«What’s a shame?» Hazard asked. «Seems to me these people are starting to do all right for the first time in their lives. The space business is making a lot of jobs around here.»
Cardillo took a forkful of eel from his plate. It never got to his mouth.
«I don’t mean them, Johnny. I mean us. It’s a damn shame about us.»
Hazard had never liked being called «Johnny.» His family had addressed him as «Jon.» His Navy associates knew him as «Hazard» and nothing else. A few very close friends used «J.W.»
«What do you mean?» he asked. His own plate was already wiped clean. The fish and its dark spicy sauce had been marvelous. So had the crisp-crusted bread.
«Don’t you feel nervous about this whole IPF thing?» Cardillo asked, trying to look earnest. «I mean, I can see Washington deciding to put boomers like your boats in mothballs, and the silo missiles, too. But the attack subs? Decommission our conventional weapons systems? Leave us disarmed?»
Hazard had not been in command of a missile submarine in more than three years. He had been allowed, even encouraged, to resign his commission after the hostage mess in Brussels.
«If you’re not in favor of what the American government is doing, then why did you agree to serve in the Peacekeepers?»
Cardillo shrugged and smiled slightly. It was not a pleasant smile. He had a thin, almost triangular face with a low, creased brow tapering down to a pointed chin. His once-dark hair, now peppered with gray, was thick and wavy. He had allowed it to grow down to his collar. His deep-brown eyes were always narrowed, crafty, focused so intently he seemed to be trying to penetrate through you. There was no joy in his face, even though he was smiling; no pleasure. It was the smile of a gambler, a con artist, a used-car salesman.
«Well,» he said slowly, putting his fork back down on the plate and leaning back in his chair, «you know the old saying, ‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.’»
Hazard nodded, although he felt puzzled. He groped for Cardillo’s meaning. «Yeah, I guess playing space cadet up there will be better than rusting away on the beach.»
«Playing?» Cardillo’s dark brows rose slightly. «We’re not playing, Johnny. We’re in this for keeps.»
«I didn’t mean to imply that I don’t take my duty to the IPF seriously,» Hazard answered.
For an instant Cardillo seemed stunned with surprise. Then he threw his head back and burst into laughter. «Jesus Christ, Johnny,» he gasped. «You’re so straight-arrow it’s hysterical.»
Hazard frowned but said nothing. Cardillo guffawed and banged the table with one hand. Some of the diners glanced their way. They seemed to be mostly Americans or Europeans, a few Asians. Some Brazilians, too, Hazard noticed as he waited for Cardillo’s amusement to subside. Probably from the capital or Rio.
«Let me in on the joke,» Hazard said at last.
Cardillo wiped at his eyes. Then, leaning forward across the table, his grin fading into an intense, penetrating stare, he whispered harshly, «I already told you, Johnny. If we can’t avoid being members of the IFF—if Washington’s so fucking weak that we’ve got to disband practically all our defenses—then what we’ve got to do is take over the Peacekeepers ourselves.»
«Take over the Peacekeepers?» Hazard felt stunned at the thought of it.
«Damn right! Men like you and me, Johnny. It’s our duty to our country.»
«Our country,» Hazard reminded him, «has decided to join the International Peacekeeping Force and has encouraged its military officers to obtain commissions in it.»
Cardillo shook his head. «That’s our stupid goddamn government, Johnny. Not the country. Not the people who really want to defend America instead of selling her out to a bunch of fucking foreigners.»
«That government,» Hazard reminded him, «won a big majority last November.»
Cardillo made a sour face. «Ahh, the people. What the fuck do they know?»
Hazard said nothing.
«I’m telling you, Johnny, the only way to do it is to take over the IPF.»
«That’s crazy.»
«You mean if and when the time comes, you won’t go along with us?»
«I mean,» Hazard said, forcing his voice to remain calm, «that I took an oath to be loyal to the IPF. So did you.»
«Yeah, yeah, sure. And what about the oath we took way back when—the one to preserve and protect the United States of America?»
«The United States of America wants us to serve in the Peacekeepers,» Hazard insisted.
Cardillo shook his head again, mournfully. Not a trace of anger. Not even disappointment. As if he had expected this reaction from Hazard. His expression was that of a salesman who could not convince his stubborn customer of the bargain he was offering.
«Your son doesn’t feel the same way you do,» Cardillo said.
Hazard immediately clamped down on the rush of emotions that surged through him. Instead of reaching across the table and dragging Cardillo to his feet and punching in his smirking face, Hazard forced a thin smile and kept his fists clenched on his lap.
«Jon Jr. is a grown man. He has the right to make his own decisions.»
«He’s serving under me, you know.» Cardillo’s eyes searched Hazard’s face intently, probing for weakness.
«Yes,» Hazard said tightly. «He told me.»
Which was an outright lie.
«Missiles approaching, sir!»
Stromsen’s tense warning snapped Hazard out of his reverie. He riveted his attention to the main CIC display screen. Six angry red dots were worming their way from the periphery of the screen toward the center, which marked the location of the Hunter.
«Now we’ll see if the ABM satellites are working or not,» Hazard muttered.
«Links with the ABM sats are still good, sir,» Yang reported from her station, a shoulder’s width away from Stromsen. «The integral antennas weren’t knocked out when they hit the comm dishes.»
Hazard gave her a nod of acknowledgment. The two young women could not have looked more different: Yang was small, wiry, dark, her straight black hair cut like a military helmet; Stromsen was willowy yet broad in the beam and deep in the bosom, as blonde as butter.
«Lasers on 324 and 325 firing,» the Norwegian reported.
Hazard saw the display lights. On the main screen the six red dots flickered orange momentarily, then winked out altogether.
Stromsen pecked at her keyboard. Alphanumerics sprang up on a side screen. «Got them all while they were still in first-stage burn. They’ll never reach us.» She smiled with relief. «They’re tumbling into the atmosphere. Burn-up within seven minutes.»
Hazard allowed himself a small grin. «Don’t break out the champagne yet. That’s just their first salvo. They’re testing to see if we actually have control of the lasers.»
It’s all a question of time, Hazard knew. But how much time? What are they planning? How long before they start slicing us up with laser beams? We don’t have the shielding to protect against lasers. The stupid politicians wouldn’t allow us to armor these stations. We’re like a sitting duck up here.
«What are they trying to accomplish, sir?» asked Yang. «Why are they doing this?»
«They want to take over the whole defense network. They want to seize control of the entire IPF.»
«That’s impossible!» Stromsen blurted.