Dinner was the kind of formal event that Justine could sleepwalk through in her official role as hostess. They held it in the main dining room, with broad churchlike arched windows looking out across gardens illuminated by thousands of twinkling white fairy stars. She made sure Campbell was at one end of the long oak table with her father, while she chatted away to Patricia at the other end. Isabella didn’t join them for dinner.
“She finds these things a little dull, I’m afraid,” Patricia said as the band started playing some background jazz.
“She’s young,” Justine said sympathetically. “You did well getting her to come along at all.”
“It was the names, she’s a bit of a fame junkie,” Patricia admitted as she bit into her starter of cannelloni of smoked salmon. “Right now she’s accessing Murderous Seduction , it’s the penultimate episode.”
“Isn’t that a biogdrama of the last Myo case?”
“Yes. A bit melodramatic for me, but the lead character is sort of her age, and it’s a good production.”
“I wish I had time to keep up on pop culture. I’m surprised you do, especially right now.”
“Part of the job is coaxing various celebrity endorsements, among others.” Her smile was polite, but one hundred percent professional.
“Our family is very supportive of the starship agency proposal. Hence this weekend.”
“I know, and Elaine is very appreciative of that.”
“Will she be making it part of her platform?” Justine looked down the length of the table, straight at her father’s expressionless gold face.
“It’s a bit radical, but then the Dyson mission has injected a few new factors into today’s politics. The agency needs to go ahead, Elaine knows that, she’s prepared to go out on a limb if that’s what it takes.”
Gore Burnelli gave a tiny nod. “Our family will certainly do whatever we can to support her position this weekend,” Justine said.
“I’m very grateful for that help.” Patricia couldn’t quite conceal her predatory smile as she took another mouthful of the rolled salmon.
Justine studiously avoided any more verbal fencing with Patricia for the rest of the evening. The meal wasn’t the time for the serious negotiations to start in earnest; instead the three Burnellis made sure they talked to everyone separately at some point, preparing them for tomorrow.
It began in earnest at breakfast. The staff had set up an extensive buffet in the conservatory on the side of the main house, and Justine came over early to join Patricia and Crispin Goldreich at a table. Crispin’s two wives, Lady Mary and Countess Sophia, were still in their lodge taking breakfast in bed, though one of his aides sat beside him, pouring tea and fetching food from the buffet. Patricia’s immaculate young man was doing the same thing for her.
One of the house staff brought a pot of Jamaican coffee for Justine. She sat next to Crispin as he ate his eggs Benedict. It was the less confrontational position, she wanted to know the same things as Patricia, and Crispin was hugely influential. In addition to his leadership of the Budget Commission, he held a lot of authority among the bloc of European affiliate planets.
“Thompson told me you were one of the more moderate voices on the Council meeting,” Justine said.
“Cautious would be the more accurate word, my dear. I’ve been in this game long enough to spot an open-ended commitment. If this agency is approved by the Senate, there is no knowing how long taxpayers will be required to fund the endeavor. It won’t end with the Dyson flights, you know. If they turn out to be benign, there will be a precedent in place for government to fund exploration of other questionable unknowns.”
“Which is surely better than having it done by a private company?” Patricia said. “We’ve all heard the rumors of closed planets, worlds which have something so valuable the Sheldons have kept it for themselves.”
“And you believe that?” Crispin asked.
“Not personally, no. But I do believe that the government should be more involved with the investigation of potentially hazardous scenarios, such as the Dyson Pair. For that we need the starflight agency. After all, the Dyson Pair is the very first time we’ve found anything remotely threatening. And it’s a big galaxy. So far we’ve been lucky. We have to start being more cautious.”
“Which brings us to this dratted navy proposal,” Crispin said.
“You can’t deny that would be essential if the Dyson scouting mission proves them hostile.”
“No, I don’t. But the expenditure for that will be orders of magnitude above a starflight agency.”
“So how would you like to see this managed?” Patricia asked.
Crispin took a moment to finish the last of his eggs Benedict. “With a greater degree of responsibility,” he said eventually. “At the moment we’re simply throwing money at the problem. The first thing I’d like to see is some proper channeling of resources.”
