War Of Honor

Republic to negotiate 'under threat.'

'But we still have a responsibility to observe the terms of the existing truce,' New Kiev argued.

'I'm sure we all agree with that in principle, Marisa,' High Ridge said soothingly. Her eyes flashed angrily, but he continued in those same, smooth tones. 'As Edward says, however, we have a responsibility as Her Majesty's Government to consider all options and alternatives, don't we?'

New Kiev had opened her mouth, but now she shut it again. Her expression remained thunderous, but she drew a deep breath and nodded, despite her obvious unhappiness with the thought.

'Actually,' Janacek said after a moment, 'there probably isn't any conflict between the truce terms and the operational requirements of a preemptive strike.'

All of them looked at him in varying degrees of surprise, and it was his turn to shrug.

'For obvious reasons, we've paid particularly close attention over at Admiralty House to the terms which bear specifically on military operations,' he said. 'Those terms require both sides to refrain from hostile actions as long as the negotiations are proceeding. If they stop proceeding, then that requirement no longer applies.'

'You mean—?' Descroix's eyes widened in speculation as she looked at him, and he smiled thinly.

'Technically, we could decide at any time we wished to break off talks and terminate the truce. Or we could determine that the Republic has already effectively done so.'

'In what way?' Descroix asked.

'As you just pointed out, Elaine, they've destabilized the balance by secretly building this new fleet of theirs. Certainly we could argue that such a massive escalation of their war-fighting ability—particularly when we've been unilaterally building down our own naval strength in the interest of reducing tensions and promoting the peace—represents a 'hostile action.' Under those circumstances, we would have every right to act to neutralize that action.'

He shrugged again, and New Kiev stared at him in a shock that verged on horror. Descroix and High Ridge, on the other hand, returned his thin smile with broader ones of their own. He was hardly surprised by any of the reactions he'd elicited, but his attention was focused on New Kiev.

'I'm not suggesting that we do anything of the sort, Marisa,' he told her in his most reasonable voice. 'I'm simply pointing out that if they drive us to it, we have options. To be perfectly and brutally honest, I would advocate launching an attack with no notice at all if I believed the situation were sufficiently desperate to justify it. As it happens, I don't believe that's the case at this point, and I would never suggest doing anything of the sort if the situation isn't desperate. But as Michael says, we have a responsibility as Ministers of the Crown to consider all possible avenues of action, however distasteful we may personally find some of them to be.'

'Edward is right, Marisa.' High Ridge was careful to project an equally calm and reasonable attitude. 'No one disputes that we have a responsibility to set an example of proper behavior in our conduct of our diplomacy. Certainly, I would never wish to be the Prime Minister who violates any interstellar agreement to which the Star Kingdom is a party. Any such action must be repugnant to any of us, even when—as Edward has just pointed out —we wouldn't be technically violating anything. At the same time, however, I have to agree with him that under certain circumstances, military necessity clearly trumps any treaty clause or agreement.'

New Kiev hovered on the brink of hot disagreement, but then she looked around at the others' expressions and hesitated. And in that moment of hesitation, her urge towards rebellion perished. It was obvious that she couldn't bring herself to agree, but neither was she willing to disagree. Not, at least, while the question remained hypothetical.

'Very well, then,' the Prime Minister said briskly as the Chancellor of the Exchequer sank unhappily back in her chair. 'Edward and Reginald will begin work immediately to project the necessary budgetary adjustments to respond to the Republic's new ships. Edward, I'll want to see both minimum and maximum projections. How quickly can you have them for us?'

'I can probably have rough numbers for you by tomorrow evening,' Janacek replied. 'Until we manage to confirm or disprove the accuracy of Theisman's claims, 'rough' is all they'll be, though,' he cautioned.

'Understood.' High Ridge rubbed his hands together, frowning in thought, then nodded. 'All right. While Edward works on that, the rest of us need to concentrate on the spadework to prepare public opinion. We have at most another twelve to eighteen hours before this hits the 'faxes. Between now and then, we have to convene a meeting of the entire Cabinet and prepare an official response to the news. Something that combines the proper balance of gravity and confidence. Elaine, I think you should prepare a separate statement as Foreign Secretary. Marisa, I'd like you to work with Clarence on a more general statement for the Government as a whole.'

He watched New Kiev with carefully concealed intensity as he made the request. She seemed to hesitate for just a moment, but then she nodded, and he relaxed internally. She would be far less likely to break ranks with the rest of the Government's position later if she bore formal responsibility for the statement which had announced it in the first place.

'In that case,' he said calmly, 'I would suggest that we adjourn and get started.'

Chapter Thirty One

'How well did we time it, My Lady?' Admiral Alfredo Yu asked. He and Rafe Cardones had arrived in Honor's day cabin together, and now the slender, one-time Peep grinned broadly at his hostess while James MacGuiness began distributing potable refreshments. 'I tried not to interrupt your breakfast.'

'Mercedes and I were just finishing dessert, actually,' Honor told him with an answering smile. She glanced at Brigham, almond eyes twinkling wickedly, and Nimitz groomed his whiskers cheerfully at the other woman from her shoulder.

'And did our arrival come as a pleasant surprise?' Yu asked as he also turned to the chief of staff . . . who'd commanded a division of SD(P)s in the Protector's Own before accepting her position on Honor's staff.

'After we got over the collective heart failure you and Her Grace managed to inflict on all of us,' Brigham replied wryly, and shook her head. 'I can't believe that neither of you even told me this was coming!'

'Well, it wouldn't exactly have been fair to tell you if I didn't tell anyone else on the staff, now would it?' Honor asked, and chuckled at the very old-fashioned look Brigham bestowed upon her.

'Was there a particular reason why you didn't tell the entire staff?' the older woman asked after a moment, and Honor shrugged.

'I suppose not, really,' she conceded. 'But since none of Alfredo's people knew they were headed out here when they first sailed, it just seemed that it would be . . . I don't know, inappropriate, perhaps, to tell you what they didn't know. Besides,' her crooked smile turned impish, 'Alfredo and I had already decided all of you could use a little unscheduled drill you didn't know was a drill. And it did get all of us up on our toes, didn't it?'

'I imagine someone given to understatement might put it that way, Your Grace,' Cardones agreed in a dust-dry tone. 'Not,' he continued, turning to Yu, 'that we're not all delighted to see you, Admiral.'

'I believe Captain Cardones speaks for all of us in that, Sir,' Andrea Jaruwalski put in, and shook her head. 'You've just more than doubled our strength in both SD(P)s and CLACs, after all!'

'And no one knows you have. Not yet, at least,' Brigham observed with profound satisfaction.

'But that cuts both ways,' Jaruwalski pointed out. 'If the Andies do decide to try something, then the fact that we have Admiral Yu's units to back us up is going to come as a profoundly unhappy surprise for them. But if they did know he was here, then his presence might well . . . dissuade them from any risky adventures.'

'The word will get around soon enough,' Honor reassured her, then paused to accept a stein of Old Tillman from MacGuiness. She smiled her thanks at the steward and turned back to the ops officer.

'The Silesian grapevine is the only genuinely faster than light means of interstellar communications I've ever encountered, Andrea,' she continued. 'And, frankly, I'm not at all unhappy at how quickly I expect the word to get out. The secrecy about Admiral Yu's destination wasn't aimed at the Andies in the first place.'

'Worried about the Opposition in the Keys, Your Grace?' Brigham asked shrewdly, and Honor nodded.