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HONOR

HARRINGTONThe Honor of the Queen

DAVID WEBER

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This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and

any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

Copyright 199 by !avid "eber

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A #aen #ooks $riginal

#aen %ublishing &nterprises%.$. #o' 1()

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Cover art by !avid 6attingly

nterior map by +.C. 7anger

8irst hardcover printing, 6arch 5)))

ibrary of Congress Catalogingin%ublication !ata

"eber, !avid, 1935:

7onor of the ;ueen < !avid "eber

p. cm.

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. Title.

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Typeset by "indhaven %ress, Auburn, +7

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#aen #ooks by !avid "eber

Honor Harrington Novels:

$n #asilisk /tationThe 7onor of the ueen

The /hort Dictorious "ar

8ield of !ishonor8lag in &'ile7onor Among &nemies

n &nemy 7ands

&choes of 7onor

Ashes of Dictory

Edited by David Weber:

6ore Than 7onor

"orlds of 7onor

6utineerEs 6oon

The Armageddon nheritance

7eirs of &mpire

%ath of the 8ury

$ath of /wordsThe "ar FodEs $wn

The Apocalypse Troll

With Steve White:

nsurrection

Crusade

n !eath Fround

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CHAPTER ONE

T7& CBTT&* %A//&! 8*$6 /B+Tbrilliance to sootblack shadow with the knifeedge

suddenness possible only in space, and the tall, broadshouldered woman in the black and gold ofthe *oyal 6anticoran +avy gaGed out the armorplast port at the battlesteel beauty of hercommand and frowned.

The si'limbed creamandgray treecat on her shoulder shifted his balance as she raised her

right hand and pointed.

H thought weEd discussed replacing #eta 8ourteen with Commander Antrim, Andy,I she said,

and the short, dapper lieutenant commander beside her winced at her soprano voiceEs total lack of

inflection.

Hes, 6aEam. "e did.I 7e tapped keys on his memo pad and checked the display. H"e

discussed it on the si'teenth, /kipper, before you went on leave, and he promised to get back to

us.I

H"hich he never did,I Captain 7onor 7arrington observed, and ieutenant Commander

DeniGelos nodded.H"hich he never did. /orry, 6aEam. shouldEve kept after him.I

HouEve had a lot of other things on your plate, too,I she said, and Andreas DeniGelos hid

another@and much more painful@wince. 7onor 7arrington seldom rapped her officers in the

teeth, but he would almost have preferred to have her hand him his head. 7er ;uiet,

understanding tone sounded entirely too much as if she were finding e'cuses for him.

H6aybe so, 6aEam, but still shouldEve kept after him,I he said. H"e both know how these

yard types hate node replacements.I 7e tapped a note into his pad. HEll com him as soon as weget back aboard Vulcan.I

HFood, Andy.I /he turned her head and smiled at him, her strongboned face almost impish.

Hf he starts giving you a song and dance, let me know. Em having lunch with Admiral Thayer.

may not have my official orders yet, but you can bet sheEs got an idea what theyEre going to be.I

DeniGelos grinned back in understanding, for he and his captain both knew Antrim had beenplaying an old yard trick that usually worked. "hen you didnEt want to carry out some irksome

bit of refit, you Just dragged your feet until you Hran out of time,I on the theory that a shipEs

captain would rather get back into space than incur Their ordshipsE displeasure with a tardy

departure date. Bnfortunately for Commander Antrim, success depended on a skipper who was

willing to let a yard dog get away with it. This one wasnEt, and while it wasnEt official yet, the

grapevine said the 8irst /pace ord had plans for 76/ Fearless. "hich meant this time someone

elsewas going to buy a rocket from the Admiralty if she was late, and DeniGelos rather suspected

the C$ of 7er 6aJestyEs /pace /tation Vulcanwould be less than pleased if she had to e'plain

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the holdup to Admiral !anvers. The Third /pace ord had a notoriously short fuse and a

readiness to collect scalps.

Hes, 6aEam. Ah, would you mind if Just happened to let slip to Antrim that youEre lunching

with the Admiral, /kipperKI

H+ow, now, Andy. !onEt be nasty@unless he looks like giving you problems, of course.IH$f course, 6aEam.I

7onor smiled again and turned back to the view port.FearlessEs running lights blinked the green and white of a moored starship, clear and gemlike

without the diffraction of atmosphere, and she felt a familiar throb of pride. The heavy cruiserEs

white skin gleamed in reflected sunlight above the rulerstraight line of shadow running down her

doubleended, twelvehundredmeter, threehundredthousandton hull. #rilliant light spilled

from the oval of an open weapon bay a hundred and fifty meters forward of the after impeller

ring, and 7onor watched skinsuited yard techs crawling over the ominous bulk of +umber 8ive

Fraser. /heEd thought the intermittent glitch was in the onmount software, but VulcanEs people

insisted it was in the emitter assembly itself.

/he twitched her shoulders, and +imitG scolded gently as he dug his claws deeper into the

padded shoulder of her tunic for balance. /he clicked her teeth and rubbed his ears in wordless

apology, but she never took her eyes from the view port as the cutter continued its slow tour of

FearlessEs e'terior.7alf a doGen work parties paused and looked up as the cutter ghosted past them. /he couldnEt

make out e'pressions through their visors, but she could imagine the combination of e'asperation

and wariness some of them would wear. ard dogs hated to have a captain peering over their

shoulders while they worked on her ship . . . almost as much as captains hated turning their shipsover to the yard dogs in the first place.

/he swallowed a chuckle at the thought, because while she had no intent ion of tel lin g

the m so, she was impressed by how much Vulcan@and DeniGelos@had accomplished during

her twoweek absence, despite AntrimEs passive resistance to t he node change. *eplacing an

impeller node was a maJor pain, and Antrim obviously hoped he could skate out of it, but that

ambition was doomed to failure. #eta 8ourteen had been a headache almost since FearlessEs

acceptance trials, and 7onor and her engineers had put up with it long enough. t wasnEt as

crucial as an alpha node, of course, and Fearlesscould easily maintain eighty percent of ma'acceleration without it. Then, too, there was the little matter of the price tag for a replacement

@something like five million dollars@which Antrim would have to sign off on. All of which no

doubt helped e'plain his reluctance to pull it, but Commander Antrim wouldnEt be aboard the

ne't time 76/Fearlesshad to redline her drive.

The cutter curled back up over the hull, crossing diagonally above the after port missile battery

and the geometric precision of *adar /i'. The long, slender blades of the cruiserEs main graviticsensors passed out of sight under the lower lip of the view port, and 7onor nodded in satisfaction

as her chocolatedark eyes noted the replacement elements in the array.

All in all, she was more than pleased with how Fearlesshad performed over the last two and

half Tyears. /he was a relatively new ship, and her builders had done her proud in most respects.t wasnEt their fault someone had slipped them a faulty beta node, and sheEd stood up well to an

arduous first commission. +ot that antipiracy patrols were 7onorEs first choice for assignments.t had been nice to be on her own, and the priGe money from picking off that /ilesian HprivateerI

s;uadron hadnEt done her bank balance a bit of harm. 8or that matter, the rescue of that passenger

liner had been a piece of work anyone could be proud of, but the moments of e'citement had

been few and far between. 6ostly it had been hard work and more than a little boring once she

got over the sheer e'citement of commanding her first heavy cruiser@and a brand spanking new

one, to boot.

/he made a mental note of a scuffed patch of paint above Fraser Three and felt a tiny smile

tugging at her lips as she contemplated the rumors about her ne't assignment, for the alacrity with

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which Admiral Courvosier had accepted his invitation to the traditional recommissioning party

suggested there was more than a bit of truth to them. That was good. /he hadnEt seen the Admiral,

much less served under him, in far too long, and if diplomats and politicians were normally a

lower order of life than pirates, it should at least be an interesting change of pace.

Hou know, that young man has a really nice ass for a roundeye,I !r. Allison Chou

7arrington observed. H bet you could have some fun chasing himaround the command deck,dear.I

HMother!I 7onor stepped on an unfilial urge to throttle her parent and looked around ;uickly.

#ut no one seemed to have overheard, and, for the first time in her memory, she was grateful for

the chatter of other voices.

H+ow, 7onor,I !r. 7arrington looked up at her with a deadly gleam in those almond eyes so

much like 7onorEs own, Hall said was@I

H knowhat you said, but that Lyoung manE is my e'ecutive officerMI

H"ell, of course he is,I her mother said comfortably. HThatEs what makes it so convenient. And

he certainly is a handsomefellow, isnEt heK Ell bet he has to beat them off with a stick.I /he

sighed. HAssuming he wants to,I she added thoughtfully. HNust look at those eyesM 7e looks Just

like +imitG in mating season, doesnEt heKI

7onor hovered on the brink of apople'y, and +imitG cocked his head reprovingly at !r.7arrington. t wasnEt that he obJected to her comments on his se'ual prowess, but the empathic

Ecat was only too well aware of how much his personEs mother enJoyed teasing her.

HCommander DeniGelos is nota treecat, and do nothave the least intention of chasing him

with a club,I 7onor said firmly.H+o, dear, know. ou never have had very good Judgment where men are concerned.I

H6other@MI

H+ow, 7onor, you know Ed never dream of criticiGing,I the twinkle in Allison 7arringtonEs

eyes was devilish, yet there was a trace of seriousness under the loving malice, Hbut a +avy

captain@aseniorgradecaptain, at that@ought to get over those silly inhibitions of yours.I

HEm not Linhibited,EI 7onor said with all the dignity she could muster.

