“There is nothing to explain, Gross Admiral,” Sternhafen replied in a flat, politely defiant voice. “A Manticoran heavy cruiser fired upon one of our merchant ships after Kapitän der Sternen Gortz had repeatedly instructed it to break off its attack run. Under the circumstances, Kapitän der Sternen Gortz had no option but to engage the Manticoran to protect the safety of our own nationals. In the ensuing engagement, provoked by the Manticorans, there was very heavy loss of life on both sides. Given those self-evident facts I saw no reason to subject the Emperor’s dignity to the humiliation of a Manticoran-directed ‘investigation’ into the actions of a navy of a sovereign power. Not only would submission to such a thinly veiled demand on Harrington’s part have been insulting and demeaning to both His Imperial Majesty and the Navy, but the obvious prejudice of the Manticorans would have made any ‘impartial’ verdict’s conclusion that we were at fault inevitable. I had no desire to participate in such a farce for the benefit of exonerating the officer actually responsible for this atrocity, and as His Imperial Majesty’s representative in Silesia, I so informed the Manticoran commander at Sidemore in no uncertain terms. And in order to foreclose the possibility of allowing her to score any sort of propaganda triumph out of this, I acted to get the true version of events into the media’s hands as rapidly as possible, as was my obvious duty.”

“I see. And you have Kapitän der Sternen Gortz’ own sworn testimony as to precisely what events occurred in Zoraster, I suppose?”

“Of course not, Gross Admiral,” Sternhafen half-snapped, his outward courtesy fraying noticeably under the lash of Rabenstrange’s frigid sarcasm.

“Ah, yes. I’d forgotten. Kapitän der Sternen Gortz is dead, is he not, Admiral?” The smallish gross admiral smiled coldly at the considerably taller Sternhafen and watched the other man visibly bite his tongue. There were advantages, Rabenstrange reflected, to being the Emperor’s first cousin.

“And because Gortz is dead,” he continued after a moment, “it’s impossible for you to ascertain with complete certainty precisely what he did or didn’t do, is that not correct?”

“We have the testimony of the three surviving bridge personnel,” Sternhafen replied hotly. “All of them agree that—”

“I’ve viewed their statements, Herr Graf,” Rabenstrange interrupted him. “None of them were communication ratings, however. They were concentrating on other duties at the time, and their memory of precisely what Gortz said to this Captain Ferrero is extremely vague and scarcely reliable. Moreover, what little they can tell us, vague as it is, pertains only to Gortz’ side of the conversation, because none of them actually heard Ferrero’s transmissions to him. So the fact that they agree that their captain reacted nobly and selflessly to a totally unprovoked Manticoran attack upon an innocent merchant ship might be just the slightest bit suspect, don’t you suppose, Herr Graf?”

“I protest your tone, Gross Admiral,” Sternhafen said curtly. “I’m fully aware of your rank, and of your position in the Imperial Family. However, I am still His Imperial Majesty’s commander in Silesia until you formally relieve me of my duties. And while I am the Silesian commander, I am not required to submit to your verbal abuse of myself or of the personnel—especially of the personnel who have given their lives in the Emperor’s service—under my command!”