Uncompromising honor, p.94
Uncompromising Honor, page 94
part #19 of Honor Harrington Series
“Admiral Kingsford, in turn, deputized me. I’m afraid he couldn’t be here himself, much as he would have liked to be, because his pinnace is currently en route to HMS Imperator where, on behalf of the Solarian League, he will formally accept the Grand Alliance’s terms.”
Three men and one woman, who up until that moment had been four of the five most powerful people in the Solarian League, stared at him in stunned silence, too shocked even to think, far less protest. Gaddis looked at them for a moment, then turned to Okiku and Tarkovsky.
“Take them away,” he said.
MARCH 1923 POST DIASPORA
King Michael’s Tower
Mount Royal Palace
City of Landing
Manticore Binary System
Star Empire of Manticore
“So it looks—so far—like things are going about as well as they could,” Prime Minister Grantville said. He sipped whiskey and shook his head.
“I can’t begin to count all the ways this could still go south on us, and I wish to hell we still had Tony to advise us, but I think Carmichael’s settling in as Foreign Secretary. He probably knows the Sollies even better than Tony did, and he’s pretty damn confident it’s going to hold up.”
“Thank God,” a very pregnant Allison Harrington said quietly. Prolong extended gestation periods, and it seemed that, like Faith and James, her third daughter would be born on Grayson. Now she sat holding Raoul in her lap, between her daughter and her brother. “I was really, really afraid somebody might be stupid enough to go ahead and fight.”
“That kind of stupid deserves to be culled before it reproduces, Alley,” Jacques Benton-Ramirez y Chou, the newly named Beowulf Director of Defense, said flatly. “Unfortunately, none of the people who currently feel that way are quite stupid enough. They’re not going to poke their heads out of hiding as long as my long, tall niece here is waiting to whack them right off.”
He smiled at Honor with fierce approval. He was still in a gravity float chair, and would be for at least another three or four weeks. His brother-in-law had a pronounced tendency to keep a close eye on him—which, in fact, Commodore Harrington was doing at that very moment—but he was very much a going concern again, and so was Bark Chewer’s Bane. Now the treecat yawned, baring needle-sharp canines in Jacques’s lap, but Honor shook her head as she bounced Katherine very gently on her knee.
“I’m done whacking off heads,” she said, bending over to plant a kiss on the part of the little girl’s hair. Then she turned her head and smiled at Hamish, sitting in the chair beside hers while Nimitz and Samantha stretched across the chair backs, before she looked back at her uncle. “Besides, it sounds like I won’t have to.”
“No, you won’t,” Elizabeth Winton told her with a warm smile. “I think you’ve done just about all of that we’re going to need for a while.”
Honor nodded, making no effort to conceal her relief.
The Solarian Assembly was furious, and it wasn’t making much effort to hide that fury, but it was also honoring the terms Winston Kingsford had accepted in the Solarian League’s name. The new Constitutional Convention had been officially seated on the last day of February. Not all of its delegates had arrived yet, and it was still very much at the setting-up stage, but all their intelligence sources suggested that the convention meant business. Despite its resentment of the League’s ignominious defeat, its members seemed to genuinely understand why they were there. More to the point, whether they chose to admit it or not, every single one of them knew the task to which they’d been called was centuries overdue. And with the Mandarins’ disastrous example so fresh in their memory, it was unlikely they’d repeat the same mistakes.
Of course, she reflected with the resignation of someone who loved history, that just means they’ll find other mistakes to make. They’re human beings, and the two things humans make are tools…and mistakes. But sometimes we get stuff right, too, and there are some really good models out there if they’re only willing to do the research. I guess we’ll have to see about that.
Actually, she reminded herself, the odds were better for the Sollies than for some other constitution-writers, because they had a pretty demanding editor looking over their shoulders. The Grand Alliance had meant it when she told the Solarian public the Allies didn’t care what form of government the League adopted, but it had also meant it when she told them that whatever form they adopted, elected officeholders would exercise the decision-making power…and be held accountable for those decisions. That and the secession provision were nonnegotiable, from the Allies’ perspective, and the hundred or so ships-of-the-wall still riding Old Earth orbit were a silent, pointed reminder to that effect.
