“But the determination of exactly what their will is would have to be made under our oversight. Is that what you understand the President to have been saying, Sir?”

“In its essentials, yes.”

“And do you believe the Manties will ever allow that to happen?” Henneman pounced, and Theisman suddenly realized he was holding his breath as McGwire hesitated. Then the senator shook his head.

“To be completely honest with you, Roland, I don’t know,” he said regretfully. “I’d have to say that on the basis of their past positions and performance they would be… disinclined to do so.”

Theisman cursed silently. Up to that point, he hadn’t had any particular problem with anything McGwire had said on today’s program. That wasn’t true about comments he’d made in other venues, perhaps, and he did rather wish the man hadn’t brought up that bit about using Trevor’s Star’s annexation as a pretext for additional territorial expansion. But he supposed that if he was going to be fair about it, the senator had a right to express whatever opinion he chose. Unfortunately, however reasonable they might be on the surface, McGwire’s remarks, and especially that last one, were only going to pour additional fuel on the public resentment the Manticorans’ ongoing occupation of the disputed star systems had generated.

And the senator had to be at least as well aware of that as Thomas Theisman was.

“And do you think President Pritchart would be prepared to accept their ‘disinclination’ in this matter?” Henneman asked.

“In the past,” McGwire said, choosing his words with obvious care, “the President’s options, as those of the Republic as a whole, have been limited by the disastrous military position we inherited from the Pierre Regime. Whatever we may have believed or desired, we were not, unfortunately, in a position of sufficient strength to press demands.”

“A situation which you believe has changed?”

“A situation which may have changed,” McGwire corrected. “Certainly Secretary of War Theisman’s announcement of our increased naval strength is something which must be weighed by all parties to the ongoing negotiations. And certainly, from the tone of President Pritchart’s speech, she expects that to happen. As she so eloquently explained, we’ve tried for years now to resolve this fundamental issue through peaceful negotiation with absolutely no sign that the Star Kingdom was prepared to meet us halfway. No one in his or her right mind would willingly contemplate a return to open military confrontation with the Manticoran Alliance, and we’ve done our very best to avoid any situation in which that outcome might become likely.

“Nonetheless, there comes a time, as the President also reminded us, when avoidance of risk threatens to become the surrender of principle. I believe the demands which she’s issued to the Star Kingdom—that they negotiate in good faith and that they accept the principle of self-determination, expressed in plebiscites under Republican oversight and jurisdiction, for all of the occupied planets and star systems—are completely appropriate and proper. I feel confident that I can accurately say she enjoys very strong support by all parties in the Congress, and that we stand united behind her and Secretary of State Giancola in this matter.”