“That’s what I thought,” Trenis said. “So we can more or less disregard their Home Fleet for the moment. With the mothballing of so many of their wormhole junction forts, they’re going to be in an even worse position to reduce Home Fleet’s strength, anyway. So that leaves only two major concentrations: Kuzak’s fleet at Trevor’s Star, and Harrington’s at Sidemore. I believe those are our natural targets and that we should focus on ways to destroy both of them.”

“Both of them?” Marquette’s eyebrows arched. “You are aware, Linda, that the Marsh System is the next best thing to four hundred light-years from where we sit right now?”

“Yes, Sir. I am.”

“In that case, you’re probably also aware that it would take two and a half T-months for our ships to get from here to there.” Trenis nodded again, and the chief of staff shrugged. “While I appreciate the fact that you’re thinking in large terms, if you’re proposing that we attempt to coordinate two offensives over that great a distance, you may be thinking just a bit too large.”

“With all due respect, Sir, I don’t think that’s the case,” Trenis replied. “I’m not proposing any sort of fine coordination. Obviously, at that distance from the capital, whoever was in command of any forces we sent to Silesia would have to exercise independent judgment. On the other hand, it might be possible to coordinate things a bit more effectively than you’re assuming.”

“I’d like to know precisely how you propose to do that,” Marquette said. “Especially since the Manties would be in a position to move forces back and forth to and from Silesia through either Basilisk or Gregor faster than we could possibly move them.”

“Obviously, Sir, we’d have to preposition our forces in Silesia. Once we got them there, there are plenty of uninhabited star systems in the Confederacy where they could lie low until and unless they were required to attack. If we positioned them and then decided, for whatever reason, not to use them, they could simply turn around and come home with no one the wiser. As far as anyone else would be concerned, they were never there, and we never even contemplated an attack on Sidemore.”

“Um.” Theisman rubbed his upper lip. “That sounds just a bit cynical, you know, Linda,” he pointed out. “Not necessarily wrong. Just… cynical.”

“Sir,” Trenis said, perhaps just a little bit more patiently than she really ought to have, “if we’re seriously considering the possibility of going back to war against the Manticoran Alliance, then it seems to me that whether or not we’re being cynical is probably the least of our worries.”

“Oh, you’re right about that,” Theisman agreed. “But to make what you’re proposing work, we’d need two things. First, we’d have to have sufficient advance warning to spend the two and a half months it would take to send them there from here without using the Manticoran Junction. And, second, we’d have to have some means of being certain our forces in Silesia didn’t attack if tensions eased here. I won’t countenance a situation in which we find ourselves forced to attack here, even if a peaceful resolution would otherwise be possible, because we know a remote commander we can’t recall in time is going to attack the Manties somewhere else.”