H"hatever you say, darling. #ut in that case, youEre letting that delicious young man go sadly

to waste, e'ecutive officer or not.IH6other, Just because you were born on an unciviliGed and licentious planet like #eowulf is no

reason for you to make eyes at my e'ecM #esides, what would !addy thinkKI

H"hat would think about whatKI /urgeon Commander Alfred 7arrington =retired> demanded.

H$h, there you are.I 7onor and her father stood eye to eye, towering over her diminutive

mother, and she Jerked a thumb downward. H6otherEs casting hungry looks at my e'ec again,I

she complained.H+ot to worry,I her father replied. H/he looks a lot, but sheEs never had any reason to roam.I

HouEre as bad assheisMI

H6eow,I Allison said, and 7onor fought back a grin.

8or as long as she could remember, her mother had delighted in scandaliGing the moreconservative members of 6anticoran society. /he considered the entire kingdom hopelessly

prudish, and her pungent observations to that effect drove certain society dames absolutelyberserk. And her beauty, and the fact that she doted on her husband and never actually did the

least thing for which they could ostraciGe her, only made it worse.

$f course, if she hadbeen inclined to follow the mores of her birth world, she could have

assembled a drooling male harem any time she cared to. /he was a tiny thing, little more than

twothirds 7onorEs own height and of almost pure $ld &arth $riental e'traction. The strong,

sharply carved bone structure which had always made 7onor feel plain and unfinished was muted

into e'otic beauty in her motherEs face, and the prolong process had froGen her biological age at

no more than thirty Tyears. /he really was like a treecat herself, 7onor thought@delicate but

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strong, graceful and fascinating, with Just a hint of the predator, and the fact that she was one of

the most brilliant genetic surgeons in the Oingdom didnEt hurt.

/he was also, 7onor knew, genuinely concerned about her only childEs lack of a se' life. "ell,

sometimes Honor was a bit worried about it, but it wasnEt as if she had all that many

opportunities. A starshipEs captain simply could not dally with a member of her crew, even if shehad the desire to, and 7onor was none too sure she did. 7er se'ual e'perience was virtually nil@

aside from a single e"tremelyunpleasant Academy episode and one adolescent infatuation thathad trickled off in dreary unhappiness@because sheEd simply never met a man she cared to

become involved with.

+ot that she was interested in womenP she Just didnEt seem particularly interested in anyone@

which might be Just as well. t avoided all sorts of potential professional difficulties . . . and she

rather doubted an overgrown horse like her would provoke much reciprocal interest, anyway.

That reflection bothered her a bit. +o, she thought, be honestP it bothered her a lot, and there were

times her motherEs version of a sense of humor was less than amusing. #ut this wasnEt one of

them, and she surprised them both by putting an arm around her and s;ueeGing in a rare public

display of affection.

HTrying to bribe me into being good, huhKI !r. 7arrington teased, and 7onor shook her head.

H never try to do the impossible, 6other.I

HThatEs one for your side,I her father observed, then held out his hand to his wife. HComealong, Alley. 7onor ought to be circulating@you can go make someone elseEs life miserable for a

while.I

Hou +avy types can be a real pain in the . . . posterior,I Allison replied with a wickedly

demure glance at her daughter, and 7onor watched fondly as her parents vanished into the crowd./he didnEt get to see them as often as she would have liked, which was one reason sheEd been so

happy whenFearlesswas sent to Vulcanfor refit, instead ofHe#haestus. Vulcanorbited 7onorEs

own homeworld of /phin', ten lightminutes further out than the capital planet of 6anticore, and

sheEd taken shameless advantage of the fact to spend time at home, wallowing in her fatherEs

cooking.

#ut Alfred 7arrington was ;uite right about her responsibilities as a hostess, and 7onor

s;uared her shoulders for the plunge back into the festivities.

A rather proprietary smile touched Admiral of the Freen *aoul CourvosierEs mouth as he

watched Captain 7arrington mi' confidently with her guests and remembered the gangling

midshipman, all knees and elbows and sharp, angular face, heEd first met si'teen 6anticoran

years@over twentyseven Tyears@ago. /he really had been a piece of work, he reflected

affectionately. Absolutely dedicated, shy to the point of speechlessness and determined not to

show it, terrified of math courses, and one of the most brilliant intuitive shiphandlers andtacticians heEd ever met. /heEd also been one of the most frustrating. All that promise and

potential, and sheEd near as nothing flunked out on him before he could convince her to use that

same intuition on her math testsM #ut once sheEd gotten her feet under her, nothing could stop her.

Courvosier was a childless bachelor. 7e knew heEd invested so much of his life in his studentsat the Academy as compensation, yet few of them had made him as proud as 7onor. Too many

officers simply wore the uniformP 7onor livedit. And it became her well, he thought.7e watched her chatting with the husband of VulcanEs commanding officer and wondered

where that awkward midshipman had gone. 7e knew she still disliked parties, still thought of

herself as the ugly duckling, but she never let it show. And one of these days, he thought fondly,

she would wake up to the fact that the duckling had become a swan. $ne of the drawbacks of the

prolong treatment, especially in its later, more effective versions, was that it stretched out the

Hawkward periodsI in physical development, and 7onor, he admitted, really had been on the

homely side as a girl@at first glance, at least. /heEd always had the cat;uick refle'es of her

1.3gravity homeworld, but the grace of her carriage had been something else, something that

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went beyond her highgee birth environment. &ven as a firstform middy, sheEd had that elegance

in motion which drew second glances from eyes which had dismissed her unprepossessing

surface too ;uickly, and hers was a face that improved with age. et she truly didnEt realiGe, even

now, how the toosharp edges had smoothed into character, how her motherEs huge eyes lent her

triangular face an intriguing, e'otic air. 7e supposed it wasnEt all that surprising, given how longthe prolongslowed smoothing process had taken, and it was true she would never be HprettyI@

only beautiful . . . once she realiGed it."hich only added to his present concerns. 7e frowned down into his drink, then checked his

chrono and sighed.FearlessEs recommissioning party was an outstanding success. t looked like

lasting for hours yet, and he didnEt have hours. There were too many details that needed clearing

up back on 6anticore, which meant he was going to have to drag her away from her guests@not

that he e'pected that to bother her undulyM

7e made his way casually through the crowd, and she turned towards him as her internal radar

sensed his approach. Courvosier wasnEt much taller than her mother, and he smiled up at her.

Huite a bash, Captain,I he said, and she smiled back a bit sourly.

Ht is, isnEt it, /irK And noisy, too,I she added with a grimace.

Hes, it is.I Courvosier glanced around, then back up at her. HEm afraid Em going to have to

catch the shuttle back toHe#haestusin another hour, 7onor, and we need to talk before leave.

Can you get awayKI7er eyes narrowed at his une'pectedly serious tone, and she, too, glanced around the crowded

wardroom.

H really shouldnEt . . .I she said, but there was an almost wistful note in her voice. Courvosier

smothered a grin as he watched temptation war with her sense of duty. t was an unfair contest,especially with curiosity weighing in on temptationEs side, and her lips tightened in decision. /he

raised her hand, and Chief /tewardEs 6ate Names 6acFuiness materialiGed out of the crowd as if

by magic.

H6ac, would you please escort Admiral Courvosier to my day cabinKI /he pitched her voice

low enough to be lost in the crowd noise.

H$f course, 6aEam,I her steward replied.

HThank you.I /he looked back at Courvosier. HEll Join you there as soon as find Andy and

warn him heEs on his own as host, /ir.IHThank you, Captain. appreciate it.I

H$h, so do , /ir,I she admitted with a grin. H/o do MI

Courvosier turned from the cabin view port as the hatch slid ;uietly open and 7onor stepped

through it.

H know youEre not fond of parties, 7onor,I he said, Hbut really am sorry to call you awayfrom one that seems to be going so well.I

HAt the rate itEs going, Ell have plenty of time to get back to it, /ir.I /he shook her head. H

donEt even know half of them, anywayM A lot more planetside guests accepted their invitations

than Ed e'pected.IH$f course they did,I Courvosier said. HouEre one of their own, and theyEre proud of you.I

7onor waved her hand, and her cheekbones heated.HouEre going to have to get over that blush reaction, 7onor,I her old mentor told her severely.

H6odesty is all very well, but after #asilisk /tation, youEre a marked woman.I

H was lucky,I she protested.

H$f course you were,I he agreed so promptly she gave him a very sharp look indeed. Then he

grinned, and she grinned back at how easily sheEd risen to his bait. H/eriously, if havenEt gotten

around to mentioning it before, you did us all proud.I

HThank you,I she said ;uietly. HThat means a lot, coming from you.I

H*eallyKI 7is smile was a bit crooked as he looked down at the gold rings on his own space

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black sleeve. Hou know, Em really going to hate giving up the uniform,I he sighed.

