In Enemy Hands

He paused until Ransom nodded grudgingly. 'And the other advantages?' she asked.

'The second one,' Theisman said, 'is the propaganda opportunities adherence to the Accords would provide, and, conversely, the dangers which might arise from an official, wholesale abandonment of them. The Accords are important to the decision-making segments of both the Alliance and the Solarian League. Without admitting that those decision-makers are the legitimate representatives of the People...' but without admitting that they aren't, either! '...we can't deny the objective reality that they are making the decisions at this moment. Among those decisions are the ones under which we're receiving clandestine support from certain elements within the League. If we denounce the Accords, those supporting the war against us will certainly attempt to portray us in the worst possible light for domestic consumption, which could have the twin effects of stiffening the Manties' wills and providing them with additional leverage with which to attempt to cut off the aid we're receiving from the League.

'If, on the other hand, we continue to abide by the Accords' stipulations, we can present ourselves as the natural allies of the people of the Star Kingdom. Remember that only about twenty percent of captured enemy personnel are officers, Citizen Secretary, and not even all of them come from the aristocracy or plutocracy. Put another way, at least eighty percent of the prisoners who profit from our observance of the Accords will come from the other classes of Manticoran society. By emphasizing that we treat our prisoners as the Accords provide, we'll reassure our natural allies among the enemy's population that we'll treat them well if they surrender... or come over to our side.'

'Hm.' Ransom rubbed her nose for a moment, eyes hooded and thoughtful, then nodded slowly. 'There's certainly something to that, Citizen Admiral,' she conceded. 'Of course, if we make that our official position, we'll have to be very selective in the instances in which we don't comply with all of the Accords' ridiculous provisions. If we're not, Manty propagandists will certainly fasten on the individual cases in which we make other... dispositions as proof that we're lying.'

'That may be so, Ma'am.' Of course it is, you twit! That's why I suggested it, Theisman thought, but no sign of it showed on his face. 'I'm simply offering you my own perspective on the matter.'

'I understand that, Citizen Admiral. But you said there was a third advantage?'

'Yes, Ma'am. Put simply, it's a question of reciprocity. If we treat their captured personnel well, we have a basis for demanding that they treat our people well. In effect, they'll have to treat their prisoners at least as well as we treat ours or find themselves losing ground in the propaganda war, and I think that's worthwhile for two reasons. First, I feel we have a moral responsibility to see to it that the personnel fighting the People's war are treated as well as possible under all circumstances, including their capture by the enemy. Second, our Navy's morale will be stronger if our personnel feel they'll be well treated in the event that they fall into enemy hands.'

He started to list yet another reason to hope for reciprocal good treatment of POWs, but stopped himself in time. Pointing out to the Secretary of Public Information that the Manties had so far captured ten or fifteen times as many Republican personnel as the PRH had captured of them wouldn't be the smartest thing he could possibly do.

'I see,' Ransom said again. She propped her elbows on the arms of her chair and steepled her fingers under her chin, regarding Theisman through opaque eyes, and he looked back steadily, trying to ignore the churning of his stomach. 'I must say, Citizen Admiral,' she went on after several silent moments, 'that I'm impressed by the reasoning behind your arguments. It's a pity you've been so, ah, apolitical previously. We could make use of a flag officer with your insights.'

'I've been apolitical because I don't feel suited to a political career,' Theisman said with a generous ten thousand percent understatement.

'I'm not so certain of that,' Ransom mused. 'You certainly seem to have a keen grasp of the propaganda aspects of the situation!'

'I'm flattered that you think so, Ma'am, but I'm not sure I can agree,' Theisman replied. He was very careful not to add that the fact that she thought he had 'a keen grasp' of anything to do with the present situation said a lot about the faultiness of her own grasp of it. 'Actually, I'm sure that if you consider it you'll realize my observations all relate to what I see as the military implications of our policy on the Accords. I'm concerned with things like not jeopardizing our contact with the Solarian Leagues technical experts, or strengthening the enemy's will to fight or weakening our own. I'm afraid that beyond that point, my grasp of the overall political and economic dimensions of the war are limited. Remember our discussion on the day you arrived here? My entire adult life and career have been within the military community, not society at large, and I feel very strongly that I should stay with the trade I know best in a war like this.'

'Perhaps you're right,' Ransom said. 'Frankly, in light of your record in the field, we might be unwise to try moving you back to the capital system. The war effort requires political direction for success, but it also requires officers capable of translating that direction into successful action on the battlefield.'

Theisman gave a nod that was half bow but said nothing, and she lowered her hands to run them up and down the chair arms.

'You've given me quite a bit to think about, Citizen Admiral,' she said. 'I may have been hasty in dismissing the Accords as useless. Mind you, I still see no reason we should consider ourselves bound by obsolete agreements drafted by our class enemies if it's to our advantage to discard them, but you've certainly gotten me to think about the unwisdom of doing so without careful consideration of the consequences.'

Theisman nodded again. His stomach was a solid knot as tension combined with too much cheap whiskey, and the strain of keeping it out of his voice and expression made him want to throw up. But it looked as if his effort had been worthwhile, and he tried very hard not to think about all the other ways someone like Ransom could produce disasters... or atrocities.

'At any rate,' she said more briskly, pushing up out of her chair, 'this is clearly not the time to unilaterally denounce them.' The relief Theisman felt at those words made his knees so weak he had trouble standing to match her movement, but she wasn't done. 'And for the instances in which violating them is indicated,' she added, 'we'll have to be careful in our justifications, you're certainly right about that, Citizen Admiral.'

It was fortunate for Thomas Theisman that she was turning toward the door as she spoke, for it meant she missed the flash of pure horror which flickered across his face despite all he could do.

'Yes,' she went on thoughtfully as he made himself escort her courteously to the door, 'this is going to take some thought. Perhaps what we should do is centralize all POW decisions. We could adopt a policy under which the names of captured personnel are provided to the League inspectors only from central HQs. For that matter, we could restrict the inspectors' contacts and unescorted movements to the planets where we put those HQs, couldn't we?' Her voice brightened. 'Of course we could! We can take the position that it's a matter of our own military security and that doing things in an orderly, organized fashion will actually make it easier for us to assure our POWs receive proper care. We'll even be telling the truth! Of course,' she flashed another of those icy, hungry smiles, 'it will also mean we'll never have to admit ever having even seen the... inconvenient prisoners. What a pity we didn't think of all this before! It certainly would have simplified the present situation.'

Theisman swallowed bile as the Secretary of Public Information paused at the door to shake his hand warmly.

'Thank you very much, Citizen Admiral!' she said enthusiastically. 'You've been a tremendous help to the war effort. If you have any other valuable ideas, please share them with me!'

She gave his hand another squeeze, smiled brightly, and left, and Thomas Theisman barely made it to the head before he vomited.

Chapter Twenty-One

The guards aboard the shuttle wore the black tunics and red trousers of State Security, not Navy green and