“Worse than that,” Paxton added, “the presence of Havenite forces in Silesian space may be an indication that their war plans are not only already in place but have already been activated.”

All eyes turned to him, and he shrugged.

“I’m not saying that’s what’s happened. I’m saying that we have to be aware that it may be what’s happened. If it is, we may have very little time to respond—assuming we have any time at all.”

“What do you want us to do, Hamish?” Benjamin asked, gazing at his guest intently.

“I don’t know exactly what was in Honor’s letter to you,” White Haven replied. “I know what she said to me, and Elizabeth allowed me to view her letter.” He smiled suddenly. “I think it’s probably a very good thing Janacek didn’t get to see either of them. Although it might have simplified our problem a bit when he dropped dead of pure apoplexy!”

“Now there’s an image I’ll treasure,” Matthews observed almost dreamily, and he and White Haven grinned at each other.

“Anyway,” the earl resumed, turning back to Benjamin, “as I say, I don’t know exactly what she said to you. What she suggested to us was that we needed to confer with you if Janacek proved… unresponsive. And she pointed out that Trevor’s Star is the absolute linchpin of our position within Republican territory.”

“How did Elizabeth react to Janacek’s response?” Benjamin asked quietly, and White Haven winced mentally in memory.

“Not… well,” he admitted. “She wanted to call a news conference, lay Honor’s letters in front of the ’faxes, and publicly charge her Prime Minister and her First Lord of Admiralty with everything short of outright treason.”

“I’d call that reacting ‘not well,’ ” Benjamin agreed judiciously. “On the other hand, it might actually have worked, you know.”

“Certainly it might have,” White Haven agreed, “but Willie sat on her long enough to talk her out of it—for now, at least. As he pointed out, what we do know about Pritchart’s notes indicate that they’ve become increasingly belligerent. That her frustration and anger is what’s driving the negotiations now, if you will. And as we’ve just acknowledged, it’s entirely possible that the Republic has already decided to commit to military action. That leaves us with the choice between trying to bring High Ridge down—which might not be as easy as we’d like to think, given how public awareness of our deteriorating relations with Haven is lagging behind events—or leaving it in place at least until we get through the present crisis.

“If they haven’t decided to attack us, then drop-kicking High Ridge and Janacek, assuming we could do it, might be the best thing we could possibly do. Especially if we got it done in time to repair the worst of Janacek’s blunders. But we don’t think they’d go quietly, and if the Star Kingdom suddenly finds itself embroiled in a major domestic political crisis, it could be the final straw needed to push Pritchart into attacking if she hasn’t already committed.”