None of her colleagues saw any reason to point out that all of them had certainly expected the Republic to negotiate “under threat.”

“But we still have a responsibility to observe the terms of the existing truce,” New Kiev argued.

“I’m sure we all agree with that in principle, Marisa,” High Ridge said soothingly. Her eyes flashed angrily, but he continued in those same, smooth tones. “As Edward says, however, we have a responsibility as Her Majesty’s Government to consider all options and alternatives, don’t we?”

New Kiev had opened her mouth, but now she shut it again. Her expression remained thunderous, but she drew a deep breath and nodded, despite her obvious unhappiness with the thought.

“Actually,” Janacek said after a moment, “there probably isn’t any conflict between the truce terms and the operational requirements of a preemptive strike.”

All of them looked at him in varying degrees of surprise, and it was his turn to shrug.

“For obvious reasons, we’ve paid particularly close attention over at Admiralty House to the terms which bear specifically on military operations,” he said. “Those terms require both sides to refrain from hostile actions as long as the negotiations are proceeding. If they stop proceeding, then that requirement no longer applies.”

“You mean—?” Descroix’s eyes widened in speculation as she looked at him, and he smiled thinly.

“Technically, we could decide at any time we wished to break off talks and terminate the truce. Or we could determine that the Republic has already effectively done so.”

“In what way?” Descroix asked.

“As you just pointed out, Elaine, they’ve destabilized the balance by secretly building this new fleet of theirs. Certainly we could argue that such a massive escalation of their war-fighting ability—particularly when we’ve been unilaterally building down our own naval strength in the interest of reducing tensions and promoting the peace—represents a ‘hostile action.’ Under those circumstances, we would have every right to act to neutralize that action.”

He shrugged again, and New Kiev stared at him in a shock that verged on horror. Descroix and High Ridge, on the other hand, returned his thin smile with broader ones of their own. He was hardly surprised by any of the reactions he’d elicited, but his attention was focused on New Kiev.

“I’m not suggesting that we do anything of the sort, Marisa,” he told her in his most reasonable voice. “I’m simply pointing out that if they drive us to it, we have options. To be perfectly and brutally honest, I would advocate launching an attack with no notice at all if I believed the situation were sufficiently desperate to justify it. As it happens, I don’t believe that’s the case at this point, and I would never suggest doing anything of the sort if the situation isn’t desperate. But as Michael says, we have a responsibility as Ministers of the Crown to consider all possible avenues of action, however distasteful we may personally find some of them to be.”

“Edward is right, Marisa.” High Ridge was careful to project an equally calm and reasonable attitude. “No one disputes that we have a responsibility to set an example of proper behavior in our conduct of our diplomacy. Certainly, I would never wish to be the Prime Minister who violates any interstellar agreement to which the Star Kingdom is a party. Any such action must be repugnant to any of us, even when—as Edward has just pointed out—we wouldn’t be technically violating anything. At the same time, however, I have to agree with him that under certain circumstances, military necessity clearly trumps any treaty clause or agreement.”