The Insurrection

Forsythe sighed and turned the final page at last, then jogged the sheets neatly back into order. He returned them to the binder and pressed a stud on his console, glancing into the screen as it lit. "Willis? Would you come to my quarters, please?" "Yes, sir." Forsythe cut the circuit and smiled tautly at Han. "I realize you probably don't know any more than is con-rained in these documents, Captain Li, but I'd appreciate it if you'd give Captain Enwright and myself the benefit of your firsthand impressions. We're rather isolated out here, and neither of us has had any personal contact with the I

Han rose quickly as Willis Enwright entered the cabin with a hurried stride. That was one of the things she associated with Enwright--quickness, speed, almost haste.

It was as ff he resented the dawdling pace of time and wrestled with every second for the maximum utility he could wring from it. It made for a thorny personality, but it also made him a superb captain and would someday make him an equally outstanding admiral.

"Han!" He squeezed her hand warmly. "Good to see you again. How are your parents?" "Mother is as beautiful as ever; Father is as handsome." Han smiled. "What else is there to say?" "I suppose that does just about cover it," Enwright agreed with a grin. He dropped sloppily into a chair, and Hah seated herself again, glancing at Forsythe for his reaction to Enwright's informality. The old admiral only smiled at his flag captain.

Then his expression tightened.

"Willis, Captain Li has brought us some disturbing information." He slid the binder across the desk. "Want a look?" "Why?" Enwright shrugged. "No doubt the Assembly's done something else foolish. They've specialized in that for years, or we wouldn't be out here, sir." "Foolish or not, they're still the duly constituted government," Forsythe said, the slight edge in his voice suggesting that this wasn't the first time he and Enwright had struck sparks on the subject.

"However--was Forsythe shook his head his-comI have to agree that this time they really have been foolish.

Look at this." He opened the binder and handed Enwright the top sheet, and the captain's face tightened.

"Foolish isn't the word, sir," he said quietly, his humor vanished. "My God, ff this goes through the whole Fringe will go up in smoke. and I don't know as how I'll blame them, either." He read further, then whistled. "Jesus! If they do expel Lad Skjorning, the shit will really fly, Admiral!" "Precisely," Forsythe said frostily. "And fi, as you so quaintly put it, the shit does fly, whose job is it to quiet the situation back down?" "Ours," Enwright said, his voice troubled.

"Ours, indeed, Captain." Forsythe turned back to Han.

"Captain Li, is it yotir inpression this evaluation is essentially accurate?" "Well, sir," Hah said carefully, "Admiral Burgers certainly seemed to think so when he spoke to me." She shrugged. "But you probably know more about it from his dispatch." "His dispatch, like many things these days, is written on many levels." For just an instant, Forsythe showed every year of his advanced age. "It seems we're afraid to be totally open even in secure communications." "It's because no one wants to face it, Stepan," Enwright said. "But we have to. The Federation is on the verge of civil war." It was the first time someone had come right out and said it in Han's preseneetrust Willis to be the first. She watehed Forsythe, but the old admiral had his expression well in hand. "On the verge is not the same thing as actively at war, Willis," he said quietly. "It's our job to see it doesn't go that far." "Agreed," Enwright nodded. "But what ff it's a job we can't do, sir?" "There is no job the Fleet can't do!" "Sir, Fringers aren't Arachnids--comor even Tangri or Orions. Dealing with aliens may come down to a matter of firepower more often than we like, but it doesn't bother the Fleet much--that's our job, after all. But firing on our own Enwright shook his head sadly. "With all due I'm not sure the crews could do it." " "It won't come to that," Forsythe said. "We'll warp out immediately for routine maneuvers in Kontravian space. Not even the Beauforters are crazy enough to start something with a task force this size overhead." "Probably not," Enwright said softly. "But what ff it's already started, sir? I've served with Lad Skjorning. He's no hothead, but once he makes up his mind, not God nor the devil can change it." "Skjorning is only one man, Willis." "But if they send him home, he'll be the most important 'one man" in the entire Kontravian Cluster, sir. He's inherited all of Fio

"Don't they see that?" "With, respect, Admiral," Han said, "they're too 'angry to cae.

"And do you share their anger, Captain Li?" Forsythe asked softly.

"Yes, sir, I do." It was the first time a superior had asked her that, and Han found it almost a relief to answer openly.

"Stepan," Enwright's quiet voice drew the admiral's eyes away from her, "most of the Outwodders in the Fleet share Captain Li's feelings. You're not a Fringer, so maybe you don't see it that way, but the Fringers do. That's why I'm so concerned about this "show of force" business. If it comes to a real confrontation, there's no telling how the Fleet will react. More than sixty percent of our perso

"and with the admiral's pc?miSsion, I'd like to make a

suggestion." "Of course." Forsythe watched Enwright thoughtfully.

"You're absolutely right on at least one point, sir; the best way to make sure nothing happens is to create a Fleet presence in Kontravian space before any explosion. I sug- gest that we detach Admiral Ashigara's carrier group and the battle-cruisers and send them on ahead.

They're fifty percent faster than the monitors. At flank speed, they could reach the Kontravian Cluster alm'three months before the rest of the task force. That'd give us that much more time before the Kontravians can do any- thing rash." Forsythe swiveled his chair slowly back and forth, considering, and Han watched him closely@u Willis was to lllllllllllll[lll'l III-L[I I iii right. The sooner they got warships into the cluster, the , His better@u Even the most ferventFringe sympathizer in the Fleet would be willing to nip trouble in the bud before it reached shooting proportions.

"That's settled, then," Forsvthe said with the same finality@u He glanced at his dsk chronometer. "I see it's just alout time for di

A cold breeze blew through her bones as she passed the Marine guard and the cabin hatch dosed behind them. Admiral Forsythe was a good man, a loyal man--one who cared about all the Federation's citizens. Yet she had a premonition that a terrible mistake had just been made.

HOMECOMING The wrenching stress of warp transit echoed in every i