Caitlin had to admit, she could murder another cup of coffee. She decided to give a bit. ‘Earl Grey all day does get tiresome. A cup of coffee would be agreeable, sir.’

‘Please, Colonel, “Jack” will do. I’m not in uniform anymore. And we’re behind closed doors. Ty . . .’ Blackstone regarded his aide with the same judgmental expression that he’d laid on Musso, tempered in this case by familiarity and a regretful shake of the head. ‘You look like you need a cup yourself. Got a little carried away making new friends last night, I’ll wager. Your penance is to fetch a fresh pot.’

The office was divided into a sitting area softened with leather couches and armchairs arranged around a polished cherry-wood coffee table. Bookshelves ran the length of one wall, only half filled. A small kitchenette with a glass-front fridge and a coffee pot completed the sitting area. The other half was a simple, featureless table of oak with a neat stack of files on the left-hand side.

Caitlin chose a seat facing Blackstone, who settled himself on the couch across from her. Musso took up a flanking position while McCutcheon came around with fresh mugs of coffee. She savoured the aroma of premium beans. The powdered shit back in Temple was undrinkable.

‘We’ve managed to stabilise the neighbouring states near the Canal Zone,’ Blackstone explained. ‘Reopening links to Costa Rica is one of the fringe benefits of those stability operations.’

She took a sip and nodded. ‘Very good, sir. Was it worth deploying a third of the Texas Defense Force to Panama for a cup of joe, though?’

He grinned like Saint Nick on Christmas morning. ‘Well, it’s pretty good coffee, but I didn’t order the deployment for that alone. The Canal is vital to maintaining communications with Puerto Rico and America’s eastern seaboard. And it doesn’t hurt to engage the Federation as far forward as possible. Morales would love to control that piece of real estate. He used to regularly send his envoys here to jump up and down and demand we “return” it.’

He made an inverted-comma gesture with his free hand.

‘As entertaining as it was to poke the dancing monkeys with a stick, I sent them on to Kipper. It’s really his lookout. Roberto’s so-called diplomats don’t bother coming here anymore. My only regret is that we have less contact now, and an even poorer picture of their capabilities and intent. Hopefully you can help with that, Colonel?’

She’d accepted the coffee. Why not throw him a bone? ‘“Kate” will be fine. What is your assessment of the threat, sir? It’s not exactly looming large with the national command authority. And you’ve had longer to ponder it than I have. I’ve spent the last three years assisting in the transfer of military matériel to the United Kingdom.’