“I am aware of that. In fact, Mr. Canning, I was the one who chose the original timing for Odysseus’s activation when Pavel Young was assigned here.”

“Yes. Well, things were moving exactly according to plan until she turned up. Since then—” Canning broke off and shrugged, raising one hand, palm uppermost.

“I understand the change in circumstances, Mr. Canning.” The admiral spoke with the patience of one addressing a very small child, his eyes deceptively mild, and the consul writhed internally but knew better than to protest.

“Moreover, unlike you, I have a dossier on Commander Harrington,” the admiral continued. “I’m sorry to say it isn’t as extensive as I’d like. As you may know, NavInt seldom builds an in-depth package on anyone who hasn’t yet made list, unless they come from a particularly prominent family. All we have on her are the standard clippings and her public record, but even those are enough to indicate that she’s an entirely different proposition from an over-bred cretin like Young. And, all in all, I would be forced to agree that Harrington is scarcely the sort of officer one might reasonably have expected that oaf Janacek to assign to his own private little hellhole out here.”

Canning relaxed a tiny bit, only to tense anew as his guest smiled thinly.

“Nonetheless, Mr. Canning, I can’t escape the conclusion that you’ve taken your security too lightly. From the very beginning, you seem to have relied not on your own precautions but almost solely on the RMN’s inefficiency. Granted,” he waved a hand gently, “that inefficiency was part of our original planning, but you shouldn’t have relied on its continuation. Certainly it should have been evident that your arrangements required a drastic reevaluation as soon as Harrington started shaking things up.”

“I—” Canning stood and crossed abruptly to the liquor cabinet. He poured himself a martini with hands that trembled slightly, took a swallow, then turned back to the admiral.

“I have taken some precautions, Sir, whatever you may think. Admittedly, they were long-term, routine measures, and I’ll concede I was slow to realize what was happening and adjust to Harrington’s presence, as well. But I’ve been here over six local years, and this is the first Manticoran officer who’s even bothered to check manifests against canister numbers in all that time.”

“If that were all she were doing, Mr. Canning, or even if she were just arresting smugglers, I would be far less concerned,” his guest said with deadly precision. “But that isn’t all she’s doing, is it? She’s actively supporting Matsuko and the NPA. The local manpower she’s released from customs and space control duties alone would constitute a major threat to operational security. When you add the overflights she’s ordered to what your informants are reporting—” He shook his head sadly, and Canning took another long swallow of his drink.

“We’re not exactly completely naked, Sir,” he said. “I know it’s only a matter of time before her recon flights hit pay dirt, but as I’ve said, and despite any overconfidence on my part, we do have a multi-level cover in place against exactly that eventuality. And despite her activities in space, she hasn’t even come close to bothering Captain Coglin. As for the rest of her actions,” he added a bit more defensively, “I’ve done everything I can to get her recalled. I’ve lodged over twenty individual protests, now, and I’m using my contacts with other off-world merchant factors to generate more of them. The Manticoran Admiralty has to be feeling the heat, particularly in light of the political ramifications.”