HtEs only temporary, /ir. TheyEre not going to leave you on the beach for long. n fact,I 7onor

frowned, H still donEt understand why the 8oreign $ffice wanted you in the first place.I

H$hKI 7e cocked his head and his eyes glinted at her. HAre you saying an old crock like me

canEt be trusted with a diplomatic missionKIH$f course notM Em Just saying youEre far more valuable at the Advanced Tactical Course than

fooling around at diplomatic soirees.I 7er mouth curled in distaste. Hf the Admiralty had a lickof sense, theyEd have told the 8$ to take a flying leap through the Nunction and given you a task

force, /irMI

HThere are more things in life than running ATC@or a task force,I he disagreed. Hn fact,

politics and diplomacy are probably more important, when you come right down to it.I 7onor

snorted, and he frowned. Hou donEt agreeKI

HAdmiral, donEt like politics,I she said frankly. H&very time you get involved in them, things

go all gray and murky on you. L%oliticsE were what created the mess in #asilisk in the first place,

and they darn near got my entire crew killedMI /he shook her head. H+o, /ir. donEt like politics,

donEt understand them, and donEt antto understand themMI

HThen youEd better change your mind, Captain.I There was bite in CourvosierEs suddenly chill

voice. 7onor blinked in surprise, and +imitG raised his head on her shoulder, bending his own

grassgreen gaGe on the cherubic little admiral. H7onor, what you do in your se' life is up to you,but no captain in 7er 6aJestyEs service can be a virgin where politics are concerned@and

especially not where di#lomacyis concerned.I

/he blushed again, much more darkly, but she also felt her shoulders straighten Just as they had

at the Academy when thenCaptain Courvosier had laid down the law. They were both a long wayfrom /aganami sland, but some things never changed, she realiGed.

H beg your pardon, /ir,I she said a bit stiffly. H only meant that politicians seem more

concerned with payoffs and empirebuilding than with their Jobs.I

H/omehow donEt think the !uke of Cromarty would appreciate that characteriGation. +or

does it suit him.I Courvosier waved a gentle hand as 7onor opened her mouth again. H+o, know

you werenEt referring to the %6. And understand your reaction after what happened to your last

ship. #ut diplomacy is absolutely critical to the OingdomEs survival Just now, 7onor. ThatEs why

agreed to the 8$Es re;uest when they needed someone for eltsinEs /tar.IH can understand that, /ir. And suppose was a bit petulant sounding, wasnEt KI

HNust a bit,I Courvosier agreed with a small smile.

H"ell, maybe more than a bit. Then again, havenEt really had much to do with diplomacy. 6y

e'perience has been more with domestic politicos@you know, the slimy sort.I

HA fair enough estimation, suppose. #ut this is far more important, and thatEs why wanted to

talk to you.I 7e rubbed one eyebrow and frowned. H8rankly, 7onor, Em a little surprised theAdmiralty assigned you to it.I

Hou areKI /he tried to hide her hurt. !id the Admiral think sheEd do less than her best@

especially for him@Just because she didnEt like politicsK /urely he knew her better than thatM

H$h, not because donEt think youEre up to it.I 7is ;uick response eased her hurt, and heshook his head. HtEs Just@ "ell, how much do you know about the eltsin situationKI

H+ot a lot,I she admitted. H havenEt gotten my official orders or download yet, so all know iswhat read in the papers. Eve checked $he %oyal Encyclo#edia, but it hasnEt been much help,

and their navyEs not even listed in&ane's. gather eltsin doesnEt have much to pi;ue our interest,

aside from its location.I

H assume from that last remark that you at least know why we want the system in our campKI

Courvosier made the statement a ;uestion, and she nodded. eltsinEs /tar lay less than thirty

lightyears to galactic northeast of the 6anticore binary system. t also lay between the Oingdom

of 6anticore and the con;uestbloated %eopleEs *epublic of 7aven, and only an idiot@or a

member of the iberal or %rogressive %arty@could believe war with 7aven wasnEt coming. The

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diplomatic confrontation between the two powers had grown increasingly vicious in the two and

a half Tyears since the %*7Es braGen attempt to seiGe the #asilisk /ystem, and both of them were

Jockeying for position before the inevitable open clash.

That was what made eltsinEs /tar so important. t and the nearby &ndicott /ystem had the

only inhabited worlds in a volume forty lightyears across, s;uarely between the two adversaries.Allies, or =perhaps even more importantly> an advanced fleet base, in the area would be

invaluable.H"hat you may not realiGe,I Courvosier went on, His that more is involved here than Just

strategic real estate. The Cromarty government is trying to build a fire break against 7aven,

7onor. "eEre rich enough to stand up to the %eeps, probably, and weEve got the technical edge,

but we canEt begin to match their manpower. "e need allies, but, even more, we need to be seen

as a creditable player, someone with the guts and will to face 7aven down. There are still a lot of

neutrals out thereP there probably still will be when the shooting starts, and we need to influence

as many as possible of them to be LneutralE in our favor.I

H can see that, /ir.I

HFood. #ut the reason Em surprised the Admiralty assigned you to this particular effort is that

youEre a woman.I 7onor blinked in complete surprise, and Courvosier laughed without humor at

her e'pression.

HEm afraid donEt follow that, /ir.IHou will when you get your download,I Courvosier promised sourly. Hn the meantime, let

me Just give you the high points. 7ave a seat, Captain.I

7onor sank into a chair and lifted +imitG from her shoulder to her lap as she regarded her

superior. 7e seemed genuinely concerned, and for the life of her, she couldnEt see what hergender had to do with her suitability for command.

Hou have to understand that eltsinEs /tar has been settled far longer than 6anticore,I

Courvosier began in his best /aganami lecturerEs voice. HThe first colonists landed on Frayson,

eltsinEs single habitable planet, in 944 %.!., almost five hundred years before we arrived on the

scene.I 7onorEs eyes narrowed in surprise, and he nodded. HThatEs right. n fact, eltsin hadnEt

even been surveyed when they left /ol. 8or that matter, the entire cryoprocess had been available

for less than ten years when they shipped out.I

H#ut why in FodEs name come way out hereKI 7onor demanded. HThey mustEve had betterastro data on systems closer to /olMI

HThey did, indeed, but youEve already hit their motivation.I /he frowned, and he smiled thinly.

H Ln FodEs name,E 7onor. They were religious Gealots looking for a home so far away no one

would ever bother them. guess they figured fivehundredplus lightyears was about far enough

in an era before hyper travel had even been hypothesiGed. At any rate, the LChurch of 7umanity

BnchainedE set out on a leap of faith, with absolutely no idea what they were going to find at theother end.I

Hord.I 7onor sounded shaken, and she was. /he was a professional naval officer, and the

mere thought of all the hideous ways those colonists could have died was enough to turn her

stomach.H%recisely. #ut the really interesting thing is why they did it.I 7onor ;uirked an eyebrow, and

Courvosier shrugged. HThey wanted to get away from Lthe corrupting, souldestroying effect oftechnology,E I he said, and she stared at him in disbelief.

HThey used astarshi#to get away fromtechnologyKThatEs@thatEs insane, /irMI

H+o, not really.I Courvosier leaned back against a table and folded his arms. H6ind you, that

was my own first thought when the 8$ handed me the background on the system, but it actually

made sense, in a craGy sort of way. *emember, this was way back in the early fourth century of

the !iaspora, when $ld &arth was finally getting a real handle on pollution, resource depletion,

and overcrowding. Actually, things had been getting better for at least two hundred years, despite

the econutsE and L&arth 8irstE groupsE efforts to kill the various space initiatives. The &arth

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8irsters probably had a better case, given the resource demands /T colony ships made on /olEs

economy, but at least they recogniGed the spinoff advantages. !eepspace industry, asteroid

mining operations, orbital power collectors@all of them were on line at last, and the ;uality of

life was climbing systemwide. 6ost people were delighted, and the &arth8irstersE only real

complaint was that it could have climbed even faster if people would only stop buildinginterstellar colony ships.

H$n the other hand, there were still crackpot groups@particularly the e'treme LFreensE and the+eouddites@who didnEt distinguish between the coloniGing efforts and any other space

activity. They insisted, each for their own reasons, that the only real solution was to throw

technology out on its ear and Llive the way man was intended to live.E I 7onor snorted in derision,

and he chuckled.

H know. TheyEd have looked pretty sick if theyEd tried it, especially with a system population

of over twelve billion to feed and house, but most of the idiots were from more developed

nations. &'tremists tend to grow more e'treme, not less, as problems get closer to solutions, you

know, and these e'tremists didnEt have any real concept of what a planet without technology

would be like, because theyEd never e'perienced it. #esides, after three centuries of preaching the

evils of technology@and their own societiesE Lgreedy, e'ploitative guiltE@the LFreensE were

technoilliterates with no real relevance to the world about them, and most of the +eoudditesE

Job skills had been made redundant by new technologies. +either background really ;ualifiedthem to understand what was happening, and sweeping, simplistic solutions to complicated

problems are much more appealing than tackling the real thought that might actually solve them.

HAt any rate, the Church of 7umanity Bnchained was the product of a fellow named Austin

Frayson@the *everend Austin Frayson from someplace called the /tate of daho. According tothe 8oreign $ffice, there were hordes of lunatic fringe groups running around at the time, and

Frayson was a Lback to the #ibleE type who got caught up in the banthemachine movement. The

only things that made him different from other crackpots and bombthrowers were his charisma,

his determination, and his talent for attracting converts with real ability. 7e actually managed to

assemble a colony e'pedition and fund it to the tune of several billion dollars, all to take his

followers away to the +ew Qion and its wonderful, technologyfree Farden of &den. t was really

a rather elegant concept, you know, using technology to get away from technology.I

H&legant,I 7onor snorted, and the Admiral chuckled again.HBnfortunately, they got a nasty surprise at JourneyEs end. FraysonEs a pretty nice place in

many ways, but itEs a highdensity world with unusual concentrations of heavy metals, and there

isnEt a single native plant or animal that wonEt kill any human who eats it for very long. "hich

meant, of course@I

HThat they couldnEt abandon technology and survive,I 7onor finished for him, and he nodded.

