“Exactly.”

“Goddamn it,” Webster sighed. “I’m First Space Lord. I’m not supposed to have to decide what to do with a damned commander.”

Alexander frowned and returned to the contemplation of his boot toe, and Webster tipped his chair further back. He knew that expression.

“Look, Jim,” Alexander finally said, “I know I’m junior to you, but it seems to me we owe this Harrington a vote of thanks, not a rap in the teeth. For the first time, we’ve got an officer on Basilisk Station who’s willing to kick some ass to get her job done. I like that. I like it a hell of a lot better than what we’ve been getting there, and so do you. All right, so she’s making some waves and ticking some people off. Fine. Let her. Even Janacek can’t change the Fleet mission in Basilisk—thank God, or he’d have had us out of there completely by now. But if we’re going to tell her what to do, we can’t yank the rug out from under her the minute she starts doing it.” He paused.

“You’ve told me a lot about who’s complaining about her, but what do the people in Basilisk have to say?”

“Michel Reynaud and the ACS crowd are delighted,” Webster admitted. “I’ve got two or three glowing reports from Reynaud on this Lieutenant Venizelos she assigned to him. Mind you, Venizelos must be some kind of madman if even half of what the Havenites have to say is true, but Reynaud likes him. As for Estelle Matsuko, she seems convinced Harrington could walk across Jason Bay without getting her shoes wet. She’s been so disgusted with the previous SOs, she’s even stopped complaining about them; now I’ve got letters of thanks for our ‘excellent cooperation’!”

“Well, that should tell you something, shouldn’t it?”

“So you think I should just stay out of it,” Webster said. It wasn’t a question.

“Damn right I do. Basilisk’s been a disgrace since the day we went in. It’s long past time someone made a point of that. It may cause a rethink on the entire issue.”

“Is this the time for it?” Webster sounded anxious, and Alexander shrugged.

“If you want, I’ll sound Willie out on it and get back to you, but I think Cromarty would say yes. We’ve danced around the issue because of the ‘political situation’ for years, and the problem’s only gotten worse. I don’t doubt the Conservatives will bitch and moan, and so will the Liberals, but they can’t have it both ways. The Conservatives can’t have their nice, safe isolation if we don’t hang onto that terminus with both hands, and the Liberals can’t protect the Medusans from off-world contamination if we don’t police the space-to-planet traffic. For the first time, we’ve got an officer on Basilisk Station with the guts to make that point for them, and if they try to do anything about it, the Commons will stop them cold. I say go for it, and I think Willie will say the same.”