"I understand your feelings, Amanda, but...
...there really are other considerations." they reached the sitting room, and Amanda got a good look at 'Heather'.
The Rottweiler was cowering under one of the settee tables, whining.
"What the-?"
Adam snapped his fingers, and slapped his thigh, and the dog came out from under the table, head held low, whining.
limping.
"blood." she observed. "you shouldn't have a dog that big indoors."
The Archon grunted, and examined the animal's feet, "Marie, did you call the vet already?" he plucked a shard of ceramic from the animal's paw.
"She's a gift...goodness, Amanda, you've grown!" Her majesty, the wife-consort, Marie Steiner observed, adding, "though not as much as I thought you would."
"It's been four years." Amanda observed, adding, "I was kinda surprised how big Andrew's getting. I'm not here on a social call."
"She's already threatened an embargo."
"I did NOT say 'embargo', I said if the new Treaty with the Republic gets signed into force, my people are leaving." Amanda enunciated, "that's not an embargo, it's a divorce. I need something to take back to the Co-ops and the Guilds or it's going to happen."
Adam seemed to finally understand her, as he rolled the dog on its back, and gave it reassuring pets. "It's not your threat."
"I'm just the messenger." she told him. "I have enough people angry enough that it's literally you pick us, or pick Stone's Republic at this point."
"You, Duchess." he pointed at her.
"Me-Duchess, sure-as long as people will follow me." she snapped back, "Especially in my position-I don't exactly have a lot of real-estate to garrison mercenaries to override my vassals and ram it down their throats, Highness-my people only follow me voluntarily. This isn't a big deal for Defiance, or Norse Storm, it's nothing for Langenecker, Lockheed, Coventry Metalworks-those guys are fine with whatever as long as they get paid, and most of them don't care who does the paying...but my people? We're getting Shafted by Stone's 'trade deals' and the things he's getting your government, because I sure as hell don't run it, to do in the name of 'sphere wide prosperity'-a thing whose definition seems to be 'creating a monopoly on not only HPG communications, but interstellar transport'."
she crossed her arms, adding, "A Foreign monopoly, and his negotiators want YOU enforcing HIS monopoly, on us. That's not going to work for us, so the mood is walk. If you agree to it, we're not staying-because I can't make them stay and I don't want to. The first is simply practical reality and the second is a moral stance."
"We need the trade with the Federated Suns, and Yvonne already signed off." He told her.
"Well, she's an idiot if she did. I read the draft copy." Amanda shook her head, "It's literally handing over everything in your shipping industry but the blame if something goes wrong."
"it cant be that bad!!"
Amanda sighed, reached into her satchel-bag, and produced a data reader. "It is. The wellwallah you sent as a negotiator doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground, Highness-either that, or he's Stone's man instead of yours. Either way, this is all over the Guilds in the Realm now, and the co-ops, my people know your representative has given away the store and agreed to sink every independent, every small shipper, every non-corporate hauler, and all of my people in exchange for what amounts to beads and plague blankets, so instead of attending the 'social event of the year' I'm here on actual business because we're a signature and a ratification away from my people picking up and leaving...and there's half a billion of us just in the Kowloon system, not including friends among The Folk whom are just as mad."
"That could be catastrophic..." Marie observed.
"No kidding?" Amanda's expression was almost rude, "You think?? Put it this way-the only people who benefit from this, are the Republic, and the Sea Fox/Diamond Shark guys, everyone else gets it up the uncomfortable hole with a sandpaper phallus if they aren't in Clan territory or registered with the RoTS."
"How many ships?" Adam asked.
'Enough to move more than half a billion people in whatever direction we decide to go." she told him, "It's probably around forty percent of extant shipping capacity in the Commonwealth-which I suppose, Mister Devlin Stone can make up, but that makes you his bitch on TWO THIRDS of your economic and political power-he'll own your communications both by HPG, and by Courier Post, and with the whole 'not rebuilding the navy' you agreed to, that's permanent-I know what's at Gibbs, they can't build enough hulls to make it up if you could find the navigators to run it."
Comprehension in Marie's eyes first, "You're angry because you think you'll lose-you don't want this."
"No, I don't." Amanda sighed and dropped into the couch. "I don't want this, but I promised them I'd try, to get them NOT to stage a general strike and start evacuations right ****** now."
"But you'll go with them if you lose?" Marie asked.
"Yeah." Amanda said, "assuming I'm not shot or imprisoned, if you cave to Stone, I'll leave with my people, we won't be coming back."
"Why??"
"Because it means you chose the Terrans over ours." she said simply, "because it means my people-people like me don't have a place here anymore, and I don't want to see my people dying, and I don't want to kill anyone-especially not people my mother considered friends, or people I owe a personal debt of gratitude to."
"You don't think you owe the Republic." Adam asked.
"No. I don't. I really don't." Amanda stated, "I owe YOU, and...I mean, warm feelings for your family, Archon...but my duty is to my people, I have to at least try to do right for them."
Marie handed the Archon a roll of gauze and a tube of antibiotic ointment, which he wrapped the dog's injured paw in, before speaking. "I wasn't going to sign it, Amanda." He looked up at her, "I'm still not. Take it back to your folks, let them know-my intent is to tell Lear 'we can't afford it'...the really frightening thing, is how you got that information."
"Why?"
"because those negotiations were supposed to be secure." he stood up. "So...how did you get it?"
"We're not Sollies, but they are kind of like Cousins-at least, the Belters are." she said, "and the Folk are even closer cousins, but I first read it from a Guild officer who works mostly in Ghost Bear space on the near-terran runs, she got it from a source at Ross, who got it because Stone's put in a massive order for commercial jumpships and the co-ops there asked why."
"You've got a back-channel?"
Amanda looked uncomfortably at the floor.
"You do." Adam said. "My god, you're like your mother...but...almost worse...It's not yours alone, is it?"
"Guild." she said, "Guild an' Folk. I made my six second record this year, got to meet the Pathfinder Board rep for the Lyran Commonwealth."
"but no patch." he said, "Your mother told me about those...let's see... fifty jumps navigated, I remember you being excited in your report last may...and you've done a six second point...so you definitely qualify... so why no patch?"
"Tasking." she said.
"Talking to me." he filled in. "Negotiating, because you're a navigator, but you're also a Noble, and represent a Spacer community as their Noble."
"Higher standards." Amanda agreed. "I'm in a cleft here, and you bailed me out-If you were to sign onto that treaty with the Republic, I'd lose everything but the Nav-Cert with my people."
"They can't strip your title."
"They can refuse to listen." she replied. "do you know what a Noble without followers is? a noble title without followers is defined as absolutely irrelevant. I don't have habitable lands to attract dirtyfeet, the only reason they gave me this chance, is my heritage, but that's something that turns irrelevant damned fast if I don't turn out results."
"Keep as many from leaving as you can, Amanda, I'll keep your independence from the Terrans." Adam told her. "Deal?"
she nodded, and they shook hands. "It's a contract."
