formal notice we intended to resort to military action, but I think it's significant that they don't mention our dispute over who did what to the official diplomatic correspondence.
'In addition,' she went on, in a slightly different tone, 'they've responded to our request that they nominate a neutral site.'
'Which is?' Pritchart asked as Montreau paused.
'Torch, Madam President,' the Secretary said, and Pritchart sat back in her chair with a suddenly thoughtful expression.
'You know,' she said, after a few seconds, 'that really should have occurred to us. It's the one neutral port where we both have contacts.' She chuckled suddenly. 'Of course, if it had occurred to me, I probably wouldn't have suggested it anyway. I'd have figured they wouldn't want to risk their monarch anywhere near our half-tame lunatic, Cachat!'
'Then you feel the site's acceptable?' Montreau asked, and Pritchart cocked her head to one side.
'You don't?'
'I think it's very inconveniently placed for us, Madam President,' the Secretary of State replied after a brief hesitation. 'Their delegation could make the trip in less than a week, thanks to their Junction and the Erewhon Junction. It's going to take over a month for our delegation to make the trip from Haven. And it's going to take over three weeks for our acceptance and their acknowledgment of our acceptance to travel back and forth between here and Manticore. So the absolute earliest we could actually sit down with them is the next best thing to two months from today.'
'That sort of time constraint's going to be part and parcel of any peace conference, Leslie,' Pritchart pointed out. 'It always takes time, and finding a suitable site we can both agree to is worth going a little out of our way. I suppose,' she smiled thinly, 'that we could always ask them to guarantee our safe conduct and take Haven One through their Junction. That would cut about a week off of our total transit time.'
'And Thomas Theisman would have me shot at dawn if I proposed any such thing, Madam President.'
'Probably not,' Pritchart disagreed.
'If it's all the same to you, Madam President, I'd prefer not to find out.'
'Wise of you, I suppose.' Pritchart sat for another moment, studying the Secretary of State's expression, then frowned very slightly. 'Somehow, though, Leslie, I don't think the time element is the only issue you have.'
'Well,' Montreau began, then stopped. She seemed uncomfortable, but finally she inhaled and started again.
'Madam President, I have to confess I'm just a little anxious about the notion of the President of the Republic attending a peace conference on a planet inhabited almost exclusively by freed genetic slaves. As far as I can tell, at least half of them have some connection with the Audubon Ballroom, and their Secretary of War is probably the galaxy's most notorious terrorist. Then there's the fact that they're a monarchy, with a queen who's the adopted daughter of one of Manticore's leading politicians and a man who used to be one of the Star Kingdom's best spies. And that same man is basically running Torch's intelligence community, with the Queen of Manticore's niece as his assistant.'
She shook her head.
'Madam President, I question whether or not this planet can really be considered a 'neutral site,' and I have some fairly severe reservations about your personal security and safety on Torch.'
'I see.'
Pritchart leaned back in her chair, her own expression thoughtful, and considered what Montreau had said. Then she shrugged.
'I can see why you might be concerned,' she said. 'I think, though, that you're making a not unreasonable mistake by failing to recognize that Torch is something new and unique. Yes, Queen Berry is the daughter of Anton Zilwicki and Catherine Montaigne. She was born on Old Earth, though, not Manticore, and I'm quite confident her primary loyalty is to her new planet and her new subjects. I have... certain highly covert contacts within the Torch government which keep me quite well informed in that regard.
'As for my personal security and safety among a bunch of ex-terrorists, you might want to recall just exactly what the Aprilists were.' Her smile this time was thin and cold. 'I was a senior member of the Aprilists, Leslie. I personally killed over a dozen men and women, and InSec labeled all of us 'terrorists.' I'm not going to worry all that much about my safety among people someone like Manpower's labeled terrorists simply because they chose to strike back violently at the butchers who made their lives living hells. And while Anton Zilwicki may head their intelligence services, I have complete and total faith in the young woman who commands their military.'
Montreau looked at her. Pritchart suspected the Secretary wanted to press her objections, but she had the good sense not to.
'Very well, Madam President,' she said instead. 'If the site's acceptable to you, I'm not going to raise any more objections. Although, with your permission, I intend to discuss my specific concerns with the Attorney General and Presidential Security, as well as my own security people.'
'Of course you have my permission, Leslie.'
'Thank you.'
The Secretary smiled, then tapped the last stack of hard copy.
'This was perhaps the most surprising part of the entire package,' she said. 'It includes a copy of two official messages to Erewhon. One is from Foreign Secretary Langtry, and the other's from Queen Elizabeth. They're proposing that both sides agree to bring no military units into the Congo System, aside from a single escort vessel for the ships transporting our delegations, and that the Erewhonese Navy assume responsibility for the system's security during the conference. The official messages they've copied to us are requests to Erewhon to agree to undertake that role.'
'Now that, Leslie, was a clever move on someone's part,' Pritchart said almost admiringly. 'High Ridge blotted Manticore's copybook so thoroughly with Erewhon that he almost drove them into our arms, and he managed it mainly because he was too stupid to understand how Erewhonese think. Obviously, whoever came up with this notion doesn't suffer from that particular form of blindness. Given that the Star Kingdom knows Erewhon provided us with significant technology transfers before hostilities resumed, this is Manticore's way of telling Erewhon the current government recognizes its predecessors' mistakes and that it trusts the Republic of Erewhon to keep its word. That it trusts Erewhon enough to put the life of its Queen into Erewhonese hands, even after what happened when Elizabeth visited Grayson. Or, for that matter, when Princess Ruth visited Erewhon.'
She shook her head, smiling.
'Whatever comes of the peace conference, asking Erewhon to guarantee our security is going to move it almost all the way back to a truly neutral position between us and Manticore.'
'Should we object to the suggestion, then?' Montreau asked, and Pritchart shook her head again, more violently.
'Certainly not! Objecting to the suggestion, especially after Elizabeth and Langtry have already issued their request, would be the same as saying we don't trust the Erewhonese to play the role of honest neutral. Right off hand, I can't think of anything that would be more destructive to our own relationship with them.'
'Then I take it you're prepared to approve the Manticoran proposal?'
'Yes, I think I am. As you suggested, I'll want to read over the correspondence myself, and we'll have to have Cabinet approval before I take the entire notion officially to the Senate. Under the circumstances, though, I don't see anyone raising any objections if I'm agreeable.'
'Frankly, I don't either, Madam President. So, with your permission,' Montreau stood, 'I'll get back to my office. Colonel Nesbitt and I need to begin considering our own security recommendations.'
'So the President is really serious about this, Madam Secretary?' Jean-Claude Nesbitt asked.
'She certainly is, Colonel,' Secretary of State Montreau replied. 'And while I admit I have a few reservations about the site myself, this initiative of hers also strikes me as our best chance for a negotiated settlement.'
'I see.'
Nesbitt frowned, and Montreau looked at him questioningly. He saw her expression and gave himself an impatient little shake.
'Sorry, Madam Secretary. I'm just thinking about all the things that could go wrong. And, if I'm going to be honest, I suppose I'm also thinking about the relative military positions. Given our current advantages, and the fact that the Manties appear to be tangled up with the Sollies in Talbott, I hope President Pritchart's planning on taking
