War Of Honor

aliens like Basilisk, or even a strategically vital star system whose long-established population asked to be annexed, like Trevor's Star.'

He shook his head.

'No, Madame President. I think that what this represents is an aggressive, arrogant expansionism. I think the Manty perception that they soundly defeated the Pierre Regime has fueled an imperialistic drive which was always latent in the Star Kingdom's foreign policy. I think you can see another manifestation of that same arrogance and imperialism in their attitude towards their current confrontation with the Andermani over Silesia. Obviously, they regard Silesia as their own private fishing pond, and no one else is welcome to drop a line into it. It's only a relatively small step from regarding a sovereign star nation as an economic dependency to embracing the outright annexation of individual star systems which aren't exactly in a position to resist.'

'But according to Wilhelm's reports, the original impetus towards annexation apparently came from Lynx, not the Manties,' Hanriot objected.

'How do we know that?' Secretary of the Interior Sanderson put in, and Pritchart's eyes narrowed. She'd thought Walter Sanderson was firmly in 'her' camp, but suddenly she felt less confident of that. And she felt even less so as Sanderson continued. 'The only contact anyone in Manticore has had with Lynx was via their own survey ship,' he pointed out. 'We have no way to know what they actually said; only what their survey ship crew allegedly reported they said. According to their government.'

'You're suggesting they lied about it?' Theisman said, giving Sanderson exactly the same sort of look Pritchart was working so hard at not giving him.

'I'm suggesting that they certainly may have,' Sanderson replied. 'I don't know that they did. I also don't know that they didn't, and if they're thinking in the direction Arnold seems to be suggesting, then obviously the temptation to cast their own actions in the most favorable possible light would have to be strong. And a 'request' from Lynx would be a marvelous pretext.'

'But why should they feel any need for pretexts?' LePic demanded.

'I can think of at least one reason,' Giancola said reasonably. The Attorney General looked at him, and the Secretary of State shrugged. 'Whatever we may think about what they're doing, I can guarantee you the Solarian League isn't going to be particularly pleased about this. And the Solarians are huge believers in 'self-determination.' '

'Sure they are!' Theisman snorted bitterly. 'Until they're the ones doing the expanding, that is.'

'I can't argue with you there,' Giancola said. 'In fact, I don't think anyone could. But what matters is that their public support for the concept would make it more difficult for them to object to the Manties' actions if the Star Kingdom can convince Solly public opinion Lynx really did ask to be annexed.'

'That's all a bit too Machiavellian for me,' LePic said.

'Maybe it is,' Giancola said easily. 'But any way you want to look at it, High Ridge and Descroix are pretty Machiavellian, you know. Or do you think they've been dragging out the negotiations on the occupied systems solely out of the goodness of their hearts, Denis?'

'Of course not,' LePic growled.

'If they're willing to use those negotiations for domestic advantage, I see absolutely no reason to believe they'd be unwilling to think the way I've just described about expanding into the Talbott Cluster,' Giancola pointed out.

'That would be bad enough,' he said, 'but I'd have to say that I wouldn't be enormously concerned if they were solely interested in Talbott. After all, that would be taking them directly away from our own territory and our own sphere of interest. Unfortunately, the way it looks to me is that their attitude towards Talbott is simply symptomatic of their attitude towards expansion in general. And if that's actually the case, then we're entirely too close to them for my peace of mind. Especially while they're still occupying Republican territory.'

* * *

'Damn, but he's a smooth bastard,' Theisman sighed. He and LePic sat in Pritchart's office several hours later. Beyond the huge windows, the glittering lights of night-struck Nouveau Paris blazed like multi-hued jewels, but none of them were particularly in the mood to appreciate their beauty.

'Yes, he is that,' Pritchart agreed. She leaned back in her outsized chair and closed her eyes wearily. 'And he's getting better at it,' she told the ceiling beyond her lids.

