Executive by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page B

feel that no individual is better qualified to advise me on that than you. Will you serve?”
    Stonebridge was obviously upset and uncertain. “Let me take time to consider, sir. There are implications that—”
    “Of course,” I agreed. “But bear in mind that the sooner I get competent advice, the better it will be for Jupiter.”
    He faded out. I saw that Robertico was getting sleepy, so I cast about for a way to put him down.
    “Hope, we have Hopie on the line,” Spirit said.
    “Put her on!”
    Hopie's face appeared. “Oh, isn't he cute!” she exclaimed.
    “Uh, I need—” I began somewhat lamely.
    “Yes, Daddy, Aunt Spirit explained. You're all upheavaled! You need a bottle, and a formula, and a crib, and some toys and a whole lot of time.”
    “I don't have any of those!”
    “I know. I'd better get up there and take over.”
    “But your mother—”
    “Daddy, she understands.”
    “I'm not sure she does.”
    Spirit touched my hand. “She understands.”
    Evidently Spirit had talked directly to Megan. “Oh. Then—”
    “I'll catch a priority flight,” Hopie said happily.
    “The Navy will take you, dear,” Spirit put in. “Can you be ready in...” She glanced at Shelia.
    Emerald's face flicked on the screen. “Fifteen minutes,” she said, and flicked off.
    “Yes,” Hopie agreed.
    “You'll be here in two hours,” Spirit told the girl.
    “He'll wake before then, hungry,” Hopie said. “Give him something to chew on.”
    “We'll try,” I said.
    “And change your shirt,” Hopie instructed me.
    I glanced down at myself. Yes, I needed a change. I started to work my way out of the shirt.
    The screen blanked. “Now we'd better make the announcement about the abolition of Congress and assure the citizens that their interests will be represented,” Spirit said briskly.
    “But Robertico—”
    “We'll put some pillows on the floor; he'll be safe there.”
    They fetched pillows from the nearest beds elsewhere in the mansion and piled them on the floor. I set the baby down, but the moment I let go of him, he woke and screamed, and I had to pick him up again.
    In addition, I discovered that I had no replacement shirt. In our rush to get here and get started, that detail had been neglected. “I will order more,” Shelia said. She knew my sizes, of course; she knew everything about me that a secretary should know—and more.
    So I sat in a plush easy chair, shirtless, holding Robertico, with pillows braced about me. He settled back to sleep, and Spirit and I made notes for my next announcement.
    “Sir,” Shelia said.
    I was coming to dread that word! “Not another crisis?”
    “The Saturn Embassy,” she said.
    I sighed. “Put it on.”
    The face of the ambassador from Saturn came on the main screen. He took in my situation and scowled.
    “Perhaps I should return when you are less domestic, Mr. President,” he said.
    “Just call me Tyrant,” I said. “What is your business?”
    “My government wishes to clarify the status of interplanetary relations between Jupiter and Saturn, considering your recent change in government.”
    “Unchanged,” I said.
    “We would prefer an improvement.”
    “I'm amenable.”
    He seemed disconcerted. “Specifically—”
    “No specifics yet,” I cut in. “If you come to us with positive proposals for the diminution of interplanetary tension, we shall reciprocate. It's up to you.”
    Still, he seemed unpleased. He was trying to measure me, and I wasn't giving him much substance.
    “Surely—”
    “So good to have had this dialogue,” I said, signaling to Shelia, who cut him off.
    “We'll have trouble with Saturn,” Spirit said darkly. “They always work over a new administration.”
    “Precisely,” I agreed. “I mean to be ready for the vultures as they descend.”
    We returned to work on the announcement, punctuated by calls from every type of party. I dealt with them as well as I could, making no commitments. We formulated a list of