The Iron Maiden (21 page)

“I won't give her those,” she replied with mock severity. “She's still hot for you, Captain, and she's only thirty, you know. Lot of juice left in her.” That, too, was more literal than it sounded; Roulette, too, would gladly leap into his bed.

It was all a bluff, but it worked beautifully. Within a day all the pseudo defectors were gone. What would a paid agent of Ganymede do in a non-Hispanic section of the Asteroid Belt?

But that was only one episode. When Hopie screamed in the night, frightened by a live rat, Hope got serious. Rats did not occur naturally on the planets; it had to be a plant. He braced the Gany Premier directly and with finesse, having Megan sing to the man's autistic son, causing the boy to respond. This utterly destroyed the man's enmity, for it gave the shame of his family hope of improvement. Thereafter the treatment of the embassy improved dramatically, and Hope and the Premier, became in their limited fashions, friends. In fact, Hope set about a devious process that was to lead to the return of the Jupiter Naval base Tanamo to Ganymede authority. In return, Ganymede released a number of prominent political prisoners. Real progress toward peace was being made, and Hope's reputation was growing.

Hope also met Mikhail Khukov, a captain in the Saturn Navy, a figure he described as a meteor: one destined to rise fast and far in his government. Khukov had a talent similar to Hope's own, that of reading people and influencing them. The two men, from opposite poles of power, understood and trusted each other. That was to prove crucial in later dealings. Like Lieutenant Repro, who had started Hope on his own meteor career, Khukov had a dream, and Hope found it worth supporting. So Hope's time as Ambassador, nominally successful, was far more significant than others knew at the time.

The two also exchanged personal favors that Spirit herself did not know about for some time: they taught each other languages. Hope learned Russian, and Khukov learned Spanish. This was to give each a significant advantage when dealing with others who thought their private dialogues secure.

After a year and a half Megan returned to Jupiter with Hopie, because of the political indoctrination on Ganymede. Hopie was a bright child and a pleasant one. She got along well in school, as she mastered Spanish, made friends, and learned the lessons well. When she began debating the liabilities of capitalism at home, Megan grew uneasy. When Hopie challenged some of the Jupiter versions of history, such as the manner the so-called Mid-Jupe Canal was arranged, Megan became angry. And when the child began praising the dedication of Saturn to System peace, Megan had had enough. “I shall not suffer my child to become a Saturnist!” she exclaimed.

So they left, and Hope was in pain that Shelia, Ebony and Coral could not assuage. They had respected Megan and liked Hopie. But it was good news for Spirit, who now took over much of the care of Hopie, theoretically to relieve Megan of the burden. Megan had always given her every chance to be with her unacknowledged daughter, and such time was precious to Spirit. She knew that Megan was suffering as Hope was, but she did what she had to do for the sake of the child. At least Spirit was able to provide some genuine affection for Hopie that the girl had lost when she left Hope and his staff.

The Premier did Hope one favor that was not to be forgotten: he located Hope's elder sister Faith and returned her to her family. She became Hopie's Aunt Faith, and Faith herself did not know that this was literally true.

In the course of the Tanamo negotiations, Hope met Gerald Phist, by then an Admiral. Phist caught on to Hope's political ambition to become president. He shook his head. “You know I'll serve you loyally if you succeed, and I'm not the only one. The careers of the officers in your unit did not end when you resigned from the Navy.” Phist typically understated things. Hope's friends in the Navy now had a good deal more power than showed.

“Give my regards to your wife.”

“Rue is a good woman,” Phist said seriously. “It is unfortunate that she and I both love others.”

“Still?” Hope asked, though he had heard as much from Emerald. He had not realized that Phist still longed for Spirit.

“Still. But we do have a good marriage. We understand each other's positions exactly.”

After two years as Ambassador, Hope returned to Jupiter, having made a considerable name for himself by his actions on Ganymede. He resumed political activity, with Spirit and his staff falling naturally into their prior roles, and this time was successful. He became Governor of Sunshine. He immediately set about implementing populist reforms. Partly as an example of his opposition to ageism he hired an old woman, Mrs. Burton, as stage technician, and not only was she competent, Hopie adopted her as a grandmother figure. He also put his sister Faith on the state payroll in open nepotism, for she worked with the state's sizable contingent of Hispanic refugees, and her relation to the governor made them realize that their plight was now being taken seriously. Spirit had had a hand in that assignment, and it proved to be an excellent one.

