Olivenko was quick—too quick?—to agree. But after only a few moments, Loaf, Ramex, Ram, Rigg, and Square concurred.

She almost said, Then we could cast clay and choose our battleground by chance alone. But she stopped herself, because another possibility came to mind.

“It seems to me,” she said again, “that all our plans are essentially defensive in nature. Appear here, and fortify as we await their attack. Or appear there. Or there. Or in Aressa Sessamo. Or . . . is our army so bad that we can’t use it to attack them where they are?”

“Our troops are well trained,” said Loaf, “but training isn’t battle.”

“We don’t know what they’ll do, when men start to bleed,” said Rigg. “Our army isn’t composed of men who love battle. Only of men who hated Hagia’s and Haddamander’s rule, or who wanted to move their families out of danger. Not soldiers by choice or temperament.”

“But we do have a force of extraordinary fighters,” said Square.

“Are there enough of you to make a difference?” asked Ramex.

“You’re the one with the magnificent electronic brain,” said Square. “Work it out and advise us.”

“It is not possible to predict the outcome of battles with certainty,” said Ramex.

“So let’s have the first battle and see how things work out,” said Square. “And let’s have Rigg or Umbo take all my Vadeshfolders back to meet ourselves, so we can double our strength. And then quadruple it.”

“No more copying people,” said Rigg. “It’s a terrible thing and you shouldn’t put anyone else through it.”

“We won’t do it anymore after we win,” said Square. “You do what you must to win the war.”

“And what if all your facemasks come through alive?” asked Rigg. “Which ones are married to their wives? Which are now single men, who remember having wives and children, but have them no longer?”

“Let’s see how our first time through turns out,” said Loaf, “before we go copying anybody.”

“I think Queen Param’s proposal is a—”

“It wasn’t a proposal,” said Param quickly. “It was merely a question about the defensive versus the offensive.”

“I think Queen Param’s question is one whose answer we’ve taken for granted,” said Olivenko. “We should use our untrained troops on the defensive. But this may be a gross mistake. On the defensive, it is vital that the troops stand firm, give ground slowly, retreat in good order when necessary. Loaf and his sergeants have trained them wonderfully well, but when comrades fall beside you, war becomes a different thing—according to all the histories. And it’s easier to get ignorant green troops to charge than to stand against a charge.”

“There’s no doubt that we could achieve tactical surprise,” said Square.