Rich Man's War (35 page)

Tanner looked Andrea up and down and felt his heart stop, just as
he’d known it would. It was almost inevitable. At least the brief distraction offered by his date gave him a chance to process his emotions.

“Well, have no worries,
” Rebecca smiled. “I’m sure I’ll get caught up on the fashion and style commentary soon enough once the ball is over.” She pulled the cloth napkin from her lap and put it beside her plate. “Should we talk shop?”

“Only if you’re still on the clock while you’re here
,” answered Andrea.

“Hah! You bet your life
.” Rebecca stood. “I’ll be back in a minute, Tanner.”

“Ye
s,” Andrea agreed, placing her hand on his shoulder as she passed. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Tanner watched them stride away and let out a sigh as he turned back to his dinner plate. If there was one thing he hated about his relationships with women, it was the suspense.

“So, Tanner,” spoke up Hartmann, “I take it you didn’t plan on a career in politics after you finish your enlistment?”

The joke almost flew past him, but Tanner laughed. “No, I don’t think so. I’m not sure what I’ll do, to be honest. Get out
and go to a university, sure, but who knows what the job market will look like in three more years? Or the economy altogether? I mean, that has to be on
your
mind, right?”

“Sure. The government is taking a
huge gamble here.”

“You don’t seem too stressed about it. Won’t your firm be pretty busy?”

“We have offices all over the system and beyond,” replied Hartmann. “A company like mine never sleeps. But to be honest, anyone in Archangel with investments in the Big Three should’ve pulled out over a year ago. The writing was on the wall when the security contracts were canceled.”

Tanner considered his words. Plenty of voices
had called for Archangel’s citizens to pull out of such investments, of course—if not at the point Hartmann suggested, then certainly after the previous Annual Address and the takeover of the school system. Yet that seemed like a patriotic reaction. Tanner wondered if a financial firm would ever make its decisions based on patriotism alone.

Hartmann didn’t seem
concerned at all. Nor did Mr. or Mrs. Bowers, nor many others, whereas Tanner felt like he had just heard the most momentous announcement in his life. And Rebecca—a professional journalist, who for all her attention to “fashion and style” clearly kept up with politics—was just as surprised as Tanner.

The others at his table seemed interested, but
unsurprised. They were high-powered people, all of them, and probably accustomed to putting on a calm front in the face of sudden change. They had to be. Yet to accept all this so quickly and so easily...

He’d met these people before, when they came to meet the president. Months ago. In the case of Jim Bowers, visits to
Ascension Hall happened almost monthly. And they seemed perfectly relaxed.

“Mr. Hartmann,” Tanner
spoke up, “what would people in Archangel have had to do in order to
make
money on this whole shift? I mean, not just avoid losing money, like you’re saying. But are there ways anyone could have turned a profit?”

Hartmann blinked. “Well, certainly,” he said, showing the first bit of
consternation Tanner had seen from him all night. “People and companies who are ready to step up and fill the gaps in goods and services will do well. And, frankly, our credit with the rest of the Union has been in a nosedive for the last year because of all our disputes. The smart money is on buying and selling domestically. Businesses that bank on that strategy will probably see it pay off big.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Tanner said, but then another point caught up to him. “But that’s about going forward. I mean where would a person have had to be before tonight in order for this to really benefit?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to speculate too much,” Hartmann slowly answered. “Hypothetically, some stocks and other financial plans will do better than others. That happens with every Annual Address, really.”

Tanner watched and listened. He hadn’t asked his first question as a probe, but he noticed how Hartmann’s voice changed
as he spoke in generalities. He shifted in his seat, fidgeting with his cloth napkin. His rating school, still fresh in his mind, offered multiple classes about body language, interviews and interrogation.

Is he hiding something? Why would he be hiding anything from me? It’s not like Rebecca’s still at…

…the reporter isn’t at the table anymore,
Tanner realized.
I’m just a kid to him. I caught him off guard. What is going on?

“And
,” Hartmann continued, “I suppose folks who’ve paid only the minimums on their educational debt or were even behind on payments might come out ahead. The people who paid aggressively might be kicking themselves right now, though.”

That hit home. “Yeah,” Tanner sighed
, “I did that.”

“A lot of people did,” Hartmann
sympathized. “Or tried to, but fell behind, and hurt worse because of it. These will be massive changes for Archangel, and they’ll be pretty serious changes for other systems, too. The Big Three have a lot of explaining to do to the other planetary systems. With any luck, they’ll cut their losses here and be glad to be rid of us before we cause them more trouble. Bad enough that they’ve lost so much here already, but people have other debts to the Big Three besides education. There’s medical debt, financial services for business… if the educational system was so dishonest, what other dirty tricks might they have pulled in other fields? The Big Three don’t want this mess to get worse for them. But it probably will.”

Tanner nodded. “
That’s what I worry about.”

Hartmann
’s eyes flicked up to something behind Tanner’s shoulder. “You might want to worry about more immediate problems,” he said meaningfully.

“Hey, Tanner, I’m back,” smiled Rebecca as she sat down. “
Had to talk about ground rules with Andrea. No big deal. But she’s hoping you’ll go speak with her?”

“Right
.” Tanner rose from his chair. “Thanks.”

“Tell me everything,” Rebecca joked as he left. “Maybe take notes?”

With a sigh, Tanner slipped around more crowded tables and the occasional waiter on his way to the shimmering curtains that partitioned off the dining area from a service hallway nearby. Andrea stood at the edge of the curtain, her expression perfectly pleasant. None of the passersby who spoke with her lingered in a way that would delay this conversation.