Thorley, of course, had the earliest news of what was in the offing, and used it to craft a clever excoriation. No one knew how he got his information; it was as though he had a bug in the governor's office. He did, and her name was Spirit. Hope guaranteed that the press was never muzzled, by keeping Thorley fully informed, and the news was always delivered with love. He concluded: “If this man Hubris had ambition, he would be dangerous.” And of course Thorley knew exactly what Hope's ambition was, but some secrets he kept.

But Faith's participation was to lead to a serious crisis in Hope's administration. There had been a riot in the Black community before Hope's administration, and four men were on death row for crimes supposedly committed therein. Faith believed they were innocent, and that there would be much worse riots if they were executed. Hope investigated and concurred. So he pardoned them. And there was outrage. His popularity as governor dropped thirty points in the polls. He was excoriated by conservatives and much of the general press, with one seemingly odd exception: Thorley. The columnist was not free to support the pardon, but his commentary suggested that the authorities had brought it on themselves by making an inept case that allowed a liberal governor the technical grounds to overturn it.

That was correct, and Thorley had the grace not to say more. The public outrage softened, for Thorley was now a potent conservative voice. Spirit rewarded him with special passion the next time Sancho met him.

Two years later something happened that led to Hope's finest political hour as governor, and a very special union for Spirit, Hopie, and Thorley. An interplanetary passenger ship that had been headed for Titan had somehow drifted off course and passed through restricted Saturn-space. The Saturnines had tracked it, fired on it, and holed it. All its crew and passengers were dead. Including fifty Jupiter citizens, eight of which were residents of Sunshine, and one of whom was a representative from a Sunshine district. Two were Hispanics, and Faith wanted to know when their bodies would be recovered for proper burial. As governor Hope had a responsibility to all residents of Sunshine, but this was not state or national business, it was interplanetary.

“You know, Hope--” Spirit murmured thoughtfully.

“But it's crazy!” he protested, though she had not actually voiced the thought.

“Yet, correctly played...”

He knew what she meant. There was a daring opportunity here. “Still, it could mean my life.”

She put her hand on his. “Our lives.”

He sighed. It was time to be a hero again.

Sancho notified Thorley that day. “But please do not break the news until after we are on the way, because--”

“Credit this old conservative with some modicum of discretion,” he said as they made love.

“I will give you a full private report when we return,” she promised, kissing him.

“You are going too?”

“He's my brother.”

He pondered only a moment. “Then I will go as well.”

“You? Thorley, you can't possibly--”

“News somehow leaked out, I saw my chance for a scoop, I demanded to come, in the name of the free press. Can your brother stop me?”

“I think not. But Thorley--you and I together on such a trip--suppose someone catches on?” For she was thrilled with the notion, and knew they would have a torrid sequence of love during such a trip.

“It will be a hostile association, and I will report it as such. I doubt your brother will refute it.”

“He won't,” she agreed.

They chartered a yacht, a sleek and swift civilian ship with a competent crew. Hope made sure that her captain knew the nature of the project, off the record, so he could turn it down if he chose. He paled but accepted. “It's time someone did something like this, sir,” he said.

Hope told Megan and Hopie, of course, expecting them to condemn this as idiocy. Indeed, Megan did:

“You're going to Saturn? Hope, this is preposterous!”

“I want to go, too!” Hopie exclaimed, clapping her hands. She was eleven now, and Hope claimed she reminded him hauntingly of Aunt Spirit at that age.

“You will do nothing of the kind!” Megan exclaimed, horrified. “This thing is suicide!”

Hopie frowned. “You mean Daddy's supposed to go die alone?”

Her words were a question, not an accusation, but Megan was wounded. “We'll both go,” she said shortly.

Hopie jumped up and down, oblivious to the subtle pain. “Oh, goody! I'll do a school paper on it!”

They wasted no time. They issued no public statement, but Thorley phoned Hope. “Governor, is this an official excursion?” he demanded. “Then you cannot bar the press. I will be there in two hours.”

