“Appearances notwithstanding, Eloise,” he said in a deceptively mild tone, “I’m not really in the habit of staging coups. Not without a lot more provocation than this, at least.”

“I know,” she said contritely. “I guess I just get a little crazy where Arnold is concerned. Mind you, I don’t think for a moment that he’d hesitate if the opportunity for some old-style maneuvers came his way. At the moment, though, Denis and Kevin between them have pretty much taken that possibility off the board for anyone. Which is why he’s coming at it from another direction. And it’s also why we can’t afford to let him control the information flow. He’s using the existence of Bolthole as a wedge, Tom. Dribbling the facts out helps to establish his credentials as an insider, someone with access to the levers of power and the information that goes with it. And when he sits down to recruit someone who’s already unhappy or concerned by the way the Manties have been stalling any meaningful negotiations, he can use the new ships to make my policy look even weaker. After all, if we’ve managed to make progress in equalizing our military capabilities, and we’re still not prepared to press the Manties, then obviously we’re too timid to ever press the issue.”

“And if we’d pressed the issue when he wanted us to begin pressing it, then we’d never have had time to do any equalizing!” Theisman shot back.

“Of course not, but do you think he’s going to mention that minor point?” Pritchart chuckled with very little humor. “And even if we were in a position to somehow bring it up without going public ourselves, it wouldn’t do much good. Nobody’s going to be interested in what the situation was three or four years ago. They’re going to be looking at what the situation is now. And what the situation is now, according to Arnold, is that we have the military muscle to stand up to the Manties if we only had the strength of will to use it.”

“So you’re going to do what he wants you to do.” Theisman’s sentence could have come out as an accusation, but it didn’t. It was clear that he still disagreed with her proposed policy, but it was also clear that he understood what was driving her hand. And that he realized she was right. There wasn’t a “good” policy; only a choice between bad ones.

“I don’t see any option but it to try to co-opt his own maneuvers,” Pritchart replied. “If we announce the existence of the new ships ourselves and simultaneously began pushing the Manties at the negotiating table, we’ll blunt a lot of his efforts. I hope.”

“Just so long as we don’t push the Manties too hard, too quickly,” Theisman cautioned. “Even if they take this a lot more calmly than I expect them to, there’s going to be a lag between the moment we admit Bolthole exists and the time they actually readjust their perceptions and strategic thinking. There’s no telling how they’ll react if we ratchet the pressure up too high before they make that readjustment.”