Facing Vaughn, he found it hard to be sure of how he felt about the man. Not hatred, certainly, nor even anger. There was a sort of admiration, Daniel had to admit, for a person who was so pure an example of the thing he was; and disgust as well, at what that thing was.
“I won’t bother to apologize for the way I tricked you, Captain,” Vaughn said, bluffly disarming. “Nothing I could say would be enough, and you wouldn’t accept it anyway. I’ll make up for the trouble in every way possible, however. One of the estates Nunes confiscated has been put in your name already. You may well want to spread the largess among those of your servants who were left on South Land with you. You’ll be able to make them very happy without noticing the cost, I assure you.”
Tovera watched from just inside the captain’s suite; her right hand rested lightly on the grip of her submachine gun. Hogg was in the bridge hatchway, toying with a loop of fishing line and grinning.
“I’m a Leary of Bantry, sir,” Daniel said quietly. “We understand cost very well, but the term rarely has anything to do with money when we use it.”
“I take your point, Captain,” said Vaughn; and he did, the tightness around his nostrils showed that clearly. “I’ve come for help clearing up the final patches of resistance to my assumption of the presidency. The two sons of the usurper Nunes are forted up in the family residence in the Tatrig Mountains. They’ll require heavy weapons to blast them out, and—”
“President Vaughn,” Daniel said. “I’m aware of your claims that the Republic backed your rebellion. You and I both know there’s no truth to that. I won’t become involved in what is clearly an internal Strymonian matter.”
Vaughn’s smile was crystal hard. “Well, Lieutenant, so far as Strymon knows, your Observer Mariette included,” he said, “you’re already involved. Pleyna Vaughn came out of Palia to discuss settlement terms because my military liaison, Lieutenant Daniel Leary of the RCN, guaranteed her safety. Of course I’ll be able to correct this misapprehension as soon as you—”
Sun rose from his console in a fluid movement. His face was red. Adele grabbed his wrist. Sun jerked loose, but Hogg now stood between the spacer and Vaughn, and Tovera was behind him with her gun’s muzzle a millimeter from his spine.
Everyone was looking at Daniel. “I’m not concerned with the lies of foreign rabble, Officer Sun,” he said mildly. “Return to your duties, please. The Winckelmann’s lighted her thrusters, so we can expect further orders shortly.”
Vaughn was a brave man to have boarded the Princess Cecile now. Despite that, he wasn’t a fool, so he must need Daniel’s help very badly.
“A combination of those who oppose the new president . . .” Adele said. Her left hand came out of her pocket; Sun was at his console again and the two servants had backed off the bridge.
” . . . and the large percentage of the population who resent their president being chosen by Cinnabar,” she continued, her eyes on something far distant in time, “will make it difficult for the regime to stay in power if there’s a center of armed resistance.”
She looked at Daniel, then at Vaughn. She added, “We on Cinnabar know something of conspiracies also, Mister President.”
Vaughn swallowed. He said, “All I want from you, Captain, is a word to the frigates who’ve surrendered to you. The Fleet was thoroughly in Nunes’s camp—and intriguing with the Alliance as well, that’s no fable. If those ships enter the atmosphere and use their rockets against the Nunes positions, my mercenaries will have no difficulty in mopping up what remains. I don’t trust the captains to obey me, however, and there’re no other Fleet elements on Strymon. They all lifted for Tanais when your commodore landed.”
Adele looked at Daniel sharply. He nodded. Vaughn knew his rivals had plotted with the Alliance, but he didn’t realize that Admiral Chastelaine had reached the Strymon system.
“President Vaughn,” he said, “you’ve entered a realm of politics that’s properly the business of the Cinnabar Observer. If you prefer to raise the matter with Commodore Pettin, my superior, feel free to do so—his flagship will be in orbit shortly. For my part, I must request you return to your own vessel immediately, because I have—”