Hope glanced at Spirit as the screen faded. “You put him up to this?”

She spread her hands. “Please, Hope.”

“What of Hopie?”

“We didn't realize she would be coming. But she does not have to know everything.”

Hope nodded, and went to inform Megan of this new detail.

They set out for Saturn. When they were safely in space, Shelia in Hassee issued the press release that announced the governor's intention. He was going to Saturn to recover the bodies of Sunshine citizens, demand an apology, and obtain reparations.

There had been a national election, and Megan's enemy Tocsin was now president. They received his signal, coded for privacy. “What the hell do you think you're doing, Hubris?” he demanded.

“Mr. President, I am doing my duty by my constituents,” Hope said evenly, and Spirit knew he was pleased to see the man so angry.

“You have no business dabbling in interplanetary matters!”

“When those whose business it is renege on their responsibilities, it becomes necessary for others to take up the slack,” Hope said. Spirit, standing beyond the camera range, bit her tongue to stop from laughing.

Hope could be so fiendishly annoying when he tried.

“You shithead spic! Turn back or I'll blast your wise ass out of space!”

He was bluffing. He could indeed order the ship to be downed, but such an act would carry a horrendous political penalty, for the early news holos showed that the people of Jupiter were overwhelmingly with Hope on this matter. “You do your duty as you see fit, Mr. President,” Hope said calmly. “I will do mine.” He was doing what he did best, playing a scene.

“I'm going to see you hung by the balls for treason, Hubris,” Tocsin snarled, his face mottling red as he cut off.

“At least I've got them, Mr. President,” Hope muttered under his breath to the blank screen, smiling.

Now Spirit let her stifled laugh burst out. What a naughty pleasure this was! Hope had hated Tocsin since he learned of what he had done to Megan, and Spirit shared his sentiment.

Megan stepped into the communications chamber, followed by Thorley and Hopie. “I wish you hadn't done that, Hope.”

He gazed at her levelly. “That man destroyed you politically. I will destroy him.”

“And become just like him?”

That set him back. He promised not to bait the president any more.

“What does shithead spic mean?” Hopie inquired.

Megan, who evidently had been unaware that the girl was close enough to overhear the dialogue, seemed about to faint. “Please, allow me to explain privately,” Thorley said. He took Hopie by the hand and let her out of the chamber. Spirit knew the man would find a way to defuse the language. Perhaps Hopie had been too protected.

In due course, Thorley sent his dispatch from the yacht. It was remarkably gentle to Hope, almost suggesting that the notorious Hubris might for once have done something of which a conservative could approve. “Why all the fuss? One would almost suspect that the errant governor of the Great State of Sunshine had pardoned someone. Doesn't it make perfect sense to challenge the Saturnines on their home turf when they have done something slightly more than routinely reprehensible? Somebody has to, as it were, pick up the pieces.”

“You don't like Tocsin either!” Spirit exclaimed when they were alone. They had adjoining staterooms, with locking doors and a private portal between them, so that nobody's daughter could accidentally discover the governor's sister making love with the governor's most persistent critic.

“Sometimes it is expedient for a good conservative to stand aside and allow events to take their natural course.”

“Such as when a good liberal does what no conservative dare do, and stands up to the Saturn bear?”

“Liberals may have their uses, on rare occasion.”

“And liberal wenches have only one use?”

“Bait me at your own risk, wench, lest I make that use of you.”

“Show me your power!”

They made love, delighting in doing it in a bed after twelve years. “Oh, Spirit,” he said. “I wish I could marry you!”

“Perhaps if you converted to Mormonism, so that you could have plural wives?”

“It is a thought.” But of course they knew that marriage between them had never been in the picture.

The journey took several days, and boredom soon threatened. But Thorley was in person a most engaging companion; he kept his politics out of polite conversation. He joined the liberals for meals and made a fourth for games of old-fashioned cards, teaming with Spirit against Megan and Hope, and his smooth wit made him a delight. He also taught Hopie to play chess, which he claimed was a game of royalty. Spirit was privately thrilled to see them getting along so well, for a reason no one would speak aloud.