“But you might be wrong,” High Ridge said, unable to completely hide his anxiety.

“Of course I might,” Descroix said testily. “Obviously, I don’t think I am, however, or I wouldn’t have said it in the first place!”

“I understand.” High Ridge’s fingers drummed lightly on his desktop, then he inhaled deeply.

“Clarence brought me the new poll figures this morning,” he said. “Have you seen them?”

“Not today’s, no. But I imagine the trend lines are pretty much what they’ve been being.”

“By and large,” the Prime Minister agreed. “The number of people who say they believe there’s an immediate military threat from Haven has dropped almost another full percentage point. Approval for the annexation of Lynx is holding steady at almost eighty-five percent. For that matter, those who say they would approve the annexation of the entire Talbott Cluster are up above seventy percent. But those who anticipate the successful negotiation of a formal peace treaty with Haven have dropped another half percentage point. This—” he waved a hand at the note “—is only going to make that worse.”

“Of course it is,” Descroix said impatiently. “That’s one of the things Pritchart is after. But if we let her stampede us into agreeing to her demands and signing that treaty, then we’re going to have to call that general election none of us wants to call, Michael.”

High Ridge’s jaw muscles tightened angrily at her lecturing tone, but he forced himself not to snap at her.

“I am aware of that,” he said, instead. The very calmness with which he replied rebuked her gently, but he didn’t let the rebuke linger.

“My point,” he went on, “was that I’m beginning to wonder if we might not want to make a few cosmetic concessions. Something to bring Pritchard back to the table and simultaneously bolster the public’s faith in the negotiation process.”

“If we were going to do that, we should already have done it,” Descroix replied. “Something along those lines would probably be a good idea in the long run, but I’d really prefer not to do it right on the heels of this note. The language in this thing is pretty stiff, Michael. If we turn around and make concessions—any concessions—after the Republic’s head of state has formally complained about our ‘deceptive, intentionally obstructionist refusal to negotiate in good faith,’ we give up our claim to the high ground. The momentum moves towards Pritchart’s side of the table, and public opinion, both here and in the Republic, will probably see her as the positive force pushing the negotiations. Manticorans may not approve of her language, or even her methods, but if we give ground, we seem to be admitting that her basic accusations are accurate, after all. All of which will only make it harder for us to put the brakes back on later without provoking an even more negative reaction than the one you’re worrying about right now.”

“Um.” High Ridge frowned. He considered her argument, then nodded slowly, but his frown remained.