“Hey,” Tanner said as he drew within speaking distance.

“Hi.”

He kept walking. She’d want this close enough to whisper,
even with the band and the crowd. “You look wonderful.”

“Thank you.”

“You always look wonderful,” he admitted with a shrug.

“So are you, by any chance, a little pissed off at me?”

“…No?”

“And this isn’t a
giant stunt to get back at me for calling it quits?”

“No, this
is a giant stunt because I came to this thing without a date.”

“You have an invitation to the
Annual Address
and you couldn’t find a date? I know it’s not a sports championship, but you expect me to believe you couldn’t find a date for
this?
”

“
No
, Andrea, I couldn’t,” Tanner fumed, though he kept his voice in check. “I hadn’t planned on coming. I transferred onto
Los Angeles
less than a week ago, and the captain saw the invitation as a point of pride for the ship. I can think of a half-dozen women I’d have asked if they weren’t tied up or living in another star system. Believe me, I tried.”

Andrea frowned. “So you just walked up to a reporter
on camera
and asked her?”

“Seemed like I wouldn’t have to worry about her doing anything crazy or embarrassing to the president if she was professional enough to be on that line
.”

“Embarrassing to the—you really had that in mind?” Andrea blinked incredulously.

“No,” Tanner asserted. “Honestly, I couldn’t care less about that right now. But I knew
you’d
care.”

“Me? You didn’t think about maybe embarrassing yourself? I thought you wanted out of the limelight.”

“What, you think they won’t want to use me for recruiting ads anymore?”

“No! But you knew she was broadcasting live! What were you gonna do if she said no?”

“I thought about that. I’d have moved on down the line to ask the next lady,” Tanner answered readily. “And that would’ve probably been on camera, too. Sounds like comedy gold to me. Look, is anyone going to care about me and how I found a date after the bombshells you guys dropped tonight?”

Andrea crossed
her arms across her chest uncomfortably. “No, I imagine not. Gossip writers need to fill their pages, but it’s not like they’ll be getting all the attention after this. But what did you mean you couldn’t care less? You’re angry about something. I can tell.”

“What’s NorthStar going to do about us canceling our debts, Andrea?” Tanner asked. “You were just out there on a neg
otiation. Did they only meet with you to stonewall? Did they not budge on anything?”

“You know I can’t talk about that, Tanner, not right now. I thought you’d be happy about this,” she said, her voice softening. “I was thinking of you while we were out there, and when we made this decision. They
robbed
you, Tanner. You and everyone else. They’ve been doing it for decades. What else should we do?”

Tanner let out a breath, trying to ease off as Andrea did. “Do you know who Sanjay Bhatia is?”

“I don’t. It rings a bell, but I’m sorry, I’m not placing it.”

“He was with me on
Scheherazade. I had to cut his arm off to keep some chaff from burning right on up into his chest and killing him,” Tanner explained. He saw the note of recognition in Andrea’s eyes. “Four marines died on Scheherazade, and Lt. Kelly put her ship in front of a blast from a laser cannon that could’ve killed a lot more. I had to cut off a guy’s arm and his new one still doesn’t work right. And all that happened because NorthStar wanted to let us know they were pissed at us.”

“I know,”
nodded Andrea. “I didn’t place the name, but I know what happened. But it’s all part of this. What else should we do but slam the door and tell them to never come back?”

“You think they’ll actually walk away?” Tanner
countered. “They pulled all that shit on Scheherazade to give us a shot across the bow. They could’ve kidnapped or killed hundreds of our people if we hadn’t been there. It was their idea of a warning. We’ve got one real cruiser. They have battleships.

“I’m not thrilled about
going into another fight, but at least I’ve been there before. I’m scared for all the other people who are gonna have to face that.”

Andrea reached out to take his hand. “You don’t think other people feel the same way? You think everyone wants to hide behind you?” She waited for an answer
, but he didn’t give one. “There’s a plan, Tanner. We had a plan going into this, and there are plans for the way out. They don’t share the military stuff with me. But there is a plan. You have to have faith. In Admiral Yeoh, in the president. In me.”

“I don’t think people realize how bad this could get.”

“I don’t think
you
realize that,” Andrea pointed out. “Nobody does. But you can’t hide forever.”

“Hey, I don’t want to hide, I just…” his voice trailed off. Tanner glanced out toward the ballroom and its glittering lights and people in fancy clothes. “I had to cut his arm off. He saved all of us. He should be here tonight. They all should. I feel like an asshole for being here when they’re not.

“And I didn’t ask Rebecca to get at you. I don’t have any hard feelings, Andrea. I’d have been more than happy to be your date tonight. No ambitions, just a date. But hell, I don’t know if you’re seeing anyone new and I didn’t know if you’d be back in time for this.”

Beneath Andrea’s frown, Tanner could see some affection. She tilted her head back toward his table in the ballroom. “She’s number two in line for Gabriel News Media’s seat in the presidential pool. I think their capital bureau put her on the red carpet to bust her chops. You might’ve given Cinderella her glass slippers.”

Tanner smiled. “Well, everyone deserves a fairy godmother, I guess.”

“
My point is, if you want to make a friend, give her a good story.”

“I thought we just established that the president and the Address were the story tonight?”

“They are,” Andrea nodded, “but there’s no way she doesn’t get at least a feature out of you asking her out right there on the carpet, and she’s not just a fashion reporter. You were on Scheherazade. You want to talk? Tell her what you told me.” She gave him a wink and added, “But I never told you to do any such thing.”