan net is down? Do you really believe Min Donner ordered that? Do you believe it actually restricts what Calm Horizons Calm Horizons can see without limiting the effectiveness of our ships? I don't. I think the net is down because that suits what Captain Thermopyle has in mind." can see without limiting the effectiveness of our ships? I don't. I think the net is down because that suits what Captain Thermopyle has in mind."

Nice recovery, Holt gibed. He sounded more cheerful. I'm I'm convinced. convinced.

Just wait, Cleatus muttered into his pickup. I'm not done.

"But even that's not all," he told the votes. "There are two other points I want you to consider.

"According to Ensign Hyland, the Amnion had her in their hands twice. What if she's lying about the effectiveness of this antimutagen? What if it didn't come from DA, isn't based on Shaheed's research? What if the Amnion have already gotten what they wanted from Davies Hyland? What if the whole story is a fabrication?

"What if Morn Hyland is no longer human? What if this entire disaster is some incomprehensible Amnion plot to discredit the UMCP and Holt Fasner just when we need them most?"

Are you listening, b.i.t.c.h? he asked Hannish mutely. Do you think you have a monopoly on tainting people with unsubstantiated charges?

s.h.i.t, Cleat! Holt yelped. I warned you to be careful! You've gone too far. They don't want to hear that!

He was right. Some of the sheep muttered protests. Manse mouthed, No, no, in shock and refusal. Burnish exchanged whispered objections with his aides and Carsin. Len shifted forward as if he meant to intervene. Just loudly enough to be heard, Silat observed, "This charade seems rather too elaborate and-if I may say so-too human to be attributed to the Amnion."

Quickly Cleatus retreated a step. "It's just speculation, of course," he admitted with apparent candor. "It would explain a lot-but I really don't have a sc.r.a.p of evidence. h.e.l.l, I don't have any way of knowing where Succorso got his antimutagen. Or how good it is. But if I were a Member of this Council," he added sententiously, "I would want to take every possibility into account, no matter how farfetched it sounds."

That mollified the votes somewhat. Manse and Len subsided. Silat inclined his head condescendingly. After a moment Burnish silenced himself like a man biting his tongue.

Behind her expressionless mask, Hannish's face was pallid with misery. She seemed to think he'd already won.

He wasn't sure. Hurrying to recover his momentum, he stated, "One more point, and I'll sit down. I've saved this for last, but it may be more important than all the others."

Some of the sheep groaned; but he ignored them.

"I said earlier we have reason to think Hyland may be lying. Actually, I'm sure she is." Before Hannish or Vertigus could react, he a.s.serted, "She hasn't told us the truth about her deal with Calm Horizons." Calm Horizons."

He hoped his audience would hear the words he didn't say: And if she's willing to lie about that, she could lie about anything.

"Obviously she's under some kind of pressure," he explained. "Otherwise why did she say, 'I can't afford any more time.' At first we all thought she was referring to the deadline of the command module's dock with Calm Horizons. Calm Horizons. But that's still twenty-two minutes away," according to his downlink, "and yet she couldn't 'afford any more time' ten minutes ago. But that's still twenty-two minutes away," according to his downlink, "and yet she couldn't 'afford any more time' ten minutes ago.

"Why is she out of time? It doesn't make sense. If she really made a deal-if the Amnion have agreed to let us live in exchange for Davies Hyland, Dr. Shaheed, and is she out of time? It doesn't make sense. If she really made a deal-if the Amnion have agreed to let us live in exchange for Davies Hyland, Dr. Shaheed, and Trumpet Trumpet-what's left for her to do? What can can she do? she do?

"There's only one explanation." Abruptly he stiffened; let veiled outrage into his voice. "She has something planned. Something she doesn't want us to know about. Something that will have a direct effect on the outcome of this crisis.

"It may be she intends to cheat Calm Horizons Calm Horizons somehow," he suggested bitterly. "Or it's possible she's actually agreed to give away a h.e.l.l of a lot more than she admits. For all we know, we've been doomed without the decency of any forewarning. Or maybe we'll have to live with an arrangement that's too expensive for humankind to sustain. somehow," he suggested bitterly. "Or it's possible she's actually agreed to give away a h.e.l.l of a lot more than she admits. For all we know, we've been doomed without the decency of any forewarning. Or maybe we'll have to live with an arrangement that's too expensive for humankind to sustain.

"She's crazy, remember. Whether you want to hear that or not, she's crazy.

"Whatever happens," he sneered, "it will happen because an abused ensign took it into her head to negotiate our survival on terms she isn't willing to explain."

All right, Cleat, Holt put in. You've made your point. Now let them vote. We can still pull this off.

Cleatus couldn't stop. "Am I the only one," he demanded harshly, "who can smell Angus Thermopyle's reek in all this?"

Yet he had to stop. Holt was right: the time had come. If the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds couldn't make up their minds now, they were beyond hope. They deserved any terrible thing that happened to them.

But, G.o.d! Cleatus Fane did not want to share their fate.

Suddenly he felt as tired as Len looked. "Members," he sighed, "I've answered your objections as well as I can. It's up to you. The future of our species has to be decided now."

Heavily he left the dais, returned to his seat. For a moment he had no idea where matters stood. Exhaustion filled him like defeat, and he couldn't begin to estimate the mood of the Council. There must have been more he could have said; some better way to meet Holt's demands; some sentence or argument that would have turned the fear of the sheep to his purposes. He simply couldn't imagine what it might be. He'd done his best. Now he had to leave his personal terror in the hands of a gaggle of twits and cowards.