H&'actly. +ot that they were willing to admit it. n fact, Frayson never didadmit it. 7e livedanother ten Tyears after their arrival, and every year the end of technology was Just around the

corner, but there was a fellow named 6ayhew who saw the writing on the wall a lot sooner.

According to what can dig out of the records, he more or less allied with another man, a Captain

anakov, whoEd commanded the colony ship, and the two of them pulled off a sort of doctrinalrevolution after FraysonEs death. Technology itself wasnEt evil, Just the way it had been usedon

$ld &arth. "hat mattered wasnEt the machine but the ungodly lifestyle machineage humanityhad embraced.I

7e rocked on his heels in silent thought for a moment, then shrugged.

HAt any rate, they abandoned the antimachine portion of FraysonEs theology and concentrated

on creating a society in strict accordance with FodEs 7oly "ord. "hich@I he darted a ;uick

glance at 7onor from under lowered brows H@included the theory that L6an is the head of

"oman.EI

t was 7onorEs turn to frown, and he sighed.

H!amn it, 7onor, youEre too 6anticoranM And,I he added with a sudden genuine laugh, HFod

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help us all if your motherever ended up on FraysonMI

HEm afraid still donEt ;uite understand, /ir.I

H$f course you donEt,I Courvosier sighed. H#ut, you see, women on Frayson have no legal

rights, 7onor@none at all.I

HWhat(!I 7onor Jerked upright in her chair. +imitG chittered in alarm as her lap shifted underhim, and she winced as one centimeterlong claw dug a bit deeper than heEd intended, but her

conscious mind hardly noticed.H%recisely. They canEt vote, canEt own property, canEt sit on Juries, and@especiallyM@canEt

serve in the military.I

H#ut thatEs . . . thatEs barbaricMI

H$h, donEt know,I Courvosier said with a lurking grin. H6ight be a bit restful, now and

then.I

7onor glared at him, and his grin faded.

HThat wasnEt ;uite as funny as thought it would be. #ut the situationEs even less funny. ou

see, 6asada, the habitable planet of the &ndicott /ystem, was settled from Frayson, and not

e'actly voluntarily. "hat started as a schism over the retention of technology turned down other

paths once it became clear they couldnEt survive without it. The original proTech faction became

L6oderates,E and the antiTechies became Lthe 8aithful.E $nce the 8aithful were forced to accept

that they couldnEt get rid of the machines, they turned to creating the #er)ectgodly society, and ifyou think the present government of Frayson is a bit backward, you should see what theycame

up withM !ietary laws, ritual cleansing for every imaginable sin@law codes that made any

deviation from the True "ay punishable bystoning, for FodEs sakeM

Hn the end, it came to open fighting, and it took the 6oderates more than five years to beat the8aithful. Bnfortunately, the 8aithful had built themselves a doomsday weaponP if they couldnEt

have a godly society, then theyEd blow up the whole planet@in, of course, e'act accordance with

the obvious "ill of Fod.I

The Admiral snorted in pure disgust and shook his head, then sighed.

HAnyway, the Frayson government@the 6oderates@cut a deal with them and e'iled them

lock, stock, and whipping post to 6asada, where they set about creating the society Fod 7ad

ntended. t saved Frayson, but the 8aithful have grown more intolerant, not less. There are a lot

of points about their socalled religion that canEt get definitive information on, but do knowtheyEve chopped the entire +ew Testament out of their #ibles because if Christ had really been

the 6essiah, technology never would have arisen on $ld &arth, theywouldnEt have been kicked

off Frayson, and "oman would have been put in her proper place throughout the human

community.I

7onor looked at him, too bemused to disbelieve any longer, and he shook his head once more.

HBnfortunately, they also seem to believe Fod e'pects them to fi' all the things that are wrongwith the universe, and theyEre still set on making *raysontoe their doctrinal line. +either system

has, you should pardon the e'pression, a pot to piss in, economically speaking, but theyEre too

close together, and theyEve fought several wars over the centuries, complete with the occasional

nuclear strike. "hich, of course creates the opening both we and 7aven are trying to e'ploit. tEsalso why the 8oreign 6inister convinced me that we need a fairly well known military type@like

your humble servant@to head our delegation. The Fraysons are only too well aware of the threat6asada presents to them, and theyEre going to want to know the person theyEre negotiating with

is aware of it, too.I

7e shook his head and pursed his lips.

HtEs a hell of a mess, 7onor, and Em afraid our own motives arenEt as pure as the driven snow.

"e need a forward base in that area. &ven more importantly, we need to keep 7aven from

securing one that close to us. Those factors are going to be as obvious to the locals as they are to

us, so weEre bound to get involved in the local conflict, in a peacekeeping role at the very least. f

+were the Frayson government, that would certainly be the point+'dinsist on, because the basic

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credo of 6asadan theology is that someday they will return to Frayson in triumph and cast down

the heirs of the ungodly who e'iled their forefathers from their rightful home. "hich means

Frayson can really use a powerful outside ally@and that as soon as we started courting them, the

%eeps started sucking up toMasada. 6ind you, theyEd probably prefer Frayson to 6asada, too,

but the Fraysons seem a bit more aware of Just how fatal it can be to become a LfriendE of the%eopleEs *epublic.

HAnd that, 7onor, is why you need to know e'actly whatEs going on, diplomatically speaking,on this little Jaunt. ouEre going to be very, very visible, and the fact that the Oingdom is sending

a woman to command the militaryside of the mission, well@I

7e broke off with a shrug, and 7onor nodded slowly, still trying to grapple with the idea of a

modernday !ark Age culture.

H see, /ir,I she said softly. H see, indeed.I

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CHAPTER TWO

7$+$* *&&A/&! T7& 7A+F+F rings and whipped through a flashing, somersaultdismount. /he was far from a professional;uality gymnast, but she landed almost perfectly and

bowed with e'travagant grace to her audience@who regarded her with a tolerant eye from his

comfortable perch on the parallel bars. /he inhaled deeply, using her hands to strip sweat from

her dripping, twocentimeter hair, then scrubbed her face vigorously with her towel before she

draped it around her neck and gave him a severe look.

HA little workout wouldnEt hurtyou, either,I she panted.

+imitG responded with an airy flirt of his fluffy, prehensile tail, then sighed in relief as she

padded across to the wallmounted grav controls. /he reset the gym to the regulation onegee

maintained aboard all *6+ ships, and the Ecat swarmed down from the bars. 7eEd never been

able to understand why she insisted on cranking the gymEs gravity clear up to the 1.3gees sheEdbeen born to. t wasnEt that +imitG was la,y, but in his uncomplicated view e'ertion was

something to be endured, not chased after. 7e regarded the lower standard shipboard gravity as

the greatest invention since celery, and if she hadto e'ercise, she might as well do something he

enJoyed, as well.

7e scampered into the dressing room, and 7onor heard her locker door rattle. Then he

reappeared with a happy H#leekMI and her hand shot up Just in time to snatch a hurtling plastic

disk out of the air in front of her face.

H"hy, you little creepMI she laughed, and he chittered in delight, dancing from side to side on

his mid and rearmost limbs while he spread his truehands wide.

/he laughed again and tossed the ancient frisbee back. There was too little space for the kinds

of intricate flight paths she could manage on a planet, but +imitG buGGed with gusto. 7eEd been a

frisbee freak ever since the day heEd seen a much younger 7onorEs father playing the same game

with his golden retriever, and, unlike a dog, he had hands.

7onor caught a siGGling return and grinned, then feinted a high, looping curve and sent the

actual toss streaking out at kneelevel . . . which brought it right to chin height on +imitG. 7e

snagged it adroitly and skittered around in a circle, using both truefeet and his handpaws tobuild momentum like a discusthrower before he released it.

7onorEs palms stung with the force of the catch, and she shook her head as she tossed it back.After all these years, sheEd still never managed to fool him. +o one knew precisely how treecatsE

empathic senses worked, but the little devil alaysknew when she was trying to put something

over on him.

"hich was more than she could say about him. 7is ne't throw carried wicked terminal &nglish

and came curving in like a boomerang. /he missed her catch, ducking barely in time as it hissed

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past her head and bounced across the decksole, and +imitG dashed over to it. 7e leapt into the air

and landed directly on top of the frisbee, bleeking his triumph as he e'ecuted an impromptu

victory dance.

7onor straightened and shook her head, then laughed.

HAll right, you won,I she told him, propping her hands on her hips. H suppose you want yourusual forfeitKI +imitG nodded complacently, and she sighed. HAll right@two celery sticks with

lunch tomorrow. #ut only twoMIThe treecat considered for a moment, then flipped the tip of his tail in agreement and rose to

his full si'tycentimeters on his truefeet, hugging her knee with his midlimb handpaws and

patting her thigh with his truehands. +imitG was incapable of speech, despite an intelligence

humans were sadly prone to underestimate, but she knew what he wanted. 7e patted again,

harder, and she grinned down at him as she plucked her sweatsoaked unitard away from her

breasts with one hand and fanned her cheeks with the other.

