“It sounds to me like they’re scared of their own shadows,” Descroix said roundly, with a scathing edge of contempt.

“And it sounds to me,” New Kiev said sharply, “as if they’re concerned about the possible loss of life unnecessary haste could cause! We’ve gotten along just fine with only six Junction termini for centuries, Elaine—we can wait another few months to explore a seventh one.”

Descroix bristled angrily at the countess’s tone, and High Ridge intervened hastily.

“I’m sure no one in this room wants to run any unnecessary risks with the lives of our survey people, Marisa. On the other hand, I can certainly understand Elaine’s sense of impatience. The sooner we can survey this new Junction route, the sooner the Star Kingdom’s economy can begin to profit from it. And although it may seem just a trifle on the calculating side, I don’t think any fair-minded person could fault us for taking a degree of credit for the discovery.” He held New Kiev’s eyes steadily. “After all, the discovery was made by an agency which this Government created and funded—against, I might add, quite strong opposition from Alexander and his crowd. And just as a government takes the blame for things which go wrong on its watch, whether those problems stem from its decisions or policies or not, it’s fair for a government to take credit for things which go right.”

“Of course it is,” the countess conceded. “I think it’s important we not be overly strident in telling everyone that the credit for this discovery belongs entirely to us, but someone is going to get the political capital that comes out of it, and that someone clearly ought to be us. I’m simply saying that even from a purely political perspective, it would be most unwise of us to push Admiral Reynaud into any exploratory activity he thinks would be premature. If we do, and if lives are lost, we’ll get the ‘credit’ for that, too.”

“You certainly have a point there,” High Ridge agreed, and cocked an eyebrow at Descroix. “Elaine?”

“Oh, certainly we don’t need to be losing any lives unnecessarily,” the Foreign Secretary said peevishly. “But by the same token, I don’t see anything wrong with turning the pressure up a little bit on Reynaud and Kare. I’m not proposing that we override them, but knowing the Government is strongly committed to moving forward as quickly as possible could help to… focus their attention a bit more firmly on ways to expedite matters safely.”

New Kiev seemed to hover on the brink of yet another sharp reply, but she subsided after another glance from High Ridge.

“Excellent,” the Prime Minister said briskly. “In that case, I think we’re in agreement on how to proceed with exploration. For right now, however, we also need to consider precisely how—and when—we’ll make the announcement. My own thought is that we need to announce it as quickly as possible. The question in my mind is whether we should do it through Clarence or through an RMAIA news conference. Opinions?”