She brooded darkly for a moment, then shook herself.

“At any rate,” she went on more briskly, “just as Willie and I agreed that we needed someone we could trust at the Exchequer and someone our alliance partners could trust at the Foreign Office, we desperately needed someone at the Admiralty who both the governments and navies of all our alliance partners could trust. As a matter of fact, we decided that was especially important because we’re both confident that we’re only just beginning to fully understand the damage Janacek managed to do. There are going to be still more public revelations that won’t do a thing for public confidence in the integrity of the Navy—or its war-fighting ability, for that matter—and that made it absolutely imperative to put a face people could feel comfortable trusting on the Admiralty. Since you weren’t available,” the Queen smiled wickedly at Honor’s expression, “we drafted Hamish.”

“And working on the same principle that it’s vital to restore confidence in the Admiralty,” White Haven put in, “I’ve brought Tom Caparelli back as First Space Lord as well as bringing Pat Givens back in as Second Space Lord. And,” his wry grin became absolutely astringent, “Sonja Hemphill to run BuWeaps.”

Honor was hard put not to goggle at his last sentence, and he chuckled.

“I expect there to be the occasional, um… clash of personalities,” he acknowledged. “But I think it’s time Sonja and I put our silly feuds behind us. As you pointed out to me once, the mere fact that she’s the one who had an idea doesn’t automatically mean it’s a bad one. And one thing we’re going to need badly in the immediate future is as many good ideas as we can get.”

“I’m afraid that’s true,” Honor admitted sadly. She leaned further back in her chair and sighed. “I’m still trying to come to grips with it all. It’s like that old Pre Diaspora children’s book—the one about wonderland. I can understand, in a way, what happened to us here, domestically. But the rest of it…” She shook her head. “I’ve met Thomas Theisman. I just can’t understand how this all happened!”

“It happened because they’re Peeps,” Elizabeth said, and Honor felt a sudden stab of alarm at the cold, bottomless hatred that flowed through the Queen in the wake of her bleak reply.

“Elizabeth,” Honor began, “I understand how you feel. But—”

“Don’t, Honor!” Elizabeth said sharply. She started to say something else, quickly and angrily, then made herself stop. She drew a deep breath, and when she spoke again, Honor didn’t need her own empathic sense to recognize the effort the Queen made to keep her voice calm and reasonable.

“I know that you personally admire Thomas Theisman, Honor,” Elizabeth said. “In an intellectual way, I can even understand that. And I fully realize that you have certain… advantages when it comes to assessing someone’s motivations and sincerity. But in this instance, you’re wrong.”

She met Honor’s eyes levelly, and her own eyes were like flint. In that instant, Honor recognized how completely accurate her treecat name truly was, for she tasted the unyielding steel in the Queen of Manticore’s soul.