“Those Grayson forces being the ones which made unauthorized transit through the Junction yesterday?” she pressed in those same, chill tones.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he made himself say yet again. “Although, it would be more accurate to call their transit unscheduled rather than unauthorized.”

“Ah. I see.” She sat there for several seconds, regarding him levelly. Then smiled with absolutely no trace of warmth or humor. “And how do my ministers recommend that we proceed in this moment of crisis, My Lord?”

“Under the circumstances, Your Majesty, I see no option but to formally denounce our own truce with the Republic of Haven and resume unrestricted military operations against it.”

“And are my military forces in a fit state to pursue that policy in the wake of this attack, My Lord?”

“They are, Your Majesty,” he replied a bit more sharply, despite everything he could do to control his tone, as her question flicked him unerringly on the raw. He saw her satisfaction—not in any flicker of an expression on her own face, but in the treecat’s ears and body language—and fought to reimpose the armor of his formality. “Despite the Republic’s incursion into our space, we suffered no losses,” he amplified. “Effectively, the military position remains unchanged by this incident.”

“And is it the opinion of my Admiralty that this incident was an isolated one?”

“Probably not, Your Majesty,” High Ridge admitted. “The Office of Naval Intelligence’s estimate of the enemy’s current order of battle strongly suggests, however, that the forces which violated the Trevor’s Star limit constituted virtually the entirety of their modern naval units. That clearly implies that any other operations they may have carried out, or attempted to carry out, must have been on a much smaller scale.”

“I see,” the Queen repeated. “Very well, My Lord. I will be guided by the views of my Prime Minister and my First Lord of Admiralty in this matter. Are there other measures which you wish to propose?”

“Yes, there are, Your Majesty,” he replied formally. “In particular, it’s necessary that we inform our treaty partners of the state of affairs and notify them that we intend to formally reinvoke the mutual defense clauses of our alliance.” He managed to get that out without even gagging, despite the gall and bile of suggesting any such thing. Then he drew a deep breath.

“In addition, Your Majesty,” he continued, “given the significance and extreme gravity of the Republic’s actions, and the fact that the entire Star Kingdom is now forced, however unwillingly, to take up arms once again, it is my considered opinion as your Prime Minister that your Government must represent the broadest possible spectrum of your subjects. An expression of unity at this critical moment must give our allies encouragement and our enemies pause. With your sovereign consent, I believe that it would be in the Star Kingdom’s best interests to form a government of all parties, working together to guide your subjects in this moment of crisis.”