The situation in the Protectorates promised to be more complicated, and probably ugly. In some instances—like Chotěboř, Seraphim, Włocławek, Mobius, and Swallow—the local star systems looked to be adjusting well, with a minimum of bloodshed and civil unrest. In other cases…not so much. There were a lot of scores to pay off out there in the Fringe, especially on the planets whose native oligarchs had been deepest in OFS’s pocket, and OFS wasn’t going out of its way to engineer any soft landings. In fact, some OFS governors and managers were clearly determined to make the entire process as ugly as they possibly could.
And it’s our fault, too, she admitted unflinchingly. We knew a lot of this would happen when we issued the demand. But I honestly don’t see any other way we could have gone. If we hadn’t demanded Frontier Security’s total and immediate disbandment, something that big, with so many people in other people’s pockets, would have hung on, claiming it was “winding down as quickly as possible,” for decades. Maybe even longer.
Quite a few Manticoran politicians argued that the Star Empire had a moral responsibility to provide the stability the ex-Protectorates needed. That, as the creator of the power vacuum, the Grand Alliance was the only force capable of filling it. Part of Honor wanted—badly—to endorse that argument. She was a historian, and specifically a military historian, and she knew how poorly it was going to end in some of those star systems. She didn’t want to see that…and, she knew, she wanted to avoid the moral guilt for having allowed it to happen.
But the last thing the galaxy needed was for the Grand Alliance to simply replace Frontier Security. And the last thing the Grand Alliance needed was to turn into Frontier Security. The Office of Frontier Security had started with the best of intentions, and it had taken a while for it to warp and corrode. But it had happened, and Honor Alexander-Harrington had no desire to see her star nation—either of her star nations—start down that dark and twisty road.
Besides, there’s such a thing as independence and maturity. Star nations have to learn to walk, just like anybody else, and they need to learn to stand on their own two feet. We won’t do them any favors by “casting a protective wing” over them if it prevents them from learning both those things.
And it wasn’t like the Grand Alliance was simply going to walk away. It had no intention of intervening to impose outside solutions, but it was prepared to trade with any star system, support any legitimate government, extend economic support and military aid as trading or treaty partner. And it was prepared to whack any hands that got too greedy and grasping where their neighbors’ toys were concerned. No doubt there would be an upsurge in piracy and warlordism, but the Royal Manticoran Navy had cut its eyeteeth in the Silesian Confederacy. Any newly independent star systems who were inclined to emulate their erstwhile OFS masters would discover the RMN and its allies had a short way with freebooters and would-be conquistadors. Speaking of which—
“I had a letter from Tom yesterday,” she said, looking at Elizabeth, who leaned back on an old, worn, sinfully comfortable couch beside Prince Consort Justin while Ariel and Monroe drowsed with the blissful limpness of treecats stuffed with far too much celery.
“Did you?” Elizabeth asked tranquilly.
“Yes. He said something about ‘making the Alliance permanent.’” She regarded her monarch thoughtfully. “It wouldn’t happen you—and, of course, my esteemed brother-in-law,” she added, looking pointedly at Grantville “—know what he was talking about, would it?”
Elizabeth glanced at Grantville. The prime minister looked back at her for a moment, then shrugged, and the empress returned her gaze to Honor.
“Actually, it would happen I do. I just wasn’t planning on discussing it with you yet. Not until you come back from Grayson, anyway.”
“Oh?” Honor raised an eyebrow, looking rather more intently at her monarch, and her tone might have held just the slightest edge of suspicion.
