“Ambrose Howell, Admiral,” the reporter identified himself. “Yawata Crossing Dispatch.”

“Yes, Mr. Howell?”

“We’ve heard a great deal about the potential value of this discovery, and you and Dr. Kare have both cogently explained the difficulties and scale of the discovery and exploration process. I have two questions, if I may. First, since we’ve known for centuries that the math models of the Junction suggested there were additional termini, why has it taken us this long to look in the right place for this one? And, second, why did we go looking for it at this particular moment?”

“Both of those are excellent questions,” Oglesby replied, cutting in in his deep, resonant baritone before Reynaud could respond, “and, if I may, I’ll answer the second one first.”

He bestowed a self-deprecating smile on the RMAIA director, apparently totally oblivious to Reynaud’s blistering anger at his uninvited intervention.

“Obviously,” he went on, transferring his modest smile to Howell, “as a layman and a total ignoramus where hyper-physics are concerned, I’m not in any position to reply to your first question. The timing, however, was the result of equal parts serendipitous circumstance and foresight. Although the thorny issues which have prevented the negotiation of a final peace treaty remain, the determination by both parties to the recent war that even an uneasy truce is superior to active bloodshed provided a window of opportunity in which it was possible for the Government to consider other substantive issues. No one could reasonably blame previous governments for their preoccupation with matters of interstellar security and naval budgets. And, of course, until we do have a formal peace treaty, the present Government is also under a powerful obligation to secure the Star Kingdom’s security as its first priority. But the present political realities mean we’ve been able to step back from the abyss of active warfare and turn our thoughts to something besides better ways to kill our fellow human beings.”

“The present Government, aware of the absolute necessity of maintaining the momentum towards peace domestically, as well as internationally, sought an entire array of initiatives to, as the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer put it, ‘build the peace.’ Some were designed to ease the transition of military personnel back into the civilian economy, while others were intended to repair the ravages individuals and certain sectors of the economy—as in Basilisk, for example—had suffered during the fighting. And the creation of the Royal Manticoran Astrophysics Investigation Agency, with Admiral Reynaud as its head, was another. The Government saw this as an ideal opportunity to make a fundamental investment in the Star Kingdom’s future. And, to be perfectly honest, the Government also saw the RMAIA and its audacious search as precisely the sort of peaceful challenge which would bring out the very best in a citizenry weary of the sacrifice and violence of a decade-long war. I’m very pleased, as, I’m sure, is every other individual associated with the Government in general, and the RMAIA in particular, that success has attended the effort with such unanticipated promptness.”