David Weber - The Shadow of Saganami

People looked away from him. Some looked down at the table, some at the walls, and some at each other. Then, finally, Vesna Grabovac looked up and met his gaze squarely.

"What do you think we should do, Mr. Vice President?" the Treasury Secretary asked.

"I think we should consider the fact that President Tonkovic was required by our Constitution to inform the rest of her government-and, especially, Parliament-of that communication from the Provisional Governor 'without delay.' I submit to you that six weeks-over a quarter of the total time remaining to the Constitutional Convention-constitutes a very significant delay."

"Are you suggesting she be recalled to face Parliamentary questioning?" Alenka Mestrovic, the Education Secretary demanded.

"I think the possibility should be considered very strongly, yes," Rajkovic said unflinchingly.

"We can hardly sustain a constitutional crisis at a moment when we've just learned Nordbrandt and her lunatics are in possession of modern, off-world weapons!" Kanjer protested.

"My God, Mavro!" It was Goran Majoli, Secretary of Commerce and one of Rajkovic's strongest allies in the Cabinet. "We-or, rather, the Manticorans-just seized over a thousand tons of those 'modern weapons' and killed over a hundred of her murderers in the process! If we can't face the possibility of an open political debate about our own President's compliance with the Constitution now, then when do you suggest we will be able to?"

Kanjer glared at Majoli. Obviously, Rajkovic thought, Kanjer felt that "never" would be a very good time to consider Aleksandra's conduct.

Voices started up all around the table, with a contentiousness not even the most broad-minded could have dignified with a term as civilized as "debate." Rajkovic let the wrangling stretch out for several minutes, then hammered on the wooden block with his gavel. The crisp, sharp sound brought the raised voices to an abrupt, slithering stop, and he glared at all of them.

"This is a meeting of the Cabinet, not a sandbox full of fighting children!" Even some of Tonkovic's most avid supporters had the grace to look embarrassed at that, and he swept his eyes over all of them.

"Obviously, we aren't going to reach consensus on this this afternoon," he said flatly. "It is, however, a matter we're going to have to settle, and soon. Whatever President Tonkovic may think, I cannot justify not passing that information on directly to Parliament now that it's been officially communicated to me by the Provisional Governor."

The silence became deathly still as Tonkovic's partisans realized what he was saying, and he met their gazes levelly.

"I called this meeting, and asked the question that I did, primarily as a matter of courtesy. In my judgment, the destruction of so much of Nordbrandt's organization, and the capture and destruction of so many off-world weapons, should have a calming effect on public opinion. I believe there won't be a better time for me to grasp the nettle and bring this information to Parliament's attention without provoking widespread public outrage and protests. I'll do so in as noninflammatory a fashion as I possibly can, but all of you know as well as I do that, however public opinion reacts, Parliament won't take it well. And Parliament may, at its own discretion, summon any elected official-including the President-to answer before its members for the proper discharge of his or her duties."

"And you'll just happen to suggest that they ought to do so in this case, eh?" Kanjer demanded with an ugly expression.

"I'll suggest nothing of the sort," Rajkovic replied coldly. "If that were what I wanted to suggest, however, it would be unnecessary, and you know it as well as I do."

"I know you're planning on staging what amounts to a coup d'etat !" Kanjer retorted angrily.

"Oh, bullshit, Mavro!" Majoli snapped. "You can't accuse Vuk of staging a coup when all he's doing is what the Constitution flatly requires him to do! Or do you suggest he should violate the Constitution in order to protect someone else who's already doing the same thing?"

Kanjer snarled at the Commerce Secretary, and Rajkovic hammered the gavel again. Kanjer and Majoli sat back from the table almost simultaneously, still glaring at one another, and the Vice President shook his head.

"I'll be dispatching an official report of the raid and its results to Spindle by tomorrow or the next day. Anyone who wishes to communicate with President Tonkovic is welcome to send his or her messages via the same courier. Frankly, I invite you to do so. Whether you believe this or not, Mavro, I'd far rather resolve this without a constitutional crisis. And I've been acting head of state long enough to have a very good idea of just how unpleasant it would be to have the job permanently, thank you!

"I have also, however, been summoned to appear before Parliament tomorrow afternoon. The exact reason Parliament wishes to see me hasn't been vouchsafed, but I suspect we can all deduce what it is they want to talk about. And when they ask me questions, Ladies and Gentlemen, I will answer them-fully, frankly, and as completely as I can. What will come of that, I don't know, but I suggest that it behooves all of President Tonkovic's friends to convince her that there are matters here on Kornati which require her urgent attention."

"Sir? Do you have a minute?"

"What is it, Lajos?" Aivars Terekhov replied, glancing up from the paperwork on his computer display to find Surgeon Commander Orban looking in through the open hatch of his bridge briefing room.

"Sir, I don't know if this is important, but I thought I should mention it to you."

"Mention what to me?" Terekhov raised one eyebrow and half-turned towards the hatch with his elbow on the briefing room table.

"Well, Sir," Orban said slowly, "normally, under the Beowulf Code, what a patient says under heavy medication is privileged doctor-patient information."

Terekhov felt his muscles freeze. The Star Kingdom subscribed firmly to the bioethics of the Beowulf Code. Most physicians would have been prepared to face prison themselves rather than violate it.

"I believe, Doctor," he said slowly, "that your responsibilities as a Queen's officer supersede that particular privilege under certain circumstances."

"Yes, Sir, they do," Orban said, his eyes even darker than usual. "I don't like it, but they do. For that matter, under the circumstances, I suspect the old Hippocratic Oath would, even though it was hardly written for a case like this."

"Like what?" Terekhov made his voice remain calm and patient.

"One of my patients, one of the terrorists, is under some fairly heavy pain medication, Sir," the surgeon commander said slowly. "I'd say he's got no more than a seventy percent chance, even with quick heal." He frowned, then waved one hand impatiently. "Whatever. The important thing is that he's fairly delusional at the moment. He thinks the SBAs and I are someone called 'Drazen' or 'Brother Dagger,' and he keeps trying to make some kind of report to us."

"What sort of report, Doctor?" Terekhov asked very intently.

"I don't know, Sir. We're recording it, but his voice is pretty much gone and it's all fairly garbled. In fact, most of it seems to be so much gibberish. But there's one name he keeps saying over and over again. It seems to have something to do with all the weapons they had down there. I think this fellow's been thrown back to before the attack, because he keeps telling this 'Drazen' fellow that 'the shipment has been delivered.'"

"'The shipment'?" Terekhov repeated sharply, and Orban nodded. "And you said he keeps repeating a name?"

"Yes, Sir." The physician shrugged. "I guess it must be a code name of some sort. I mean, 'Firebrand' could hardly be someone's real name, could it?"