“It’s fairly straightforward, really,” Elizabeth said. “The problem Eloise and I see is how long the People’s Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom of Manticore spent being enemies. I think we’re probably past the worst of that, but old memories die hard—especially in a civilization that has prolong—and even those who don’t actively cherish old animosities don’t have a very deep reservoir of what you might call warm and fuzzy memories. Once upon a time the Star Kingdom and the Republic had just that, but that was before the Legislaturalists. We’ve got some new ones we can build on, but there’s a genuine danger zone between where we are now and where we need to be. The fact that a lot of people see the way we cleaned the Solarian League’s clock as proof that we’re the new-model ‘invincible star nation’ isn’t calculated to help me and Eloise sleep soundly at night, either.” She grimaced. “You and Hamish are the historians, but I’ve read a little history myself. If there’s anything in the universe more dangerous than complacency, I don’t have a clue what it might be.”
“There isn’t anything—outside political or religious fanaticism, anyway,” Honor said glumly, hugging Katherine against her chest and resting her chin lightly on the crown of her daughter’s head.
“And it’s not made any better by the fact that you brought home everything in the Solarian League Navy’s databanks.” Elizabeth sighed. “Everybody knows you got it, too, so the complacency brigade is sitting around in a blissful haze contemplating the fact that we know exactly what the League was up to and, therefore, what it’s capable of.”
“They do remember Operation Thunderbolt, don’t they, Your Majesty?” Alfred Harrington asked. “I seem to remember that the despised Peeps managed to overcome a fairly severe technological deficit.”
“Honestly, Commodore Harrington, how could you even imagine I’d be so crass and crude as to point that out to them?”
The irony in Elizabeth’s tone could have turned Jason Bay into a desert, and Alfred shook his head with a snort of disgust.
“Fortunately, what Her Majesty is calling the ‘complacency brigade’ is a distinct minority at the moment,” Grantville said. “And the same is true—at the moment—for the people who don’t see any reason the Republic and the Star Empire need to stay focused and on the same page. What Her Majesty and President Pritchart have been discussing is how we might go about keeping things that way.”
“And you’ve come up with…?” Honor raised both eyebrows at him, and he nodded in Elizabeth’s direction, obviously returning the thread to her.
“We’re not worried at all as long as Eloise is in office,” Elizabeth said. “She and I understand each other, and we intend to stay in very close touch—and Benjamin Mayhew intends to stay in the mix, as well as Oravil Barregos. Unfortunately, she won’t be in office forever. In fact, the Havenite Constitution limits her to no more than three successive terms.” The empress grimaced. “I think that needs to be changed, and I think some of the Constitution’s other term-limit aspects—especially the clause limiting a president’s term to only five T-years—reflects pre-prolong thinking. Now, the Constitution does allow someone to run for the office again after being out of office for at least one term, and I’d say if anyone had a chance of pulling that off, it would be Eloise. Or Tom Theisman, if he wasn’t smart enough to stay as far away from elective office as physically possible! And some members of Congress are pressing to amend the Constitution to remove the three-successive-terms limitation specifically so she can run again. Eloise won’t hear of it, though. For that matter, I think she’d be highly resistant to running for office again—ever—once her three terms are up.”
“I can see that,” Honor said. “She’s a historian, too.”
“Quite a bit of that going around lately…thank God,” Hamish put in.
“Probably.” Elizabeth nodded. “And I can understand why it’s so important to her to fully establish—reestablish—the rule of law in Nouveau Paris. She and Tom Theisman and all the others paid cash for that, and she’s not going to let anyone—even, or especially, herself—establish any fresh ‘president-for-life’ precedents.”
“Good for her,” Honor said.
“Like I say, from her perspective I understand entirely. From my perspective, though, it sucks wind,” Elizabeth said frankly. She grimaced. “I have such a great relationship with her!”
She paused for a moment, eyes distant, as if considering what she’d just said, then shook her head.
“I really do have a great relationship with her,” she said almost wonderingly. “Never would’ve seen that coming, but it’s true. And that”—her gaze sharpened once again—“is why I don’t feel anything like confident about the chance of establishing an equally good relationship with whoever succeeds her.”
Honor nodded thoughtfully, and Elizabeth shrugged.
