War Of Honor

'Even if they become aware of all those factors, however, the building policies they've adopted over the past three years give us a substantial—I repeat, a substantial—advantage over them in modern ship types. Our best estimate at NavInt is that even if they realize tomorrow what they're actually up against, it will take them a minimum of two or even three T-years to regain parity in hulls.'

'Sir,' Vice Admiral Linda Trenis, the director of the Bureau of Plans, said very carefully, 'are you suggesting that Case Red is actually likely to be put into effect?'

'No,' Theisman replied for Marquette. Then he grimaced. 'Let me rephrase. If, and I say if, it comes to open conflict with the Manties, I consider that Case Red is the war plan which we would be most likely to adopt. Under the circumstances, and especially in light of how close they already are to the Haven system with their advanced elements at Lovat, we simply don't have the depth to absorb a fresh, major offensive. Admiral Marquette is completely correct about the numerical advantage we currently enjoy over the RMN. Until and unless our hardware is tested against theirs in actual combat, no one can accurately estimate what the actual balance of military power is, although I genuinely believe it's presently in our favor. But it doesn't matter if our fleet is stronger than theirs if they manage to break through to Haven and occupy the high orbitals of the capital. And given the astrophysics of our starting positions, they're one hell of a lot closer to our capital system than we are to theirs.

'Because of that, if worse comes to worst and we're forced to resume operations, we must seize the initiative at the very outset and be certain that we retain it throughout. And to do that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is going to require that we go on the offensive and stay there. Which brings us directly to Case Red.

'That happens to be an inescapable consequence of the starting situation. But what you were really asking, Linda, was whether or not we should be planning a preemptive strike against them during the period in which we believe we enjoy military superiority. The answer to that question, is no. In fact, it's emphatically no. Does that clarify the situation for you?'

'Yes, Sir. It does,' Trenis replied.

'Good.'

'At the same time, Sir,' the vice admiral went on, 'what Admiral Marquette has just said is quite true. And for the immediate future, at least, the Manties' preoccupation with the Andermani only increases our probable advantage.'

'That's true to a point, Linda,' Vice Admiral Edward Rutledge, director of the Bureau of Logistics, said. 'But they didn't actually commit very much of their modern fleet to Sidemore, you know.'

'Agreed.' Trenis nodded. 'Every little bit helps, though, and they don't have all that many SD(P)s to begin with. And,' she added, 'they only have one Harrington, thank God! The longer they leave her at Sidemore, the better I'll like it.'

Several people laughed, but there was more than a trace of genuine anxiety, not to say fear, in some of the laughter.

' 'The Salamander' isn't three meters tall, Linda,' Theisman said after a moment. 'Mind you, I'm not saying she isn't a tough customer. She is. I know, because she's beaten me twice. But she's also been beaten, you know. I certainly won't object if the Manties are stupid enough to leave her in Silesia, but I'm almost more grateful that they were dumb enough to put White Haven on the beach.'

'Not to mention firing Caparelli. And Givens,' Marquette put in, and Theisman nodded in emphatic agreement.

'Janacek has done his best to drive all of their better commanders onto half-pay. Webster, D'Orville, White Haven, even Sarnow. In fact, Kuzak is about the only one of their first-rate admirals who's still on active duty. And it's also true that the size of the commitment they've had to make to Silesia has moved the tonnage balance on this side of the Star Kingdom even further in our favor.'

'You're right about that, Sir,' Trenis said, and frowned thoughtfully. 'In fact, as long as they're going to place themselves in a false position, perhaps we should be thinking in terms of taking advantage of their deployments if it does come down to Case Red.'

'Meaning what?' Theisman asked, cocking his head at her.

'They've divided their Navy into three major fleets and a host of small detachments,' Trenis pointed out. 'I'm assuming from everything you've said, both today and in the past, that we shouldn't be thinking of a direct, immediate attack on the Manticore System itself.'

She made the statement a question, and Theisman shook his head.

'Not an immediate attack, no. If it comes down to it, we'll probably have to move to at least threaten their capital system, but we can't afford to attempt that deep a strike until we've removed the threat of their doing the same thing to us.'

'That's what I thought,' Trenis said. 'So we can more or less disregard their Home Fleet for the moment. With the mothballing of so many of their wormhole junction forts, they're going to be in an even worse position to reduce Home Fleet's strength, anyway. So that leaves only two major concentrations: Kuzak's fleet at Trevor's Star, and Harrington's at Sidemore. I believe those are our natural targets and that we should focus on ways to destroy both of them.'

'Both of them?' Marquette's eyebrows arched. 'You are aware, Linda, that the Marsh System is the next best thing to four hundred light-years from where we sit right now?'

'Yes, Sir. I am.'

'In that case, you're probably also aware that it would take two and a half T-months for our ships to get from here to there.' Trenis nodded again, and the chief of staff shrugged. 'While I appreciate the fact that you're thinking in large terms, if you're proposing that we attempt to coordinate two offensives over that great a distance, you may be thinking just a bit too large.'

'With all due respect, Sir, I don't think that's the case,' Trenis replied. 'I'm not proposing any sort of fine coordination. Obviously, at that distance from the capital, whoever was in command of any forces we sent to Silesia would have to exercise independent judgment. On the other hand, it might be possible to coordinate things a bit more effectively than you're assuming.'

'I'd like to know precisely how you propose to do that,' Marquette said. 'Especially since the Manties would be in a position to move forces back and forth to and from Silesia through either Basilisk or Gregor faster than we could possibly move them.'

'Obviously, Sir, we'd have to preposition our forces in Silesia. Once we got them there, there are plenty of uninhabited star systems in the Confederacy where they could lie low until and unless they were required to attack. If we positioned them and then decided, for whatever reason, not to use them, they could simply turn around and come home with no one the wiser. As far as anyone else would be concerned, they were never there, and we never even contemplated an attack on Sidemore.'

'Um.' Theisman rubbed his upper lip. 'That sounds just a bit cynical, you know, Linda,' he pointed out. 'Not necessarily wrong. Just . . . cynical.'

'Sir,' Trenis said, perhaps just a little bit more patiently than she really ought to have, 'if we're seriously considering the possibility of going back to war against the Manticoran Alliance, then it seems to me that whether or not we're being cynical is probably the least of our worries.'

'Oh, you're right about that,' Theisman agreed. 'But to make what you're proposing work, we'd need two things. First, we'd have to have sufficient advance warning to spend the two and a half months it would take to send them there from here without using the Manticoran Junction. And, second, we'd have to have some means of being certain our forces in Silesia didn't attack if tensions eased here. I won't countenance a situation in which we find ourselves forced to attack here, even if a peaceful resolution would otherwise be possible, because we know a remote commander we can't recall in time is going to attack the Manties somewhere else.'

'I'd already considered both of those points, Sir,' Trenis said respectfully. 'May I respond?'

'Of course you may. Please do.'

'First of all, Sir, we can substantially reduce the time it would take for our forces to reach Silesia by stationing them closer to the frontier. If we were to move them over to Seljuk, for example, they'd be over a hundred and fifty light-years closer to Silesia, which would reduce their transit time by almost three weeks if we decided to commit them. Or, we could go ahead and deploy them all the way to Silesia immediately, as long as your second major concern is addressed.'

'I suppose so,' Theisman conceded slowly. 'Of course, I'd want to be confident we didn't need those same