“And the purpose of hitting Jessica Epps would have been to demonstrate their own willingness to fight while simultaneously hitting the Government between the eyes with how much standing in their way in Silesia could end up costing,” McKeon mused. “All without their having done a single thing to us deliberately… officially.”

“If they did it on purpose,” Benson-Dessouix pointed out. “And even though I’m the one suggesting the hypothesis, that’s an awful big ‘if,’ Alistair.”

“It’s certainly one possible scenario,” Honor agreed. “But, as you say, Harry, it’s all entirely speculative and highly problematical. It would also impute more subtlety to the Andermani than they normally demonstrate. Also, I think it may be overlooking the fact that the slaver Jessica Epps was intercepting was squawking an Andermani merchant transponder code at the time.”

“That’s true enough, Your Grace,” Lieutenant Commander Reynolds said. “At the same time, Chantilly—with merchant-grade sensors and from almost as far away as Hellbarde—was able to clearly identify the ‘Sittich’ Captain Ferrero was intercepting as at least two m-tons smaller than the ship that transponder code actually belongs to. Surely Hellbarde’s ship list for the Empire’s merchant marine is at least as up to date as ours is! I find it very difficult to believe that a merchant ship would be more capable of identifying her correctly than an IAN heavy cruiser.”

“Assuming that Hellbarde attempted to identify her in the first place,” Warner Caslet said quietly. “That’s where you’re going, isn’t it, My Lady?”

“Yes.” Honor nodded. “Remember the history between Hellbarde and Jessica Epps. Mercedes, you and Andrea and George and I have all read Ferrero’s previous reports. It’s obvious Hellbarde was specifically assigned to shadow and harass Jessica Epps, not just any of our ships. As Alice just pointed out, it’s been going on for months now, and Captain Ferrero’s increasing frustration and anger were clearly evident from her reports. I see no reason to believe that the confrontation between them wasn’t becoming equally personal for Kapitän zur Sternen Gortz, Hellbarde’s CO. It’s entirely possible that both of them found their judgment less than completely clear and impartial where the other one was concerned.”

“You’re saying that this Gortz character may have been sufficiently pissed off with Jessica Epps to jump her without trying to determine ‘Sittich’s’ real identity one way or the other?” McKeon asked skeptically. He shook his head. “Again, with all due respect, what would a yahoo like that be doing commanding an IAN heavy cruiser?”

“Are you sure you want to ask that question, given some of the people you and I have seen commanding Manticoran heavy cruisers?” Honor replied with a more crooked than usual smile. “Especially in backwater systems like… oh, Basilisk, say?”

“Touché,” McKeon murmured after a moment, nodding slowly, almost as if against his will.

“It could have happened that way,” Truman conceded. “But if it did, there must have been some pretty serious lapses on both sides. Ferrero certainly should have informed Gortz of her intentions. And from Chantilly’s sensor log, Jessica Epps had plenty of overtake on ‘Sittich.’ There was no way a merchie was going to evade her at that point, so there was no compelling need for Ferrero to be firing warning shots if there was any confusion or uncertainty in her communications with Hellbarde.”