Shadow of the giant

said Peter with a smile.
"The baby's asleep?"
    "Sorry, you don't get to watch me nurse him," said
Petra.
    "I have good news and bad news," said Peter.
    They waited for him to tell them.
    "I need you to go back to Rwanda, Julian."
    "I thought the Rwandan government was with us,"
said Petra.
    "It's not a raid," said Peter. "I need you to
take command of the Rwandan military and incorporate it into the Hegemony
forces."
    Petra laughed. "You're kidding. Felix Starman is going
to ratify your Constitution?"
    "Hard to believe, but yes, Felix is ambitious the way
I'm ambitious— he wants to create something that will outlive him. He knows
that the best way for Rwanda to be safe and free is for there to be no armies
in the world. And the only way for that to happen is to have a world government
that will maintain the liberal values he has created in his Rwanda—elections,
individual rights, the rule of law, universal education, and no
corruption."
    "We've read your Constitution, Peter," said Bean.
    "He asked for you in particular," said Peter.
"His men saw you when you took Volescu. They call you the African Giant
now."
    "Darling," said Petra to Bean. "You're a god
now, like Virlomi."
    "The question is whether you're woman enough to be
married to a god," said Bean.
    "I shade my eyes and it keeps me from going
blind."
    Bean smiled and turned to Peter. "Does Felix Starman
know how long I'm not expected to live?"
    "No," said Peter. "I regard that as a state
secret."
    "Oh no," said Petra. "Now we can't tell each
other."
    "How long will you expect me to stay?"
    "Long enough for the Rwandan army to transfer its
loyalty to the Free People."
    "To you?"
    "To the Free People," said Peter. "I'm not
creating a cult of personality here. They have to be committed to the Constitution.
And to defending the Free People who have accepted it."
    "In practical terms, a date, please," said Bean.
    "Until after the plebiscite, at least," said
Peter.
    "And I can go with him?" asked Petra.
    "Your choice," said Peter. "It's probably
safer there than here, but it's a long flight. You can write the Martel essays
from anywhere."
    "Julian, he's leaving it up to us. We're Free People
now too!"
    "All right, I'll do it," said Bean. "Now
what's the good news?"
    "That was the good news," said Peter. "The bad
news is that we've had a sudden and unexpected shortfall in revenue. It will
take months, at least, to make up what we abruptly stopped receiving. Therefore
we're cutting back on projects that don't contribute directly to the goals of
the Hegemony."
    Petra laughed. "You have the cheek to ask us to help
you, when you're cutting off funding for our search?"
    "You see? You immediately recognized that your search
was not contributing."
    "You're searching, too," said Bean. "To find
the virus."
    "If it exists," said Peter. "In all
likelihood, Volescu is teasing us, and the virus doesn't actually work and
hasn't been dispersed."
    "So you're going to bet the future of the human race on
that?"
    "No I'm not," said Peter. "But without a
budget for it, it's beyond our reach. However, it is not beyond the reach of
the International Fleet."
    "You're turning it over to them?"
    "I'm turning Volescu over to them. And they're going to
continue the research into the virus he developed and where he might have
dispersed it, if he did."
    "The I.F. can't operate on Earth."
    "They can if they're acting against an alien threat. If
Volescu's virus works, and it's released on Earth, it would create a new
species designed to completely replace humanity in a single generation. The
Hegemon has issued a secret finding that Volescu's virus constitutes an alien
invasion, which the I.F. has kindly agreed to track down and ... repel for
us."
    Bean laughed. "Well, it seems we think alike."
    "Really?" said Peter. "Oh, you're just
flattering me."
    "I already turned over our search to the Ministry of
Colonization. And we both know that Graff is really functioning as a branch of
the I.F."
    Peter regarded him calmly. "So you knew I'd have to cut
the budget for your search."
    "I knew that you didn't have the resources no matter
how much budget you have. Ferreira was doing his best, but ColMin has better
software."
    "Well, everything's working out happily for everyone,
then," said Peter, standing up to go.
    "Even for Ender," said Bean.
    "Your baby's a lucky little boy," said Peter,
"to have such attentive parents." And he was out the door.
     
     
    Volescu looked tired when Bean went to see him.