H$h, no, you donEt, /tinkerM Em not about to trust your claws when Em wearing something

this thin.I

7e sniffed, managing to look simultaneously disdainful, trustworthy, pitiful, and neglected,

then broke into a loud, buGGing purr as she relented and gathered him in her arms. /he knew

better than to lift him to his normal position on her shoulder, but he twisted onto his back, waving

his two rear sets of limbs in the air =his truehands clutched his frisbee, instead> as she cuddledhim.

Hord, but you are one spoiled beastie,I she told him, nuGGling her nose into his creamcolored

belly fur, and he bleeked in cheerful agreement as she headed for the showers.

7onor had the gym to herself, for it was late in FearlessEs official night, and most of thecruiserEs offwatch crew were snug in their beds. /he ought to be there herself, but she was

spending too much time behind a desk, and there never seemed to be enough hours for her to steal

e'ercise time during the Hday.I #esides, working out late let her reset the grav field without

inconveniencing anyone else, though her present heavy breathing and a slight muscle ;uiver of

overe'ertion told her she hadnEt been putting in enough hours here at night, either.

/he stepped into the dressing room, set +imitG down, and made a mental note to makemore

gym time as she peeled off her unitard. The treecat tucked his frisbee neatly back into her locker

and gave her a disgusted look as she dropped the sweaty garment untidily on the deck andstepped into the showers.

The hot water sluiced deliciously over her, and she turned her face up to the spray as she

reached for the soap dispenser. es, she definitely needed to get in more gym time. And, while

she was thinking about it, it was past time she found another sparring partner, too. ieutenant

"isner had been pretty good, but heEd been transferred out as part of the routine personnel

rotation duringFearlessEs refit, and 7onor knew sheEd been putting off finding a replacement onthe score that she had no time for it.

/he frowned up into the shower, working up a lather in her short, curly hair. /ergeant 6aJor

#abcock, the 6arine detachmentEs senior noncom, might be a good bet. 6aybe too good. t had

been a long, long time since 7onor was on the Academy unarmed combat team, and Judging fromher personnel Jacket, ris #abcock could probably tie her up in knots without breaking a sweat.

"hich embarrassing fate, 7onor reflected as she gave herself one last rinse and turned off theshower, would no doubt inspire her to recover the top of her own form ;uickly.

/he dripped her way back into the dressing room and reached for a fresh towel. +imitG curled

up on a bench and waited patiently while she dried herself, climbed back into her uniform, and

settled the white beret of a starship commander on her stilldamp hair, but he was more than

ready to hop up onto the specially padded shoulder of her tunic once she was dressed.

/he lifted him into place and headed for her ;uarters. /he really ought to turn in, but there

were still a few items of paperwork to deal with, so she turned into her day cabin, instead.

/he palmed the lights up and crossed to her desk, resolutely refusing to let the kneetoceiling

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view port distract her until she finished her chores. /he did allow herself to pause and check the

treecatsiGed lifesupport module clamped to the bulkhead beside her desk. t was the latest

model, with all sorts of whistles and bells, increased endurance, and added safety features, yet it

was also new. /heEd made regular checks on its readouts a part of her daily routine, but until she

felt completely familiar with all its features, she intended to check it every time she passed it, aswell.

+imitG made a soft sound of agreement on her shoulder. 7e knew what@and who@thatmodule was for, and personal e'perience made him a firm supporter of her conscientiousness.

/he grinned at his sound, then straightened a heatwarped golden wall pla;ue minutely and seated

herself behind her desk.

/heEd barely brought her terminal alive when 6acFuiness appeared with a steaming mug, and

she wondered yet again if he had a power meter on her computer circuits. 7e always seemed to

appear, as if by magic, the instant she booted the system, and this late at night he could be

counted upon to ply her with the rich, sweet cocoa she loved while she worked.

HThank you, 6ac,I she said as she took the cup.

HouEre welcome, 6aEam.I 6acFuiness completed the ritual with a smile. The chief steward

had followed her from her last command, and theyEd settled into a comfortable routine over the

past twentyseven months. 7e was a bit too inclined to fuss over her, but 7onor had discovered

=somewhat guiltily> that she had no particular obJection to being spoiled.7e vanished back into his pantry, and 7onor returned to her screen. $fficially, she wasnEt here

e'pressly to support Admiral CourvosierEs mission. nstead, she was senior officer of the escort

assigned to a convoy whose ultimate goal was the Casca /ystem, twentytwo lightyears beyond

eltsinEs /tar. +either eltsin nor Casca were in a particularly good galactic neighborhood, forthe singlestar policies out here tended to be hardscrabble propositions. 6any had bitter personal

e'perience of piratical raids, and thereEd always been a temptation to better their lots with a little

piracy of their own against the passing commerce of wealthier star systems. The situation had

gotten far worse of late, and 7onor =and the $ffice of +aval ntelligence> more than suspected

that 7avenEs interest in the region helped account for that@a suspicion which, in turn, e'plained

why the Admiralty had provided the convoy with an escort of two cruisers and a pair of

destroyers.

7onor nodded as status reports scrolled across her screen. They looked good@as sheEde'pected. This was her first opportunity to command what was, for all intents and purposes, her

own s;uadron, but if every captain in the +avy were as good as herC$s, s;uadron command

would be a breeGe.

/he finished the last report and leaned back, sipping her cocoa while +imitG curled on his

bulkheadmounted perch. /he wasnEt particularly impressed with one or two members of Admiral

CourvosierEs staff of 8oreign $ffice e'perts, but so far she had nothing to complain about whereher own duties were concerned, aside from the chunks of time her new Job was eating up. And

that, she told herself yet again, was her own fault. Andreas was perfectly capable of running the

ship without her, and she felt fairly certain she was spending too much time worrying over the

convoyEs daytoday operations. !elegating had always been the hardest thing for her to do, yetshe knew there was another factor this time. Oeeping her hands off while Andreas managed

Fearlessand freed her to worry about the rest of the s;uadron was precisely what she oughtto bedoing, and she didnEt want to. +ot because she distrusted his competence, but because she was

afraid of losing the thing every +avy captain most craved@the active e'ercise of her authority

and responsibility as mistress after Fod in one of 7er 6aJestyEs starships.

/he snorted tiredly at herself and finished the cocoa. 6acFuiness knew e'actly how to make

it, and its rich, smooth calories were another reason to put in more gym time, she thought with a

grin. Then she rose and crossed to the view port to stare out into the weird, shifting splendor of

hyper space.

That view port was one of the things 7onor most treasured about her ship. 7er ;uarters aboard

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her last ship, the elderly light cruiser which had be;ueathed her name and battle honors to the

presentFearless, hadnEt had one, and it gave 7onor an everrenewed sense of the vastness of the

universe. t offered both rela'ing contemplation and a sense of perspective@an awareness of how

small any human being truly was against the enormity of creation@that was almost a challenge,

and she stretched her long body out on the padded couch beneath it with a sigh.Fearlessand the ships of her convoy rode the twisted currents of a grav wave which had never

attained the dignity of a name, only a catalog number. 7onorEs cabin was barely a hundred metersforward ofFearlessEs after impeller nodes, and the immaterial, threehundredkilometer disk of

the cruiserEs after "arshawski sail flickered and flashed like froGen heat lightning, dominating the

view port with its soft glory as it harnessed the grav waveEs power. ts grab factor was adJusted to

a tiny, almost immeasurable fraction of its full efficiency, providing a minuscule acceleration

which was e'actly offset by the forward sailEs deceleration to hold Fearlessat fifty percent of

lightspeed. The cruiser could have sustained a velocity twenty percent higher, but the hyper

bandsE heavier particle densities would have overcome the freightersE weaker radiation shielding

long before that.

7onorEs brown eyes were rapt as she watched the sail, fascinated as always by its flowingice

beauty. /he could have shut down her shipEs sails and let momentum take its course, but those

sails balancedFearlessdelicately between them like e';uisitely counterpoised fulcrums that lent

the cruiser an instant responsiveness. Their current grav wave was barely a half lightmonth deepand a lightmonth wide, a mere rivulet beside titans like the *oaring !eeps, yet its power was

enough to send her ship leaping to an effective five thousand gravitiesE acceleration in less than

two seconds. And shouldFearlessEs gravity detectors pick up une'pected wave turbulence ahead

of her, she might have to do Just that.7onor shook herself and let her eyes rove further out. The sail cut off all view of anything

astern of Fearless, but the bottomless sweep of hyper space stretched out ahead and abeam. The

nearest freighter was a thousand kilometers away, giving both vesselsE sails ample clearance from

one another, and even a fivemegaton freighter was an invisible mote to unaided vision at that

distance. #ut 7onorEs trained eye picked out the glittering disks of the shipEs "arshawski sails,

like flaws of strange, focused permanence against the gorgeous chaos of hyper space, and astern

of her was the gleam of yet another stupendous merchantman.

Hermerchantmen, she told herself. 7er charges@slow, fat, clumsy, the smallest of them si'times more massive than FearlessEs three hundred thousand tons but totally defenseless, and

stuffed with cargoes whose combined value was literally beyond comprehension. $ver a hundred

and fifty billion 6anticoran dollarsE worth of it headed for eltsinEs /tar alone. 6edical

e;uipment, teaching materials, heavy machinery, precision tools, and molycirc computers and

software to update and moderniGe the FraysonsE outofdate industrial base@every penny of it

paid for by Crown HloansI which amounted to outright gifts. t was a sobering indication of howhigh ueen &liGabethEs government was willing to bid for the alliance Admiral Courvosier

sought, and it was 7onorEs responsibility to see it safely delivered.

