Clevennes, Asthana planet
Vice Admiral Jaruzelska had sat silently throughout Cortez’s presentation.
Now she leaned forward to look the man in the face. “I have a lot of questions, General, as you would expect, but none I need to ask now. What is important is that I’m convinced, and that brings us to the next problem.”
“How to get your government to agree.” Cortez’s face was sour with frustration. “We’ve been watching the newsvids from the Federated Worlds, and it’s … very depressing, I have to say.”
“Yes, I’m afraid it is, and things won’t get any better. The cease-fire agreement is scheduled to be ratified by our Chamber of Deputies, let me see … yes, in less than twelve hours, and it will be. Ferrero has the numbers on the floor of the chamber, so it’s a done deal. The opposition will do what they can, but nobody listens to them, and anyway, there aren’t enough of them left to make a difference.”
“Not even if we tell everyone what the Pascanicians are doing to restore the Hammers’ antimatter capability and what that means not just for the Worlds but for the rest of humanspace?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“But why?” Cortez demanded. “Won’t the facts speak for themselves?”
Jaruzelska shook her head emphatically. “No. Our intelligence agencies have a different view of what the Pascanicians are up to. Put simply, they’ve bought the cover story the Hammers have put out that they are helping to modernize your-”
“Not ours,” Cortez growled.
Jaruzelska put up a conciliatory hand. “Sorry,” she said. “Our intelligence people say the Pascanicians are helping to modernize the Hammers’ starship production program, and it will be very hard to change their minds. That means-and please don’t take this the wrong way, General Cortez-the Federated Worlds will only have the NRA intelligence you have provided. I’ll tell you now; it will be seen as tainted, self-serving, and therefore unreliable.”
“So what do we do? We can’t just give up.”
“No, we can’t, though to be honest, I am not at all sure what we do next. I need to get back to the Federated Worlds, meet with some people, see what our options are. Give me a week and we’ll talk again.”
“I guess that’s the best we can ask for,” Cortez said, his voice dulled by disappointment.
“I’m afraid it is.”