“I shade my eyes and it keeps me from going blind.”

Bean smiled and turned to Peter. “Does Felix Starman know how long I’m not expected to live?”

“No,” said Peter. “I regard that as a state secret.”

“Oh no,” said Petra. “Now we can’t tell each other.”

“How long will you expect me to stay?”

“Long enough for the Rwandan army to transfer its loyalty to the Free People.”

“To you?”

“To the Free People,” said Peter. “I’m not creating a cult of personality here. They have to be committed to the Constitution. And to defending the Free People who have accepted it.”

“In practical terms, a date, please,” said Bean.

“Until after the plebiscite, at least,” said Peter.

“And I can go with him?” asked Petra.

“Your choice,” said Peter. “It’s probably safer there than here, but it’s a long flight. You can write the Martel essays from anywhere.”

“Julian, he’s leaving it up to us. We’re Free People now too!”

“All right, I’ll do it,” said Bean. “Now what’s the good news?”

“That was the good news,” said Peter. “The bad news is that we’ve had a sudden and unexpected shortfall in revenue. It will take months, at least, to make up what we abruptly stopped receiving. Therefore we’re cutting back on projects that don’t contribute directly to the goals of the Hegemony.”

Petra laughed. “You have the cheek to ask us to help you, when you’re cutting off funding for our search?”

“You see? You immediately recognized that your search was not contributing.”

“You’re searching, too,” said Bean. “To find the virus.”

“If it exists,” said Peter. “In all likelihood, Volescu is teasing us, and the virus doesn’t actually work and hasn’t been dispersed.”

“So you’re going to bet the future of the human race on that?”

“No I’m not,” said Peter. “But without a budget for it, it’s beyond our reach. However, it is not beyond the reach of the International Fleet.”

“You’re turning it over to them?”

“I’m turning Volescu over to them. And they’re going to continue the research into the virus he developed and where he might have dispersed it, if he did.”

“The I.F. can’t operate on Earth.”

“They can if they’re acting against an alien threat. If Volescu’s virus works, and it’s released on Earth, it would create a new species designed to completely replace humanity in a single generation. The Hegemon has issued a secret finding that Volescu’s virus constitutes an alien invasion, which the I.F. has kindly agreed to track down and…repel for us.”

Bean laughed. “Well, it seems we think alike.”

“Really?” said Peter. “Oh, you’re just flattering me.”

“I already turned over our search to the Ministry of Colonization. And we both know that Graff is really functioning as a branch of the I.F.”

Peter regarded him calmly. “So you knew I’d have to cut the budget for your search.”

“I knew that you didn’t have the resources no matter how much budget you have. Ferreira was doing his best, but ColMin has better software.”