/he leaned further back into the cushioned couch, reclining to savor the melting muscular

rela'ation in the wake of her e'ercise, and her brown eyes were heavy. +o +avy skipper enJoyedconvoy duty. 8reighters lacked warshipsE powerful "arshawski sails and inertial compensators,

and without them they dared not venture much above the delta bands of hyper space, whereaswarships ranged as high as the eta or even theta bands. At the moment, for e'ample, 7onorEs

convoy was cruising along in the middelta bands, which translated their .3 -true velocity into an

e))ectivevelocity of Just over a thousand times lightspeed. At that rate, the thirtyone lightyear

voyage to eltsinEs /tar would re;uire ten days@Just under nine, by their shipboard clocks. eft

to herself,Fearlesscould have made the same crossing in less than four.

#ut that was all right, 7onor thought drowsily as +imitG hopped up onto her chest with his

soft, buGGing purr. 7e curled down and rested his chin between her breasts, and she stroked his

ears gently. 8our days or ten, it didnEt matter. /he didnEt need to set any records. /he didneed to

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deliver her charges safely, and commerce protection was one of the purposes for which cruisers

were specifically designed and built.

/he yawned, sliding still further down on the couch, and considered getting up and taking

herself off to bed, but her sleepy gaGe clung to the wavering gray and black and pulsing purple

and green of hyper space. t glowed and throbbed, beckoning to her, starless and shifting andinfinitely, beautifully variable, and her eyes slipped shut and +imitGEs purr was a soft, affectionate

lullaby in the background of her brain.Captain 7onor 7arrington didnEt even twitch when Chief /teward 6acFuiness tiptoed into her

cabin and tucked a blanket over her. 7e stood a moment, smiling down at her, then left as ;uietly

as he had come, and the cabin lights dimmed into darkness behind him.

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CHAPTER THREE

"7T&TA#&+&+/F$"&!, silver and china gleamed, and conversation hummed as thestewards removed the dessert dishes. 6acFuiness moved ;uietly around the table, personally

pouring the wine, and 7onor watched the lights glitter deep in the ruby heart of her glass.

Fearlesswas young, one of the *oyal 6anticoran +avyEs newest and most powerful heavy

cruisers. The Star .nightclass often served as s;uadron or flotilla flagships, and #u/hips had

borne that in mind when they designed their accommodations. Admiral CourvosierEs flag cabin

was even more splendid than 7onorEs, and the captainEs dining cabin was downright huge by

+avy standards. f it wasnEt big enough to seat all of 7onorEs officers@a heavy cruiser as a

warship, and no warship had mass to waste@it was more than large enough to accommodate her

senior officers and CourvosierEs delegation.

6acFuiness finished pouring, and 7onor glanced around the long table. The Admiral@who,true to his newly ac;uired status, had e'changed his uniform for formal civilian dress@sat at her

right hand. Andreas DeniGelos faced him at her leftP from there, her guests ran down the sides of

the table in descending order of seniority, military and civilian, to &nsign Carolyn "olcott at its

foot. This was "olcottEs first cruise after graduation, and she looked almost like a schoolgirl

dressed up in her motherEs uniform. Tonight was also the first time sheEd Joined her new captain

for dinner, and her an'iety had been obvious in her overcontrolled table manners. #ut the *6+

believed the proper place for an officer to learn her duties, social as well as professional, was in

space, and 7onor caught the ensignEs eye and touched the side of her glass.

"olcott blushed, reminded of her responsibility as Junior officer present, and rose. The rest of

the guests fell silent, and her spine straightened as all eyes turned to her.

Hadies and Fentlemen,I she raised her wine, her voice deeper and more melodious@and

confident@than 7onor had e'pected, Hthe ueenMI

HThe ueenMI The response rumbled back to her, glasses rose, and "olcott slipped back into

her chair with obvious relief as the formality was completed. /he glanced up the table at her

captain, and her face rela'ed as she saw 7onorEs approving e'pression.

Hou know,I Courvosier murmured in 7onorEs ear, H still remember the first time it was myturn to do that. $dd how terrifying it can be, isnEt itKI

HAll things are relative, /ir,I 7onor replied with a smile, Hand suppose it does us good."erenEt you the one who was telling me a ueenEs officer has to understand diplomacy as well as

tacticsKI

H+ow that, Captain, is a very true statement,I another voice said, and 7onor suppressed a

grimace. Hn fact, only wish more +avy officers could realiGe that diplomacy is even more

important than tactics and strategy,I the 7onorable *eginald 7ouseman continued in his deep,

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cultured baritone.

H donEt believe can ;uite agree with that, /ir,I 7onor said ;uietly, hoping her irritation at his

intrusion into a private conversation didnEt show. HAt least, not from the +avyEs viewpoint.

mportant, yes, but itEs our Job to step in after diplomacy breaks down.I

HndeedKI 7ouseman smiled the superior smile 7onor loathed. H realiGe military people oftenlack the time for the study of history, but an ancient $ld &arth soldier got it e'actly right when he

said war was simply the continuation of diplomacy by nondiplomatic means.IHThatEs something of a paraphrase, and that LsimplyE understates the case a bit, but Ell grant

that it sums up the sense of Feneral ClausewitGEs remark.I 7ousemanEs eyes narrowed as 7onor

supplied ClausewitGEs name and rank, and other conversations flagged as eyes turned toward

them. H$f course, ClausewitG came out of the +apoleonic &ra on $ld &arth, heading into the

8inal Age of "estern mperialism, and /n WarisnEt really about politics or diplomacy, e'cept

inasmuch as they and warfare are all instruments of state policy. Actually, /un TGu made the same

point over two thousand Tyears earlier.I A hint of red tinged 7ousemanEs Jowls, and 7onor

smiled pleasantly. H/till, neither of them had a monopoly on the concept, did theyK Tanakov said

much the same thing in his $enets o) WarJust after the "arshawski sail made interstellar warfare

possible, and Fustav Anderman certainly demonstrated the way in which diplomatic and military

means can be used to reinforce one another when he took over +ew #erlin and built it into the

Anderman &mpire in the si'teenth century. 7ave you read his Sternenkrieg06r. 7ousemanK tEsan interesting distillation of most of the earlier theorists with a few genuine twists of his own,

probably from his personal background as a mercenary. think Admiral "hite 7avenEs

translation is probably the best available.I

HAh, no, Em afraid havenEt,I 7ouseman said, and Courvosier blotted his lips with his napkinto hide a grin. H6y #oint, however,I the diplomat continued doggedly, His that properly

conducted diplomacy renders military strategy irrelevant by precluding the need for war.I 7e

sniffed and swirled his wine gently, and his superior smile reasserted itself.

H*easonable people negotiating in good faith can always reach reasonable compromises,

Captain. Take our situation here, for e'ample. +either eltsinEs /tar nor the &ndicott /ystem have

any real resources to attract interstellar commerce, but they each have an inhabited world, with

almost nine billion people between them, and they lie less than two days apart for a hyper

freighter. That gives them ample opportunity to create local prosperity, yet both economies are atbest borderline . . . which is why itEs so absurd that theyEve been at one anotherEs throats for so

long over some silly religious differenceM They should be trading with one another, building a

mutually supported, secure economic future, not wasting resources on an armsrace.I 7e shook

his head sorrowfully. H$nce they discover the advantages of peaceful trade@once they each

realiGe their prosperity depends on the otherEs@the situation will defuse itself without all this

saber rattling.I7onor managed not to stare at him in disbelief, but if she hadnEt known the admiral so well,

she would have assumed someone had failed to brief 7ouseman. t would certainly be nice to

make peace between 6asada and Frayson, but her own reading of the download accompanying

her orders had confirmed everything the admiral had said about their longterm hostility. And niceas it would be to put that enmity to rest, 6anticoreEs fundamental purpose was to secure an ally

against 7aven, not engage in a peacemaking effort that was almost certainly doomed to failure.HEm sure that would be a desirable outcome, 6r. 7ouseman,I she said after a moment, Hbut

donEt know how realistic it is.I

HndeedKI 7ouseman bristled.

HTheyEve been enemies for more than si' hundred Tyears,I she pointed out as gently as she

could, Hand religious hatreds are among the most virulent known to man.I

HThatEs why they need a fresh viewpoint, a third party from outside the basic e;uation who can

bring them together.I

H&'cuse me, /ir, but was under the impression our primary goals are to secure an ally and

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8leet base rights and to prevent 7aven from penetrating the region instead of us.I

H"ell, of course they are, Captain.I 7ousemanEs tone was Just short of impatient. H#ut the best

way to do that is to settle the localsE differences. The potential for instability and 7avenite

interference will remain as long as their hostility does, whatever else we may accomplish. $nce

we bring them together, however, weEll have tofriends in the region, and there wonEt be anytemptation for either of them to invite 7aven in for military advantage. The best diplomatic glue

is common interest, not simply a common enemy. ndeed,I 7ouseman sipped his wine, Hourentire involvement in this region stems from our own failure to find a common interest with the

%eopleEs *epublic, and it isa failure. ThereEs always some way to avoid confrontation if one only

looks deep enough and remembers that, in the long run, violence never solves anything. ThatEs

why we have diplomats, Captain 7arrington@and why a resort to brute force is an indication of

failed diplomacy, nothing more and nothing less.I

6aJor Tomas *amireG, commander ofFearlessEs 6arine detachment, stared at 7ouseman in

disbelief from further down the table. The heavyset, almost s;uat 6arine had been twelve years

old when 7aven con;uered his native TrevorEs /tar. 7e, his mother, and his sister had escaped to

6anticore in the last refugee convoy through the 6anticore "ormhole NunctionP his father had

stayed behind, on one of the warships that died to cover the retreat. +ow his Jaw tightened

ominously as 7ouseman smiled at 7onor, but ieutenant Commander 7iggins, FearlessEs chief

engineer, touched his forearm and Jerked a tiny headshake. The little scene wasnEt lost on 7onor,and she sipped her own wine deliberately, then lowered her glass.