When he heard Len ask for a motion from the floor, however, and saw how the votes treated his proposal to recharter the UMCP, he knew that he would live.

CIRO.

Ciro Vasaczk knew he was insane; but the fact didn't trouble him. He had more important things on his mind.

First among them was Calm Horizons Calm Horizons.

The huge defensive was still half an hour away when he and Angus climbed out of Trumpet's Trumpet's airlock in their EVA suits; cleated their belts to the gap scout's sun-streaked metal skin; settled themselves to wait. airlock in their EVA suits; cleated their belts to the gap scout's sun-streaked metal skin; settled themselves to wait.

"They won't spot us," Angus had a.s.sured him earlier. "I can emit jamming fields. Several kinds. They'll cover me. Both of us while we're together. After that you're on your own. But you'll be under their targ range. Behind the module and Trumpet. Trumpet. And they'll be distracted. You should be safe enough. And they'll be distracted. You should be safe enough.

"I want to get out there early."

The sweat in his voice told Ciro he was lying; coercing himself. With the insight of his insanity, Ciro recognized that Angus was terrified of EVA; of being confined and helpless in the vast dark. His breathing wheezed hoa.r.s.ely from his intercom.

"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d's so big-I need time to study her. Figure out the dangers. Plan my moves."

Ciro hadn't argued. He had moves of his own to plan. From the lift to the airlock and then outside, he'd followed Angus.

There he got his first human look at his enemy.

Because the solar furnace would have scalded his eyes in their sockets, he'd dialed the polarization of his visor high. As a result, Calm Horizons Calm Horizons seemed to loom ahead like a dark beast crouching in the unutterable night of s.p.a.ce; a predator poised to spring from the concealment of midnight Nevertheless he could see her clearly enough. Lights blazed from ports, emplacements, airlocks: she already had spotlights and video fixed on the approaching vessels; already had the dock she intended for the command module etched in illumination. seemed to loom ahead like a dark beast crouching in the unutterable night of s.p.a.ce; a predator poised to spring from the concealment of midnight Nevertheless he could see her clearly enough. Lights blazed from ports, emplacements, airlocks: she already had spotlights and video fixed on the approaching vessels; already had the dock she intended for the command module etched in illumination.

Despite the shroud of blackness, she revealed enough of herself to show him that she was enormous. Her bulk blotted out half the heavens, and the few stars he could see past the rim of her hull looked paltry and unattainable, like forgotten dreams.

The sight scared him. Calm Horizons Calm Horizons was his doom; as fatal as mutagens and proton cannon fire. But that didn't shake his commitment. It didn't shake his trust in Angus. was his doom; as fatal as mutagens and proton cannon fire. But that didn't shake his commitment. It didn't shake his trust in Angus.

The Amnioni meant to use Davies and Vector against humankind. On top of that, she was the only available source for the particular antimutagen which had kept Sorus Chatelaine human.

She was responsible for what Sorus Chatelaine did to him.

He could make out UMCPHQ as well, a torus of steel half-licked by sunfire. The orbital platform showed lights of all kinds, as if the cops thought they could manage the dark by emblazoning their place in it. Vaguely Ciro recognized that UMCPHQ was an altogether bigger construct than the defensive. But distance shrank the station: light shrank it by limning it so precisely. UMCPHQ merely caught the sun and gleamed: Calm Horizons Calm Horizons dominated the cold gulf between the planets. dominated the cold gulf between the planets.

Other sparks too close for stars indicated more ships, according to Angus-part of Min Donner's cordon. Other stations must have been out there, too. If Ciro squinted against the sunlight past Trumpet's Trumpet's stern, he could identify stern, he could identify Punisher's Punisher's obscure shape, nearly lost in the dark. But he paid no attention to the cruiser. On those occasions when he felt afraid, and wanted to look away from obscure shape, nearly lost in the dark. But he paid no attention to the cruiser. On those occasions when he felt afraid, and wanted to look away from Calm Horizons Calm Horizons, he preferred to turn toward the bright planet hanging like a backdrop beyond UMCPHQ.

Earth.

Sunshine burned blue across the wide oceans, picked islands and continents like brown intaglio out of the azure. By some trick of the light, or his visor's polarization, he couldn't see any clouds. The whole lambent atmosphere of the planet seemed untrammeled, as clean as the seas, warm, welcoming-and utterly defenseless; exposed to violence.

Ciro had never witnessed in person the effects of a super-light proton beam; but he knew enough physics to imagine Calm Horizons' Calm Horizons' cannon striking a shaft of ruin into the heart of one of those brown, populated features and reducing it to char. A wound that profound would be visible from a distance far greater than his. cannon striking a shaft of ruin into the heart of one of those brown, populated features and reducing it to char. A wound that profound would be visible from a distance far greater than his.

He wasn't born there. Neither were his parents. But their their parents were. It was his planet. His genetic code remembered it, even though his mind held no recollection. Belted to parents were. It was his planet. His genetic code remembered it, even though his mind held no recollection. Belted to Trumpet's Trumpet's skin while the command module towed her toward skin while the command module towed her toward Calm Horizons Calm Horizons, he was as near as he would ever come to his homeworld.

If he and Angus failed, that ineffable, aching swath of blue would become humanity's graveyard.

For the third time Angus checked Ciro's anchor. It was always possible that the approach protocols Calm Horizons Calm Horizons a.s.signed would force Captain Ubikwe to use thrust suddenly. a.s.signed would force Captain Ubikwe to use thrust suddenly.