are being observed,” George said, “but he cannot be certain.”
“How can we take advantage of that?”
“I think we should switch to our second plan,” George said.
“So soon? Before they have a chance to come through?” Babette frowned. “Manticoran reactions to turning the child over to her Masadan father have always been harder to calculate.”
“As far as Manticoran reactions go, yes,” George agreed. “But we can be certain how the Graysons will react. There is a high probability that proof of how little the Star Kingdom could do to protect one child—and having that child turned over to their hated enemies—will tilt the balance of public opinion so far that the Grayson government will be forced by an angry public to renounce their alliance with the Star Kingdom.”
“True,” Babette said. “After all the treaty nearly didn’t happen. If the Navy hadn’t interfered in what was a purely local political situation, I think it’s likely the Grayson government would have decided against the alliance. You’re right. First goal has always been to achieve a termination of that treaty. Discrediting the Royal family has always been a bonus.”
George hadn’t waited for his wife’s agreement. He’d already reached for his com unit and was coding in a call for Banshee . The call took somewhat longer than usual to place because of the numerous layers of security screening he had in place, not to mention the fact that Banshee had been underway and accelerating at 5.491 KPS 2 for almost thirty-six minutes. She was already over 12.8 million kilometers away from Manticore, moving at 11,860 kilometers per second. At only three percent of light-speed, the time dilation effect wasn’t noticeable, but the forty-two-second light-speed communications lag certainly was.
As with the call to Judith, neither George’s face nor his voice would be in the final feed. Anonymity was everything, after all, and when he’d established initial contact with Dulcis McKinley and Wallace Ward, the professional criminals who were the Ramsbottoms’ hands and feet for this job, George had represented himself as a revolutionary fanatic.
Precisely what he—or she, for George had chosen to represent himself as an androgynous creature, rather like a winged angel in his contact with the criminals—was fanatical about had been left deliberately unclear. A liberal scattering of phrases such as “The Will of God” and “Divine Revelation” had been included to give the impression that the fanatic was not a mainstream member of the Star Kingdom, most of whom were pragmatic rather than otherwise in their political dealings, no matter how religious they might be in private.
“We are switching to Plan B,” George announced without preamble. “Instead of delivering the child to Choire Ghlais, make rendezvous with Kwahe’e .”
He waited patiently for the transmission to catch Banshee and Banshee ’s reply to reach him. Eighty-four seconds later, it did.
“Rendezvous with Kwahe’e ?” Wallace Ward’s voice said. “Why?”
He sounded both unhappy and suspicious, George noted. It wasn’t a surprise. The man was a professional, and he didn’t like unexpected changes.
“It was always a possibility,” George reminded him. “That’s why we set up the rendezvous in advance. Now the good Lord wills that we use it. And you should know that it is possible you are being pursued.”
“Unlikely,” Ward said hotly, a minute and a half later.
“All things are possible,” George rebuked sternly, “and only the Lord is infallible. As an added safeguard, you are to go to Aslan Station and exchange Banshee for Cormorant to change your transponder code. They are both Pryderi class ships, so you should have no difficulties. Take Cormorant for your rendezvous with Kwahe’e .”
“We will do as you command,” the other man said after the unavoidable, lengthy, and very irritating transmission delay, “when our bank balance
“How can we take advantage of that?”
“I think we should switch to our second plan,” George said.
“So soon? Before they have a chance to come through?” Babette frowned. “Manticoran reactions to turning the child over to her Masadan father have always been harder to calculate.”
“As far as Manticoran reactions go, yes,” George agreed. “But we can be certain how the Graysons will react. There is a high probability that proof of how little the Star Kingdom could do to protect one child—and having that child turned over to their hated enemies—will tilt the balance of public opinion so far that the Grayson government will be forced by an angry public to renounce their alliance with the Star Kingdom.”
“True,” Babette said. “After all the treaty nearly didn’t happen. If the Navy hadn’t interfered in what was a purely local political situation, I think it’s likely the Grayson government would have decided against the alliance. You’re right. First goal has always been to achieve a termination of that treaty. Discrediting the Royal family has always been a bonus.”
George hadn’t waited for his wife’s agreement. He’d already reached for his com unit and was coding in a call for Banshee . The call took somewhat longer than usual to place because of the numerous layers of security screening he had in place, not to mention the fact that Banshee had been underway and accelerating at 5.491 KPS 2 for almost thirty-six minutes. She was already over 12.8 million kilometers away from Manticore, moving at 11,860 kilometers per second. At only three percent of light-speed, the time dilation effect wasn’t noticeable, but the forty-two-second light-speed communications lag certainly was.
As with the call to Judith, neither George’s face nor his voice would be in the final feed. Anonymity was everything, after all, and when he’d established initial contact with Dulcis McKinley and Wallace Ward, the professional criminals who were the Ramsbottoms’ hands and feet for this job, George had represented himself as a revolutionary fanatic.
Precisely what he—or she, for George had chosen to represent himself as an androgynous creature, rather like a winged angel in his contact with the criminals—was fanatical about had been left deliberately unclear. A liberal scattering of phrases such as “The Will of God” and “Divine Revelation” had been included to give the impression that the fanatic was not a mainstream member of the Star Kingdom, most of whom were pragmatic rather than otherwise in their political dealings, no matter how religious they might be in private.
“We are switching to Plan B,” George announced without preamble. “Instead of delivering the child to Choire Ghlais, make rendezvous with Kwahe’e .”
He waited patiently for the transmission to catch Banshee and Banshee ’s reply to reach him. Eighty-four seconds later, it did.
“Rendezvous with Kwahe’e ?” Wallace Ward’s voice said. “Why?”
He sounded both unhappy and suspicious, George noted. It wasn’t a surprise. The man was a professional, and he didn’t like unexpected changes.
“It was always a possibility,” George reminded him. “That’s why we set up the rendezvous in advance. Now the good Lord wills that we use it. And you should know that it is possible you are being pursued.”
“Unlikely,” Ward said hotly, a minute and a half later.
“All things are possible,” George rebuked sternly, “and only the Lord is infallible. As an added safeguard, you are to go to Aslan Station and exchange Banshee for Cormorant to change your transponder code. They are both Pryderi class ships, so you should have no difficulties. Take Cormorant for your rendezvous with Kwahe’e .”
“We will do as you command,” the other man said after the unavoidable, lengthy, and very irritating transmission delay, “when our bank balance
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