H see,I she said, and wondered how the admiral tolerated such a nincompoop as his second in

command. 7ouseman had a reputation as a brilliant economist and, given FraysonEs backward

economy, sending him made sense, but he was also an ivorytower intellectual whoEd beenplucked from a tenured position in 6annheim BniversityEs College of &conomics for government

service. 6annheim wasnEt called H/ocialist BI for nothing, and 7ousemanEs prominent family

was a vocal supporter of the iberal %arty. +either of those facts were calculated to endear him to

Captain 7onor 7arrington, and his simplistic notion of how to approach the Frayson6asada

hostility was downright frightening.

HEm afraid canEt ;uite agree with you, /ir,I she said at last, setting her glass down precisely

and keeping her voice as pleasant as humanly possible. Hour argument assumes all negotiators

are reasonable, first, and second, that they can always agree on what represents a Lreasonablecompromise,E but if history demonstrates one thing ;uite clearly, itEs that they arenEt and they

canEt. f you can see the advantage of peaceful trade between these people, then surely it ought to

be evident to them, but the record indicates no one on either side has ever even discussed the

possibility. That suggests a degree of hostility that makes economic selfinterest immaterial,

which, in turn, suggests that what we consider rationalism may not play a particularly prominent

part in their thinking. &ven if it did, mistakes happen, 6r. 7ouseman, and thatEs where the peoplein uniform come in.I

HL6istakes,E as you put it,I 7ouseman said more coolly, Hoften happen because Lthe people in

uniformE act hastily or illadvisedly.I

H$f course they do,I 7onor agreed, and he blinked at her in surprise. Hn fact, the )inalmistakeis almost always made by someone in uniform@either because she gave the wrong advice to her

own superiors when they were the aggressors or because she s;ueeGed the trigger too ;uicklywhen an enemy made an une'pected move. /ometimes we even make the mistake of proJecting

threats and responses in too much detail and lock ourselves into war plans we canEt break free of,

Just as ClausewitGEs own disciples did. #ut, 6r. 7ouseman,I her dark eyes met his suddenly

across the snowy tablecloth, Hthe situations which make military mistakes critical, even possible,

grow out of political and diplomatic maneuvers which preceded them.I

HndeedKI 7ouseman regarded her with grudging respect and marked distaste. HThen wars are

primarily the fault of the civilians, Captain, and not the purehearted military protectors of the

realmKI

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H wouldnEt go ;uite that far,I 7onor said, and a grin lit her face briefly. HEve known ;uite a

few Lmilitary protectors,E and Em sorry to say all too few of them were LpureheartedEMI 7er grin

vanished. H$n the other hand, Ed have to point out that in any society in which the military is

controlled by duly constituted civilian authorities@like ours@the ultimate responsibility has to

lie with the civilians who make policy between the wars. donEt mean to suggest that thosecivilians are stupid or incompetent@I after all, she thought, one must be polite H@or that the

military gives them unfailingly good advice, but mutually contradictory national goals canpresent insoluble dilemmas, however much good faith there may be on both sides. And when one

side doesn'tnegotiate in good faith@I /he shrugged.

Ht was also ClausewitG who said L%olitics is the womb in which war is developed,E 6r.

7ouseman. 6y own view is a bit simpler than that. "ar may represent the failure of diplomacy,

but even the best diplomats operate on credit. /ooner or later someone whoEs less reasonable than

you are is going to call you, and if your military canEt cover your .$.B.s, you lose.I

H"ell,I 7ouseman twitched his own shoulders, Hthe obJect of thismission is to avoid being

called, isnEt itKI 7e smiled thinly. H trust you wonEt obJect to our avoiding a war if we canKI

7onor started to retort sharply, then made herself shake her head with a smile. /he really

shouldnEt let 7ouseman get under her skin this way, she scolded herself. t wasnEt his fault heEd

been reared in a nice, safe, civiliGed society that protected him from the harsh reality of an older

and grimmer set of imperatives. And foolish as she might think he was outside his own undoubtedarea of e'pertise, it wasnEt as if he were in charge of the mission. That was Admiral CourvosierEs

responsibility, and she felt no ;ualms about hisJudgment.

DeniGelos stepped into the brief lull, tactfully engaging 7ouseman in a discussion of the

governmentEs new ta'ation policies, and she turned her own head to speak to ieutenantCommander !u6orne.

A rustle of movement swept the briefing room as Admiral Courvosier followed 7onor into the

compartment and her officers rose. The two of them walked to their chairs at the head of the

table, then sat, followed a moment later by the others, and 7onor let her eyes sweep the

assembled faces.

Andreas DeniGelos and /tephen !u6orne, her own e'ec and second lieutenant, represented

Fearless. 7onorEs second in command, Commander Alice Truman of the light cruiser 1#ollo, satbeside ieutenant Commander ady &llen %revost, 1#olloEs e'ec, both of them as goldenhaired

as 7onor was dark, and Commander Nason AlvareG of the destroyer Madrigalsat facing them,

accompanied by hise'ec, ieutenant Commander 6ercedes #righam. After Admiral Courvosier,

#righam was the oldest person in the compartment, and Just as dark and weathered@and

competent@looking as 7onor remembered her. The escort forceEs most Junior C$ sat facing her

from the end of the table0 Commander Alistair 6cOeon of the destroyer $roubadourand his e'ec,ieutenant 6ason 7askins.

+one of the admiralEs civil service associates were present.

HAll right, people,I she said. HThank you all for coming. Ell try not to use up any more of your

time than have to, but, as you all know, weEll be translating back into nspace for eltsinEs /tartomorrow, and wanted one last chance to meet with all of you and the Admiral before we do.I

7eads nodded, though one or two of 7onorEs officers had been a bit taken aback initially byher taste for facetoface meetings. 6ost senior officers preferred the convenience of electronic

conferences, but 7onor believed in personal contact. &ven the best com conference, in her view,

distanced the participants from one another. %eople sitting around the same table were more likely

to feel part of the same unit, to be aware of one another, and spark the sorts of ideas and

responses that made a command team more than the sum of its parts.

$r, she thought dryly, it seemed that way to her, anyway.

Hn light of the fact that your mission is the primary one, Admiral,I she went on, turning to

Courvosier, Hperhaps youEd care to beginKI

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HThank you, Captain.I Courvosier looked around the table and smiled. HEm sure by this time

youEre almost depressingly familiar with my mission brief, but Ed like to hit the high points one

more time.

H8irst, of course, is the absolute importance of securing our relationship with Frayson. The

government hopes weEll come home with a formal alliance, but theyEll settle for anything thatbrings the eltsin /ystem more fully into our sphere of influence and decreases7avenEs access

here.H/econd, remember that anything we say to the Frayson government will be filtered through

their perception of the 6asadan threat. Their navy and population are both smaller than 6asadaEs,

and whatever certain members of my own delegation may think@I a soft chuckle ran around the

table H@theyhave no doubt that 6asadan rhetoric about returning to their planet as con;uerors is

completely serious. t hasnEt been that long since their last shooting war, and the current situation

is very, very tense.

HThird, and in conJunction with the military balance of power in the region, remember your

single small s;uadron masses seventy percent as much as the entire Frayson +avy. Fiven the

relative backwardness of their technology,Fearless, alone, could annihilate everything they have

in a standup battle. TheyEre going to realiGe that, whether they want to admit it or not, but itEs

essential that we not rub their noses in their Linferiority.E 6ake them aware of how useful we

could be as allies, by all means, but don'tlet yourself or any of your people condescend to them.I7e held them with level blue eyes, every centimeter the admiral despite his temporary civilian

status, and his cherub face was deadly serious until heads nodded around the table.

HFood. And remember this@these people arenEt from the same societal matri' as we are. They

donEt even come close. know youEve all studied your downloads, but be certain your crews areas aware of the differences asyouare. n particular, our female personnel are going to have to be

e'tremely careful in any contacts with the Fraysons.I Commander Truman grimaced, and

Courvosier nodded. H know, and if it seems foolish to us, imagine how much more foolish itEs

going to seem to some of your Junior officers and ratings. #ut foolish or not, itEs the way things

are here, and weEre the visitors. "e must conduct ourselves as guests, and while donEt want

anyone acting a millimeter less than fully professional at all times, regardless of gender, the mere

fact that we have women in uniform@far less o))icers'uniforms@is going to be hard for them to

accept.I7eads nodded once more, and he sat back in his chair.

HThat Just about covers it, Captain,I he told 7onor, Hat least until meet their representatives

and have more of a feel for the situation.I

HThank you, /ir.I 7onor leaned forward and folded her hands on the table. HAside from

endorsing everything Admiral Courvosier Just said, have only one thing to say about Frayson.

