A Matter of Honor Part 28

"It was well done, nevertheless." Corina returned her attention to Davis. "I a.s.sume my next task, then, will be bringing Irschcha's government into conformity with the rest of the Empire?"

"That's right. You're head of the White Order now, so you'd have less trouble than anyone else. I'll give you a signed Confirmation of Suzerainty for whoever you pick as Baron; from now on that's going to be a hereditary position the way it is everywhere else outside Sector Traiti--though if you think it best, I'll add a stipulation that the Baron must have Talent."

"That would indeed be best, sir, at least at first."

"So be it, then. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Not at the moment. I cannot even consider candidates until I know who is available--in other words, who did not partic.i.p.ate in the Crusade.

Then I will have to choose one who abstained because of loyalty to the Empire, not because of fear."

Davis nodded. "Do you have any idea how much of the Order will be left for you to choose from?"

Corina's ears went back in a frown. "That is difficult to say, sir, though probably less than a quarter. Those raised in Order schools are almost certain to share Thark's convictions, and therefore to have taken part. I simply hope there are enough to form a new government; I would prefer not to have to bring in unTalented, who would not be accepted because of it."

"As long as you can manage to avoid me having to send in an occupation force, I'll be satisfied. You'll have Jim along, of course; it'll be a year or so before I'll send you out solo, even if he didn't have a convalescent leave to finish."

"I am most grateful for that, Your Majesty. I have much to learn."

"Don't we all." Davis leaned back. "Now--have you been able to find out more about human Talent potential? Especially Rangers'?"

"Very little, I am afraid. I was reluctant to tamper with the s.h.i.+elds of any of our a.s.sault group to check them further, but I did probe Ranger Kennard while he was being treated, since his s.h.i.+eld was weakened by his injuries. He does have good potential, though somewhat less powerful than Jim's. Since Captain Hobison and Lieutenant DarLeras are both Ranger-level and s.h.i.+elded, as well, I would say that hypothesis is correct."

"What about Rick and myself?"

It hadn't occurred to Corina to check the Emperor or Crown Prince; now she did so. "Both s.h.i.+elded, Your Majesty."

"Good. Next time you're on Terra, you can train us; in the meantime you can work with Jim, and I'll send the others to you for training as I can spare them from other duties. We'll worry about lower-ranking ones with Talent later."

"Sir," Medart said.

"Yes, Jim?"

"What do you have planned for the rest of our a.s.sault group?"

Davis smiled. "I think you can guess, for a mission that valuable to the Empire that they didn't expect to come back from. Since they're military and risking their lives for the Empire is technically part of their jobs, I can't quite justify Life n.o.bilities--but I can d.a.m.nsure give them Sovereign's Medals and merit promotions, plus choice of next a.s.signment."

"That sounds good, except for Hobison," Medart said. "He's already refused promotion half a dozen times to keep command of the Chang."

"Considering his total career, that's one Life n.o.bility I can justify,"

Davis said. "And I think he will take promotion if it doesn't mean losing his s.h.i.+p."

"I think so too, sir." Medart grinned. "I like it--that'll make him the only s.h.i.+p captain whose position t.i.tle is lower than his Navy rank."

Davis chuckled, then sobered. "That's it, then. I'll see you all at the Tribunal, gentles--in the meantime, we all have work to do." He stood.

The others rose and bowed, then left. Corina waited until she and Medart were on an elevator to the Rangers' apartment floor, then she said, "It is strange, Jim. I was afraid to take this job, and I am still not positive that I should have been offered it--but I find myself enjoying even the danger and the responsibility."

"Which," Medart said with a grin, "should prove to you that you are right for the job. It's one challenge after another, and you'll eventually run into one you won't get back out of--but in the meantime you can be d.a.m.n sure you won't be bored."

For a brief outline of the rebellion's consequences, see AFTRWORD

AFTRWORD

(A basic overview of the general situation and what happens to the main characters between this story and the next one [either already written, or just planned] that they appear in.)

