War Of Honor

going to be appointed to the Silesian command really is. Von Rabenstrange isn't just any old flag officer. Not only is he a Gross Admiral, he's the Emperor's own first cousin, and fifth in the succession to the throne to boot. And he also has a reputation as one of the best combat commanders they have.

'But by the same token, he's an honorable man. And unlike Admiral von Sternhafen, he's no anti- Manticoran chauvinist. I don't think he'd feel comfortable about accepting responsibility for executing a policy he expected to lead to war, and he wouldn't be the sort to enjoy picking a fight with us the way Sternhafen might. I'm not saying he wouldn't accept the slot and carry out his orders to do just that anyway if he were ordered to, because he takes his duties as an officer seriously. But unless I'm very mistaken, he'd do all he could to talk the Emperor out of deliberately starting something. And he and Gustav have always been close, ever since they were at the Andie naval academy together, so I'm sure he'd have spoken his mind about it. So maybe the fact that they're sending him out to relieve Sternhafen is an indication that they really don't plan on starting something.'

'Maybe,' McKeon agreed sourly. 'But whatever they may be planning, the way they're actually behaving is going to push us into an exchange of fire whether or not either side wants one! If they'd just make their demands and let us respond, one way or the other, both sides would know what the options were. At least that way we wouldn't start killing each other because of some sheer, stupid accident!'

'They probably aren't making formal demands because they don't realize what gutless wonders are running the Star Kingdom,' Honor said with a flash of sudden rage. 'They think there may actually be someone in the High Ridge Government with a spine —someone who'd actually stand up to them! Someone —'

She chopped herself off abruptly as she realized just how much frustration she was revealing. And, for that matter, startled to realize how angry she actually was . . . and how clearly she was allowing it to show, despite the way she'd admonished McKeon, Orndorff, and Brigham in the lift car.

No one else said anything else for at least thirty seconds, but then McKeon cleared his throat and cocked an eyebrow at her.

'I take it,' he said in a wry tone, 'that your last comment indicates you haven't received any secret new orders from the Admiralty which we're not aware of?'

'No,' Honor replied, then snorted. 'Of course, if they were secret orders, I'd tell you I hadn't gotten any anyway, wouldn't I?'

'Sure,' McKeon agreed. 'But you're not a very good liar.'

Honor chuckled, almost despite herself, and shook her head at him. But he'd succeeded in breaking her mood, exactly as he'd intended, and she gave him a smile of thanks, as well. Then she shook herself and turned resolutely back to the matter at hand.

'As a matter of fact,' she said, 'I wish I had received some sort of new instructions, secret or not. Even bad ones would be better than none . . . which is exactly what we've actually been sent. The Admiralty's acknowledged receipt of my last dispatches, including George's report on the pattern of increasing provocation and on the Empire's decision to send Rabenstrange out, but that's all. It's as if no one at the other end is even bothering to read our mail.'

'So all you can do is continue under your existing orders,' Alfredo Yu mused.

'Exactly. And they're even more out of date—and, to be blunt about it, irrelevant—than they were when they first sent us out here,' Honor said, with a frankness she would have shown in front of very few non- Manticorans. 'Worse, I'm beginning to think no one at Admiralty House or the Foreign Office is even thinking very much about Silesia or the Andermani right now.'

'You think they're being distracted by the Peeps? I mean, by the Republic, of course,' McKeon said.

Neither Yu nor Caslet so much as blinked, but Honor felt both of them wince internally. Not in anger, and certainly not because either of them suffered from mixed loyalties at this late date. It was more of a sense of loss, a bittersweet regret for the changes in Haven which they would never be a part of.

And a smoldering anger, worse even than that of most Graysons, over the policies of the High Ridge Government which seemed to be fanning the tensions between Haven and the Star Kingdom once again.

'I think that's exactly what's happening,' she confirmed after a moment. In fact, she'd been afraid something like that was coming from the moment word that Benjamin Mayhew's concerns about the mysterious 'Operation Bolthole' had been amply justified had finally reached Marsh.

'As a matter of fact,' she went on, putting her fears into words openly for her staff, 'I think the Government's confidence in its ability to 'manage' the Republic—' and through it, the domestic situation, she carefully didn't say '—is deteriorating. Thomas Theisman's announcement didn't help in that regard, but the most recent mail from home is full of op-ed pieces on President Pritchart's 'hardline' position in the treaty negotiations, too.' She shook her head. 'I don't know how whatever Harvest Joy discovers is going to affect the Government's thinking, but unless something changes radically, I think High Ridge is going to become more and more fixated on the Republic. I don't think he has the attention to spare for something as 'unimportant' as Silesia.'

'So what do we do?' McKeon asked.

'We do the best we can,' she said bleakly. 'Our orders are still to protect Silesian territorial integrity— assuming that 'Silesia' and 'territorial integrity' aren't contradictions in terms. So we'll do our darnedest to somehow pull that off. But you're right about the way this latest incident ups the ante, Alice. And the more I think about it, the more I don't want any of our other captains left to dangle all alone the way Ackenheil found himself in Brennan.'

She turned to Yu and Caslet.

'Alfredo, I want you and the Protector's Own to maintain an even lower profile. If the Andies already know you're here, well and good. But if they don't, I think it's suddenly become more important to have an extra pulser hidden up our sleeve than to try to discourage whatever they're up to.' She snorted harshly. 'Given Ackenheil's report, I'm very much afraid that it's too late to do any 'discouraging,' anyway.'

'You think they've made up the mind to pull the trigger, My Lady?' Yu seemed relieved to be thinking about possible Andermani aggressiveness instead of the tension between the Star Kingdom and his ex-homeland.

'I think they've made up their mind what they're going to do,' Honor corrected. 'In fact, I think that's the reason Rabenstrange is coming out here. That may include pulling the trigger, or it may simply include a continuation of this escalation of incidents in hopes we—or the Government—will decide the game isn't worth the candle and get out of their way without the unpleasantness of a war. But whatever it is, I think I'm coming to the conclusion that I'd prefer to be able to administer a salutary shock to them at a moment of my choosing, if I can, and you and the Protector's Own are my best chance to do that.'

Yu nodded, and Honor turned to Brigham and Jaruwalski.

'In the meantime, I want the two of you to lay out a new patrol schedule. With the Grayson units here to bolster our position in Marsh, I think we can free up more of our Manticoran screening units for detached service, so I want the patrols beefed up. Set it up so that none of our ships are operating as singletons. I want at least two units in any single star system, and I want them in regular communication. I want the Andies to know that if something goes wrong, we're going to have a witness on the spot to get the news to us as soon as it can get back to their own HQ. And for that matter, knowing that she has support handy ought to make any of our captains feel a bit less lonely and a bit more confident.'

Chapter Thirty Eight

The icon of the dispatch boat from Sidemore was still accelerating steadily away from Jessica Epps when Erica Ferrero assembled her senior officers in her briefing room.

They gathered there just a bit apprehensively, because the captain's temper had been uncertain of late, courtesy of IANS Hellbarde. They knew Ferrero had recently dispatched another formal report to Duchess Harrington, protesting Kapitan zur Sternen Gortz' provocative behavior. That report had been intended primarily for the duchess to use as the basis of a fresh protest to the Andermani