Empire (Empire 1)

International reaction was predictable but maddening. The sworn enemies of the United States were quick to recognize the Progressive Restoration, declaring their U.N. ambassadors to be ambassadors to the United States as well, downgrading their ambassadors in

Washington to mere consular status. But that sort of thing was expected from those nations, hardly worth noticing.

It was the wait-and-see reaction from supposed allies in NATO and elsewhere that infuriated LaMonte and Sarkissian. As Sarkissian said in one meeting, “Do our allies really want an armed rebellion controlled by unknown persons to get their fanatical little hands on the nuclear button?”

The worst was that President Nielsen’s inner council was divided as well. Sarkissian and Porter argued for military action. Torrent argued for them to wait. And so far, at least, LaMonte was deciding things Torrent’s way.

“You’re right,” LaMonte said to Sarkissian and Porter, more than once. “Our inaction is practically inviting other states to attempt to join with the rebels. But their resolutions have no legal force whatsoever. Passing a resolution doesn’t give them military power. When we decide to take action, we’ll take that action.”

The longer we wait means the larger the portion of the country that will have to be treated like an occupied enemy when the war is over, they said.

But always LaMonte would say, “It’s a struggle for hearts and minds. They want us to use military might. In their view, it proves that they’re right about us. So we’ll limit ourselves to very small military actions while we find out who these people really are. When we find out who’s funding all this and who’s giving the orders, then we can treat it as what it is—a police matter. We’ll arrest the perpetrators, seize their military and financial assets, and then welcome everybody back to constitutional government with open arms and no grudges. That can only happen if there’s no invasion, no bloodbath.”

Cecily attended some of these meetings, though not as a participant, merely as an observer and a resource if someone should need her to answer a question. She knew that LaMonte did not come up with this plan himself. His adamant stand in favor of investigation-before-invasion was Torrent’s plan.

But it was the right one. There was a reason why Reuben had respected the man so much. He was brilliant. He was completely nonpartisan. He always reasoned from practical principles: This might work, this certainly won’t. And as he sent Reuben’s jeesh out on missions that always worked, his stock rose higher and higher in the administration—and in Congress. He could speak the language of liberals to liberals and conservatives to conservatives, and yet his words to one group never antagonized the other. He was a living exemplar of what it might mean to be a moderate, if there were such things in American politics anymore.

It was also Torrent who heard from everybody working on the investigation. So it was hardly a surprise when he was the one who put it all together into some clear answers.

Not clear enough to announce anything, though. Because what he didn’t have was proof of the kind that would overwhelm the media and the opposition in Congress.

“We can’t build this like a legal case in corporate law,” he explained to Cecily and the jeesh. “It isn’t a judge we have to convince, it’s the very people who are most committed to disbelieving everything we say.”

“So who is it?” asked Cecily.

“We’ve known from the start who the most likely person behind all this is,” said Torrent. “Aldo Verus.”

“He’s a clown,” said Babe. “His birth name was Aldo Vera. A joke, like Armand Hammer.”

“He’s a straw man,” said Drew. “The favorite bugbear of conservatives.”

“Which is why we’ve worked so hard to find somebody else,” said Torrent. “But Verus has been using his uncountable fortune to fund ultra-left-wing movements for years. His avowed purpose has always been to bring down the late President. He closely monitors every dime he contributes to front organizations to make sure it’s being effectively used. He requires them to raise matching funds so he can husband his resources. He’s a smart guy, he’s grimly determined, and just because he announced his goal doesn’t mean he can’t be the one who’s accomplishing it.”

Torrent proceeded to enumerate the business holdings Verus had divested over the past two years. “He had plenty of money out of ordinary profits to fund the design of these weapons. But our weapons experts say that to get them from prototype to production, the big expenditures would have begun about two years ago. And that’s exactly when he started selling off these companies.”

“He can’t outspend the Defense Department,” said Cat. “Nobody has that much money.”

“He’s a better manager of his money than the Defense Department,” said Torrent. “He doesn’t have to maintain bases or pay the salaries of thousands of soldiers in Korea and Germany. He doesn’t have to please Congressmen. And he doesn’t have to match our military strength—he only has to have a credible enough force to cause us trouble.”

Torrent gave them copies of the report on the probable cost of manufacturing the mechs and the hovercycles. “We’ve run the numbers. Assuming he pays his soldiers comparably to U.S. soldiers, and assuming that only one out of five of the mechs is internally manned, while the others are controlled by a computer operator at a remote location, and comparing that with the money we know he got from the sales of directly-owned assets, our estimate is that a possible force configuration is 250 mechs, a thousand hovercycles, and an additional thousand soldiers who run the focused EMPs and handle routine foot patrol.”

“Don’t forget that he might have plenty of funding that isn’t his own money,” said Cat. “There’s all that Hollywood cash.”

“That all had to be put into tax-deductible organizations. The only American money he can spend without public accountability is his own,” said Torrent.

“But he might have tapped into Iranian money,” suggested Benny.

“Possibly. Or Russian or Chinese. But I don’t think so. If Verus accepted even a dime of foreign money, and it became known, then he’d lose vast amounts of his support. His cause can’t look like it’s sponsored by foreigners, period.”

“Okay,” said Cecily. “Let’s just say if it’s Verus, and he has the force you estimate, what then?”

“Satellite photos of the forces deployed in New York City indicate fewer than fifty mechs and only a couple of hundred hovercycles.”

“A fifth of your estimate,” said Drew.

“Exactly,” said Torrent. “Where’s the rest of it?”

Arty immediately said,