“We have a single ship, ladies and gentlemen, and our problem, in the simplest terms, is that one ship can be in only one place at a time. The Fleet is responsible for supporting Basilisk Control in management of Junction through traffic, including customs inspections as required. In addition, we are responsible for inspection of all traffic with Medusa itself or with the planet’s orbital facilities, for supporting the Resident Commissioner and her Native Protection Agency police, for safeguarding all extraMedusan visitors to the planet, and for insuring the security of this system against all external threats. To accomplish this, we must be here—” the cursor blinked in orbital proximity to Medusa “—here—” it blinked amid the flowing beads of traffic around the junction terminus “—and, in fact, here.” The cursor swept a wide circuit of the system, right on the twenty-light-minute radius of a G5 star’s hyper limit.

She let the red light circle the holo display’s central star for several seconds, then killed the cursor and folded her hands before her on the tabletop.

“Obviously, ladies and gentlemen, a single light cruiser can’t be in all those places at once. Nonetheless, I have my orders from Captain Young, and I will discharge them.”

McKeon sat silent, staring at her in disbelief. She couldn’t be serious! As she herself had just proven, no single ship could discharge them.

But she obviously meant to try, and his cheeks burned as he realized what she’d been doing in her quarters over the three hours since her return from Warlock. She’d been tackling her impossible assignment by herself, wrestling with it without even attempting to involve her officers in its solution, for they’d proven that she couldn’t. He’d proven that she couldn’t.

His hands gripped together under the edge of the table. The final responsibility would have been Harrington’s in any case, but captains had officers—and especially first officers—specifically to help them in situations like this. More, McKeon had already grasped the malice behind her new orders. He’d suspected there was something between her and Young; now he knew there was. Young was running a grave risk with his own career by quitting his station, though it seemed likely he had the patronage and influence to stave off outright disaster. But if Harrington failed to discharge the responsibilities he’d dumped on her, however impossible…

He shivered internally and made himself concentrate on her words.

“Lieutenant Venizelos.”

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“You will select thirty-five ratings and one junior officer for detached duty. Fearless will escort Warlock to the terminus. As soon as Warlock has departed, I will drop you, your chosen personnel, and both pinnaces. You will rendezvous with Basilisk Control and assume the duties of customs and security officer for the terminus traffic. You will be attached to Basilisk Control for that purpose until further notice. Understood?”

Venizelos gawked at her for a moment, and even McKeon blinked. It was unheard of! But it might just work, he admitted almost unwillingly. Unlike cutters, pinnaces were large enough to mount impeller drives and inertial compensators, and they were armed. Their weapons might be popguns and slingshots compared to regular warships, but they were more than sufficient to police unarmed merchantmen.