“Of course there wasn’t… then,” Theisman agreed. “But that’s my very point. We know that, and they know that. Worse, they’re depending on it. Which means they have to be certain they maintain that technological edge, especially in light of the reduction in their total tonnage. So if they realize Foraker is busy building us an entire new navy specifically designed to offset their advantages, they’re also going to realize they’ve created a situation which effectively allows us to begin even with them in the new types. Since their entire defensive stance requires them to retain their advantage in those types, one solution would be for them to hit us before we have enough of the new designs available to defend ourselves.”

“But that would violate the terms of our truce,” Pritchart pointed out.

“Which is just that—a truce,” Theisman emphasized. “The war isn’t over. Not officially, anyway, which is exactly what Giancola keeps pointing out. Hell, the Manties keep pointing it out! I’m sure you saw the same analysis I did on their Prime Minister’s most recent speech. They’re still ‘viewing with alarm’ where we’re concerned, if only to justify the tax structure they’re retaining. So there’s no formal treaty to dissuade them from resuming the war any time they choose. And if we openly acknowledge that we’re building an entire new fleet capable of standing up to them in combat, the temptation to nip the threat in the bud would have to be intense. Worst of all, Edward Janacek is stupid and arrogant enough to recommend to High Ridge that they do just that.”

“I can’t help feeling that you’re being alarmist,” Pritchart told him frankly. “But you’re Secretary of War, and I’m not prepared to overrule you on a judgment call like this one. It certainly won’t do any harm to exercise a little caution which may turn out to be excessive, and the Manties aren’t likely to panic over something they don’t know anything about.

“In the meantime, however, your desire to keep the Star Kingdom in the dark may create some domestic problems. To be honest, I’m not entirely comfortable maintaining such a high level of security where Bolthole is concerned, either. Leaving aside the fact that I’m not at all sure burying ‘black’ funding in the budget is constitutional, whatever the Attorney General may think, it’s a little too much like the levels of secrecy Pierre and Saint-Just routinely maintained.”

“In some ways, I suppose,” Theisman acknowledged. “But I’ve kept the Naval Affairs Committee informed. That keeps Congress officially in the loop the way the Constitution requires.”

“Be honest, Tom,” Pritchart chided. “You haven’t told them everything about your new toys, now have you?”

“Maybe not everything,” he admitted. “But I’ve kept them fully informed on the purpose of Bolthole, and they know at least a part of what Foraker is doing. If they didn’t, the Senator couldn’t have ‘spilled the beans’ to his brother.”

“Agreed. And that’s precisely the domestic problem that most concerns me. Most of our senators and the members of the Cabinet are still a bit more diffident than I’d really like them to be in a lot of ways. For one thing, if more of them would grow spines and build up other power bases I could use to balance Giancola, it would help a lot when it comes to reining him in. They won’t do it any time soon, though, and in the meantime there’s still entirely too much of the reflex acceptance of restrictions on information simply because the government says it’s ‘necessary.’ That’s the only way we got the budget to keep Bolthole running through without debate in the first place. But if Giancola keeps on pushing more and more strongly for us to take a harder line in the negotiations with the Manties, then sooner or later he’s going to start bolstering his arguments by dropping some of the details his brother has obviously fed him. Which is going to bring the Department of State into direct conflict with the Department of War.”