“I don’t have any military background myself, Oscar,” the Chairman said after a moment. “You know that. But I do have some familiarity with how political figures work with their closest aides and subordinates, and I’d think a certain degree of ‘comfort’ in McQueen’s relationships with her subordinates was actually a good sign. She’s always been a leader, not a driver. I know!” He raised a hand before Saint-Just could interrupt. “That’s one of the qualities which makes her dangerous to us. But it’s the way her command style works, and her command style is what makes her dangerous to the Manties. I think we’re just going to have to let her do things her way—as we told her we would—while you and your people go on keeping an eye on her. If she gets out of line, of course we’ll have to remove her. But in the meantime, let’s give her a chance to demonstrate that she can do what we brought her in to do for us.”

“And if she can’t?”

“In that case, the decision becomes simpler,” Pierre said calmly. “If she doesn’t produce in the field, then there’s no reason to risk letting her build a personal support base in the officer corps.”

In which case, he did not add aloud, she’s yours, Oscar.

“All right,” Saint-Just said after a long, thoughtful moment. “I won’t pretend I’m happy about it, and Fontein and some of the other commissioners are even unhappier than I am. But I agreed with you about how badly we needed her in the first place, so I suppose bellyaching about it now is a bit childish of me.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way myself,” Pierre told him, prepared to lavish a little stroking now that the decision was made. “You’re my watchdog, Oscar. For the most part, I trust your instincts completely, and I know exactly how badly I need them. As for Fontein and the others, I’d be surprised if they weren’t unhappy. McQueen’s cut pretty deeply into their say-so in the operational sphere, and that’s bound to have at least a little overlap into the political and policy sides, as well. They’d be more than human if they didn’t resent a reduction in their authority.”

“I know,” Saint-Just agreed. “And in Fontein’s case, I suspect a little of it may be overreaction to the way she blind-sided him before the Leveler business. But they’re supposed to be suspicious of their military counterparts, and I don’t want to undercut that. Or make them think I don’t give their reports the attention they merit.”

“And,” Pierre said shrewdly, with just a hint of a twinkle, “you don’t like who McQueen chose to head her Operation Icarus, either, now do you?”

“Well…” For once, Saint-Just seemed just a little hesitant. He even blushed slightly as he saw the gleam in his superior’s eyes, and then he chuckled and shook his head.

“No, I don’t like it,” he admitted. “ ‘Rehabilitating’ one flag officer is risky enough, but rehabilitating two of them just in time for the same operation seems to be rushing things just a little.”