"eEre going to have to play things by ear, but our responsibility is to contribute to the AdmiralEssuccess, not to make waves. f there are problems with any representative of the Frayson

government, or even a private Frayson citiGen, want to hear about it immediately@and notfrom

the locals. ThereEs no room here for preJudice from our side, however merited it may seem, and

Ed better not hear about any. s that clearKIA ;uiet murmur of agreement answered, and she nodded.

HFood.I /he rubbed her left forefinger lightly across the back of her right hand and nodded.HAll right, then, letEs turn to our own schedule.

H"eEve got fourMandrakeclass freighters to drop off at eltsinEs /tar, but weEre not supposed

to actually turn their cargoes over to Frayson until Admiral CourvosierEs people have begun

negotiations and released them. donEt anticipate any problem in that regard, but that means

theyEll remain our responsibility until we dohand them over, and that means weEre going to have

to leave at least some of the escort to keep an eye on them. n addition, of course, weEre supposed

to be a show of force, a sort of pointed reminder to the Frayson government of Just how valuable

the +avy can be to their security visavis 6asada@or, for that matter, the %eeps.

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H$n the other hand, weEve got five more ships going on to Casca. "eEll have to send along a

reasonable escort, given the reports of increased LpirateE activity in the area, so my present

thought is to keepFearlesshere, as our most impressive unit, and send you and 1#olloon to

Casca in company with $roubadour, Alice.I Commander Truman nodded. H"ith Alistair to scout

for you, you should be able to handle anything you run into, and that will give me Nason andMadrigalto supportFearless. tEll take you a bit over a Tweek to get there, but want you back

here A/A%. ou wonEt have any freighters to slow you down on the return voyage, so Ell e'pectyou back in eleven days.

Hn the meantime, Nason,I she moved her eyes to AlvareG, Hyou and will operate on the theory

that the Fraysons know what theyEre talking about where 6asada is concerned. t wouldnEt be

very bright of them to try anything against us, but unlike certain members of the AdmiralEs

delegation, weEre not going to take their rationality for granted.I Another ripple of amusement

flowed around the table. H want our impellers hot at all times, and assuming we can arrange local

leave, donEt want more than ten percent of our people dirtside at any one time.I

HBnderstood, 6aEam.I

HAll right, then. !oes anyone else have anything to addKI

H do, /kipper,I 6cOeon said, and 7onor cocked her head with a smile. Ht Just occurred to me

to wonder, 6aEam@did anyone ever e'pressly tellthe Fraysons that, well, that our senior officer

is a womanKIH donEt know,I 7onor said, and the admission surprised her, for she hadnEt even considered it.

/he turned to Courvosier. HAdmiralKI

H+o, we havenEt,I Courvosier replied with a frown. HAmbassador angtryEs been on Frayson

for over three local years, and his advice was that making a point of e'plaining that we havefemale military personnel might be counterproductive. TheyEre a proud, touchy lot@not least,

suspect, because, scared as they are of 6asada, they know the real balance of power between

them and the Oingdom as well as we do and resent their weakness. They donEt want to be our

supplicants, and they go out of their way to refuse to admit they may be. At any rate, /ir Anthony

felt they might see it as some sort of slur, as if we were pointedly telling them how unciviliGed we

consider them. $n the other hand, we transmitted a list of our ships and their C$s to them, and

their colonists came predominately from $ld &arthEs "estern 7emisphere, Just as our original

settlers did. They certainly ought to recogniGe feminine names when they see them.IH see.I 6cOeon frowned, and 7onor watched his face carefully. /he knew Alistair well

enough to see that something about the situation bothered him, but he chose to say nothing more,

and she looked around the table again.

HAnything elseKI she asked, and heads shook. HDery well, then, ladies and gentlemen, letEs be

about it.I

/he and Courvosier stood and led the way to the boat bay to see their visitors to their pinnacesand back to their own ships.

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CHAPTER FOUR

/"$*!$8T7&8AT78B6ATT7&"/6$+!/stumped angrily down the passage aboardhis new flagship and reminded himself not to speak to Captain u like the heathen he was. 7e had

no doubt u was going to be displeased by what he was about to hear, and though the captain was

always e';uisitely polite, he couldnEt ;uite hide his feeling of superiority. That was particularly

maddening in a man from such an ungodly culture, but the Church needed u, for a time, at least.

et that wouldnEt always be true, /imonds promised himself. The time would come when Fod

delivered their true enemies into their hands at last. $n that day infidel outsiders would no longer

be necessary . . . and if these godless foreigners could create the conditions for 6accabeus to

succeed, that day might come far sooner than they suspected.

The bridge hatch opened before him, and he summoned up a smile and made his irritated pace

slow as he stepped through it.Captain Alfredo u rose from the chair at the center of the magnificent command deck. 7e was

a tall, slender man, overtopping /imonds by at least fifteen centimeters, comfortable and elegant

in the scarlet and gold of the +avy of 6asada, yet there was something subtly wrong with the

way he came to attention. +ot disrespectful or insolent, but simply di))erent, as if heEd learned his

military courtesy somewhere else.

"hich, of course, was e'actly what he haddone.

HFood morning, /ir. This is an une'pected honor. 7ow may serve youKI

HCome into my briefing room, please,I /imonds replied, somewhat mollified, despite himself,

by uEs unfailing courtesy.

H$f course, /ir. Commander 6anning, you have the watch.I

HAye, /ir,I the commander@not, /imonds noted with fresh grumpiness, a 6asadan@

acknowledged crisply, and u followed /imonds into the briefing room and turned an attentive

countenance to him as the hatch closed behind them.

/imonds studied that bland, waiting e'pression and wondered, not for the first time, what the

mind behind those dark eyes thought. u had to know how critical he and his ship were to

6asadaEs plans@or, at least, to the plans he kneabout@and a third of $hunder o) *odEs crewwere still heathens filling the specialist roles no 6asadan could. They looked to u for their

orders, not /imonds, and not simply because he was the captain of their ship. /imonds hadsurvived thirty years of internecine political and doctrinal warfare within 6asadaEs theocracy, and

he knew perfectly well u had his own superiors and his own agenda. /o far, that agenda had

marched sidebyside with the 8aithEs, yet what would happen on the day that was no longer trueK

t wasnEt something /imonds liked to contemplate, but it was also something he had no choice

but to ponder@and the reason it was so critical to handle u perfectly. "hen the time came for

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their ways to part, it must be on the 8aithfulEs terms, not theirs.

7e cleared his throat, banishing his moody thoughts, and waved at a chair.

H/it, sit, CaptainMI

u waited with punctilious courtesy until /imonds had taken his own seat, then dropped neatly

into the indicated chair, and the /word swallowed the bitter bile of envy at how easily u moved.The captain was ten years older than /imonds and looked half his age. ookedK u as half

/imondsE age, physically, at least, for his people were so lost to Fod they saw no evil intampering with 7is plan for their species. They used the prolong process liberally, among their

military and ruling families, at least, and /imonds was disturbed by how much he envied them.

The temptation to drink from that spring of youth was a deadly one. %erhaps it was as well

6asadaEs medical community was incapable of duplicating it, even if that inability was one more

galling indication of the things these infidels could do and the 8aithful couldnEt.

H"e have a problem, Captain,I he said at length.

HA problem, /irKI uEs foreign accent, with its longer vowels and sharper consonants, still fell

strangely on /imondsE ear.

Hes. $ur agents on Frayson have Just discovered that the convoy will arrive with a powerful

escort.I

H7ow powerful, /irKI u asked, sitting straighter, and /imonds smiled sourly.

H"e donEt know yet@only that it will be Lpowerful.E I 7e snorted. H"e should haveanticipated it, suppose. Their bitch of a ;ueen will guard her thirty pieces of silver well until

6ayhew sells Frayson to her.I

Alfredo u nodded, carefully concealing his reaction to the savagery of /imondsE voice. The

mere idea of a omanas a head of state appalled 6asada@didnEt the #ible itself say it was &veEscorruption which had tainted all humanity with sinK@and /imondsE disgust at the thought that

even *raysonmight consider allying itself with such a vile and unnatural regime was clear. et it

probably gave him a certain horrified satisfaction, as well, for it must pander to his own sense of

superiority as one more indication of FraysonEs apostasy beside the uncorrupted fidelity of the

8aithful. #ut 6asadan bigotry was less important at the moment than the information that the

convoy had a real escort to worry about, and the captain frowned in thought.

H7ave you been able to discover anything about this escortEs orders, /irKI

H7ow can weKI the /word grumbled in a deliberately sour voice. HtEs hard enough to discoverwhat the1#ostateare up toM #ut we have to assume the 6anticorans wonEt sit idly by while we

eliminate their potential ally.I

HThey might, depending on their orders, /ir.I /imondsE eyes flashed, and the captain shrugged.

H didnEt say it was likely, /ir, only that it was possible. And sincerely hope it isthe case, under

the circumstances.I

uEs ;uiet tone held a carefully measured bite, and /imonds flushed. u and his superiors hadpressed the Council of &lders for weeks@respectfully, but strongly@to move forward on

$peration Nericho. /imonds was more than a little frightened of taking the plunge himself, but he

knew u had been right from a purely military viewpoint, and heEd said so. +ot that it had

mattered. The Council as a whole had been determined to wait until after