Although the White Order rebellion was the shortest in Imperial history, its active phase lasting only slightly over an hour, it was the most disruptive. Its purpose was to replace the n.o.bility and key military/administrative personnel; the Order members who were to be those replacements, after killing their predecessors, were in place and ready to strike days or weeks before Thark set the time. In spite of Ranger Losinj's warning, many succeeded, either because their targets did not believe the seriousness of the threat, or because Talent was able to overcome the precautions that were taken.

When all the reports were in, Imperial losses were staggering. Three Rangers were dead, one seriously injured, and over a third of the ruling n.o.bles, some with their heirs, had been killed--along with approximately a quarter of the top-ranking planet-based military and Admin Service officers.

Once the full extent of the disaster was a.s.sessed, Rangers Medart and Losinj were rea.s.signed, to separate missions. Because of Losinj's familiarity, however brief, with Chang's crew, Medart decided to change s.h.i.+ps rather than having her do so; he chose the Empress Lindner, formerly Ranger Tarlac's s.h.i.+p. Rangers Fenn and Scolacz were recalled from Sector Traiti, which was unaffected by the rebellion because the White Order had not had time since the War to infiltrate. Rangers Kennard and Forrest were also sent out on missions to help the recovery; only Ranger w.a.n.g was kept on her original mission, but with another sector added to her responsibilities.

In a brief meeting before Medart and Losinj left for Irschcha, Nevan asked Medart's advice on how best to prepare himself should Ranger Losinj accept his personal fealty once he felt he had enough experience to be a suitable thakur-na. He acted on that advice, though it proved extremely difficult at times, and succeeded in a number of dangerous missions; one of those earned him a second Sovereign's Medal, and was followed within months by his second mission with Medart.

For the meeting between Medart and Nevan, see ADVICE

ADVICE

"Captain Nevan DarLeras to see Ranger Medart."

"He's expecting you, sir." The Palace Guard opened the door to Medart's office and stood aside to let the Sandeman pa.s.s.

Medart rose to greet his visitor, then gestured him to a chair and sat back down as Nevan took the seat. "Your note said you'd like to see me about a personal matter, to be discussed under warrior privacy. What's the problem?"

"It's not exactly a problem, sir, and I'm not quite sure how to approach it, even with a battle-companion. You're familiar with our custom of personal fealty."

That was a statement, not a question, but Medart nodded. "Very familiar; I'm also battle-companion to Lord Klaes' 'na, Gaelan-Frederick DarShona. Who are you planning on offering fealty to?" As if he couldn't guess, he thought.

Nevan was relieved at the Ranger's calm response. "I would like to serve Ranger Losinj, but she doesn't need an inexperienced young officer, even a warrior. Since I've been given my choice of a.s.signments, I was hoping you'd help me pick one that will give me the kind of experience she's likely to need. I'll just have to hope she doesn't accept another 'na before I'm able to give her the kind of service she needs."

Medart studied the young Sandeman for several moments. "I can do that," he said at last. "But it's a type of work I think you'd find distasteful, given your honesty, and given some of your cultural conditioning, you could find the training for it intolerable. Your psych profile, though, says you're adaptable enough that you could accept both, given adequate motivation."

Nevan frowned. "I'm afraid I don't understand, sir. I don't know of any Imperial job I would find distasteful, much less intolerable."

Medart chuckled. "Sure you do--it's covered at the Academy, though not in great depth; the fact that you don't even like to think about it proves my point. But if you can manage the training, I think you'd make an outstanding field agent."

"Field agent!" Nevan couldn't help it; he grimaced in revulsion.

"Those are--" he hesitated, then decided even one of High War Speech's worst insults wasn't too strong--"nekulturniy."

Medart grew serious. "Not at all, though I was sure you'd react that way. Nevan, field agents have as much integrity as anyone else in Imperial service, and they're necessary. Some investigations are impossible to carry out openly--trying to find the Melgarie pirates'