But Arnold had spent too much time dealing directly with the Manticoran negotiators and corresponding personally with Elaine Descroix. He knew that if the Republic only had the guts to really turn the screws on them, it was the Manties who would blink. Baron High Ridge, Lady Descroix, and Countess New Kiev between them had the moral fortitude of a flea and the spine of an amoeba. It might have been different when Cromarty was Prime Minister, but that had been then, and this was now, and the present Manticoran government was composed of pigmies.

So the trick was going to be stage managing things properly. He had to create the right atmosphere, the right confluence of events. A situation in which anyone who didn’t know the Manties as well as he did would believe the resumption of hostilities had to be the next step in the process… unless the Republic conceded every single thing they demanded. If he could generate a situation which gave Pritchart her opportunity to cave in and reveal her lack of grit to the electorate while simultaneously allowing him to step into the breach her indecision created and push things to a successful conclusion despite her…

Oh, yes. He smiled deep inside at the alluring prospect. It would be tricky, of course. He’d have to find a way to lure her into provoking the proper response from the Manties, but that shouldn’t be too difficult, given the arrogance which was so much a part of High Ridge and Descroix. Of course, he’d need to find someone reliable he could assign as his direct contact with the Manties, especially since he might have to do a little… creative editing here and there. Whoever passed on those communiques would have to be in the loop and prepared to support the process, but he rather thought he had the perfect candidate for that job.

Of course, if it did become necessary to do any editing he’d have to be careful to see to it that that busybody Usher didn’t find out what he was up to. After all, if the President wanted to get picky about it, what he was thinking about might technically be illegal. He’d have to check on that. Maybe Jeff Tullingham could advise him if he was careful to keep his inquiry sufficiently hypothetical? But illegal or not, it would certainly be embarrassing—possibly terminally so—if anyone ever figured out just how he’d shaped the international situation. But in the end, he would emerge as the iron-willed, insightful statesman who’d seen what was needed and done it despite the interfering instructions of the nonentity who happened to hold the presidency.

Of course, part of the trick would be to copper his bets by making certain the Manties wouldn’t actually be willing to go back to war when Pritchart thought they would. But there was a way to see to it they were suitably distracted.

Now then, he thought. The first thing to do is to invite to the Andermani ambassador to lunch…