“So, what she and I are going to do in…oh, a T-year or so, is to propose a sort of…federated association, I suppose you’d call it, between Manticore and Haven. We’re still at an early enough stage no one’s come up with anything to call it yet, but basically, we’d amend both constitutions to grant reciprocal citizenship.”
“‘Reciprocal citizenship’?” Honor repeated.
“In essence, any citizen of the Republic would be a citizen of the Star Empire, and any citizen of the Star Empire would be a citizen of the Republic. Where they voted and where they paid taxes would depend upon the star nation in which they currently resided.” Elizabeth smiled as Honor’s eyes widened. “Oh, it’ll be more complicated than that, I’m sure, but that’s the basic platform we’re after. We’ll be looking at building deliberate economic ties, as well, and of course Havenite businesses and individuals will get the same Junction rates as Manticorans do. As I say, I’ve talked about it with Benjamin a bit, too. Grayson intends to stay independent, for reasons I fully understand, but he’s inclined to think the Graysons may be ready for the same kind of relationship by the time Eloise and I actually have all the bits and pieces glued into place.”
“Um.” Honor frowned in thought, then glanced at Hamish. There seemed to be a certain flicker of amusement deep in his blue eyes, but he only looked back with a solemn shrug.
“It sounds like it ought to be workable,” she said to Elizabeth then. “I’d be more confident if history wasn’t littered with things that ‘ought’ to have worked. But with a pair like you and Eloise driving it, I don’t doubt the legal framework can at least be created and put into place. Making it actually work has a lot of potential to get…complicated, though, I’d think.”
“I agree,” Elizabeth said with a chuckle. “On the other hand, there are some things we can already put into place to help build the relationship we’ll need when the time comes. In fact, I’d planned to discuss this with you sometime in the next few months.”
“Did you?” Honor said, and there was no mistaking the suspicion in her tone—or her eyes—this time as she sampled Elizabeth’s mind-glow.
“Well, I wasn’t going to cram it at you,” Elizabeth told her. “But one of the most essential elements will be keeping our military establishments on the same page. Especially with the Alignment still out there somewhere.”
All trace of amusement faded from her eyes for a moment, and her nostrils flared.
“I know the hunt for the rest of your ‘onion’ is really only just getting started, Honor, but I have to tell you, I’m not optimistic about our dragging them back into the open until they’re damned well ready to come back out into the open.”
“I’m not giving up hope, but I’m afraid that’s what the odds favor,” Honor agreed.
“Which is why we have to maintain a strong military posture. I don’t see any way in hell we could maintain the fleet strength we have right now. There are megatons of totally valid domestic reasons to cut naval funding now that the League’s not a threat and we’ve pretty much established we can kick anybody’s ass,” Elizabeth said bluntly. “Manticore has enough of a naval tradition, and enough interstellar commitments, that maintaining a powerful fleet won’t be that great a challenge. Maintaining one as powerful as the one we have now is likely to be impossible, though. Oh, we’ll keep a couple hundred capital ships in commission. A lot of the others can go into reserve—and unlike the Sollies we will rotate ships in and out to keep them up to date—but we’re going to need a lot more cruisers and battlecruisers than SD(P)s in our post-war fleet. And Haven’s navy will probably be under even more pressure to retrench. Partly, I’m afraid, because the Havenite Navy acquired a lot of…negative associations under the Legislaturalists that the Royal Navy’s never had to deal with.”
Honor nodded again. She’d considered those points herself, more than once.
“So what Eloise and I plan to do is find every way we can to weld the RMN and RHN together at the hip.” Elizabeth smiled thinly. “For one thing, we’re shipping all the Solarian data you brought home from Ganymede to Bolthole, and we intend to establish a permanent joint R and D facility there.” Honor’s eyes flared in true astonishment, and Elizabeth’s smile grew warmer. “Apparently, Admiral Hemphill and Admiral Foraker have taken a genuine liking to one another.” The empress shook her head. “Eloise tells me Tom Theisman’s taken to referring to them as ‘a congress of geeks.’” She chuckled. “I think he means it as a compliment.”