'I know,' LePic said. His tone was harsh, and he shrugged his shoulders irritably when Theisman looked a question at him. 'He gives me the creeps,' the Attorney General said. 'I know he's smart, and a lot of what he says makes sense. Too damned much sense, I sometimes think, especially when I'm feeling particularly pissed off at the Manties. But there's too much going on under the surface. He reminds me of Saint-Just.'

'That may be going a little further than I'm prepared to,' Theisman said after a moment. 'I don't doubt that he's a lot less scrupulous than the image he likes to project, Denis. But compared to Saint-Just?' He shook his head. 'I don't think he's even in the same league for sheer sociopathy.'

'Not for lack of ambition, though!' LePic snorted.

'Unscrupulous, yes,' Pritchart put in, opening her eyes and letting her chair come back outright. 'But I think Tom has a point, Denis. Arnold is undoubtedly willing to do a great many things to further his ambitions, but I don't see him being willing to do something like detonating a nuclear device in the middle of Nouveau Paris.'

'I only hope you're both right and I'm wrong,' LePic told her. His phrasing didn't make her particularly happy, given who Walter Trajan and Kevin Usher both reported to, but she became even less happy when he continued. 'In the meantime, though, did you two notice Sanderson?'

'Yes, I did,' Theisman said, and grimaced. 'I think we're in the process of suffering another defection.'

'And unless I'm very much mistaken, he's gaining more ground in Congress, too,' Pritchart observed. It was her turn to grimace. 'So far, pushing High Ridge and Descroix in the treaty negotiations is still working more in our favor than against us where congressional support is concerned, but dear Arnold is proving more resilient than I'd like. The way he sees it, I stole his thunder by taking 'a firm hand' in the peace talks. So he's busy trying to return the compliment by viewing with even more alarm where the Manties are concerned. And do you know what the real hell of it is?'

She looked at both of her allies, who only shook their heads.

'The real hell of it,' she told them softly, 'is that he's so damned convincing that I'm not sure I don't agree with him sometimes.'

* * *

'Thank you for the dinner invitation, Mr. Secretary. As always, the meal was delicious.'

'And also as always, Mr. Ambassador, the company was excellent,' Arnold Giancola said graciously.

Yinsheng Reinshagen, Graf von Kaiserfest, Andermani Ambassador to the Republic of Haven, smiled at his host. This wasn't the first private dinner he'd enjoyed with the Havenite Secretary of State, and he didn't expect it to be the last. Officially, it was a working dinner between two diplomats to discuss closer trade relations between the reborn Republic and the Empire. Kaiserfest rather admired that justification. Giancola's prior treasury experience made it even more believable . . . and also explained why he should feel no need to include representatives of the Commerce or Treasury Departments. It was an admirable cover to keep any potentially irritating witnesses away, and to make certain that it was maintained, Kaiserfest had actually agreed to quite a few trade concessions.

Giancola knew precisely what the Andermani was thinking, because he'd taken some pains to insure that Kaiserfest would think just that. But what the Ambassador didn't know was that the cover story they'd agreed upon was also the reason Eloise Pritchart thought Giancola was meeting with him.

'Well,' Kaiserfest said now. 'Excellent as dinner was, I'm afraid I'm due at the opera in two hours.'

'Of course.' Giancola picked up his brandy snifter and took an appreciative sip, then lowered the glass and smiled. 'Basically, Mr. Ambassador, I only wanted to take the opportunity to reiterate my government's position that we share a certain commonality of interest with the Empire. Obviously, while our negotiations with the Manticorans are still in progress, we're not in a position to lend public support to your government's efforts to resolve your own . . . difficulties with them in Silesia. For that matter, until we've settled our own business with them, our official support for your interests would probably actually be counterproductive.

'Nonetheless, and without wishing to appear overly dramatic, my government is well aware that, in the words of the old cliche, our enemy's enemy is our friend. Both the Republic and the Empire would find it