Tolwyn watched the President closely and could detect a paling of his features and more surprisingly a nervous tic at the corner of his eye. It was obviously a hell of a shock for the President, but he had little sympathy for him at this moment, still remembering how not so long ago the head of the Chiefs of Staff, with tears of frustration in his eyes, begged for the armistice not to be signed, warning of what would be the end result. Noragami was now dead as a result.

"Is this genuine?" Rodham asked quietly, now examining the map which showed where the fleet was and projected times of arrival into Confederation territory if an offensive were launched.

"The data was burst signaled from Tarawa, located here," and Grecko pointed at the map showing the last reported position of the carrier. "The data was obtained from a deep reconnaissance probe which ventured into Hari space."

"On whose orders?" Jamison asked. I was never informed of this escapade. Remember, I am the Foreign Minister and if you were contemplating a violation of the armistice I should have been informed."

On the orders of the Chief of Staff," Grecko said coldly, not even bothering to turn.

"Is there a chance this is falsified information?" Rodham asked, and Tolwyn could detect the slight note of hopefulness in his voice, as if wishing that the entire problem would, simply be shown to be a hoax.

"It was sent in personally by Admiral Vance Richards, sir, and that's good enough for me.

"Richards is out there — I thought he retired?"

Grecko merely smiled.

"What you've committed here is outright mutiny," Jamison snarled. "If the rest of the Joint Chiefs were not already dead I'd demand their resignations as I am now demanding yours."

Grecko turned slowly and stared at Jamison.

"If you were not a lady," he said coldly, "I'd loosen your teeth for what you've done to us. If you want my resignation you can have it, but only after we have a full investigation of myself, the Joint Chiefs and more importantly of you. Would you care to see the file military intelligence has on you and your suspected cooperation with the Kilrathi in return for your son?"

Jamison turned towards the President.

"I want him fired as of this minute and Tolwyn here put in jail pending an investigation."

Rodham looked over at Jamison in confusion and then slowly sat down, turning to look back at the holo.

"Your report on the false signal and the Kilrathi message regarding the antimatter warhead plant, does that fit into this?

"It fits right in, sir," Grecko replied.

"Sir, you are looking at the beginning of a full scale offensive with an upgraded fleet," Tolwyn said. "In less than a month the Kilrathi will be above Earth demanding our surrender if we're lucky, though if past practices are any indication they'll flatten us with a full antimatter warhead bombardment and then come down to gloat over the wreckage and tear out the throats of the survivors with their claws when their next Sivar ceremony comes around."

Rodham nodded slowly and closed his eyes for a moment. Jamison started to speak and the president held up his hand for silence. He finally turned and looked over at Tolwyn.

"You were the best fighting admiral in the fleet, Geoff. Banbridge told me more than once that he wanted you to replace him as commander of Third Fleet when he retired."

Geoff lowered his head, saying nothing.

"Admiral Tolwyn, I am officially pardoning you for the incident at Munro. As of this moment I am reinstating you as a full admiral in command of Third Fleet, with the mission of organizing defenses against the anticipated Kilrathi invasion. General Grecko, I am appointing you the new head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in command of all Confederation forces."

"Just what the hell is this?" Jamison roared.

"Secretary Jamison, I expect your resignation as Foreign Secretary effective immediately and also advise you that you will face an investigation. I have refused to believe the allegations made against you for too long. I think this matter has to be looked into." Jamison's features flushed.

"Harry, you can't do this," she said quietly, her voice full of menace.

"I am the President of the Confederation, and I can damn well appoint and fire my cabinet as I see fit."

"And have me as the whipping boy for this situation? Like hell. Your charges against me are nothing but a smokescreen to shift blame. It was your decision to sign the armistice."

"Based upon the information you provided to me regarding Kilrathi political intentions."

"You're the president, Harry," she snapped coldly. "The buck stops here, remember."

Rodham lowered his head, nodding sadly.

"Yes, it does. I fully realize that," he whispered. "And that is one of the reasons I demand your resignation. Admiral Richards presented me with a report more than six months ago, indicating that you might present a security risk since the capture of your son and that the Kilrathi might be in contact with you for a possible deal."

"Are you calling me a traitor?" Jamison roared.

"Not yet," Rodham said quietly.

"You want my resignation, well you can go to hell. Make it a public firing in front of the press, and believe me, my side of the story will be told as well."

She looked around the room angrily.

"I'll see all of you in hell," and she stormed out of the conference room.

Rodham watched her go and wearily he turned back to face Tolwyn and Grecko.

"I'm sorry, Duke, you and the other officers were right."

"Even if we turn them back, Mr. President, a lot of good youngsters are going to die in the doing of it. We had them, sir, we had them on the ropes and we could have crippled them. Now it's the other way around."

"You don't need to remind me, Duke."

"I do need to remind you, sir, Grecko snapped back. "It's always been this way. The civilians start to forget just how dangerous the world, or the universe really is. They start to believe their fantasies, and then in the end it's the kids on the front line who pay for it. Well, sir, on this little folly the human race might very well become extinct before it's done."

Rodham started to speak and then stopped and looked away.

"After I take care of Jamison, I'm resigning as President," he said quietly. "Vice President Dave Quinson never did support this idea; he was as much as public about it. I think he could help rally our people better than me."

"I think that's a good idea, sir," Duke replied, his voice cold and even.

Rodham stood up and looked back at the holo display.

"You know, Jamison will make this an ugly fight. It might slow down our mobilization. I'm therefore issuing as my final executive order a full mobilization of the fleet, along with wartime governmental control of the economy. Jamison is most likely running to the press right now so I'd better act first. When I resign my cabinet will have to resign as well. Maybe it'll clear the deck for Quinson."

"A smart move, sir."

Rodham nodded again and extended his hand.

"I'm sorry, Duke. Sorry for everything."

Wayne hesitated for a moment and then shook hands.

Harold Rodham, shoulders slumped in defeat, turned and walked out of the room, not even noticing the salute of the two officers behind him.

"I guess his heart was in the right place," Geoff said quietly.

You know what they pave the road to hell with," Duke replied, "and frankly, Geoff, I think we're all on a greasy slope aimed straight into the fiery pit."

The Emperor, in an unusual gesture, ordered the screen removed so that he was fully visible to those who sat before him. As the two Imperial Guards drew the screen back the clan leaders went down on their knees, foreheads touching the cool turquoise inlaid floor of the audience chamber.