Now it was Mainwaring’s turn to look shocked. He knew he owed his place as the Head of the Armed Forces to his ability to work the Whitehall machine and ingratiate himself with politicians. Now he was facing a personal disaster. He had been looking forward to his imminent retirement and taking his place in the House of Lords, but that had to be in jeopardy. For the first time in his carefully constructed career he had got it badly wrong. And what his wife would say when she heard was a different level of disaster altogether.

“Prime Minister.” He pushed such considerations aside and forced himself to speak calmly and authoritatively. “The Chiefs have just met and we’ve considered the position. We believe that the UK needs to show strength at a time like this. We’ve had a disaster . . . but we’ve faced disasters as a nation before and always come out of it.”

The Prime Minister looked at him. “What do you propose?”

“Prime Minister,” replied Mainwaring, “we have to accept that the sinking of HMS Padstow is an act of war by Russia and the invasion of Latvia means we are bound under Article Five of the Washington Treaty to come to their assistance. It is too late to send land forces, although we’ve given orders for them to go to immediate readiness to move. We’re concerned that a deployment of air forces—ours and theirs shooting each other down—might commit us earlier than we necessarily want to be committed. The recommendation of your Chiefs of Staff Committee, which I am authorized to pass on to you as your government’s principal military adviser . . .”

Walker could see the Prime Minister’s irritation at this pompous and long-winded soldier who had, on an instant, stopped using the word “I” and was already maneuvering to a position of joint blame and responsibility by using the words “we” and “committee.” But the Prime Minister also played this game and played it a lot better than this already failed general.

“Do get to the point, CDS,” he said tersely.

Mainwaring continued, “As I was saying, Prime Minister, the recommendation of your Chiefs of Staff is to deploy a strong naval force to the Baltic. It will be a demonstration of our solidarity with Latvia and the other Baltic states; it shows that we are a good NATO ally, but by poising ourselves at sea, we can remain uncommitted.”

“And what will this force consist of?”

“We propose to send a Task Group based on HMS Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister.”